10:2 “A fire came forth…and consumed them and they died.” 10:9 “Do not drink wine nor strong drink, you, and your sons with you, when you go into the tent of meeting…”

Immediately after the sons of Aharon were killed for doing a forbidden service in the Temple, the Torah tells us the law that a Kohen is not permitted to serve in the Temple if he is intoxicated. Chazal tell us that one of the sins that Aharon’s sons did was that they served as Priests while intoxicated. The question is obvious: How could the sons of Aharon be punished for serving while intoxicated if there had not yet been taught such a law?

There is a similar question asked about Moshe Rabbeinu, who expressed his anger at the members of the army when they did not kill out the women of Midian: “Don’t you realize that they were the source of the sin – they should be killed!” Yet as there was no commandment, why was he angry with these men? It seems to be that Moshe was blaming them for not using their intelligence during the war.

Many times we are told that we are obligated to think for ourselves. But there are seemingly an equal number of times when we are told “Don’t think – just follow orders.” Indeed, it can be confusing to know when to use the first approach and when to use the second. This concept of whether understanding the idea behind a mitzvah has halachic meaning is a dispute brought in the Mishnah. Rebbi Shimon holds that one is supposed to delve into understanding the reasons of the Torah in order to bring forth halachos based on those understandings, and others disagree.

I would like to offer a possible insight as to which approach to use for which situations. Sometimes we have a general commandment which is to produce a certain kind of environment. That environment, being that it is to cause us to relate to things in a certain way, was given to us to legislate. An example of this is the mitzvah of the Neviim with regards to observing Shabbos. When they saw that Klal Yisrael was lax in their observance of the laws of Shabbos, it became necessary to legislate the spirit as well. Similarly, a person who is serving in The Holy Temple must understand that they are part of a serious and sacred service, which would obviate the need to legislate the prohibition of serving while intoxicated. So too, since the Bnei Yisrael were obligated to take revenge against Midian, they should have understood by themselves, that eradicating the women would be essential to producing the proper result.

Many times people ask me if something is technically permitted or forbidden. I think that we can learn from the sons of Aharon that one can be punished – sometimes as severely as with death – for doing something that is technically permissible.

We now stand in the days between Purim and Pesach, and people are consumed with learning the halachos of Pesach in order to perform the mitzvos properly. This puts people into the proper frame of mind for performing an appropriate service of avodas Hashem. These frenzied activities and learning the halachos of Pesach set the stage for all of the stringencies which permeate the Pesach atmosphere. When people ask “where does it say that one must be so particular?”, when we look around at the spiritual environment, it becomes self-evident.

May we all merit to have a Pesach kasher v’sameach.