Tzav

This week's parsha deals with sacrifices offered in the Tabernacle and subsequently in the Temple. The Rabbis take notice of the out-of the-ordinary opening verse of the parsha - "And God spoke to Moshe, saying: command Aharon and his sons, saying: this is the instruction for the burnt-offering". It is rare for the Torah to tell us that God told Moshe to "command" his brother Aharon about the ritual in the Temple. Usually the Torah simply says that God told Moshe to tell Aharon what to do. Why, the Rabbis ask, is this particular instruction, pertaining to the ritual of the burnt offering, couched in the language of a commandment, rather than, as is more often the case, simply in the language of a communication?  READ MORE »

This week, we read Parshat Tzav, which deals with some of the specifics of the basic daily sacrifices, and the ritual which was practiced in order to sanctify Aharon and his sons as priests who serve in the Temple. This week is also the Shabbat before Passover, which is traditionally called Shabbat HaGadol - the great Shabbat, the Shabbat which precedes the exodus from Egypt and the birth of the free Jewish nation. One of the sacrifices discussed in the Parsha is the Mincha, or grain offering. This sacrifice, brought by the priests on a daily basis, as well as by other individuals on certain occasions, consisted of flour, olive oil, and frankincense. A handful of it was offered on the altar, and the remainder was eaten by the priests. Interestingly, the Torah tells us that the Mincha must be made "Kosher for Passover" - ???? ???? - "as a Matza (unleavened bread) it is to be eaten…it is not to be baked as leaven". This, in fact, is the rule for all but one of the various grain offerings in the Temple. Why does God demand that grain offerings not be allowed to leaven? Why is the law prohibiting chametz (leavened bread), which seems to be specific to the Passover holiday, enforced all year long in the Temple? The symbolism of refraining from eating leavened bread on Pesach seems to be fairly straightforward. When the Israelites left Egypt, they were forced to leave very quickly; the Egyptians were, understandably, totally freaked out by the Plague of the First-Born, and pressed the Jews to leave as speedily as possible. As a result of this need to rush, the Torah tells us that "they baked the dough which they had brought out of Egypt into Matzot, for it had not fermented, for they had been driven out of Egypt, and were not able to linger…" On Passover, we eat Matza and refrain from eating chametz to commemorate this event.  READ MORE »