Finally, after two parshiyot of various details regarding tamei and tahara, we get, in the maftir, the sole reason for all this incredible attention to detail: do not come into the mishkan in a state of tamei because if you do, you will contaminate the mishkan and die. All of this, while certainly having an undercurrent of being for the benefit of ourselves or our community, is all, in fact, for H' and G-d's "dwelling place" here on earth, the details of which were discussed at length in previvous parshiyot beginning in Sefer Shemot.
Why, though? Shouldn't we be able to come before G-d "just as we are"?
I mean, certainly in many respects, yes, I'm sure G-d invites us to come in whatever state, even in states of which we ourselves may be ashamed. But, at the same time, there are certain holy physical and spiritual areas that should require an extensive and intensive amount of preparation - preparation of our entire beings: physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual. That when we come, the sheer magnitude of Holy Presence is enough to annihilate us if we are not totally prepared. It's like that story of the pardes - four went in and only one, Rabbi Akiva, went out. The three who didn't make it were all incredibly high spiritual masters - just as Nadav and Avihu were - but still (and there are many opinions as to why) not adequately prepared. This sort of space - the mishkan - is not something to be toyed with or taken lightly or casually. It is literally the most concentrated area of Divine Presence in the entire world - still accessible to regular humans - and we better be at our best and ready to encounter such Presence.
The Torah still hasn't given the slightest hint as to what actually causes a person to become tamei (obviously we know the physical signs and symptoms of it, but not the underlying spiritual ones), and while I think the commentary is hugely helpful here (especially the Talmud which lists and then cites seven different causes for tza'raat), perhaps there's also some potential room her for subjectivity and relation of a personal nature. Personally, whenever I get sick or something negative happens, I am trying to be on the hunt for the underlying spiritual cause of it (and by the way, this isn't that special, just think of how many people say "karma!" in regular conversation) and I do try and prepare my whole being before engaging in special activities like Torah study, prayer, or meditation. But at the same time, these likely aren't life or death situations like approaching the mishkan was. Imagine how much attentive to our actions we would be if that type of objective fate - death for tamei - was.
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