By Rabbi
Yisroel Shusterman
This
week’s Parsha Perspective is dedicated by Mr. Binyomin Philipson in memory of
his late mother Mrs. Ellen (Elka bas Zisel) Philipson OBM
Do we love too much?
Apparently we do.
Many marriages fail for a dearth of love; an equal number are suffocated by an
overabundance of the same.
So desirous are we
for connection, so hungry for communion with another human being, that we
forget that for love to endure it must be complemented with an equal measure of
restraint. So eager are we to give of ourselves to the one we love - be it a
spouse, a child or a friend - that we often give without consideration of the
needs and desires of the recipient of our love.
When passion is
mitigated with a degree of inhibition, when intimacy is tempered with a modicum
of reserve, love flourishes. But when all limits are betrayed, love burns out.
This week's portion
Acharei Mot (Vayikra (Leviticus) 16:1-18:30) opens with a review of the tragic
death of Aaron's two elder sons, Nadav and Avihu.
After many months of
labor and anticipation, the Sanctuary had finally been set up in the Israelite
camp, and the Divine Presence came to rest within it. Amidst the joyous
dedication ceremonies, “Nadav and Avihu each took his censer, and put fire in
it, and put ketoret (incense) on it, and offered a strange fire before G-d, which He commanded
them not. A fire went out from G-d, and consumed them, and they died
before G‑d” (Leviticus 10:1–2).
In his commentary on
the Torah, the great sage and mystic Rabbi Chaim ben Moses ibn Attar
(1696-1743) explains that Nadav and Avihu died from an overdose of love.
Once a year, on Yom
Kippur, the high priest would enter the innermost chamber of the Sanctuary, the
Holy of Holies, to offer ketoret to G-d. This occasion - on which the most
spiritual human being performed the most sacred service in the holiest place in
the world on the holiest day of the year - was the point of utmost intimacy
with G-d attained by man. Nadav and Avihu were priests, but not high
priests (though they would have been, had they lived to succeed their father in
that office); it was a very special occasion, marked by special offerings to G-d, but it was not
Yom Kippur. But their thirst for intimacy with G-d could not be satisfied by anything less
than the ultimate. They wanted to get closer yet, though “He commanded them
not.”
Human life is a love
affair between the soul and her G-d. Our passion for life is a craving for
the “spark of G-dliness” implicit within every one of G-d’s creations;
ultimately, everything we do is motivated by our soul’s desire to draw closer
to our Source. So powerful is this desire that it can lead us to do things that
are contrary to G-d’s will - things that violate the bounds
of our love and destroy it.
For our marriage to
live and thrive we must feed our passion for life; but we must also know when
to hold back. As in every truly loving relationship, we must learn to love in
the manner that our beloved needs and desires to be loved.
(From
Chabad.org - Rabbi Yanki Tauber)
A
Meaningful and Uplifting Shabbos to all!
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