Parshas Tzav – Preparations

Perhaps the most honest statement a person today could express about this week’s parsha, and many of the parshios in Sefer Vayikra, is a confession of ignorance. We can imagine the sensations of holiness. We can conceptualize the ebb and flow of the offerings. We can discuss every detail of the necessary prayers and rituals. But, in truth, for most of us of the modern era (and even the not so modern era), the actuality of bringing live animals to a priest for him to slaughter and cut up and burn is extremely foreign. Indeed, as residents of a Western culture, one might even feel a negative taint to the concept - perhaps because we have come so far from being an agrarian society.

 

So what can one share in a Dvar Torah on the parshios of Sefer Vayikra? The sanctified rituals of the holy offerings may be distant from us, but the work of avodah is not. We may not serve Hashem in the same way as our ancestors, but we dedicate ourselves to His service in ways unique and significant to our own generation.

 

Parshas Tzav includes a description of Aaron and his sons’ investiture into the priesthood. This meant Moshe dressing them in their special garments and anointing them. This meant Moshe preparing offerings and burning them. This meant Moshe anointing the priests again, this time with oil mixed with blood from the altar, before they then consume the sacrificial meats.

 

The investiture of Aaron and his sons into the priesthood meant Aaron and his sons being instructed to remain in the Ohel Moed for seven days: “…until the day of the completion of your investiture days, he will inaugurate you for seven days. Everything done today, Hashem has commanded to be done [seven days], to make expiation for you. You shall remain at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting day and night for seven days, keeping Hashem’s charge—that you may not die—for so I have been commanded.” (8:33-35).

 

In order for Aaron and his sons to go through the full process of investiture, to achieve the full level sanctification, they must repeat the process dictated in Parshas Tzav for seven days. This week-long preparation resonates in particular at this time of year when our lives are full of preparation and repetition. Clean a room, and clean it again, and clean it again until the final check. Detailed preparation and waiting… waiting to get to a point of being able to perform our ritual celebrating the freedom of becoming Avdei Hashem.

 

Our avodah, particularly at this time of year, doesn’t necessarily feel like the concept of avodah discussed in the Torah. We talk about our tefilla being the equivalent to the avodah in the Beis Hamikdash. That is avodah as service, but avodah also means work. In the first half of Nissan, whether you are working on preparing your house or reviewing and mastering all of the laws of the holiday, the work is real, and real work can feel tedious and repetitive, especially when one studies the same texts year after year. But such repetitiveness plays an important role in our preparations.

Aaron and his sons spent seven days going through the same service in order to prepare themselves to be the spiritual leaders of klal Yisrael. Every day they were dressed in their vestements, and everyday they listened to Moshe instruct them on the rites of the sacrifice, and everyday they ate the meat of the sacrifices that Moshe brought. These were men chosen out for their spiritual greatness. These were people who had already been working on preparing themselves for their roles.  How easy it would have been for them to get frustrated at the repetition of their passive roles during these seven days. “And Aaron and his sons did all the things that Hashem had commanded through Moses” (8:36).

 

The process of preparation has its own level of significance and importance. For each day that they stayed in the Ohel and repeated the process of the day before, they garnered a more profound understanding of their responsibilities. Preparation is never just a means to an end, but rather a process unto itself. It may get frustrating. It may be challenging. But it must be viewed for its own inherent purpose and benefit.

 

There are many people who rejoice at the idea of going away for Pesach. The idea of not spending hours cleaning multiple rooms or “turning over” the kitchen seems enviable, and yet there are few Jews one would meet who do nothing to prepare their homes, because the process, too, is part of the celebration.

 

Wishing you all a good Shabbas, and a Pesach that is kasher and sameach and spiritually uplifting.