Exodus 27:20-30:10 – Ezekiel 43:10-27 – Luke 8:40-56

This week's edition of The Set Table contains:

Questions and Commentary on Tetzavveh
Chayyei Yeshua - A Devotional Commentary on the Besora Reading
In Summary
Looking Ahead

Questions & Commentary on Parashat Tetzavveh

1. This week's Torah portion begins by God saying to Moses, "You yourself will command the children of Israel to take pure, pressed olive oil for illumination, to kindle the lamp continually" (Exodus 27:20). Only a few precepts in the Torah are introduced by the word tetzavveh "command" rather then the more commonly used words tomar "to say" or tedabber "to speak". What are the implications of this difference? How is it possible to fulfill this mitzva of kindling today when there is no longer any Temple?

Rabbi Jason Sobel

The reason why the Torah uses the expression of "command" rather than "say" or "speak" is to make it clear that this mitzva must be kept "now and for all time" (Sifre, Naso). Thus by using the verb tetzavveh the Torah communicates to us that the commandment to keep the lamp burning is an everlasting statute even though the Temple has been destroyed. Unlike all the other commandments connected to the Temple service this particular one still remains in effect according to our sages' interpretation.

How is it possible today to kindle the Menora when the Temple no longer exists? Commenting on this question Midrash HaGadol states:

Though the Temple was destroyed and its lamps, we no longer kindle; we have synagogues and houses of study, our "miniature temples" in which we carry on the kindling of the lights. 

In order to understand how the light of Temple Menora can still be kindled today in our houses of worship and study we must understand what the light of this candelabra represents.

First, it represented the light of God's presence. Every morning, a priest would come into the Sanctuary and approach the Menora to prepare the lamps for relighting. Invariably, he would find one light still burning, while the other six had been extinguished. This was the Ner Maaravi, the western lamp. Though an equal amount of oil - enough to last throughout the night - was always placed in each of the seven lamps, the western lamp supernaturally burned on until midday, when its flame was used to light the Menora anew. The western lamp symbolized the eternal presence of God in Israel's midst. Furthermore, God spoke to Moses from the burning bush, led Israel as a pillar of fire by night, and his voice was heard amidst the flames of Mount Sinai. It makes sense that the light of the Menorah would be a reminder of God dwelling among his people.

The Menora's illumination was also symbolic of the light of Torah and mitzvot. Elaborating on this point Shemot Rabba 36:3 states,

See how the words of Torah give light to men when they are engaged with them. But whoever is not engaged with them is ignorant and they will stumble . . . Why because he walked without a lamp. So it is with an ignorant person who knows no words of Torah. He comes upon a transgression and stumbles . . . Whereas those who occupy themselves with Torah give light everywhere! This may be compared to the one who is standing in the dark. He saw a rock and did not stumble; he saw a gutter and did not fall. Why? Because he had a lamp with him, as it is said, "Your words are a lamp unto my feet" (Psalm 119:105).

The light of the Menora served as a reminder to all who saw that "a mitzva (commandment) is a lamp and the Torah is a light" (Proverbs 6:23). They illuminate our lives and keep us from stumbling like the light of the Menora in the Holy Temple.

In addition, the luminosity of Menora is representative of the light of Messiah as both the Midrash and Brit Chadasha state:

Said the blessed Holy One to Moses: Say to the children of Israel: In this world you where in need of the light of the Temple as well as the other lamps that are lit from its light. But in the world-to-come, in virtue that lamp, I will bring you King Messiah who is likened to a lamp, as it is said (Psalm 132:17): "There will I cause a horn to sprout for David, I will arrange a lamp for my anointed."

Tanchuma, Tezavveh 8

I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.

John 8:12

The light of the Menora points to the greater light that would illuminate and give life to the world, Messiah Yeshua. When the light of God's Presence, the light of Torah, and the light of Messiah shine in and through our houses of prayer and study then we are fulfilling the mitzva to "cause a lamp to burn continually."

2. In this week's parasha we receive a vivid description of Aaron's priestly garments. On the hem of his garment were bells interspersed with pomegranates of blue, purple, and crimson. The instructions tell us that the garment will be upon Aaron "so that its sound will be heard when he enters the holy place before the LORD and when he comes out in order that he may not die" (Exodus 28:35). How does the sound of the bells prevent Aaron's death?

Rabbi Jonathan Kaplan

The question of how the sound of Aaron's garments (presumably the sound of the bells) prevents Aaron's death has puzzled commentators throughout the ages. Rashbam offers an obvious answer based on the strictures of the Yom Kippur service in Leviticus.

For the bells make a sound by knocking against one another although the pomegranates are between them. For the blessed Holy One commanded, "And no one else will be in the Tent of Meeting when he comes in to offer the sacrifice of atonement in the holy place until he comes out" (Leviticus 16:17). Similarly, the blessed Holy One commanded that its sound be heard, and those who hear would station themselves far away from there.

The bells warn the people to stay away from the Tent of Meeting when Aaron enters lest they inadvertently violate God's explicit commandment in Leviticus and enter into the holy place during the divine service when the Shekhina (Divine Presence) fills the Tent of Meeting. Presumably, both Aaron and the other people in the Tent of Meeting might be at risk for violating or allowing God's commandment to be violated.

Ramban (Nachmanides) suggests that the bells are not meant to keep people away but to warn God and the heavenly court of the entrance of the High Priest. Ramban derives this interpretation from the practice of royal courts as is described in the book of Esther. "All the king's courtiers and the people of the king's provinces know that if any person, man or woman, enters the king's presence in the inner court without having been summoned, there is but one law for him - that he be put to death" (Esther 4:11). The garments, and particularly the bells, beckon God to grant Aaron permission to enter the holy place and tell the heavenly host that God's obedient servant is not to be harmed.

Ramban also suggests another answer based on Exodus Rabba 38:8. The bells signal the Angels to leave the immediate presence of God when Aaron enters and to return when they hear him departing. The suggestion here is that the High Priest is in danger of encountering the angels of the Divine Presence who might take his life for entering God's presence. Isaiah faced this possibility when he was summoned to the celestial throne room in Isaiah 6.

Regardless of which interpretation of this verse one embraces, all three share a common conviction that entering the presence of God is risky business. It requires preparation before the act and attention to detail while performing the ritual. This preparation is not merely in terms of readying garments but also in terms of preparing our entire being to enter the presence of God. Yeshua, as our ultimate High Priest, models this unity of thought and action for us. As the writer of Hebrews challenges us to imitate Yeshua in our piety: "let us approach with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water" (10:22).