PARSHA THEMES
Eitan Mayer
[Just a quick footnote to last week’s shiur: besides Ibn Ezra, whom I mentioned, Ramban (35:1), Abravanel (35:1), and Cassuto all understand that the worship of the Egel results in the cancellation of the plan to build the Mishkan.]
PARASHAT TETZAVEH:
Parashat Tetzaveh continues Hashem’s description to Moshe of the structure of the Mishkan (portable Temple) and its accoutrements, but moves from the topic of the structure of the Mishkan and the details of the Kelim -- the topic of Parashat Teruma -- to the topic of the Kohanim, the Priests. The Priestly section (not to be confused with what Bible critics call “P”) splits into three subsections:
1) Introduction: The command to select Aharon & sons as Kohanim.
2) Part I: Clothing of the Kohanim.
3) Part II: Initiation process of the Kohanim.
In the ‘Kohenic context,’ I want to deal with two basic questions:
1) Function: the Kohen has many specific jobs. But what is behind all of his responsibilities? What is the function of a Kohen in Bnei Yisrael? Does the Kohen work for God or for the people? We will approach this question by breaking it down into two smaller questions:
a) What are the jobs of the Kohen?
b) How do these jobs express the basic function of a Kohen?
2) Orientation: how does the Kohen’s function -- his role in the nation -- affect his orientation toward God and toward the people? When he takes on all of the jobs included in being a Kohen, does he remain the same person with a new job, or does the new job redefine him? This is a question every religious leader has to answer for himself or herself: What is the relationship between one’s function as religious leader and one’s personal religious identity? Is there any room left for the religious leader’s personal religious fulfillment and creativity? In looking at this question, we will look at two processes in the creation of a Kohen:
a) “Depersonalization”
b) “Repersonalization”
THE FUNCTION OF THE KOHEN:
What are all of the Kohen’s jobs? (We will focus on the Kohen Gadol in particular, since we have the most information about him and since the Kohenic qualities are most sharply expressed in him.) For those which are well known, we will leave out the sources:
1) AVODA (sacrifical service in the Temple): offeriing korbanot (sacrifices), burning the ketoret (incense), lighting the Menora (candelabrum), maintaining the Shulhan (table) and its bread.
2) BLESSING Bnei Yisrael with the Birkhat Kohanim (Priestly blessing).
3) TEACHING:
a) VaYikra 10:8-11 -- “God spoke to Aharon: ‘. . . Distinguish between holy and unholy, between pure and impure, and . . . teach the Bnei Yisrael all of the laws which God has told them through Moshe.’”
b) Malakhi 2:6-7 -- (in context, the Navi [prophet] is criticizing the corrupt Kohanim of his time and reminding them of the Kohanim of old, whose exemplary qualities he describes): “The teaching of truth was in his [i.e., the priest of old] mouth; no evil was found on his lips. In peace and uprightness he walked with Me, and he returned many from sin; for the lips of the Kohen shall keep knowledge, and they [Israel] shall seek teaching at his mouth, for he is a messenger [”malakh”] of the Lord of Hosts.”
4) JUDGING:
a) Tzara’at: the Kohen is empowered to diagnoze Tzara’at, the disease described by the Torah in detail in Sefer VaYikra (ch. 13-14) which, according to Hazal (Arakhin 15b), comes as a punishment for slander and other sins.
b) Sota: the Kohen is instrumental in the process of investigation and trial when a woman is caught sequestered with a man other than her husband, and is accused by her husband of infidelity.
c) Deciding difficult questions of halakha: Devarim 17:8-9 -- “When a matter of law escapes you, whether of blood, civil law, ritual lesions, or matters of strife in your gates, you shall get up and go up to the place which God, your Lord, will choose [referring to the future Temple]. You shall come to the Kohanim-Leviyyim and to the judge of that time, and seek [the law], and they will tell you the judgment.”
d) Decisions of national importance: the Urim ve-Tummim (Shemot 28:30), the divine oracle, is operated by the Kohen.
5) REPRESENTING BNEI YISRAEL before God. Some examples from our parasha:
a) Efod: 28:6-13 -- the Kohen Gadol wears the Efod (a sort of apron) as part of his uniform; significantly, the Efod bears two special stones, one on each shoulderpiece, each of which has the names of six of the tribes of Bnei Yisrael carved into it. The Torah stresses that Aharon is to wear the Efod and thereby bring these names before God “as a remembrance”: Aharon appears before God as the representative of the people whose names are carved into the stones he bears.
b) Hoshen: 28:15-30 -- the Hoshen, or breastplate, bears twelve stones in which are inscribed the names of the tribes; the Torah stresses also here that Aharon carries them “as a “remembrance” before God, like the stones of the Efod.
c) Tzitz: 28:36-38 -- the Tzitz is a sort of headband made of gold which Aharon wears on his forehead; the words “Kodesh la-Shem,” “Holy to God,” are inscribed on it. Its function is to atone for all of the sacrifices the people bring under improper conditions (such as when the sacrifice has become ritually impure). The Tzitz ‘insists’ (see Rashbam) that despite the shortcomings of the people’s korbanot, all of the offerings are ultimately “Kodesh la-Shem,” dedicated wholly to God, and should therefore be accepted by God.
6) The Kohen creates the backdrop for God’s “Kavod” to appear to the people: In VaYikra Perek 9, the inauguration of the Mishkan takes place. Its climax is when Aharon completes ‘setting up’ the Korban on the Mizbe’ah so that the ‘Kavod’ (glory) of God can be revealed to the people, who are assembled to watch. Aharon finishes his duties, and then the Kavod appears as a fire from heaven which descends and consumes the korban on the Mizbe’ah. This is a pattern which appears in several places in Tanakh (perhaps most notably in the story of Eliyahu’s challenge to the prophets of Ba’al on Har ha-Carmel).
Now that we have all of the Kohen’s jobs in front of us, we can deal with the next question: What is the function of the Kohen?
The Kohen mediates between God and the people; the Kohen is a bridge over which traffic moves in both directions. He represents God to the people and the people to God:
1) Kohen acting as God’s representative to the Bnei Yisrael:
a) Teaching: he is a “malakh Hashem Tzevakot,” an angel/messenger bearing God’s word.
b) Judging, especially using the Urim ve-Tummim, which express God’s instructions.
c) Creating the stage for God’s revelation to the people.
d) Birkhat Kohanim: passing down God’s blessing to the people.
2) Kohen acting as the people’s representative to God:
a) Avoda: the Kohen conducts the national worship of God by bringing Korbanot Tzibbur (collective offerings from the entire nation) and maintaining the various functions of the Mishkan, the national center of avodat Hashem (service of Hashem). He facilitates individual worship/avoda by bringing the korbanot of individuals before God.
3) Wearing Bigdei Kehuna: the stones on the Hoshen and Efod with the names of the tribes represent the nation’s coming before God; the Tzitz insures that even when the people’s korbanot are not perfect, they are accepted by God.
ORIENTATION OF KOHEN:
We now come to our second basic question about the Kohanim: how does the function of being a bridge between God and Bnei Yisrael impact on the orientation of the Kohen toward his own identity? Is there still a person under all of the Bigdei Kehuna (is there a man under that rabbinical beard), or does the office of Kohen overwhelm the Kohen’s personal identity?
Part of the Torah’s answer is communicated by the structure of Parashat Tetzaveh. The ‘Kohanim’ section, which takes up most of Parashat Tetzaveh, is surrounded by ‘Mishkan’ sections:
I: Instructions for Aro(Ark), Shulhan (Table), Menora (Candelabrum), Mizbah ha-Nehoshet (Brass Altar), Mishkan (portable Temple)
II: The “Kohanim” material of Parashat Tetza
III: Instructions for Mizbah ha-Ketoret (Incense Altar), Shemen ha-Mishhah (oil of anointing), Ketoret (Incense), and Kiyyor (Washing-Cistern).
In other words, the Kohanim section appears to interrupt the Mishkan section. Why not first finish talking about the Mishkan and Kelim before starting with the Kohanim? The point of putting the Kohanim section here may be to show us that it is not an “interruption,” that the Kohanim share something very basic with the Kelim of the Mishkan: becoming Kohanim means that Aharon and his sons are transformed by their function into Kelim, in a sense. Their personal identity is overcome by their function as bridges between God and Bnei Yisrael.
Imagine you’re trying to get from Manhattan to New Jersey, and you want to take the bridge. If the bridge starts to dance as you try to cross it, twisting into different shapes, swaying to its own rhythm, bucking up and down, you’ll never get across! Aharon and his sons have become this bridge: since they function as bridges between God and the people, their own identity must be subordinated to their function as mediators. Inserting their own personalities, their own religious orientations, their own spontaneity into their function as Kohanim would interfere with the ‘traffic’ trying to cross the bridge. Instead of representing God to the people and the people to God, they would be taking advantage of their powerful position to represent only themselves to the people and to God. A Kohen must become depersonalized; he must become objectified, almost dehumanized, in his function of Kehuna.
Now we can take a look at the parasha and see how this theme plays out: how the Torah depersonalizes the Kohanim and objectifies them so they can perform their function properly.
DEPERSONALIZING THE KOHANIM:
1) “THE CLOTHES MAKE THE MAN”: Kohen as the carrier of begadim (clothes):
a) The Torah gives detailed instructions for the construction of the Efod, Hoshen, and Tzitz; in fact, the Torah focuses so much on the clothing that the Kohen who is to wear them seems secondary to them! The Kohen is to wear the Efod and Hoshen with the names of the tribes on the stones so that the people will, symbolically, come before God. His function, then, is to be the wearer of the Begadim, the carrier of the people before God. The clothes are the point; the Kohen merely carries the clothes on his body. The Urim ve-Tummim, carried inside the Hoshen, also put the focus on the beged and point away from the individual inside: the Urim ve-Tummim is an oracle of sorts, consulted on important issues, and the Kohen is merely a mediator for the expression of God’s will through the oracle. He carries around this source of revelation. The Tzitz as well, with its message of “Kodesh la-Shem” (“dedicated to God”), relates not to *Aharon’s* dedication to God, but to the *people’s sacrifices’* dedication to God. Aharon’s clothing communicates to God and communicates to the people, but he himself is merely the nexus for this communication. He is secondary to it; instead of taking an active, participatory, human role, he is objectified, passive, facilitative.
b) Besides the appointment of the Kohanim and the creation of their clothing, the Torah also communicates a succession plan for the Kehuna Gedola. Here again, the Torah spends most of its space describing the transfer of the begadim, not the wearer and his qualities (29:29-30). One gets the sense that what is being created in Parashat Tetzaveh, and passed from father to son when the time comes, is an “office” of Kohen Gadol, an office which transcends (perhaps even ignores) the importance of its holder. This perspective is also implicit in the Torah’s description of Aharon’s death (BeMidbar 20:23-28), which takes pains to describe how Aharon’s Bigdei Kehuna are removed and put onto his son before he dies. The passing of the office is expressed most sharply by the passing of the begadim, not the passing of personal authority or honor, because the begadim truly express the character of the Kohen’s function: carrier of the begadim, facilitator of a relationship.
c) In Shemot 28:35, the Torah says: “It [the Me’il, a robe with bells on it] should be upon Aharon for serving, so that its sound is heard when he enters the Holy, before God, and when he goes out, so that he will not die.” Rashi comments, “’So that he will not die’ -- from the negative you can infer the positive: if he has them [the begadim], he will not incur the death penalty; but if he enters [the holy area] without one of these pieces of clothing, he is condemned to death at the hand of Heaven.” Ramban disagrees with Rashi that this particular pasuk expresses the general prohibition of the Kohen’s serving without the requisite begadim, but he agrees that there is such a prohibition, derived from a different pasuk. He says: “. . . We learn this [i.e., the prohibition of serving without the requisite begadim] from . . . Sanhedrin (83a) and Shehitat Ha-Kodashim (Zev. 17b): ‘One [a Kohen] missing clothing who serves [i.e., performs sacrificial service in the Temple], how do we know that he suffers death? Rav Avahu said in the name of Rav Yohanan . . . ‘Gird them with the belt, and put the turbans on them, and their Kehuna should be a law to them forever’ (29:9) -- when their clothing is upon them, their Kehuna [pristhood] is upon them; when their clothing is not upon them, their Kehuna is not upon them, and they are ‘Zarim’ [the halakhic term for non-kohanim]; and the Master has said, ‘A Zar who performs sacrificial service, suffers death . . .’.”
In other words, according to this Gemara, a Kohen without all of his begadim is not a Kohen! He is a “Zar,” a “stranger,” the Torah’s term for a non-Kohen, and he suffers the same fate a Zar would suffer for illegally performing the Avoda: death by the hand of Heaven. For our theme, the point is clear: the focus is completely on the begadim; the Kohen is merely the carrier.
2) PARALLELS BETWEEN THE KOHANIM AND THE KELIM (vessels of the Mishkan):
In several contexts, the Torah draws parallels between the Kohanim and Kelim. This contributes to the theme of depersonalization and objectification, especially since many of the parallels appear in the initiation process of the Kohanim. The Kohanim’s initiation objectifies them and depersonalizes them, perhaps to express to them what their orientation to their Kehuna should be. Examples of these parallels (besides the inclusion of the ‘Kohanim’ section inside the ‘Mishkan’ section, mentioned above):
a) God commands Moshe to “take” Aharon and his sons as Kohanim: “Bring close to you Aharon, your brother, and his sons . . . Aharon, Nadav, Avihu, Elazar, and Itamar, the sons of Aharon.” This list of people sounds a lot like the lists of materials which we find in profusion all over the parshiot of the Mishkan. Usually, we find a command to build a certain Keli and then a list of materials: for example, the Torah commands the creation of Bigdei Kehuna and then lists the materials out of which they are to be made: “. . . The gold, blue, purple, red, and fine linen” (28:5). There are Kelim to be created -- the Bigdei Kehuna -- and the materials are gold, blue, purple, red, and fine linen. In parallel fashion, there is a Keli to be created -- the Kehuna -- and the ‘materials’ are Aharon, Nadav, Avihu, Elazar, and Itamar.
b) The Kohanim are anointed with oil, just as the Kelim are (see 30:25-33, 29:7, 29:21, and 40:9-16).
c) The Kohanim are anointed with blood, just as the Mizbe’ah (altar) is, and in fact, the blood used for the Kohanim is from the same animal as that sprinkled on the Mizbe’ah (see 29:12, 29:16, 29:20-21).
d) “Kiddush”: the Kohanim are sanctified, as some of the Kelim are (see 29:37, 29:1, 29:21, 28:41).
e) Passivity: throughout the period of their initiation, the Kohanim are completely passive while Moshe does all of the Avoda (sacrifical service). Moreover,they remain passive while Moshe performs various functions on them! (See VaYikra 8:6-14.) Moshe is “makriv” (brings close) the raw human pre-kohen material to the Ohel Mo’ed; Moshe washes the kohanim; Moshe dresses them; Moshe anointsthem with oil; Moshe sprinkles them with blood. They stand, passive, like the lifeless, personality-lacking kelim of the Mishkan.
f) Parallels between Kohanim and korbanot: Moshe is “makriv” the Kohanim, the same word used with regard to korbanot (and actually the root of the word “korbanot”!), see 28:1, 29:4, 29:8, 29:10); Moshe is “rohetz” (washes) them, a function also performed on some of the korbanot in the same context (see 29:4, 29:17).
3) REPRESSION OF HUMANITY: In several contexts, the Torah expresses the idea that the Kohen, particularly the Kohen Gadol, is not allowed the ‘luxury’ of expressing his emotions at the expense of the Avoda to which he is bound. Even when a close relative dies, he must remain in the Mikdash, before God, doing the Avoda, rather than leaving the Mikdash to mourn his loss. For him, the religious and national responsibility of the Kehuna must always supersede the personal and human.
This is most painfully and dramatically expressed by Aharon’s reaction to the death of his sons, Nadav and Avihu, when they bring a “foreign fire” before God and are consumed in His fire. Moshe instructs Aharon that he is not to mourn, not to interrupt his duties as Kohen, not to leave the Mikdash. He tells Aharon that God has said, “Through those who are close to Me I am sanctified; I am honored in front of the entire congregation”; in response, Aharon is simply silent (VaYikra 10:3).
Many mefarshim understand God’s statement -- “Through those who are close to Me I am sanctified” -- as a reference to Nadav and Avihu; as sanctified kohanim, chosen servants of God, they are the ones “close to God.” By killing them for their slight disobedience, God inspires the awe of the people, hence, “I am honored in front of the entire congregation.” But Rashbam disagrees. He paraphrases Moshe’s command to Aharon after the death of his sons:
RASHBAM:
“Moshe said to Aharon, ‘Do not mourn, do not cry, do not stop doing the Avoda, because what I am telling you is the word of God, that ‘I will be sanctified through those close to Me’ -- ‘through the Kohen Gadol, who is close to Me to serve Me, I wish to be sanctified, and I do not wish that My name be profaned along with My Avoda,’ for this is what God has told me [Moshe], that ‘the Kohen Gadol . . . should not undo his hair or remove his priestly clothing, and not leave the Mikdash, and not profane thereby the Mikdash of his God’ -- so if you do not leave the Mikdash, it remains holy” . . . . Therefore, “Do not abandon your Avoda, for you are the Kohen Gadol, and do not leave [the Mikdash], and do not profane, but instead let God and His Avoda be sanctified through you. As a result, “Before the entire congregation shall I be honored” -- the honor of the Shekhina is that he [Aharon] sees his sons die, yet he puts aside his mourning for the service of his Creator. “Aharon was silent” -- silenced his mourning: he did not cry and did not mourn . . .”
According to Rashbam, the function of the Kohen, especially the Kohen Gadol, is to remain always dedicated to God and to prioritize God over all personal needs. Aharon responds by silencing his mourning; he maintains his Kehuna and suppresses his humanity, as the Kohen must.
[There is also the inhumanity of Shevet Levi’s vengeance against the worshippers of the Egel, even when they are his own relatives (see Shemot 32:26-29 and see Devarim 33:8-10, where Moshe praises their “inhuman” fealty to God), but we will leave that for another time.]
“REPERSONALIZATION”:
The ‘depersonalization’ of the Kohanim brings us to something we touched on last week: the potential danger in doing the Avoda. Evidence of this danger is all over the Torah: the Kohanim are warned to wear the Me’il, to wash from the Kiyyor, and to wear the Mikhnasayyim (pants), all “so that they do not die” (!!); the Kohanim (and others) at Har Sinai are warned not to go up the mountain so that God does not “destroy them”; a Zar who does the Avoda suffers death at the hands of Heaven, as does a Kohen who serves without the proper begadim.
The function of the Kohen is to act as a bridge between God and the human community of Bnei Yisrael. This means that the Kohanim have to surrender their personal identity and humanity to a significant degree. What happens if a Kohen fails to surrender to his kohenic function, if he stubbornly insists on expressing his own personality and achieving his own spiritual goals through his privileged access to Hashem? Perhaps a look at Parashat Pekudei, several weeks ahead of us, will provide an answer:
Many have pointed out the pattern of the repeated phrase, “Ka’asher tziva Hashem et Moshe” (“Just as Hashem had commanded Moshe”) in Parashat Pekudei; this phrase appears there about fifteen times, describing how Moshe and the people built and prepared the Mishkan and each of its appurtenances exactly as instructed by God: “Just as Hashem had commanded Moshe.” But the pattern of “Ka’asher tziva Hashem et Moshe” does not end at the end of Parashat Pekudei. Parashat Pekudei is followed by a ‘parenthetical’ section, a “Manual for Korbanot” (AKA Parashat VaYikra and the first part of Parashat Tzav). This parenthetical section ends in the second half of Parashat Tzav, where the Torah picks up the Mishkan narrative once again, describing the eight-day process of the initiation of the Mishkan and the Kohanim. Tellingly, this narrative picks right back up with the “Ka’asher tziva Hashem et Moshe” pattern we note in Parashat Pekudei; fifteen additional repetitions of this phrase appear here, describing how all of the events of the initiation take place “exactly as Hashem had commanded Moshe.” What is it all about? What is the Torah trying to communicate with this pattern?
In all, the Torah repeats the pattern of “Ka’asher tziva Hashem et Moshe” thirty times, with slight variation, though Pekudei and then Tzav and Shemini. The people do exactly what God commands -- to the letter, to the “T,” exactly, exactly, exactly. But then the pattern comes to a sudden end:
Shemot 38:22 -- “. . . Asher tziva Hashem et Moshe”
Shemot 39:1 -- “. . . Ka’asher tziva Hashem et Moshe”
Shemot 39:5 -- “. . . Ka’asher tziva Hashem et Moshe”
Shemot 39:21 -- “. . . .Ka’asher tziva Hashem et Moshe”
Shemot 39:26 -- “. . . Ka’asher tziva Hashem et Moshe”
Shemot 39:29 -- “. . . Ka’asher tziva Hashem et Moshe”
Shemot 39:31 -- “. . . Ka’asher tziva Hashem et Moshe”
Shemot 39:32 --“. . . Ke-khol asher tziva Hashem et Moshe”
Shemot 39:42 -- “. . . Ke-khol asher tziva Hashem et Moshe”
Shemot 39:33 -- “. . . Ka’asher tziva Hashem”
Shemot 40:16 -- “. . . Ke-khol asher tziva Hashem oto”
Shemot 40:19 -- “. . . Ka’asher tziva Hashem et Moshe”
Shemot 40:21 -- “. . . Ka’asher tziva Hashem et Moshe”
Shemot 40:23 -- “. . . Ka’asher tziva Hashem et Moshe”
Shemot 40:25 -- “. . . Ka’asher tziva Hashem et Moshe”
Shemot 40:27 -- “. . . Ka’asher tziva Hashem et Moshe”
Shemot 40:29 -- “. . . Ka’asher tziva Hashem et Moshe”
Shemot 40:32 -- “. . . Ka’asher tziva Hashem et Moshe”
VaYikra 8:4 -- “. . . Ka’asher tziva Hashem oto”
VaYikra 8:5 -- “. . . Asher tziva Hashem . . .”
VaYikra 8:9 -- “. . . Ka’asher tziva Hashem et Moshe”
VaYikra 8:13 -- “. . . Ka’asher tziva Hashem et Moshe”
VaYikra 8:17 -- “. . . Ka’asher tziva Hashem et Moshe”
VaYikra 8:21 -- “. . . Ka’asher tziva Hashem et Moshe”
VaYikra 8:29 -- “. . . Ka’asher tziva Hashem et Moshe”
VaYikra 8:35 -- “ . . . Asher tziva Hashem be-yad Moshe”
VaYikra 8:36 -- “ . . . Asher tziva Hashem be-yad Moshe”
VaYikra 9:6 -- “. . . Asher tziva Hashem”
VaYikra 9:7 -- “. . . Ka’asher tziva Hashem”
VaYikra 9:10 -- “. . . Ka’asher tziva Hashem et Moshe”
The pattern crashes to a catastrophic and tragic halt with VaYikra 10:1 --
VaYikra 10:1 -- “ASHER **LO** **TZIVA** OTAM.”
The Torah sets up the pattern o”ka-asher tziva Hashem,” reporting Bnei Yisrael’s strict, unwavering obedience to Hashem’s exact instructions for the Mishkan, in order to shatter the perfection with the report that Nadav and Avihu bring an offering of ketoret (incense) which God did NOT command - “asher LO tziva Hashem.” For this crime, they die.
A Kohen qua Kohen must forfehis identity, his humanity, his search for ways to express and experience his own spirituality; he does exactly “Ka-asher tziva Hashem” -- because he is a faithful Keli Mikdash, merely a bridge. The moment the Kohen’s personal, self-representing religious identity returns -- the moment he uses his position as Kohen to pursue personal religious aspirations -- at that moment, he negates the process of depersonalization and objectification which made him a Kohen. Repersonalized, representing only himself, he is a Zar, a non-Kohen, and what he brings is Zara, “Eish Zara” (a “foreign fire”).
Shabbat shalom,
Eitan
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