Shemini: DUI (Davening Under the Influence)
Nadav and Avihu's punishment seems harsh, especially if their sin was drinking a little wine. An analysis of the philosophy behind the prohibition of DUI reveals why their penalty was so severe.
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Shemini: DUI (Davening Under the Influence)
Parashas Shemini recounts the deaths of Nadav and Avihu, the sons of Aharon. According to the plain pshat (straightforward reading of the text), they died because “they brought before Hashem a strange fire that He had not commanded them” (Vayikra 10:1). They invented their own form of worship and introduced it into the avodas ha’Mishkan (Tabernacle Service). This sin was liable for misah b’ydei shamayim (death at the hands of heaven).
Rashi (ibid.), citing a midrash (Vayikra Rabbah 12:1), explains that Nadav and Avihu’s sin was due, in part, to the fact that they entered the Mishkan while drunk. The proof of this is that shortly after they die, Hashem commands Aharon: “Do not drink intoxicating wine, you and your sons with you, when you come to the Tent of Meeting, that you do not die – this is an eternal decree for your generations” (Vayikra 10:9). The juxtaposition of this prohibition to the deaths of Nadav and Avihu implies that intoxication played a role in their sin and demise.
We learn from the aforementioned verse that it is prohibited for a kohen to do avodah (sacrificial service) or enter the Mikdash (Temple) while drunk. The Sefer ha’Chinuch (Mitzvah #152) explains: “The root of this mitzvah is well-known: it is not proper to be involved in the most precious matters – such as Mikdash activities and divrei Torah – unless one’s mind is settled and focused on all of his actions. There’s no need to elaborate on simple things.”
Avodah ba’Mikdash (Service in the Temple) isn’t the only activity which is prohibited to do while under the influence of alcohol. The same is true of avodah she’ba’lev (service of the heart), otherwise known as tefilah (prayer, or “davening”). Those who daven while drunk violate a prohibition, do not fulfill their obligation, and their tefilah is considered an abomination (Eiruvin 64a; see Rambam: Hilchos Tefilah u'Birkas Kohanim 4:17).
The Gemara (Berachos 31b) goes even further, saying: “If a person prays while drunk, it is as if he worships avodah zarah (idolatry).” The question is: How so? The Rashba (Commentary on Aggadah, ibid.) explains:
It is a well-known fact that drunkenness befuddles the mind to the extent that it brings a person to deny truth and affirm falsehood – as the Sages said: “[On Purim one is obligated to become intoxicated until he] cannot recognize the difference between ‘blessed is Mordechai’ and ‘accursed is Haman’” (Megilah 7b) – and he will see deceptive imaginings (dimyonos kozvim). If a person stands before Ha’Kadosh Baruch Hu in prayer while drunk, it is possible that in his confused mind he will arrive at deceptive imaginings, which is avodah zarah in truth.
The Rashba explains this Gemara by identifying “avodah zarah in truth” as “a confused mind [which] arrives at deceptive imaginings.” My Rosh ha’Yeshiva, Rabbi Chait, gave a similar definition. He said that the essence of avodah zarah is “relating to the products of the psyche as a reality.”
Drunkenness predisposes a person to distort truth, to affirm falsehood, and to be seduced by “deceptive imaginings.” When drunkards engage in avodah – whether the avodah ba’Mikdash of korbanos or the avodah she’baleiv of tefilah – they run the risk of relating to the products of the psyche as a reality, “which is avodah zarah in truth.” Instead of serving as a vehicle to bring them closer to Hashem, the Source of objective reality, their avodah will cause them to retreat inward, into the world of subjective fantasy.
Chazal teach us that avodah zarah is the antithesis of the entire Torah (Horiyos 8a). The Rashba’s explanation sheds light on this concept. Avodah zarah is the denial of objective reality and the affirmation of the imagination as real. The Torah is a regimen designed to bring us closer to reality and to shield us from the distortions of imagination. Avodah is the primary tool we were given to achieve this closeness. Drunkenness renders that tool ineffective. The harsh penalty suffered by Nadav and Avihu was necessary to drive home this fundamental truth.
To me, this is the most satisfying explanation I’ve heard about drunkenness, davening, and the Nadav and Avihu incident, but I’d love to hear other interpretations, as well as your thoughts on this one!
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From the passuk it seems like the sin was "lo tosif". I think that it wasn't that being drunk was a itsself a sin but that because they were drunk they changed the avodah, and that was a sin.
We see from Adam Harishon that lo tosif can carry a chiuv of misah. Because Adam/Chava added "don't touch the tree" they provided the snake an angle of attack. And the result is that they (and everybody since) became mortal.
Second to last paragraph, second sentence, you missed a word.
"they <run> the risk"