Parshas Tzav - Elevation through Shelamim

I hope that everyone had a wonderful Purim. Being that it is the Friday following Purim, I hope you will all forgive the brevity of today’s piece, as well as the fact that it is off-the-cuff and, perhaps, not as exact as it should be.

 This week’s parasha, Parshas Tzav, continues Sefer Vayikra’s focus on the many types of sacrifices and the particular details of how they are to be offered. As with most of the sefer, great emphasis is put on the actions of the Kohanim. It is, therefore, interesting to note, toward the end of perek 7, the mention of one sacrifice in which the one who offers the sacrifice shadows the kohanim.

 “…He who offers a peace-offering to Hashem, he [himself] shall bring his offering to Hashem from his peace offering. His own hands shall bring it, Hashem’s offering by fire: the fat with the breast shall he bring, that the breast may be waved for a wave offering before Hashem” (Vayikra 7:29-30).

 The peace offering, in Hebrew referred to as the zevach hashelamim, is rooted in Shalom, peace. Tradition teaches us that one of the aspects of the greatness of Aaron Hakohain was that he always sought out peace between others. Perhaps in this correlation of words, we find an important lesson about how significant peace is, about how peace can elevate a person.

 Rav Hirsh (cited in the Stone Chumash) related the waving of the breast to an acknowledgement of Hashem’s omnipresence. Waving the offering right, left, up and down, and forward and back, like the lulav and estrog of Sukkos, acknowledges that Hashem’s presence is everywhere. This looks at the term shelamim (a plural form) from its other definition, as a term for wholeness.

 When one acknowledges that Hashem is everywhere and part of everything, one sees the completeness of the world. When one can see the completeness of the world, one can be at peace with both himself and others. This ability to see the world from a place of completeness and peace, to see ways to bring it all together, elevates a person toward the greatness of Aaron and thus one is able to partake in the service of the offering as a shadow of the kohanim.

 Lessons on the importance of bringing peace and completeness abound, and, given that today is Shushan Purim, it seems apropos to note that this is one theme underlying the Purim story. When Am Yisrael was seen as a scattered nation, we were weak and at the mercy of a great enemy. When Mordechai and Esther brought Klal Yisrael back together, and together in a way that brought our focus back to Hashem, we were able to turn the world upside down.

 As we move forward, in a world that often seems topsy turvy, let us look to find ways to see completeness and, even more so, seek out paths that bring peace. In this way, we will bring the focus of ourselves and, imertz Hashem, the world, back to the ultimate source of all that is good.

 

This Dvar Torah is dedicated to continued besoros tovas/refuah shelaima for Rivka bas Golda.

Parshas Vayikra - Attention in the Details

 Parshas Vayikra – Attention in the Details

Parshas Vayikra is not an easy parsha to stay focussed on while reading it. The repetitious nature of the list of karbanos (sacrifices) requires deliberate concentration, and that is, perhaps, particularly appropriate to note when discussing the fourth perek of Sefer Vayikra, the perek dealing with offering for unintentional sins.

Before looking at Perek daled, it is interesting to note that the first three perakim, each of which focuses on a different type of offering, each refer differently to the person who brings the sacrifice and, then, only once at the beginning of the specific perek. Perek aleph, which discusses elevation offerings, refers to “adam ki yakriv, a human (adam as the term for the most basic level of humanity) who brings an offering” (Vayikra 1:2). Perek beis, describing the various mincha offerings, uses the phrase “Vnephesh ki takriv, When a person (with the inference of a life spirit) offers” (2:1). Perek gimmel, which is a peace offering, does not actually mention who is bringing it but takes a more passive form of “If his offering is a feast peace offering” (3:1).

The fourth perek, which describes the unintentional-sin offering, returns to the term, nephesh/person, but only for one pasuk, 4:2, before it seems to repeat with a different subject. Thus we have: “Speak to Bnei Yisrael, saying: If any person shall sin through error, in any of the things that God has commanded not to be done, and shall do any one of them: if the anointed priest shall sin so as to bring guilt on the people, then let him offer for his sin, which he has sinned, a young bullock without blemish to God for a sin-offering” (4:2-3).

While the perek begins with a general person, it immediately switches to specific person. And whereas the previous three perakim used only pronouns to refer to the person bringing the offering at all points after the first mention, in perek daled the person (or persons) bringing the sin offering changes a total of four times. The offering of the anointed kohain begins at 4:2. At 4:13, the subject switches to “kol aidas Yisrael/the entire congregation of Israel.” Pasuk 4:22 describes what must happen if the one who sins unintentionally is a prince of the people. Finally, at verse 27, the text refers back to the nephesh, the person.

The fact that this is some sort of hierarchy is, it seems, obvious. For that very reason, it seems important to recall that the offering being discussed is for unintentional sin. There was no intent. The transgression occurred because the person was either not paying attention, was not meticulous enough in his/her actions, or because they chose, at that moment, not to care enough to put their full effort in.

That the offering is for unintentional sin brings a different significance to the hierarchy. The fact that the anointed priest is mentioned first informs us of the weight of his responsibility. He had to be the type of person who would not slip into laxity of concentration, who would be conscientious of his actions at all times. Why then, one might ask, is the congregation of Israel mentioned next. This goes to the concept, perhaps, of kol Yisrael areivim zeh l’zeh, all of Israel is responsible for one another. We can only get to a state where the entirety of the klal sins unintentionally if we do not act as guardians of each other (appropriately, of course, not as hashgafa police). We all have to care.

That a prince and a person are distinguished is an additional reminder that being a leader requires one to know that he or she must live to a higher standard. How often do we see those in positions of power knocked down for an infraction that only happened because of their position of power? How often does one see the attainment of power, fame, fortune, and etc, lead to a relaxation in standards because one thinks that they suddenly know better or cannot be called out? From a Torah perspective, to be a leader, to be a prince, means that one has an even greater responsibility to be conscientious and meticulous to follow the Torah correctly.

Without a Beis Hamikdash, it is easy to read the parshiot of the sacrifices with one’s eyes only. How many bulls or libations or turtledoves can one read about. And yet within those pasukim are valuable lessons about living one’s life in the best possible way.

This Dvar Torah is written with thoughts of our brethren fleeing the war and with prayers for continued besoros tovos/refuah shelaima for Rivka bas Golda.

Parshas Pekudei - Doing It Exactly Right

Parshas Pekudei, the last parsha in Sefer Shemos, concludes the inspired undertaking of the building of the Mishkan. The parshiot pertaining to the Mishkan are vastly detailed, listing what was to be made, how it was made, that it was made, and now, in this parsha, how it was all to be assembled.

 

At the end of perek 39, Bnei Yisrael brought all that they had produced to Moshe, and it is written: “Like everything that Hashem commanded Moshe, so did the Children of Israel perform all the labor. Moshe saw the entire work, and behold!  - they had done it as Hashem had commanded, so had they done! And Moshe blessed them” (39:42-43).

 

It is an interesting order of statement.  Why does the Torah mentioned that they performed all of the labor and then describe what seems to be Moshe’s surprise that they had done it as Hashem had commanded?

 

One possible key to understanding Moshe’s reaction is the opening section of Parshas Pekudei. The parsha begins, “Eleh pekudei HaMishkan… These are the reckonings of the Tabernacle” (38:21). Shortly thereafter the Torah provides an exacting account of the gold and the silver that was collected from the people and how it used in the Mishkan. Commentators highlight this section as a demonstration of Moshe’s good character and as an example of honesty in business and being particular in one’s accounting.

 

Although Moshe’s apparent astonishment and the details of his accounting are not side by side, they are a fascinating comparison of expectations. The bar for Moshe is detailed diligence. The bar for Bnei Yisrael is that they actually fulfilled the commandments to the detail. This seems an interesting reflection of the frequent hashgafic discussion of the different definition of transgression for a Tzadik and a regular person. The small sin of a great man sometimes seems to have a far deeper consequence than the great sin of a common man. For instance, if almost any other member of Bnei Yisrael had hit the rock as Moshe did (in parsha Chukas), would the punishment have been as severe?

 

Pasuk 39:43 is praise for Bnei Yisrael. The word that translates as “behold” is Hinei, which echos back to Avraham’s famous declaration of “Hinneni, I am here,” at the outset of the Akeidah (and other places). In that instance, Avraham declares Hinneni as a demonstration that he is ready and willing to do Hashem’s will. Perhaps this is what Moshe understood when he saw that Bnei Yisrael had truly completed the task to Hashem’s specifications. Bnei Yisrael was ready, at that moment, to be fully compliant (as we say today).

 

This was significant because the process of creating the Mishkan was done through a chastised people. The building of the Mishkan was a direct result of the Chait Ha’egel, when the people had so quickly deviated from Hashem’s commandments because they thought they knew better how to calculate time. When Moshe sees that they have brought each thing “as Hashem had commanded,” he sees that they have attained a level of hinneni, of being willing to put aside their own will, their own creativity, in order to serve Hashem.

 

Jewish writing often discusses the yetzer harah and the yetzer hatov, which are translated as the evil inclination and the inclination for good. The word yetzer, however, comes from a verb that also means to create. Each of us has a deep-seated need to create our own path in this world. Even as most of us strive to do so on a good path, on the path dictated by the Torah, we know that this is not always easy. To follow the dictates exactly as Hashem has commanded is an incredible task that, as most Mussar sefarim will detail, is easily derailed by mankind’s unique ability to rationalize our behavior so that even when we believe we are doing right, our own subconscious will may lead us to perform the mitzvos as we see best and not necessarily to the exact, exact specifications of halacha.

 

Let us all learn from Moshe, from Bnei Yisrael, and from Parsha Pekudei how blessed those moments of true fulfillment of Hashem’s will can be.

 

Dedicated for continued besoros tovos/refuah shelaima for Rivka bas Golda, and with prayers for peace and comfort to those in the war zone.