In this week’s Torah Pearls, we explore the strange fire that is the dramatic theophany at the altar and ask, did Jehovah eat the fat on the altar, and if so, did He also eat Nadab and Abihu?! We compare multiple texts describing the same event from different angles, examine whether holiness (or uncleanness) is contagious, and ask if Leviticus 11 and Deuteronomy 14 are really saying the same thing about diet. Plus, did God ever want sacrifices at all, or was it the “lying pen of the scribes”? Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and even a few Dead Sea Scrolls weigh in.

---

---