Tzav

Tzav - Adam Frankenberg 

Adam is an experienced Jewish educator. He is a member of Menorah Synagogue (Reform) and is a research student at Manchester University.

It is safe to say that many people tend to ignore those sections of the Tanach that are concerned with the laws of the Temple and the sacrificial cult. However this is not the case in traditional Orthodox communities where, when Jewish children start studying Torah they begin with the book of Vayikra (Leviticus). The second sedra that they would encounter is parashat Tzav.

Tzav starts with the very familiar phrase 'And HaShem Spoke to Moshe saying'. Nahmanides (13th century commentator) comments elsewhere (Exodus 6:10) that the words 'and HaShem Spoke to Moshe saying' are normally followed by 'speak to the children of Israel', and that even if this is not the case the words that follow this introduction are normally meant to be conveyed to Bnei Yisrael.

This is not the case here. The opening of Tzav continues, 'Command (Tzav) Aaron and his sons saying this is the Law of the Olah (burnt offering), that remains on the altar through the night until the morning and the fire of the altar shall be upon it' (Leviticus 6:2). This form of address to Aaron and his sons indicates that the priestly role is on a par with that of Bnei Yisrael, and elsewhere Israel is indeed invited to be a nation of priests (Exodus 19:4).

Here however the role of priests is presented in terms of the sacrificial system. What can this material possibly have to say to me and for that matter the young children in their cheder class?

In the Sefat-Emet on Parshat Tzav, Rabbi Yehudah Leib Alter of Ger (1847 -1905) comments on the verse "An eternal fire shall be upon the altar it shall not be extinguished" (Leviticus 6:6). For R'Yehudah, this fire is expressive of a person's service. Everyday, he states, a new light descends to those who pray. In his reading the mundane particulars of sacrifice have been transformed into a powerful and beautiful allegory of prayer and of prayer's ability to change the devotee.

The Sefat-Emet goes on to say that the fire, which must burn eternally, is the fear of G-d and that the wood that was to be burnt upon it every morning (Leviticus 6:5) is the love of G-d.

Torah is often compared to water, but sometimes in a more unsettling metaphor Torah is compared to fire. In the Tanya of Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liady (1745-1813) it says 'by pondering on His unfathomable and infinite greatness; and from them shall be born, though the daat (knowledge), awe in his mind and dread of G-d in his heart, as well as love of G-d that shall flare up like a glowing fire in his heart, like flaming coals (Tanya Book One Chapter 9).

Taken together these two comments can be seen to transform an unpromising section of Torah into a profound spiritual lesson.