Parshas Achrei Mos

Ahron was given perspicuous instructions on how to do his avodah (service) in the Mishkan (tabernacle), to show him and the future Kohanim (priests) how to avoid making the same mistake that Nadav and Avihu did. Their alien Korban (sacrifice) brought them to their catastrophic downfall.

Since the incident with Nadav and Avihu there have been those who haven’t quite gotten the message. These people felt that it was necessary to add in or change a law here and there in the Torah, making it more “convenient” for themselves and possibly others. Like driving to shul (temple) on Shabbos was a change that was made and having no mechitzah (dividers) to separate the men from the women. All of these changes might have been because of good and seemingly harmless intentions, but in truth, all they are really doing is the same thing that Nadav and Avihu did on that fateful day when they brought a perfectly good Korban in a manner not prescribed by Hashem.

There is a great Mushul (parable) that Rabbi Mordechai Katz relates in his sefer that brings out the point in this week’s Parsha.

There was a Rabbi who would teach men on the brink of intermarriage that they were making a huge mistake. He would invite them into the main sanctuary at his temple where it was quiet and he would have these men take the Torah Scroll out of the ark. The men would do so and this Rabbi would tell them to open up the Torah scroll, throw it on the floor, stomp on it, and spit on it. To which the men would reply, “Rabbi you must be kidding!” The Rabbi would then explain to the men that by intermarrying he would, in essence, be stomping and spitting on the Torah, because the Torah prohibits intermarriage.

So too, by Nadav and Avihu they made a little change and were severely punished.

May we all learn from this week’s Parsha to take to heart the severity of changing Hashem’s Holy Torah! - Amen!

HAVE A GREAT SHABBOS AND WEEKEND!

Stay tuned for the next Parsha called, Parshas Kedoshim!