Tzav: Orders and Ashes

This is the kind of parsha that gives the book of Leviticus its name.  The Talmud calls this book:" Torath Kohanim," the Priestly Law.  This chapter is about the priestly functions in the sacrificial rite, the edible rewards given to 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  Mishkin and temple, mostly the sacrificial rite.  The sons of Aaron are the recipients of tzav, a direct, unquestioned order. 

The first order in this week’s parsha 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, waste produced from the sacrificial process. It will not be a hired hand, an underpaid, low status person.  No, it will be a priest, dressed in (white) linen who shovels the detritus; only a priest may approach the altar so intimately. 

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 demurral 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 this 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. 

There are 2 products from the sacrificial rite: ashes and expiation. The expiation comes from following the orders, the commandment, the mitzvah, which is performed in the prescribed, tzav, manner. The ashes are the physical, predictable consequences of combustion – the transfer of activation energy to flammable materials.  The ashes are left behind, usually as a somewhat unpleasant reminder of the prior activity, to be quietly discarded. Some ashes, those of the red heifer, celebrated in the special haftarah for this week, are purifying.

This week we read a special maftir and Haftara that emphasizes the purifying waters that are made with the ashes of the red heifer. Ashes and water were the only ingredients in this formula that purified from the deepest level of impurity, death. This simple substance could not erase the indelible mark, but it removed enough so that the affected person could re-enter the ritual world and continue the process of recovery.

The special reading, the maftir from parshath Chukath, describes the preparation of the purifying ashes and the necessity of their application to those who are sullied before participating in the Temple service.  This section is part of the pre- Passover cycle. Reading the special, Parah, section of the Torah and its accompanying haftarah, remind us of the preparatory process that preceded the great, communal Passover celebration in the Temple. In the Diaspora, it becomes a commemoration of the absence of that temple and the community that came with it. The absence of the red heifer ash water, and the purification it brings, becomes an insurmountable obstacle to a return to the ways and days of old (see: Yiddish Policeman’s Union).

The special haftarah for Parah emphasizes the purifying power of the heifer ashes, even in the face of ongoing transgression. In the haftarah, the misdeeds of Israel are an embarrassment before the nations of the world. They are ultimately corrected by Gd’s intervention, in part, through the magic ash water.

The ashes of the holocaust purified the Jew. Public antisemitism became distasteful, obscene. That kind of purification does not last. Like the red heifer ash water, it purifies the recipient and sullies the user. Holocaust fatigue comes quickly to the antisemite. When 1,200 Israelis were murdered, the predicted reaction of the state of Israel was criticized before it began. The “lesson” of the holocaust became a weapon used against its victims, and on Oct 7, 2024, its repeat victims.

Following the heinous murders, rapes and kidnappings, action was needed to prevent further pogroms. Soldiers had to follow orders. They questioned … and obeyed.  What standing do Diaspora Jews have? Do they dare question the decisions? Do they dare not? They will be blamed either way.

The product of every fire is ashes.

 

Zachor

I do not want to write this. To write about the parsha of angry memory now, during the Gaza war, is excruciating.

I am the child of holocaust survivors. A large part of my religious beliefs come from the holocaust. To me, the Nazi murders and the flourishing of the survivors, are religious ideas because  of their enormity. The events are too large for mundane analysis. Mathematics does not work outside the limits within which it is defined. These events are outside those limits. They require an extra-ordinary context. But once I leave the usual understanding of the world, I have no certainty. Anything can happen. Truth has a new meaning or no meaning at all.

The establishment of the state of Israel is tangential to ordinary reality. The skew line of history that decimated European Jewery and my ancestors, touched  the fragile  ball of the universe  within which the rules apply. A functional state, that housed the survivors and that became the repository for Jews, must function within the rules: both the stated, public rules; and the private, plutocratic guidelines that secretly govern the actions of states and wealth. The contact between the exouniverse of dreams, nightmares and outrageous events moved the bubble of reality off course and simultaneously redirected history.

The annual  cycle of Jewish ritual begins with the Passover, the celebration of  spring  and liberation and renewal. It ends with Purim, the bacchanal of survival and victory; a reminder of eternal antisemitic  threat.  We are up to Purim.

Purim is a Rabbinic decree. The story that is celebrated took place a thousand years after Moses. It is tied to a commandment of the Torah: reading Zachor, Remember, three verses from Deuteronomy ( 25 :17-19)   that admonishes Israel to remember the Amalek nation, and when the time is right, erase all memory of it. This is followed by a Haftarah (I Samuel 15:2-34)  that deals with king Saul’s attempt to carry out these instructions and Samuel’s admonition that Saul had misinterpreted the instructions ( by following the will of the people).  The Haftarah is tied to Purim by the mention of Agag, the king of Amalek, who was spared by Saul … and killed by Samuel. Hamen, the villain of Purim is called an Agagi, presumably a descendent of Agag, and hence a residual Amalekites. There is an implication that Samuel’s clemency toward Agag, dictated by mercy and international law, allowed Agag to father Hama.

The haftarah is a polemic against mercy of any kind in the fulfillment of the Divine task. Erasing the memory of Amalek means annihilating everything, all the DNA.

Amalek is to be eliminated because of the cruel and overbearing attack they made at the moment of weakness. The issue that needs erasing is cruelty. Overwhelming retribution would seem to perpetuate the problem, it does not erase it. To the extent that it succeeds, a war of obliteration preserves its validity for the next instance.

The Purim story accepts a state of exile for the Jews. The story takes place when there is no Jewish homeland. The ascent of Esther and Mordechai in the Persian empire is a forerunner to permission for the Jews to rebuild their Temple in Jerusalem (a multicultural and divided city, then).  This is not the time prescribed in the Torah for the erasure of Amalek.

How do these stories impact the thinking of Jews today? We are careful to say that we cannot identify Amalek and thus we can not invoke the command to kill. But the idea of vengeful annihilation is glorified in these stories and the late unforeseen consequences for failure to do so is remembered by connecting the story of Saul and  Agag to that of Haman and Mordechai.

Forgoing evil does not seem to work (example: Chamberlain). Annihilation is intolerable. Sometimes the solution comes from the incidental (the Purim story) and we celebrate it as a miracle.

PIkudei: accounting

We call this week’s parsha pikudei, based upon the first two words .

אֵ֣לֶּה פְקוּדֵ֤י הַמִּשְׁכָּן֙ מִשְׁכַּ֣ן הָעֵדֻ֔ת אֲשֶׁ֥ר פֻּקַּ֖ד עַל־פִּ֣י מֹשֶׁ֑ה עֲבֹדַת֙ הַלְוִיִּ֔ם בְּיַד֙ אִֽיתָמָ֔ר בֶּֽן־אַהֲרֹ֖ן הַכֹּהֵֽן׃

These are the records [accountings, accounts] of the Tabernacle, the Tabernacle of the Pact, which were drawn up [ accounted, counted] at Moses’ bidding—the work of the Levites under the direction of Ithamar son of Aaron the priest.

  This word is not easy to translate and carries significance beyond its rendering. This word brings together the end of Bereshith, the first book of the Torah with this, the last parsha of Shemoth, the next book of the Torah. I have wondered about this word for some time.

Bereshith ends with two verses (before announcing the death of Joseph) that repeat

פָּקֹ֧ד יִפְקֹ֣ד [pokad yifkod]

[Gd will] …take notice of you (JPS), take account of you (Evertte Fox), visit you (Koren), consider you (Metzudah), remember you (S.Silverstein).

These are Joseph’s final words of encouragement, and they are charged with hidden meaning. Remembering can only take place in that which is forgotten. Only the overlooked can be reconsidered.

When Gd takes account both the good and the bad are considered. Joseph is telling the brother who was sold him into slavery that an accounting will occur. And he implies that despite all of the guilt, they will be redeemed.

 

When Gd reveals the plan for the redemption of the Israelites, Moses is instructed to say

פָּקֹ֤ד פָּקַ֨דְתִּי֙ אֶתְכֶ֔ם [poked pokaditi]

Gd had taken notice, taken account., considered, remembered, etc.. the Israelites in their plight. These words are a response to Moshe’s request for a path toward credibility, to enlist the Israelites into the process of  exodus.   Perhaps there was a tradition, a memory of Joseph’s parting words. These were  a secret code that the redemption from Egypt would begin.

The book of Shemoth, the Exodus, ends with an accounting of the mishkan, the portable sanctuary, the great architectural project of the desert Israelites. In context, pkd means accounting, a verification of the appropriate and complete usage of the valuables donated for the project.

Two words are repeated in this verse: פֻּקַּ֖ד, pkd,  and מִשְׁכַּ֣ן, mishkan, the sanctuary. The repeat of mishkan evokes the history of Jewish central Temples: the one described here constructed by Moshe; the Temple of Solomon, mentioned in the haftorah; and the second temple of Ezra and Nehemia, destroyed by the Romans. To the Sforno and Abarbanel, the repetition invites a comparison that demonstrates the superiority of the mishkan of Moses. Rashi leads us to the Midrash Tanchuma:

אָמַר רַבִּי שְׁמוּאֵל, לָמָּה מִשְׁכָּן מִשְׁכָּן שְׁנֵי פְעָמִים, שֶׁנִּתְמַשְׁכֵּן עַל יְדֵיהֶם. הוּא שֶׁאַנְשֵׁי כְנֶסֶת הַגְּדוֹלָה אוֹמְרִים: חֲבֹל חָבַלְנוּ לָךְ (נחמיה א, ז), הֲרֵי שֶׁנִּתְמַשְׁכֵּן שְׁנֵי פְעָמִים

R. Samuel said: Why was the word mishkan (“Tabernacle”) repeated twice? Because it was seized twice on account of their sinfulness. That is why the men of the Great Synagogue said: We have dealt (habal habalnu) very corruptly against Thee (Neh. 1:7). Hence the Temple was seized twice as a pledge.

In its absence over the past millenia, the sanctuary is thought of as a bailment, a precious object held by the pawnbroker, awaiting redemption, a pikadon.

The silver collected for the mishkan (the only actual accounting given) is a poll tax, the basis of the census. The collection is based upon a verse that uses  פְקֹ֣ד, pkd, twice.

 כִּ֣י תִשָּׂ֞א אֶת־רֹ֥אשׁ בְּנֵֽי־יִשְׂרָאֵל֮ לִפְקֻדֵיהֶם֒ וְנָ֨תְנ֜וּ אִ֣ישׁ כֹּ֧פֶר נַפְשׁ֛וֹ לַי

בִּפְקֹ֣ד אֹתָ֑ם וְלֹא־יִהְיֶ֥ה בָהֶ֛ם נֶ֖גֶף בִּפְקֹ֥ד אֹתָֽם׃

When thou dost take the sum of the children of Yisra᾽el after their number, then shall they give every man a ransom for his soul to the Lord, when thou dost number them; that there be no plague among them, when thou dost number them.

 

When Moses descends from Sinai to the people worshiping  the Golden calf, the repetition of   pkd is used again:

עַתָּ֞ה לֵ֣ךְ ׀ נְחֵ֣ה אֶת־הָעָ֗ם אֶ֤ל אֲשֶׁר־דִּבַּ֙רְתִּי֙ לָ֔ךְ הִנֵּ֥ה מַלְאָכִ֖י יֵלֵ֣ךְ לְפָנֶ֑יךָ וּבְי֣וֹם פָּקְדִ֔י וּפָקַדְתִּ֥י עֲלֵיהֶ֖ם חַטָּאתָֽם׃

Go now, lead the people where I told you. See, My messenger shall go before you. But when I make an accounting, I will bring them to account for their sins.”

Moshe was a unique leader. He was the single person who interacted so closely with Gd and brought Gd’s message to the Israelites. Trust in the accuracy of the messages conveyed by Moshe is one of the thirteen principles of Maimonides.  Distrust of Moses is not an option for us. Thus, the audit of pikudei could not have been done because of doubt of Moshe’s honesty. However, it is clear that Moshe’s contemporaries had differences of opinion with him ( usually to their disadvantage).

The first use of the word is when Gd announces that  Sarah is pregnant: 

פָּקַ֥ד אֶת־שָׂרָ֖ה כַּאֲשֶׁ֣ר אָמָ֑ר׃

took note of Sarah as promised

This is a positive example that Gd can make the extraordinary occur; Gd can make a miracle. 

The last use in the Bamidbar, the book that is called Sefer Pikudim involves the battle against Midian

וַיֹּֽאמְרוּ֙ אֶל־מֹשֶׁ֔ה עֲבָדֶ֣יךָ נָֽשְׂא֗וּ אֶת־רֹ֛אשׁ אַנְשֵׁ֥י הַמִּלְחָמָ֖ה אֲשֶׁ֣ר בְּיָדֵ֑נוּ וְלֹא־נִפְקַ֥ד מִמֶּ֖נּוּ אִֽישׁ׃

They said to Moses, “Your servants have made a check of the warriors in our charge, and not one of us is missing.

May we have an element of  this miracle again now, when we need it. 

The Midrah Tanchuma recognizes the possibility that there were scoffers who suspected Moses.

 [edited for brevity]

, אלה פקודי המשכן, ולמה עשה עמהם חשבון,

 אלא שמע משה ישראל מדברים מאחריו

, ומה היו אומרים, ר' יצחק אומר לשבח היו אומרים,

', ור' חמא אמר לגנאי, היו אומרים ראה צואר, ראה שוקים, אוכל משל יהודים, ושותה משל יהודים, וכל מה שיש לו מן היהודים,

, כיון ששמע משה כך אמר להן חייכם משהמשכן נגמר אני עושה עמכם חשבון, שנאמר אלה פקודי המשכן וגו'.

 

(Exod. 38:21:) THESE ARE THE RECORDS OF THE TABERNACLE. But why did he make an accounting with them when the Holy One trusted him? It was simply that Moses had heard Israel speaking behind his back,

 And what were they saying? R. Isaac says: They were saying in his favor

 But R. Hama said: They were saying to his shame: Look at the <fat> neck; look at the <fat> thighs. Moses is eating from what belongs to Jews and drinking from what belongs to Jews, for everything he possesses comes from the Jews.  As soon as Moses heard that, he said to them: By your life, after the Tabernacle is finished, I am making an accounting with you. Thus it is stated (in Exod. 38:21:) THESE ARE THE RECORDS OF THE TABERNACLE….

 

The midrash seems open to the idea that some people did not trust Moshe.

As we approach Purim next week, we also see a hint of the same idea as the Megillah ends:

כִּ֣י ׀ מׇרְדֳּכַ֣י הַיְּהוּדִ֗י מִשְׁנֶה֙ לַמֶּ֣לֶךְ אֲחַשְׁוֵר֔וֹשׁ וְגָדוֹל֙ לַיְּהוּדִ֔ים וְרָצ֖וּי לְרֹ֣ב אֶחָ֑יו דֹּרֵ֥שׁ טוֹב֙ לְעַמּ֔וֹ וְדֹבֵ֥ר שָׁל֖וֹם לְכׇל־זַרְעֽוֹ׃

For Mordechai the Yehudi was second to King Achasverosh, great among the Yehudim, esteemed by most of his brethren; he sought the welfare of his people, and was the spokesman for the peace of his descendants.

For leaders that fall short of Moshe’s authority, all the leaders that we experience in the world, there is precedent validating a level of doubt; there is an expectation that an audit will prove honesty, but there is enough doubt to do the audit.

Every person is subject to the personal audit.

 

Vayakhel: the hidden

A couple of years ago, my wife, Karen, told me about something she had read.  A Jewish kindergarten class was told that: in a few days, they would  be taken  to the synagogue – a very impressive, large, architected room  - ascend the platform in front of the room, open the ornate curtain, open the wood panels and see what is inside! The class was twittering with excited speculation about what could be hidden in this forbidden place. Children speculated. One thought that there would be an entrance to a set of secret passages, one of which led to heaven. Others thought the cabinet would be empty. Some had heard that the Torah scrolls were kept there. One child (the teacher’s pet) thought there would be a large mirror.

This week’s parsha outlines the construction of the mishkan, the portable sanctuary. After 122 verses, 1558 words, describing wood, metals, cloth, sculptures and tapestry, I do not know what it looked like. Its inner sanctum was visited only once per year by the high priest , when it was enveloped in a cloud of incense smoke. In that inner sanctum, the ark, containing the Gd given tablets, rested. The ark was covered by a sculpture of cherubs. Gd said that communications would come from between the cherubs.  No messages have been received in the past two thousand years.

The entire mishkan project is somewhere between subtle and contradictory. After the commandment  forbidding the creation of images, after the golden calf demonstrated the consequence of creating such a representation, the holy of holies  is dominated by a golden (molten?) image. These rules are not easy to understand. Who knows what is right and what is wrong?  The most sacred authorizes the breech of the letter of the law. The priestly robes were made of the forbidden combination of wool and linen. The mishkan was an undoing of the golden calf. Shared characteristics are to be expected.

Most of the mishkan was designed as a museum that stored the tablets in a treasure chest that was never to be opened. Layers of curtains protected the most holy of objects from view, and thus made the fantasy of it more alluring.  One approached the ark and the tablets and the cherubim through a series of veils.

Precious objects are usually locked away. The concealment protects the treasure from thieves and vandals. Hiding  preserves the masterpiece for future generations and for those that can appreciate it.

The mystery that follows from the concealment adds to the appeal. You do not know what it is until you experience it, and even getting close is impossibly hard. My relationship to the inner sanctum is one of unrequited love.

The closest I have come to the experience of the inner sanctum is visiting the great museums: the Louvre, the Metropolitan, etc. and spending a few moments with the most treasured European art works: Mona Lisa, Water Lilies. These are works that incorporate and summarize the height of skills  and technologies of their time in a form that reflects on the viewer and removes the viewer to otherwise inaccessible places. The artworks themselves are protected and enshrined. After viewing these paintings all I have is the memory. The memory is not entirely that of the painting.  It is also the difficult journey required to see them, the crowd taking selfies and phone photos, the jostle. Attendees of the temple never saw the ark and the cherubs.  They only experienced the jostle.

The importance of the object is transferred to the place. The art museum is a weak shadow of the religious temple.

Gd said that the Divine communications would come from between  the cherubs:

וְנוֹעַדְתִּ֣י לְךָ֮ שָׁם֒ וְדִבַּרְתִּ֨י אִתְּךָ֜ מֵעַ֣ל הַכַּפֹּ֗רֶת מִבֵּין֙ שְׁנֵ֣י הַכְּרֻבִ֔ים אֲשֶׁ֖ר עַל־אֲר֣וֹן הָעֵדֻ֑ת אֵ֣ת כׇּל־אֲשֶׁ֧ר אֲצַוֶּ֛ה אוֹתְךָ֖ אֶל־בְּנֵ֥י יִשְׂרָאֵֽל׃ {פ}

There I will meet with you, and I will impart to you—from above the cover, from between the two cherubim that are on top of the Ark of the Pact—all that I will command you concerning the Israelite people.

The golden ark cover and cherubim were shiny, reflective. They were, in part, a mirror.

  

 Ki Thisa:  the circle

This is the chapter of high drama. The Israelites approach the heights, the contract is so close. At that moment, they descend to the depths. The decline of the people propels Moshe to heights never achieved by another human being.

If I read the story in the usual way, it is familiar but I really do not understand it. I cannot understand people thinking of a golden statue of a calf as their deity and certainly not as the force that took them out of Egypt. I can understand the story better if I take a liberty with some of the keywords.

 

The words that are translated as golden calf, or more accurately molten calf, are עֵ֣גֶל מַסֵּכָ֑ה, aygel maseichah.  Aygel, עֵ֣גֶל, is often translated as calf and that usage makes sense in many other passages in the Torah. Hebrew is written without vowels. This set of consonants also accurately spells eegul, a circle. As I read the chapter of this year, the alternate reading of eegul, עֵ֣גֶל, cast the story into a different and more understandable light for me.

 

Immediately preceding the story of the people demanding and receiving an object of idolatry ( usually understood to be a calf), the chapter instructs the preparation of the anointing oil and incense. These were compounds that were to be used exclusively in the temple service. The formulations of these two mixtures are patented. Other mixtures, like the combination of meat and milk or wool and  linen are forbidden but it is only the anointing oil and incense that are put under this special restriction. These substances are to be made but only  by authorized people for the defined use. They are patented. This is one of the beginnings of our industrial world. This is an understandable prophecy.

Soon after, comes the , aygel or eegul  maseichah.  It is announced as the great power, the deity, “O Israel, who brought you out of the land of Egypt!” Did a calf bring the children of Israel out of Egypt ? No, they left on round wheels. They left on circles. And it was the wheels of the Egyptian Chariots that were caught when that army pursued the Hebrews after they crossed the split sea.

 

Round is the more fundamental meaning of עֵ֫גֶל. It is the perception that the hoof of the calf is round that transfers the word to the young animal.

 

The circle is a fundamental of the move to industrialization and the culture of invention. The wheel is often thought of among the first human inventions. Actually, the wheel was reinvented many times. It was at this time in history that in important advance took place in the wheel. It was about 4000 years ago that spokes first appeared. The solid interior of the wheel was replaced by a supporting meshwork. Another meaning for מַסֵּכָ֑ה masecha. This advance made the wheel itself less of a burden.

 

Although a different word ofan, (הָאוֹפַ֖ן בְּת֥וֹךְ הָאוֹפָֽן׃) is used, in the description of the heavenly host in Ezekiel, the wheels within wheels also emphasizes the  significance of the art and science of the circle. This wheel within the wheel evokes a later use of the circle that appeared at about the time of Ezekiel: the gear, one circle driving another. This was a new ability to redirect power.

 

The circles religious significance is seen primarily in Asia. The enso, the Dharmachakra (with its spokes), the Yingyang are all familiar. Eastern religions remain a source of fascination for Jews. The borders of idolatry are not clear to me.

 

There is a circular aspect to the morality of the atheist. The idea that things will circle back is a basis for just and equitable behavior. It is a self-contained worldview that does not require a deity. It is a belief system that I can fathom far better then a people led by a calf. My ability to understand it does not make it religiously acceptable. This is not the belief system of my ancestors. It is not likely to be an improvement either

 

What would It mean to be led by a calf? The calf is not a useful work animal. The calf is a complex obstacle to obtaining milk, the desirable product of its mother. The calf is necessary for the production of milk, but once it is born, it is a competitor with the human. Thus, it is often slaughtered and eaten. My identification with the subject of the folk song Donna Donna, the calf that is easily slaughtered never knowing the reason why, is limited.

Alternatively, the calf represents some potential not yet realized. It is forever young, but it is domesticated. It will not harm until it gets bigger. Maybe it is cute. It is hard to imagine the leadership of such a symbol. I like the circle better.

Industry produces wealth and wealth leads to power and greed.  Greed generates more industry.  That is the kind of idolatry I can understand.  It is a (molten) circle.