Why this tune?
This week’s tune is another addition to my evolving “Parsha Songs” project, a collection of songs inspired by each of the 54 weekly Torah portions in the Jewish tradition. The title comes from Leviticus 10:1 in Parashat Shemini, describing how two sons of Aaron, Nadav and Avihu, brought to the sacrificial altar “strange fire, which had not been commanded from them.” They paid for that act of defiance with their lives.
“Strange fire” was the most evocative translation for me of the Hebrew “esh zara (אש זרה)” That phrase inspired a lyric written from the point of view of the two sons, or anyone attracted to explore new and “strange” places and ideas. I think we can understand the appeal, especially when we’re told that they’re dangerous of forbidden. As the song says, “The more they said we couldn’t / The more we had to try.”
Thanks to Pexels and cottonbro studio for the video clip.
Oren Levine, jazz pianist and songwriter 