"The Tzaddik is Stationed in Heaven"

How Did Nadav and Avihu Say, "When Will Moses and Aaron Die?"

The Daily Strengthening from the Gaon and Tzaddik, Morinu Rabbi Eliezer Berland shlit"a – Friday, 20th of Tammuz 5784

If it is difficult to study Gemara (Talmud), then study the Parsha (weekly Torah portion).

To study the Parsha means to know that Hagar was the granddaughter of Pharaoh and Abraham married her; he did not disqualify the shidduch (marriage match), he said it was a good match. And to know that Esau married Machalat the daughter of Ishmael, the granddaughter of Abraham our forefather, and the man Ishmael died.

We must give the students some outlines and test them on this. Take all the young men—there are 100 boys here now—they must know the entire Parsha.

The Parsha is the most interesting thing; the way the Parsha is built and how everything is arranged—everything people love to read is less interesting than this. How Nadav and Avihu say, "When will Moses and Aaron die? Come on, let them die already!"

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It is one thing for Esau to say that his father (Isaac) should already die; that we can still understand because he was wicked, "one can find an excuse for him." But for Nadav and Avihu to say, "When will Moses and Aaron die?"

The *Asara Maamarot* says that regarding this, it is written in Exodus, Parshat Mishpatim: "And to Moses He said, 'Come up to Hashem, you and Aaron, Nadav and Avihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel.'" All the elders went with Moses and Aaron, and everyone thought they were ascending Mount Sinai. They did not know they would be stopped until a Bas Kol (Heavenly Voice) came out and said, "Stop, stop! Stand, stand!"

They stopped everyone; they stopped all seventy elders. But Nadav and Avihu continued to advance, and they saw Moses and Aaron advancing. They were certain they were ascending to Heaven. They said, "If these two (Moses and Aaron) are going up to Heaven, then let us lead the generation, for they will not return." One must know that the Tzaddik is stationed in Heaven; he is not on the earth at all.

By Erev Shabbos (Friday afternoon), finish the Parsha. Also finish the section "After the death of Nadav and Avihu" (Acharei Mos), and all the opinions as to why they were burned, why they wanted Moses and Aaron to die—what did they do to them?

All of this is written in the commentaries; we held a test on it. Nadav and Avihu erred in 15 things: 1. They did not take counsel from one another (Vayikra Rabbah 20). 2. They brought a "foreign fire." 3. They waited for fire to descend from Heaven... then they were "impregnated" (ibbur - a form of spiritual reincarnation) into Elijah the Prophet.

Elijah the Prophet is Nadav and Avihu. Elijah the Prophet, who brought down fire from Heaven, did so through the ibbur (spiritual impregnation) of Nadav and Avihu. Then they brought down the fire—the fire that Nadav and Avihu were supposed to bring down in the Mishkan (Tabernacle), they brought down through Elijah the Prophet on Mount Carmel. They brought down the fire from Heaven.

Now, everyone needs to bring down fire from Heaven.