Shemini- Destiny or Choice?

Vayikchu vnei-Aharon Nadav vaAvihu ish machtato vayitnu vahein eish vayasimu aleha k’toret vayakrivu  lifnei A-donai eish zarah asher lo tzivah otam. Vateitzei eish mi’lifnei A-donai vatokhal otam vayamutu lifnei A-donai.

And the sons of Aharon, Nadav and Avihu, each took his censer, and put fire therein, and laid upon it incense, and approached God offering strange fire, which God had not commanded them. And fire went out from before  God, and devoured them, and they died before God. (Vayikra 10:1-2)

Last Shabbat the question of destiny came up in our discussions of the Megillah. Upon discovering the fate Haman had planned for the Jews, Mordekhai says to Esther, “Do not imagine that you will escape in the king’s house... If you remain silent, relief and rescue will come from elsewhere… who knows whether this is why you attained the kingdom.” (4:13-14) Esther was scared. Mordekhai was exhorting her to embrace her possible destiny. Esther made her choice, and saved her people. The question arises though, did she truly have a choice? Why did she make the choice she did. Perhaps she saw the possibilities. Perhaps she felt it was her duty. But either way, it had to be her choice. Mordekhai tells her, “If you remain silent, relief and rescue will come from elsewhere, and you and your father’s house will perish from the earth.” This is the interesting thing about destiny. Unlike the inescapable destinies of Greco-Roman religion, Judaism proclaims that we all have free choice.

God places before us blessing and curse. Although the obvious choice would seem to be blessing, all too often, humans choose the curse. Aaron’s eldest sons, Nadav and Avihu, are trained to take over from Aaron. Unfortunately, they make a poor choice. They put on the correct clothes. They take their censers, but then they offer “strange fire” before God. They are consumed with no explanation. Some look to the admonishment that follows, saying they were drunk. Others claim the “strange fire” was the result of incorrectly mixed incense. Still others say they tried to approach God when not commanded. Was it their destiny to die? I think not. There is no indication in our text to this point. We have every reason to believe they were supposed to be the kohanim to lead the Israelites in Eretz Yisrael. However, in their absence, another had to step to the plate. This is the nature of destiny and choice. When we make the correct choices, like Esther, our destinies are fulfilled. When we make the wrong ones, the burden of the future falls to others.

May we each strive to choose the blessings in our lives in order to fulfill our destinies.