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March 28, 2003/Adar2 24 5763, Vol. 55, No. 31
Suicide bombers are modern idolaters
Torah study
RABBI SHLOMO RISKIN
Shemini/Leviticus 9:1-11:47
One of the most problematic incidents in the entire Bible is the traumatic death of the two sons of Aaron, Nadab and Abihu - precisely at the zenith of the dedication of the sanctuary. This week's Torah reading describes the context of the tragedy, which only increases our perplexity: "Moses and Aaron then went inside the Tent of Meeting. When they came out, they blessed the people; and the Presence of the Lord appeared to all the people. Fire came forth from before the Lord and consumed the burnt offering. ... Now, Aaron's sons Nadab and Abihu each took his fire pan, put fire in it, and laid incense on it; and they offered before the Lord alien fire, which He had not enjoined upon them. And fire came forth from the Lord and consumed them; thus they died at the instance of the Lord." (Leviticus 9:23-24; 10:1-2)
It is apparent that they were punished. But this punishment appears to be far harsher then their crime would seem to warrant. After all, the Bible describes a moment of national ecstasy, when God dedicated the sanctuary by demonstrating acceptance by sending a divine fire.
The two sons of Aaron, caught up in the religious excitement of the moment, attempt to return God's gratuitous compliment by themselves offering a fire they had not been commanded to bring. Is an act emanating from a desire to come near to God worthy of death?
I believe the solution to the mystery is to be found in the expression used to describe the offering of Nadab and Abihu, a "strange fire," eish zara, reminiscent of the Hebrew avodah zara, or idolatry. The Bible does isolate and emphasize a unique prohibition of fire idolatry, immolating one's child to the idol Moloch, a strange and false god who demands the fire consumption of children as the manner of his devotion.
A number of times, the Bible especially forbids this form of idolatry. Initially it is to be found in the biblical portion of sexual immorality, the prohibition of giving one's seed to a strange and uncertified place (someone else's wife, one's close relatives, individuals of the same sex, animals).
Another description of this abomination appears in the last of the five Books of Moses, "Do not allow any of your offspring to be offered up to Molech." (Leviticus 18:21) The Talmud rules that the prohibition is literally sacrificing one's child in fire to the false god. Apparently such an abominable act could only be performed in a moment of religious fanatic ecstasy, a moment in which one's false religious value took precedence over the life of one's innocent child.
The "strange fire" brought by Nadab and Abihu was certainly not the same, but it too emanated from a moment of religious ecstasy and was condemned.
Tragically, Islamic fundamentalism has adopted precisely this abomination as a major form of its terrorist activity: educating their youths to blow themselves up in the name of Allah. Indeed, these "priests" are worse than the priests of Moloch. These modern-day human sacrifices are inspired not only to sacrifice themselves but also to blow up scores of innocent people along with themselves.
The 15th-century scholar Rav Menahem Meiri taught that an idolater is one who is "immorally defiled in his deeds and ugly in his personality traits."
Islamic fundamentalism has turned Allah into Moloch - Satan, and made every mosque that preaches the doctrine of suicide bombing a hell haven of idolatry.
Rabbi Shlomo Riskin is the spiritual leader of Efrat, Israel.
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