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A Dvar Torah for Vayikra

The Secret of Tzav

A Dvar Torah for Parsha Tzav: Leviticus 6:1–8:36

© By Rabbi Shlomo Nachman *

If you ask an average person what the Torah is about, they will likely reply that it's about laws and commands. The name of this week's parsha would tend to agree with that generalization: "Tzav" means "commands."

Have you ever wondered WHY God issues commands to us? Why would the Holy One, the Creator of Everything, care which shoe we tie first, what haircut we sport, what we eat? There are commands concerning these and innumerable other activities in the Torah and other Jewish writings. The 613 does not begin to scratch the surface!

In this week's Parsha, HaShem gives Moshe detailed commands concerning the proper way for the priests and the rest of us to offer sacrifices. Again, why does He care about how an animal is cut up or where or who eats it? Indeed:

"What is the multitude of your sacrifices to Me? says Adonai.
I have had enough burnt offerings of rams and the fat of well-fed beasts; I do not delight in the blood of bulls, lambs, or goats!" - Isaiah 1:11.

There are many such passages, and yet, He did command them. Why? We find the secret to understanding this seeming contradiction in the name of this week's Parsha: Tzav.

Tzav not only means command, it also means connect! See, the One God is kedosh, utterly transcendentally holy and beyond us. We are all unclean in our present forms. Why are we unclean? Because it pleased HaShem to grant us freedom and free will, even though we have not always chosen wisely. The closer we get to Him, the cleaner we become because there is no darkness in His Light. "The presence of Your Word gives light" (Psalm 119:130) and again, "In Your Light will we see Light" (Psalm 36:9). There is only darkness without His Presence. Everything negative in our lives is due to our individual and collective choices as we move into or away from His Light. We are unclean, but HaShem cleanses us with His Light if we choose to enter it. We can't blame God for our choices!

Being filled with love and mercy for His creation as a parent for a child, HaShem created an environment where we will eventually come to understand Reality and will, by our free will, choose the path of sanity of Light. How? Through the commands He has given us!

We are not like slaves who fearfully obey a master's commands without reasoning, intelligence, or agreement. We are free people who are passing from spiritual childhood to adulthood. His commands guide us to Reality. They are not there to further enslave us, God forbid. His commandments give life, freedom, and joy. As Prophet Isaiah exalted:

The spirit of my Sovereign GOD is upon me. GOD has anointed me.
I have been sent as a herald of joy to the humble
To bind up the wounded of heart,
To proclaim release to the captives,
Liberation to the imprisoned: I greatly rejoice in GOD,
My whole being rejoices in my God—
Who has clothed me with garments of triumph,
Wrapped me in a robe of victory,
Like a bridegroom adorned with a turban,
Like a bride bedecked with her finery.
For as the earth brings forth her growth
And a garden makes the seed shoot up,
So my Sovereign GOD will make
Victory and renown shoot up
In the presence of all the nations - Isaiah 62:10,11

So have all been sent forth who choose to dwell in His Light. It's the obligation of our eternal Covenant with God. We are to be Light Bearers to those in darkness! Everyone who looks to Adonai and keeps the intrinsic meanings of His commands is granted ever greater devekut, which brings attachment and harmony with Him. Not as our ancestors mindlessly slaughtered innocent animals, a thing HaShem never wanted, but as spiritually mature adults living our divine connection with Him. All who walk His Derech, His Path to spiritual adulthood, will eventually merit and achieve His undeserved love and mercy. May we each be such people!

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© Rabbi Shlomo Nachman, March 28, 2024


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