Tzav:ashes

Tzav:ashes

This is the kind of parsha that gives the book of Leviticus its name.  The talmud calls this book:" Torath Kohanim," the Preistly Law.  This chapter is about the priestly functions in the  sacrificial rite, the rewards given to the the priests from the sacrifices and  the ritual of Priestly initiation. 

 Tzav means "command." It is the root of  the word Mitzvah: commandment. The names of two parshioth  in the Torah  devolve from  tzav: this one, simply named Tzav,  and Titzaveh  in the book of Exodus.  Both deal  directly with the  Kohanim, the priestly aristocracy that performed the human functions in the  Mishkan and temple, mostly the sacrificial rite.  The sons of Aaron  are the recipients of tzav, a direct, unquestioned order. 

The first order that requires an action is the removal of the ashes from the altar.  This janitorial  task is the first command  for the chosen  of the chosen.  Somebody must remove the accumulated, spent,  non-flammable material, the waste produced from the sacrificial process. It will not be a hired hand, an underpaid,  low status person  ( with a presumed drinking problem).  No, it will be a priest, dressed in (white) linen who shovels the detritus; only a priest may approach the altar so intimately. 

The white, linen robes are the attire for another service.  When the  high priest  performs the service on Yom Kippur, the day of atonement,  he is dressed in  these white  (work) robes .   Thus doth he dress for  the ritual that  is the community part of the expiation for the sins of the year.  The  products of that  ritual  are ashes, the aftermass of the fires of passion.   

The priests could be commanded effectively.  They had a noble  tradition of obedience.  From the first time we meet Aaron, he is the  duteous brother that Gd - exasperated by Moses'  self-doubt and demural from the opportunities to work for the liberation of the Israelites - appoints as the executive assistant for the task.   Was Aaron's acquiescence to participate in the creation of the golden calf  a manifestation of the ability to follow orders?  Nicht Schuldig. 

The priest needed to maintain a special, high level of obedience.  His thoughts of eating the designated portions of the offering at the wrong time ( pigul)  could invalidate the  sacrifice and leave him with a very significant burden of sin ( kareth).  The ability to follow instructions, when your thoughts are read, is a very high bar and requires training from earliest youth. 

Orders and ashes: Words that have come to mean something far more sinister than the ritual slaughter of animals.   In the temple service the blood is animal blood, the ashes are animal ashes. The temple service was a performance.  New axes of interpretation emerge from events in history. Does the ritual deflect the evil?

Progress is founded on following orders.  Obedience is the alternative to constant, inefficient re-invention. 

The product of every fire is ahes