Berina Yiktzoru · Tetzaveh

A word from the editor

This Parashah begins: "And you shall command Bnai Yisrael and they shall take to you pure olive oil, crushed for lighting, to kindle the lamps continually".

It is a known fact that the name of Mosheh is not mentioned in this Parashah at all. The Baal Haturim says "And you shall command" – Mosheh's name is not mentioned at all in this Parashah whereas in all the rest of the Parashiot since the time Mosheh was born, there is not a portion where Mosheh's name is not mentioned. The reason his name is not mentioned in this Parashah is because Mosheh said "Erase me please from the book that you have written" (After the sin of the Golden Calf, Mosheh pleaded to Hashem to forgive Bnai Yisrael and Mosheh said that if Bnai Yisrael would not be forgiven, then Mosheh's name should be erased). Even though the condition for Mosheh's curse, the destruction of Bnai Yisrael, was not fulfilled, his curse was nonetheless fulfilled. The curse of a righteous person, even if it is conditional, will be fulfilled. Why in the end did Hashem accept Mosheh's request to erase his name? Rav Sofer, in "Otzar Haim", answers with a parable. There was a minister that was most loved by the king and as such he received a very speical gift from the king. The king allowed him reign over the kingdom. He allowed the minister to make some laws and these laws would forever be a memory for his name. Similar to this, Mosheh Rabeinu was rewarded for leading the Jewish people with such dedication to the point that he was wiling to have his name erased from the entire Sefer Torah. He merited that Hashem said "And you shall command" – Mosheh Rabeinu was granted special permission to give a command to Bnai Yisrael.

The Gaon of Vilna gives an additional reason why Mosheh's name is not mentioned in this Parashah. He also asks why is it that the verse says "And you shall command" rather than say "And Hashem spoke to Mosheh" as it does in the rest of the Torah? He answers that the day that Mosheh Rabeinu passed away was the 7th of Adar and in most years this date falls during the week that we read Parashat Tetzaveh. Mosheh Rabeinu's name is not mentioned in this Parashah to hint to the fact that he passed away this week. However, the Gaon of Vilna, points out that even though Mosheh Rabeinu's name is not mentioned in this Parashah, it is hinted to.

If we write Mosheh Rabeinu's name in hebrew in its entirety מ"ם שי"ן ה"א (mem, shin, heh) and we delete the first letters "משה" , we are left with the letters א,נ,י,ם.

The numerical value of these letters is 101 and the number of verses in this Parashah is 101 to show. you that Mosheh is still found in the essence of the Parashah. The Shabbat before Purim is called "Shabbat Zachor" because of the Haftarah read during Shabbat "Remember what Amalek did to you on the way from coming out of Egypt…do not forget (Devarim 25, 17-19) and this is a Mitzvah other and there is a great distance that is created explicitly commanded in the Torah. Our sages established that we should read it the week before Purim as Haman was a descendant of Amalek who wanted to destroy, kill and cause to perish all the Jews, both young and old, little children and women, on one day, on the 13th day of the 12th month which is the month of Adar, and their spoils to be taken as plunder" (Esther 3, 13). This was the harshest decree ever to be decreed on the Jewish nation ever – that in one day they wanted to destroy the entire Jewish nation.

On Tuesday, the 13th of Adar, is Taanit Esther. On Wednesday, 14th of Adar, is Purim, On Thursday 15th of Adar, is Shushan Purim.

Tetzaveh: a summary of the points in the Parashah

1. The command to make olive oil to kindle the lamps continually (27, 20-21).

2. The Mitzvah to prepare holy garments for Aharon and his sons (28, 1-5).

3. The making of the Ephod (the garment that Aharon wore over his tunic and robe) – the rememberance stones on the shoulders of Aharon HaCohen, the settings and the chains (28, 6-14).

4. The making of the Hoshen – its chains, its rings, its 12 stones and the Urim and Tumim in the middle (28, 15-29).

5. The clothes of the sons of the Cohanim – headdresses, sashes, tunics, and pants (28, 40-43).

6. The commandment of sanctifying Aharon and his sons, the order of the sacrifices during the seven days of inauguration (29, 1-37).

7. The Mitzvah of the Tamid-offering in the morning and the afternoon (29, 38-46).

8. The Mitzvah of making the altar for bringing up incense (its place is in the Kodesh (holy).

"There I will arrange meetings with Bnai Yisrael and it will be sanctified by My glory"

One who looks closely at these Parashas that speak about making the tabernacle and its vessels will notice that there is something that needs to be explained. In Parashat Terumah, the Jewish nation is commanded on building the tabernacle according to a certain order, to make the Ark of the covenant, its cover, cherubim, that were in the holy of holies, the table for the showbreads, the pure gold Menorah, the curtain for the Mishkan, its planks, its bars, and its sockets. That is it, the Mishkan is ready. They put up the partition, bring the Ark to the holy of holies, place the table in the north and the Menorah in the South and the verses go on to command about making the altar that is in the courtyard of the Mishkan and the pillars of the courtyard. This is a summary of the previous Parashah – Parashat Terumah. It seems that something is missing here - one of the main vessels of the Mishkan. The altar for offering frankincense – the gold altar that stood between the table and the Menorah.

My glory". "I will sanctify the Tent of Meeting and the altar, and I will sanctify Aharon and his sons to serve Me [as kohanim]". "I will dwell in the midst of the children of Israel and I will be their G-d". "They will know that I, the Lord, am their G-d, who brought them out of the land of Egypt in order that I may dwell in their midst; I am the Lord, their G-d". These are the glorious holy verses that proceed the building of the Mishkan. Behold, right after them, an additional command is given. "And you shall make an altar for bringing incense up… you shall overlay it with pure gold…and you shall place it in front of the dividing curtain… Aharon shall difficulties… make incense of spices go up in smoke upon it every morning. The Parashah finishes with this command. Why does this command come after speaking about the making of the Mishkan and its vessels and after Hashem's promise of having his Divine presence dwell within it? There is a lesson to be learned here.

As we know, the Mishkan is a place to serve Hashem and to become holy and every detail in it hints to us how to purify our soul: The ark and the tablets: To learn Torah for the sake of heaven and with humility.

The Menorah: The pure light of the Torah like pure olive oil.

The table: On the holiness of eating, kashrut, and livlihood. The altar for animal sacrifices: On the service of Hashem with self sacrifice and passion.

The clothes of the Cohen Gadol: Atone for the sins and blemishes we have from bad character traits.

The incense: The holy Zohar talks at length about it being able to sweeten our judgment and nullify our prosecutors. Aharon HaCohen stopped the plague by using the incense and it is also known that saying the Parashat Haketoret (parashah about the incense) is able to to bring about salvations in the upper worlds and to bring down a lot of good and blessings. The holy Torah wanted to emphasize that it is impossible to bring about salvations unless we go through the process of becoming holy: through learning Torah, refining our character traits, making our eating holy and serving Hashem with passion and enthusiasm. It is known that also prayer is compared to the incense as it says, "My prayer should be established like incence before you" and it is accepted, but it is more likely to be accepted if beforehand we toil in Torah like our forefathers in previous generations who were proficient in the whole Torah and with the power of the Torah they brought about salvations as their prayers were answered.

The "incense" was the outcome of the "Mishkan" that they built within themselves for the Divine presence to dwell through the learning of Torah. In order to understand this concept better, here is a story: In the city of Trenigard, there was a boy who excelled in his studies. He became know as Rebbi Haim of Tzanz Zt'l. His father wanted to give him a prize for excelling and being diligent in his studies so he asked his son what he wanted as a gift. The son requested of his father, "When you go to the Hozeh of Lublin, take me with you".

The father took his son and they went to the Hozeh of Lublin. People travelled to the Hozeh to ask for salvation from all different cities. The father and son stood in line. Their turn f i n ally came. The father asked the Hozeh his questions and received a blessing.

The son merited something special. Out of Curiosity, he continued to stand near the Hozeh of Lublin while other people came in to get their blessings. Suddenly, the Hozeh of Lublin called out, "Take out everybody from before me"! Everyone left his room in panic, but the curious boy wanted to know why the Rebbi wanted to be alone and why he asked everyone to leave. The boy hid behind the Rebbi's armchair to see what he was going to do. The Hozeh of Lublin got up from his chair and locked the door. He went to his table and began to say a chapter of Mishnayot in in a very pleasant voice "Ayzehu Mekoman shel Zevachim".

When he finished the chapter, he pulled out the boy from his hiding place…He said, "Haim'ke, you are probably wondering about what you saw. I will explain it to you. People come to ask me for advice. With what power will I give them advice? In the past, when a Jew would need to ask for advice or get a blessing, he would up to the Beit HaMikdash and ask the Cohen Gadol. The head of Shevet Levi, the Shevet of Torah learners, that about him it says, "They teach your laws to Yaakov and your Torah to Yisrael". And it is known that Hashem and the Torah and Yisrael are one. A Jew clings to Hashem through the Torah, especially in the Beit HaMikdash, the place where the Divine presence dwells. Nowadays, there is no Beit HaMikdash and no Cohen Gadol; all we have is the Torah. There is no other way to cling to our creator and get Ruach HaKodesh (divine inspiration). What do I do? I cling to the Torah, toil in it, and through it I cling to Hashem and give blessings and advice. However, when all these people come to me with their physical troubles and I have to delve into their issues, I get cut off from clinging to the Torah and Hashem.

I have no choice but to stop seeing people for an hour in order to strengthen my connection with the Torah and with the One Who gave the Torah. And why am I telling you this? Because in the future you are going to be a leader for Bnai Yisrael and you need to know that there is no other way but to cling to the Torah. If the sages say, "And an ignorant man cannot be a pious man", how much more so that he cannot be a righteous person and bring about salvations…

"And you shall command Bnai Yisrael, and they shall take to you pure olive oil, crushed for lighting, to kindle the lamps continually" (29, 20)

In the book "Imrei Yosef," there is a great explanation written about the meaning of "kindling the lamps continually": And behold, sometimes a person stays away from learning with those on a lower level than himself as he thinks if he learns Torah on his own he will become smarter. In reality, this is not the case as our sages say (Taanit 7), "And from my students more than everyone". To this the Torah hints when it says, "And you shall command Bnai Yisrael".

Tetzaveh -command comes from the word Tzavta – cleaving. Connect yourself to the ones in Bnai Yisrael who are lower than you and do not say that through this I will not become so smart. It is the opposite - "And they shall take to you pure olive oil." Through them, a new understanding of Torah will open up to you that is hinted to in the "pure olive oil". "Just like oil lights up the world, so too the Torah". This is what it means to kindle the lamps continually. You will elevate your soul which is compaerd to a candle as it says (Mishlei 20, 27) "The soul of man is the candle of Hashem" – it goes up from one level to the next.

"To all the wise hearted, whom I have filled with the spirit of wisdom" (28, 3)

The Yeshivah of Volozhin, run by Rebbi Haim of Brisk Zt'l, was the mother of all Yeshivot and it was filled with students who were very sharp and proficient in the treasures of Gemara and Halachah. In order for a boy to get accepted into the Yeshivah, he had to be tested on two pieces of Gemara and needed to show that he understands them very deeply. One day, Rebbi Izil Harif Zt'l, one of the giants of the generation, came to the Yeshivah to look for a bridegroom for his daughter. However, since he could not test all of the boys in the Yeshivah, he decided to go to the Beit Midrash and ask a very hard question on a piece of Gemara. He then announced that whoever would answer this question with a very clear answer would be chosen as his son-in-law. This caused uproar in the Yeshivah. The boys toiled day and night to try to find the answer because who did not want to be the son-in-law of giant of the generation. Long lines began to form at the door of Rebbi Izil. The wagon was just about to begin its leave from Volozhin when the Wagon driver heard a voice calling out behind him, "Stop! Stop! Stop! Stop! The wagon driver looked back and saw a boy running after the wagon. He immediately stopped the wagon in order to see what the boy wanted. It was one of the boys from the Yeshivah, Rebbi Yosef Shlufer. "Rebbi", he called out, breathing heavily after running after the wagon, "the answer". Rebbi Izil Harif asked him, "Did you find an answer to the question"? "No Rebbi", the student said, "But I have to know what the answer is".

Rebbi Izil's face lit up and he said, "You will be chosen for my son-in-law. Your immense desire for Torah brought you chasing after me and not honor. Your love for Torah for its own sake pushed you to come seek the answer from me and you I chose to be my son-in-law".

This is what the Torah says, "To all the wise hearted, whom I have filled with the spirit of wisdom" – there are people who merit to be filled with wisdom and understand the virtue of seeking out wisdom and they fulfill the words of David HaMelech "The beginning of wisdom is fear of Hashem, good understanding to all who perform them". They will merit the end of this verse which is "His praise endures forever" in this world and the world to come. The outstanding boys gave their answers to Rebbi Izil, but not one of them succeeded in finding the correct answer to the question. A few days passed and Rebbi Izil did not find a boy who could answer his question so he began on his way empty handed.

With blessings of Torah

With blessings of Torah, Ron Barina

Rav Ron Barina is a 30 year veteran of the air-force. Since he retired, he has served as a consultant who travels from Israel to USA to also meet with USA air force representatives in the area of engineering/technology. He now dedicates most of his time to learning, teaching and spreading the sweet Torah. He learns with the Gaonim Rav Meir Mazuz Shlita, Rav Yaakov Edelstein, and Rav Avraham Yosef Shlita. He resides with his lovely wife and children in Ramat Hasharon.