Parsha Overview
There are two main themes to the Torah portion this week. The first deals with the intricate garments worn by the Kohanim, the priests, in their Temple service. Four garments were worn by the standard Kohen, while the High Priest, the Kohen Gadol, wore 8. At this point in history, Aaron, brother of Moshe, was the high priest, and Aaron’s four sons were the standard priests.
The second theme of the parsha, deals with the seven day inaugural process of the Kohanim, by which they were instated into their new roles of Divine service.
There are two smaller points presented at the very beginning and at the very end of the parsha. It begins by instructing the nation on how and when to kindle the seven flames of the menorah. At the end of the parsha, we learn about the final furnishing of the Tabernacle (the portable Temple built by the Jews in the desert), the golden altar, upon which daily incense was burnt.
A True Servant Leader
From the moment the Torah tells us of Moshe’s birth, until the time he dies, Moshe’s name appears in every single portion of the Torah, with the exception of one. It is this Torah portion, Tetzaveh. Why is his name omitted from one parsha and why was this the one chosen to highlight the omission?
The answer brings us back to the story of the Golden Calf. It’s important to note that the Torah is not always presented in the correct chronological sequence of events. According to Rashi and many other Torah commentators, the sin of the Golden
Calf occurred before the instruction were given to build a Tabernacle and the priestly garb. Had we not erred by worshipping that idol, there would have been no need to build a physical structure for God’s presence. Every individual person could have filled that role of being a receptacle for the Divine spirit.
As a result of our sin with the Golden Calf, Hashem tells Moshe that He will destroy the errant nation, and begin again by building a new, more loyal people from just the offspring of Moshe. Moshe prays and pleads with God to forgive this nation. He goes so far as to say that if Hashem cannot find the ability to forgive them, if these people cannot move past their mistake, then he says to God, “Please erase my name from Your Torah as well!”
Moshe’s prayers succeeded in saving the nation, but since he asked that his name be erased from the book, those words had to have some level of fulfillment. There needs to be one portion in the Torah where Moshe’s name won’t be found. This explains why there must be one parsha without mention of Moshe, but why specifically this week’s parsha?
Moshe passed away on the 7th day of the lunar month of Adar. It’s fascinating to note that in the Purim story, the wicked Haman chose the month of Adar to annihilate the Jews, because he knew that our greatest leader Moshe died in this month. Haman assumed that because of this, Adar is a month of misfortune for our people, leaving us vulnerable to an attack. The Talmud tells us that Haman erred in not realizing that it was also in the month of Adar that Moshe was born. Both his Yahrtzeit, the day of his passing, and his birthday were the identical calendar date, the 7th of Adar. The birth of our greatest leader in the month of Adar makes it a fortuitous time for our people, and Haman’s plans failed.
The 7th of Adar almost always coincides with the Parsha of Tetzaveh. On Moshe’s Yahrtzeit we think back to his greatness as a leader. One of his greatest accolades is that he didn’t seek leadership to attain power and exert control. If he could not succeed in saving the people that he led, he asked God to have himself removed as well. He didn’t want to form a new nation from his own progeny, he wanted the people that he loved and believed in. That is the greatest way we can remember a leader; one who isn’t in it for himself, but for the people. That is the true model of a servant leader. One who is there to serve the needs of the people.
The Breastplate
One of the garments worn by the High Priest was the breastplate, worn across his chest. It was made of red, blue and purple wool threads, spun together with linen threads and gold strands. The gold strands were created by hammering down gold until it became really thin, almost like a foil. They would then cut the gold foil into thin strands and incorporate it into the fabric. A rectangular piece of fabric was woven from these materials, which was then folded in half to form a perfect square. Golden settings were then attached into the fabric in four rows, with 3 settings per row. A brilliant variety of precious stones were placed into these twelve golden settings. On each of these stones was engraved the name of one of the twelve tribes of Israel. Every time the Kohen Gadol took a step in the Tabernacle he carried the names of our esteemed ancestors.
There was also a more mystical component to the breastplate. Inside of the folded fabric (remember that it was a rectangle that became a square when folded) they placed a piece of parchment called the Urim V’tumim. One of God’s mystical names was written on the parchment, which gave the breastplate supernatural abilities. If the nation ever had a dilemma, if they were unsure how to proceed, they’d ask the question to Hashem in the presence of the Kohen Gadol, who wore the breastplate. Hashem would give His response by the engraved letters within the names of the tribes lighting up to formulate the correct course of action. In the book of Judges, amidst a civil war filled with uncertainty, this method of Divine consultation was employed.
Here is a question that always bothered me: If the letters which spelled out the names of the 12 tribes were used to convey important messages to us, then we must ask ourselves that there are several letters of the alphabet absent from all 12 names. These are the four missing letters:
ח, ט, צ, ק
When we spell out the names of the 12 tribes we don’t find any of these letters:
ראובן שמעון לוי יהודה יששכר זבלון דן נפתלי גד אשר יוסף בנימין
So if there was an important message that had to be communicated but needed to use one of the missing letters, what would they do?
I recently found that the Talmud addresses this question. In Tractate Yoma (73b) the Talmud asks about some of the missing letters and it answers that in addition to the names of the tribes, there was some more writing on the breastplate. The names of the three Patriarchs were written before the names of the tribes, and after the tribes, the phrase, “The Tribes of God’ was written. Together with these words, we find all the missing letters. As follows:
אברהם יצחק יעקב …… שבטי י-ה
Hannah’s Prayer
There is a story recorded in the book of Samuel about a childless woman named Hannah. Hannah would eventually become the mother of the prophet Samuel. Every year, she together with her husband Elkana would make their pilgrimage to the Tabernacle which was located in Shiloh. The Tabernacle stood in Shiloh for more than 350 years, where it was the central place of worship for Jews all over the land of Israel. I visited Shiloh recently, and even today , there are shards of earthenware vessels, dating back thousands of years, that are all over the paths that people walk. The Archeological society in Israel only collected the ones that could be pieced back together to remake the large jugs that these pieces were once part of. I brought a bagful of these shards home for my children to see, (please don’t let the authorities in Israel know) and they were thrilled to handle something that is so connected to our history of long ago.
During one of her pilgrimage visits to Shiloh, Hannah stood by the Tabernacle and was quietly praying to God beseeching Him to grant her a child. Her lips were moving, but her voice was low and barely audible. The High Priest at that time was a man named Eli. Eli enters the Tabernacle and sees a woman soundlessly speaking. This form of prayer was not very common in those days, and he thinks that she must be drunk. He accuses her of entering a holy space while intoxicated and berates her for doing so. She corrects him, and explains that she isn’t under the influence of any substance. She is just a brokenhearted woman who so badly wants a child, but is unable to do so.
The Vilna Gaon, Rabbi Eliyahu Kramer of Vilna (1720-1797), explains why Eli mistakenly thought that Hannah was drunk. When Eli saw her “talking to herself”, he was confused and therefore consulted the breastplate for clarification. Generally, when the letters etched into the stones lit up, they didn’t necessarily light up in the correct order to spell out the intended message. Through Divine inspiration, the Kohen Gadol needed to unscramble and decipher the letters, placing each one in the correct sequence. The response that Eli received from the breastplate were the following letters: ה כ ש ר. He erroneously arranged them to spell the Hebrew word: שכרה, which means that she is drunk. However, the correct arrangement of the letters was כשרה, which means either that she is kosher and upright, or that she is like Sara, our righteous matriarch. But Eli missed the correct message, and that’s why he reproaches her for entering the Tabernacle intoxicated.
Rabbi Chaim Shmuelevitz (1902-1979), the famed spiritual leader of the Mirer Yeshiva in Jerusalem, explained why Eli made a mistake here. Eli was lacking in his empathy toward a distraught woman. Had he felt her pain as if it was his own, he would have gotten the message right. The Divine assistance needed to decipher the letters required a oneness with the people, where their suffering is his suffering. High demands are made of Jewish leaders and Eli fell short of this lofty level. That is why he got it wrong. Instead of realizing that this was a broken woman pouring out her heart to the Almighty, begging for a child, he only saw a woman who lacked deference for a sacred place and entered while inebriated. Proper empathy toward others allows us to see their situation for what it really is.
The Missing Stone
I’d like to end with the following story quoted in the Talmud (Tractate Kiddushin, Chapter 1). The Talmud tells us that once a stone went missing from the breastplate of the Kohen Gadol. A precious stone that size was very difficult to replace, and there were very few options available. The Jewish Sages heard about a gem merchant who acquired a stone that matched the variety and size that they were seeking. They set off at once to meet with him and make an offer for the gem. The Kohen Gadol is unable to perform his Temple services if he is missing any of his special garments, and the missing stone rendered the Breastplate invalid.
The man they sought was a gentile gem merchant by the name of Dama ben Nesina. When the Sages finally arrived at the home of Dama, they asked him if he really did have the stone which they sought. He responded that he did and that it was for sale. The Sages made an extremely generous offer and he gladly accepted. But there was one issue which prevented them from sealing the deal right then. Dama’s father was sleeping and the key to his safe was beneath the pillow upon which his father’s head rested. Dama informed the sages that he wasn’t able to get them the stone until his father awoke. He didn’t know how long his father would sleep and the Jewish delegation was in a hurry to procure a new stone. He was willing to forfeit a huge profit so as to honor his father by not disturbing his rest. The Sages had a lot of respect for him, but for them, acquiring the stone was urgent and timely and they couldn’t wait around. There was another merchant in the next town and the Sages set off to get the stone from him. Dama lost the deal because of his commitment to show respect to his father.
Not long after this incident, Dama found something quite unusual with his herd of cows. A new calf was born and it was completely red. Word spread of this unusually colored cow born to Dama. The Sages in Jerusalem got wind of this piece of news, and to them it was a very big deal. A red cow is referred to by the Torah as a Parah Adumah, a red heifer and it is needed in the purification process of any person who comes in contact with a human corpse. It is extremely rare and therefore very valuable. The Sages once again made the trek over to the home of Dama ben Nesina. The amount of money they offered him for his red cow far exceeded the amount they had offered for his precious gem. He made back all the profit he had forfeited, and then some. Hashem rewarded his dedication to the ideal of honoring his father by sending him the rare red heifer.
