Strange Fire

Every year around this time we Rabbis have a tough job, and that is finding meaning in the book of Leviticus which we approach every year before Passover. The book of Leviticus is the shortest book of the five books of Moses but it is also the one that seems to have the most cultural relevance in our political understanding of religion. However, it can be difficult to find meaning in it when read with our modern eyes. The book of Leviticus is often referred to as Sefer Kadoshim, or the book of holiness. It deals primarily with the sacrificial rights of the ancient priesthood and the offerings that were given by the population. It is often difficult to find great modern insight on the procedures of incense and grains offered in an ancient sacrificial ritual but we Rabbis bear down and try and parse the meaning of such ancient dialogue within our holy books.
The book of Leviticus is very important in our Jewish heritage because just as the book deals with the holiness of the priests, we Jews are told to live holy lives as well. We get the command to live separately from the nations and most of the dietary laws are discussed. The struggle is in trying to find meaning in the ancient ritual of animal sacrifice that is so distant from today’s form of worship.
In this week’s reading Parshat Shimini presents Moses’ efforts to carry out the first offerings for God after having instructed Israel on the proper offerings to be presented at the altar (Leviticus 1-7) and the ordination of the Sons of Aaron as the priesthood of Israel (Leviticus 8). In Leviticus 9, Moses instructs Aaron, Aaron’s sons, and the elders of Israel to prepare a Hatta’t, or Sin Offering, and an Olah, or Whole Burnt Offering, to be followed by the offerings of the people of Israel, including another Olah, a Minhah, or Grain Offering, and a Zebah Shelamim, or Peace Offering. This was the first time that such offerings were to be presented in Leviticus; the narrative functions as a means to teach the people what offerings were required on behalf of each group. Offerings today carry a symbolic nature of worship and thus we offer our souls to God in place of these sacrifices. Today, prayer takes the place of offerings, so we try to figure out how we connect to God as the ancient priests did in their day.
This week’s reading provides some drama when two of Aaron’s sons make an offering and are consumed by the offering and killed by the fire. Nadav and Abihu, present “strange fire” at the altar, meaning they present an improper offering at the altar and they die as a result. Leviticus 11 then rounds out the Parshah with instructions as to what animals may be used for food by the people of Israel; this is based upon those animals that might be offered at the altar. As Israel is “a nation of priests and a holy nation” to God (Exodus 19:6), we are instructed to eat as if we are priests who served at the Temple altar. This becomes the essential teaching of Leviticus 11, to provide a textual basis for instruction on keeping kosher. This then becomes the link to today’s Jews, to live a holy life, a life that often separates us from others on many occasions when food is consumed.
The ancient book of Leviticus struggles with this today because placing oneself outside the norm of society can be a struggle. Being willing to stand up for something that is not popular is often the most difficult thing we can do and this is what God asks us to do, make our lives a little separate from others and yet still connected. This is the strange fire we Jews try to live with, the imbalance in our lives like a fiddler on a roof, never sure which strong wind will knock us down and again throw us Jews back into the fire of an indifferent world. This is the meaning I see in the book of Leviticus every year, the struggle to understand God’s will and my place in that world. Kashrut demands that we think about our place in the world of creation, the limits of our own lives, and our relationship to other life forms like animals, and to God. In short, it demands that we conduct ourselves as holy priests at God’s altar when we eat, that we live as a kingdom of priests and a holy nation and that we sometimes move outside the given societal path.
Every year I try to find new meaning in the book of Leviticus because this book was the book of my Bar Mitzvah. I remember as a young man reading this ancient book trying to find its inner meaning while I was struggling as a boy in the slings and arrows of Junior High. Finding my social place in the world at that time was so essential and yet so petty I wish I could have found the courage to be myself and offer my own strange fire without being consumed by the world that seemed so scary. The one thing I look at as I read the book of Leviticus each year is to always have strength to find your voice and that voice will connect to God and He will receive it, just don’t let it be a voice strange to you or you might be consumed.
Rabbi Lipschultz is the Rabbi of Beth Judah Temple in Wildwood N.J. He can be reached at dvjewish@rof.net