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Weekly Torah Portion – Parshat Hashavua TZAV

By: Rabbi Nissim Mordechai Makor

TZAV in a nutshell: This week’s Torah reading, Tzav, continues describing the various sacrifices offered in the Tabernacle and Temple — a topic started in last week’s reading. This is followed by an account of the seven-day inaugural of the Tabernacle.

When Hashem told Moshe to gather the people before the Communion Tent’s entrance, Moshe said to Hashem, “Lord of the universe, the whole area in front of the entrance is only fifty [seventy-five feet] by fifty cubits.” The Torah had said earlier, “The length of the courtyard shall be one hundred cubits and its width shall be fifty by fifty” Shemos 27:18. The Me’am Loez tells us that Moshe then said, How can such a small area hold all of Israel? There are 600,000 adult men and at least that many women and children.”

“Do not wonder about this,” replied God. “I can take the firmament, which is like the membrane of an eye, and spread it out from one end of the earth to the other. I will tell My prophet, “He spreads out the heaven like a curtain and spreads it out as a tent to live in” [Isaiah 40:22]. Also, millions of angels came to Mount Sinai, yet they all stood on the mountain. [This was a great miracle; God commanded that the mountain stretch out.] Here too, through My Word, the place will stretch to hold them all.”

• Candle Lighting Times for Shabbat Tzav
• Parsha Index
• First timer’s guide to a Shabbat dinner

With Hashem’s help, this will also happen at the resurrection Everyone, from Adam until the end of time, will come back to life, and they will stand in Yerushalyim, yet Yerushalayim’s area will increase at Hashem’s command, as it is written, “Expand the place of your tent and the curtain of your Tabernacle; spread out; DO NOT STOP. “[Isaiah 54;2].

The Torah informs us that when the dawn of that morning [of redemption] finally looms, G-ds anger will burn and consume all those who have tortured us during the many years of our exile and especially the Western nations [i.e. the inquisition, pogroms’ and Holocaust]. The words “and the fire of the alter” are an allusion to the many afflictions we have endured at the hands of the merciless Gentiles who did not have pity on us seeing G’d had already punished us for so many years. The word also recalls the self-sacrifice exhibited by Yitzchak when he lay bound on the alter. The word “alter” always conjures up the attribute of Justice in our minds.

The thanksgiving-offering symbolizes the union of opposites. It was brought with both matzah and chametz, hinting that one should try to join these opposites together, creating a cause for true thanksgiving. On Pesach, we eat only matzah; on Shavuot, we bring two loaves of bread (referred to as “thanksgiving loaves”) as a Temple offering. These “opposite” holidays are linked through the Torah portion of Parashat Tzav, which details the thanksgiving-offering and is usually read before Pesach to remind us that the main goal of the Exodus on Pesach was to attain the Torah on Shavous.

Verse 7:23 SAYS “Do not eat any of the fats of an ox, sheep or goat.” Fats represent pride and haughtiness, as in “they enclosed themselves in their fats; their mouths spoke arrogantly” Psalms 17:10. Therefore the fats must be place upon the Alter, for all pride belongs to God, as in “God has reigned, in pride He has dressed.” By sacrificing the fats, one elevates blemished haughtiness to God.

The fats lie adjacent to, and conceal, the kidneys. The fats represent the enticements and materialistic desires of this world, which negatively affect one’s ability to determine the correct path in life. Therefore, the fats are forbidden. However, the fats are permitted indeed, required to be placed upon the Alter when a sacrifice is brought. This action rectifies wrong advice and elevates it to the realm of holiness.

Fats, which are whitish, represent Laban [whose name literally means “white”]. Blood represents Esau [whose complexion was red, see Genesis 25:25]. Both fats and blood are forbidden, yet the second is conceptually worse than the first.

Though Laban was a deceitful person who used his cunning for evil, his root source lay in the lofty levels of holiness. He represents the kelipah of nogah, which contains both good and evil. Thus, Yaakov worked to marry Laban’s daughters in order to reveal the holiness that was present in Laban in the form of his daughters and he worked an extra six years in order to elevate the sparks of holiness in Laban’s wealth. Esau, in contrast, represents total evil. Therefore, Yaakov avoided Esau entirely for 22 years and when they met again, he refused Esau’s offer to travel together and instead parted ways.

The Lakueti Halachat teaches us that Laban and Esau also represent two types of sinners. Laban is like the person who commits an accidental sin because he finds himself caught up in a situation that leads to sin. It is as if the situation itself deceives and traps him. This type of sin is very difficult to avoid. But Esau is like the person who commits an intentional sin because of his “hot blood.” This type of sin is easier to battle, simply by confronting it head on.

By eating, a person nourishes his blood and adds to his bodily fats. By fasting, a person stops his blood and his fats from increasing. Both the blood and fats of a sacrificial animal are placed upon the Altar. Therefore, through the act of fasting, a person is regarded as if he sacrifices himself to Hashem.

The verse 7:37 “This is the Torah of the burnt-offering, to bring their sacrifices.” Man’s primary mission is to elevate all levels of creation mineral, vegetable and animal to the highest level, that of the “speaker” [i.e. man himself]. One who merits the level of “speaker” can bring forth all the good found in others by judging them favorably and elaborating on that good in articulated speech. Similarly, the sacrifices were meant to elevate creation by bringing mineral, vegetable and animal components upon the Alter to God. In the absence of the Temple sacrifices today, our Sages teach: “When a person studies the laws of the sacrifices, it is as if he has offered all the sacrifices” [Menachos 110a]. Thus, our speech has the power to elevate to God.

The Shem Mishmuel leads us to a discussion of the nature of accidental sin. Why does it happen at all? At a simple level, for example, a person forgets that it’s Shabbos or that a particular action is prohibited, and during this period of forgetfulness breaks a law of Shabbos.  Since his act was accidental, we treat him accordingly, obliging him to bring a chatas offering to atone for it.

Candle Lighting Times for Shabbat Tzav

Parsha Index

But why does this happen?  We may suggest that when a person accidentally sins, there is more to it than mere chance. In reality the person concerned has a strong desire to do a particular act but refrains from actually doing it because he knows that the Torah prohibits it. He doesn’t actually hate the idea of doing the act but his consciousness of God’s will prevails, holding him back from fulfilling his desires. This means that despite the fact that he is controlling himself, his desire for the act is creating a connection between his psyche and the deed. The consequence of this is that he is controlling himself, his desire for the act is creating a connection between his psyche and the deed.  The consequence of this is that while he would never consciously do the sin, when his guard is down, that is when he isn’t thinking, his reflex will be to do it. This is the true accidental sin one which he has a desire to do and controls, but when he isn’t mindful it just slips out.

The connection between the olah and the chatas should now be clear.  Quite unexpectedly, both are offered for sins for the mind, for inappropriate, sinful thoughts. In the case of the OLAH, the thoughts remained thoughts, but in the case of the chatas, they resulted in accidental sin. As such, the atonement for this is very similar. And, given that they are both sins of the mind they are both slaughtered in the north, which as we have seen, symbolizes the power of the intellect.

Shabbat Shalom

Yeshiva Pirchei Shoshanim

Reading Time: 5 minutes

Weekly Torah Portion -Parshat Hashavua PIKUDEI

By: Rabbi Nissim Mordechai Makor

Pikudei in a nutshell: This week’s portion, Pikudei, describes the manufacture of the vestments of the priests and high priests — which were already described in the portion of Tetzaveh, where G‑d instructs Moses how these garments are to be assembled. The Tabernacle is erected, and G‑d’s presence dwells therein

The purpose of the Mishkan was intended to be a location where the Divine Presence rested and was more palpable than in any other place in the world. The very name Mishkan means “dwelling place,”, and indeed, in introducing the concept of the Mishkan, the Torah proclaims: In Shemos 25:8. The Shem Mishmuel teaches us that every aspect of the Mishkan contributed to this aim, the building itself and each vessel within it needed to be designed to receive and transmit the Divine Presence. This is not dissimilar to the relationship between the body and soul within each person. The body is a vehicle for the soul’s existence in this world; so too, were the details of the Mishkan the means by which God’s Presence could be perceived on earth.

The right of the Jewish Nation to benefit from this wonderful Mishkan was a great gift from God. For after the sine of the eigel [the golden calf], they were in a spiritually bereft state and hardly suited to such a tremendous manifestation of the Divine. However, God granted them the Mishkan, enabling them to perceive Him even while they were in a spiritually inferior situation. At this stage they had been spiritually animated enough to realize that they were dissatisfied with the mere hope that God would rest among them. Instead, they knew that their task in life to be, like the vessels in the Mishkan, vehicles for the Divine.

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• Parsha Index
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This was symbolized by the order of construction that we have mentioned. For the lower coverings were spread before the beams were put underneath to support them. This represents the people who, after the sin of the eigel, were given a Mishkan before they were really able to support the spiritual level it represented. Only after the curtains had been spread could the beams be put underneath. So, too, after the spiritual life provided by the construction of the Mishkan the people could support the level they had been granted by God.

The Likutey Halachat teaches us that the Mishkan [tabernacle] shares the same root as Shakhein [neighbor].  For the purpose of the Tabernacle, like the Temple that succeeded it, was to draw people together to serve Hashem.

The verse 38:21 tells us that the Mishkan is mentioned twice, because whether it is erected or destroyed, it always remains with us.  The Tabernacle was dismantled every time the Israelites journeyed and rebuilt every time they encamped to reach us that it accompanies us always. The Jews were able to travel through the desert a place of serpents, poisonous snakes and scorpions, a place devoid of faith and serenity, a place filled remained with them. [Likutei Halachot].

Rashi, adds that the repetition of the word Mishkan [Tabernacle] alludes to the two Temples that were eventually destroyed. Mishkan connotes haMShakah (drawing close to Hashem). The Tabernacle radiated Godliness in the desert. The Temples illuminated holiness to the Diaspora. Nowadays, sanctity is drawn wherever people gather in synagogues. By building the Tabernacle in the desert, Moshe prepared for the eventuality that the Jews could invoke Godliness even in a place devoid of Godliness and be able to sanctify a synagogue.

The Talmud in Shabbos 73a tells us that thirty-Nine Acts of Labor were involved in building the Tabernacle. Whenever a person works for the sake of God, even if he is engaged in mundane tasks, his actions are considered to be analogous to building the Mishkan. Such activity is beneficial for everyone, because it draws down the “dew of blessing”, i.e. tal, has the numerical value of 39.

Conversely, if a person works solely for material benefit, his 39 acts correspond to the 39 lashes meted out by a Jewish court for certain offenses [Devorim 25:3] and to the 39 curses that Adam, Eve and the SNAKE incurred after Adam ate from the Tree of Knowledge. Therefore, the word Mishkan is mentioned twice in this verse, once representing the 39 acts when they are properly carried out and lead to blessing and the building of the Tabernacle, and once representing the Thirty-Nine acts where they are improperly carried out and lead to suffering and the destruction of the Mishkan. Likutei Moharan

The Ohr HaChaim teaches us that Moshe’s ability to erect the Tabernacle was not due to supernatural help but that his intellectual powers were equal to the challenge to put together and erect the Tabernacle. The Torah therefore adds in the next verse that Betzalel son of Uri made everything G’d had commanded Moshe to do. Our sages deduce from this verse that Betzalel even carried out details which Moshe had not told him about and that Moshe subsequently expressed his approval.

The Torah goes on to say that Betzalel’s assistant Oholiov also contributed to his knowledge, our sages in the above quoted Midrash Shemos Rabbah 52 stated that even all the combined wisdom of these two architects of the projects did not suffice to enable them to erect the Tabernacle. There really had been no need to tell us once more of Betzalel’s contribution to the project.

If the Torah nonetheless mentioned it again it may have been to exclude the assumption by the reader that in the end the Tabernacle was erected without supernatural assistance, Ice. to remind us that Moshe had a divine assist. Once the erection of the Tabernacle by Moshe is accepted as demonstrating divine assistance, his accounting may certainly be considered as approved by G-d.

R’ Moshe Feinstein zt’l comes to teach us some profound lessons that can be applied to every aspect of our lives at every moment of our existence. Just as the artisans had to account for their use of every ounce of material that was donated for the construction of the Mishkan and its furnishings, so also we must be able to give an accounting for all the bounty with which Hashem has blessed us with.

Candle Lighting Times for Shabbat Pikudei

Parsha Index

This includes our time. Do we devote the days and years Hashem allots us to Torah and mitzvos or do we, Heaven forbid, squander them on frivolities.  This also pertains to our money and possessions. Not only will we asked whether we used them for tzedakah and other aspects of helping people, we will also be asked if we were careful to use them wisely and productively for these purposes.

We should not think that the resources Hashem gives us are ours to use as we desire. On the contrary, the Torah, gives detailed rules governing the use of property. To give but one example, it is forbidden to destroy even one penny unnecessarily. Moreover, when the institution of Yovel [Jubilee year] is in force, there are laws regulating the transfer of property, although a buyer and seller may both wish to do so, it is impossible to sell an inherited field in perpetuity, since the Torah states [Vayikra 25:23], for the land is Mine. Similarly, each of us will be called to account as to whether he has utilized all the abilities and talents Hashem granted him to fulfill Hashem’s will through Torah and mitzvos.

Shabbat Shalom

Yeshiva Pirchei Shoshanim