Three times in the sidra a verse begins with "Vayishchat - he slaughtered." The third one has a special note - a shalsheles. This note is used only three other times in chumash Breishis, for a total of 4 altogether. __I suggested in my volume on Chumash that there is a real connection between them all. In each case an eternal CHAIN [translation of shalsheles] was about to be created.
__The first (Bereishis 19:16), Lot is hesitating about leaving S'dom. BUt he cannot stay for from him will come Ruth, from whom Dovid Hamelech must descend. The chain of Jewsih monarchy
Gimme five!
The Kli Yakar (7:11) reveals that it says ‘this is the Torah’ five times in reference to the various korbanos, hinting at the five books of the Torah. For anyone who learns through the five books of the Torah is as if they have offered up all five korbanos. How so? For, as the Kli Yakar explains, each of the five korbanos correspond to one Chumash. The olah (the first korban) is paired with Chumash Bereishis (the first Chumash), for Hevel, Noach, Avraham, and Yaakov all offered olah korbanos in Bereishis. Furthermore, Shemos is paired with the mincha offering, for the mincha offering comprises of matzah - Shemos has in it the mitzvah of matzah and the korban pesach. Similarly, Vayikra corresponds to the chatas offering, for the root of all sins is the chet ha’egel, and throughout Vayikra there are references to the atonement for this sin - and the chatas comes to atone for sins. Moreover, the greatest atonement for the chet ha’egel is the Mishkan, and Vayikra deals with topics related to the Mishkan, as the Ramban in his hakdama to Vayikra highlights. Additionally, Bamidbar is paired with the asham offering, for the topic of ‘asham’ crops up in Bamidbar (5:6). Finally, Devarim matches the shlamim, for this korban pops up in both the sedras of Ki Savo (27:7) and Re’eh (12:27). Moreover, the shlamim is always the last of the korbanos, and Devarim is the final Chumash.
Where’s your Kohen gone? :
It is a relatively famous fact that Moshe’s name is not mentioned in parshas Tetzaveh (though it has not quite made it into Trivial Pursuit). What is less well-known, is that Aharon’s name does not make it into parshas Vayikra. Given that Vayikra is all about korbanos, and, as Kohen Gadol, korbanos are Aharon’s thing, it seems strange that he does not feature. Why is that? The peirush HaRosh (6:2) cites a Midrash (Vayikra Rabbah 7:1) which answers that this was because Aharon was still ‘rejected,’ to an extent, by HaShem due to his role in the chet ha’egel. What is interesting to note here is that it is clear that the rest of the Bnei Yisrael had been forgiven by now for the chet ha’egel - the completion of the Mishkan testified to this, as the Rosh himself pointed out in Pekudei (38:21). Yet Aharon, the only member of the sin of the chet ha’egel who had fully worthy intentions and the only one who did not want to make a calf in the first place, is the only one still being punished by HaShem. Why is that? The solution here seems to be the principle laid down in several sources (see the Ramban quoted by the Kli Yakar in Vayikra 4:20 and Ibn Ezra Bereishis 32:9) that HaShem punishes tzadikim more harshly than He does other people. The reason for this is partly because the greater one is, the more is expected of you, and partly because HaShem wants to cleanse every trace of sin from the tzadik in this world so that his share in the Next World will be wholesome.
Parashas Tzav – Waving at Hashem:
How many possuks/verses in this weeks sedra צו/Tzav? צ = 90 and ו = 6; therefore 96!
In this week's Parasha we continue with the theme of korbans/offerings with the Torah addressing the Kohanim and teaching them the additional laws that relate to the Mishkan service. We see in the first two chapters of Tzav that the previously mentioned offerings of the olah (the elevation-offering), minchah (meal-offering), shelamim (peace-offering), chatas (sin-offering) and the asham (guilt-offering) are now expanded on with regards to how they are prepared, offered and also included are other related laws. Chizkuni explains that parashas Vayikra incorporated commandments about offerings which pertain to the nation as a whole, whereas Tzav, mainly discusses those mitzvahs which are relevant to the realm of the Kohanim. This is evident from the first sentence of the
The Netziv[1] notes that in all the various topics and laws of Chumash Vayikra (and there are many) we only find the term ‘adam’ (‘person/man’) twice. One is in our topic of korbanos (Vayikra 1:2) and the other is in the portion dealing with tzara’as (13:2) - the mark on one’s skin, clothes, or house which comes primarily from speaking Lashon Hara. Why do only these topics deserve the word ‘adam?’
What does the word adam connote; why is it different from other words which mean ‘man,’ like enosh, gever, or ish?
The Midrash[2] picks up on the word adam here and cross-references it firstly to the things in Creation which are most precious to HaShem, and then to the pasuk[3] ‘I have found one (worthy) man [adam] out of a thousand,’ which refers to Avraham Avinu or Moshe Rabeinu. Thus, it seems that the Midrash
This week's parsha (tzav; with one more pasuk than the gematria of its name) ends off with (perek 8) the lengthy instructions as to how exactly to inaugurate the mishkan, including Aharon himself. A general question can be asked here; why is all this grand 'opening ceremony' necessary; just go straight into the normal daily seder of the mishkan; why the delay? Let’s answer this by introducing a concept by means of a few questions... We have a halacha that tumah (impurity) is allowed when it comes to communal matters (it’s not ideal, but it is allowed). Thus, when certain communal sacrifices become tamei, we allow them to be used based on the above rule. Now, if this is so, why did the Jews search for pure oil in the Chanuka story; surely, as we have seen, impure oil suffices for communal use? Next question; there are two korban tamids offered each day - one in the morning and the other in the late afternoon. If for whatever reason the morning one was not offered, the afternoon one is nevertheless still offered up. There is, however, one exception to this rule; when there is a new mizbeyach. In this case, if the morning tamid is not offered up then the afternoon one is skipped and the next day begins with the first tamid again. Why does a new mizbeyach affect things in this way?
....................he (priest) shall separate the ash of what the fire consumed of the elevation-offering on the Alter...... (6:3) This service in the Temple was known as "Terumas Hadeshen". Every morning the kohan would remove the ashes from the alter and place it in a silver pan.The kohan would then carry the pan with the ashes to the east side of the ramp and deposit them on a special designated spot. Whenever the heap grew large, a kohan would then remove the surplus to a special place outside of Jerusalem. In Jewish thought ash and dust are very significant. In Genesis(2:7), it states the following: " Then G-d formed man of the dust of the earth................................
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Moshe Shlomo ben R'Shmuel | Shlomo ben R'Chaim | Aryeh Leib ben Pinchas Tzvi
