Parashat tetzaveh

summary

Last Shabbat we heard how the Children of Israel were to build the mishkan, the desert tabernacle, in which they were to worship God. These instructions are presented as being given to Moses on Mount Sinai. This week's portion (Exodus 27:20 - 30:10) begins with the Hebrew words "ve'atah tetzaveh," which translate as "And you shall further instruct". The Torah as self-assembly instruction manual continues.

God tells Moses to instruct the Israelites to bring olive oil for lighting the lamp of the mishkan. The lamps, which are to be the responsibility of Aaron and his sons, are to burn from evening until morning. They are, of course the antecedent of the Ner Tamid which burns above our Ark and the ark of pretty much every Synagogue in the world.

The parasha goes on to describe the special garments that the "kohen gadol" (high priest) must wear when he approaches the altar to officiate in the sanctuary. These are garments that are paralleled in the design of a fully decorated Sefer Torah complete with Rimonim (bells or crowns), Breastplate, Mantle and Crown. Aaron and his sons are ordained as "kohanim" (priests) in these clothes through a seven-day ceremony involving washing, dressing, anointing them with oils and offering various sacrifices.

The parsha concludes with instructions for the investiture (the ceremonies in which the priestly vestments and lights are employed), their ordination building an altar at which incense is to be burned every morning when the lamps are tended.

Next Shabbat the instructions will finish and we will hear what the Children of Israel have been getting up to at the foot of the Mount Sinai while Moses has been so busy at the Summit these forty days. It’s not good news!

Rabbi Mark Goldsmith

commentary

Parasha tetzaveh may seem on face value not to be the most interesting of the parashiot – no stories, no good characters and no one doing anything wrong. Indeed, much of the latter part may seem to us grotesque. However, when we ignore parts of our tradition we sometimes miss one or two nuggets.

“And you, yourself, command the Israelites to bring you clear oil of beaten olives for lighting, for kindling lamps continually…it shall be a due from the Israelites for all time, throughout the ages…for there I will meet you, and there I will speak to you, and there I will meet the Israelites, and it shall be sanctified by My Presence. I will sanctify the Tent of Meeting and the altar, and I will consecrate Aaron and his sons to serve Me as priests. I will abide with the Israelites and I will be their God.” (Ex 27:20& 21b; 29:42b-45)

The lamp is called ner tamid. We have made it into a physical object, the eternal light over the Arks which contain our scrolls dressed like the Temple priests, in our Synagogues, the place where God’s Presence will be amongst us.

Do you remember this passage from the Midrash that I quoted last week:

“Tell Israel that I order them to build Me a tabernacle, not because I lack a dwelling…but only as a token of My affection for you will I leave My heavenly temple and dwell among you.” i.e. Obviously you need such a place. It will help you experience Me. (Midrash Aggadah Ex 27:1 and Tanhuma Buber IV 35)

We need physicality, sometimes because it is a human need. However, perhaps sometimes through our lack of creative or deep thought about our texts. We are not instructed to make a lamp (noun) but to continually enable light (verb). We are not asked to make all accoutrement of the Israelite cult for their mere physical beauty but to facilitate our being able to create time and space for God in our lives.

When we look at our ritual traditions, what was the essence behind them, the purpose? Sometimes we need to take a few more moments to look through the ritual and physical of the plain text to find the real nuggets.

culture

In this vein, I wanted to include this passage honour of my teacher Rabbi Professor Jonathan Magonet whose forthcoming retirement as the Principal of Leo Baeck College - Centre for Jewish Education, after three decades of driving this very special institution forwards, has been announced this week. He will continue lecturing at the college in Bible. This is from his book "A Rabbi's Bible":

My first studies were in medicine. Having a scientific discipline behind me made me highly critical when I came into the field of biblical studies. Too much of it was merely the repetition of what someone had posited over a century ago and too many hypotheses had taken on the nature of a dogma that could not be criticized. Too much of scholarship seemed to be concerned with disinterring and dissecting a dead body rather than engagement with the wonder of a living organism ... The Bible is always in dialogue with us, believers and non-believers alike - and what seems to matter is less the "truth" we discover than the integrity with which we struggle with that "truth" and try to assimilate it into our lives.

The Rabbis summed up this view very nicely when they pointed out that at the burning bush, God introduced himself to Moses as "the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob" - but not as the 'God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.' Why is this the case? Because each of the patriarchs had to discover God for himself out of his own experience in his own time, certain only that it was the same God. If the Rabbis are right, then this process never stops, and the act of interpreting the Bible is our own way, in each generation, of entering the same process of discovery, but carrying with us as we do it, all the understanding and lessons of the past.