Hamaayan/The Torah Spring Edited by Shlomo Katz Parashat Tetzaveh Volume VI/Number 20 (254) 11 Adar I 5752/February 15, 1992 Parasha Overview This week's Parasha continues the description of the "Mishkan" (Tabernacle). More specifically, most of the Parasha deals with the "Bigdei Kehunah" (priestly garments) and the induction ceremony for the first Kohanim. The beginning of the Parasha refers to the Mitzvah of lighting the Temple Menorah, and while all of the Temple service was done by the Kohanim, they had a special attachment to this Mitzvah (see Ramban, Bamidbar 8:1). The Ba'al Haturim notes that this is the only Parasha in the three middle books of the Torah which does not mention Moshe's name. Why is he left out? Because he inadvertently cursed himself by saying (Sh'mot 32:32), "If You will not forgive Bnei Yisrael, erase me from Your book." The Ba'al Haturim does not explain, however, why this Parasha was chosen. Perhaps it is because this Parasha is so closely related to the Kohanim, and it would be embarrassing for Moshe to be mentioned here. Why? Rashi (Sh'mot 4:14) notes that Moshe was originally destined to be Kohen Gadol. However, Hashem, angered by Moshe's refusal to go to Pharaoh and his desire to send Aharon instead, took the Kehunah away from Moshe, and gave it to his brother. To now openly associate Moshe with the laws of the Kehunah would be too painful for him. (We find a precedent for this idea in the prohibition on performing Mitzvot in a cemetery, because the deceased, who are unable to perform Mitzvot, would be "hurt.") The Haftara (Yechezkel 43:10-27) also relates to the induction of Kohanim into the Bet Hamikdash service, and it opens, "Describe the [design of the] Bet Hamikdash to Bnei Yisrael, and let them be embarrassed by this description of the Bet Hamikdash? The Vilna Gaon explains that it reminds us of Chazal's statement, "Any generation in which the Bet Hamikdash is not rebuilt is likened to a generation which destroyed the Bet Hamikdash." Our current situation in which we have no Bet Hamikdash is one which we have brought on ourselves, and we should be embarrassed by that fact. (Aderet Eliyahu) R' Yosef Chaim of Baghdad offers another explanation for this embarrassment. Our daily prayers are filled with pleas that the Bet Hamikdash be rebuilt. Do we really mean them? Do we truly look forward to the days of Mashiach, or are we so comfortable in our exile that we no longer realize that we are in exile? Hashem tells the prophet to test us. "Describe to them the structure of the future Bet Hamikdash. Will they be moved? Will they care? If not, then let them be ashamed of themselves, for their sins have caused them to sink so far into their exile that they have lost all senses of what their lives should be like!"" (Birkat Chaim) May the Bet Hamikdash be rebuilt speedily in our days. ************************************ The mnemonic device traditionally used to remember that this Parasha has 101 verses is the name of the angel "Micha'el" (whose "Gematria" equals 101). Why? We read in next week's Parasha that Hashem wanted to send an angel - according to the Midrash, it was Micha'el - to accompany Bnei Yisrael through the desert. Moshe demanded, however, that Hashem lead Bnei Yisrael Himself, without an intermediary. After Moshe's death, we read that this same angel appeared to Yehoshua, saying that he had been sent to lead Bnei Yisrael in battle. We find therefore, that wherever Moshe was, the angel could not be, but when the former was gone, the latter reappeared. This is why the angel Micha'el is alluded to by our Parasha, the only one in the three middle books of the Torah in which Moshe is not mentioned. (R' Heschel of Krakow: Chanukat Hatorah) ************************************ Why isn't Moshe's name mentioned in this Parasha? The Vilna Gaon suggests that it alludes to Hashem's knowledge that this Parasha would nearly always fall in the same week as the seventh of Adar, Moshe's yahrzeit. (Kol Eliyahu) ************************************ R' Chaim Yehuda Meir of Viso finds in this Parasha an allusion to the Chassidic custom of celebrating Shabbat by gathering together in the Rebbe's room, rather than each person observing Shabbat in his own home. The Torah states that Aharon should wear the "Bigdei Kehunah" (priestly garments) when he serves "Bakodesh" - "in the holy [place]." From here the Gemara learns that when a Kohen serves at a private altar (which was permitted before the Bet Hamikdash was built), he should not wear these garments. It seems from this that the concept of "Kodesh" relates to that which is done by large groups, and not that which is done alone. Shouldn't this also be true of our celebration of the day which we call "Shabbat Kodesh"? (Zecher Chaim) ************************************ "And you shall command Bnei Yisrael, and they shall bring to you pure olive oil, specially pressed for the Menorah, to light the eternal ('Tamid') lamp." (27:20) Rashi comments: "Here 'Tamid' means every night, but in reference to the 'Lechem Hapanim' (the twelve loaves of bread in the Mishkan) 'Tamid' means every Shabbat." Why should the oil in the Menorah be changed daily, while the bread was changed only on Shabbat? The Menorah symbolizes wisdom (especially Torah) while the "Shulchan" (the table which held the bread) symbolizes wealth. Thus, for example, Chazal say that he who wishes to become wise should turn slightly towards the south (where the Menorah stood) when praying, and he who wishes to become wealthy should turn slightly towards the north (where the Shulchan stood). Torah study requires a great deal of effort. The Gemara says, "If someone tells you, 'I did not struggle, yet I found [wisdom],' do not believe him." Similarly Chazal say (commenting on Bamidbar 19:14), "Torah is found in one who kills himself studying it." When it the best time to study Torah? Chazal say that it is at night. These two thoughts are alluded to by the oil of the Menorah - the symbol of wisdom - which was changed daily, and lit at night. Regarding wealth, Chazal teach, "One who observes Shabbat is given all of his hearts desires." Why? Ramatayim Tzofim answers based on Ohr Hachaim's explanation of the following Midrash: One who keeps Shabbat becomes a partner in Hashem's creation. Is this possible? asks the Ohr Hachaim. Isn't creation already completed? No! The Torah says (Sh'mot 31:17), "For six days Hashem created the heavens and the earth..." meaning that the world can actually exist for only six days at a time. However, when we observe Shabbat, we give the world a new lease on life. At the same time, says Ramatayim Tzofim, we "create" our own portion of this world, and we can thus include within it whatever we wish. The "Lechem Hapanim"" - representing wealth - was therefore changed every Shabbat. (Machberet Shlomo) ************************************ R' Chaim Shmuelevitz One of the central figures of the Mir Yeshiva during the Shanghai period and later, in Israel, was R' Chaim Shmuelevitz. R' Chaim was born in 1902, and his youth was thoroughly filled with Torah and Mussar; his father was the Rosh Yeshiva in their hometown (whose Rabbi was the great teacher of Mussar, R' Leib Chasman), and his mother was the daughter of another great Mussar personality, R' Yoizel Horowitz, the "Alter of Novaradok." R' Chaim was orphaned at age 16, and for two-and-a-half years he struggled to ensure both the material and spiritual survival of his younger siblings. Then, in 1921, R' Chaim was invited to become an instructor in the Yeshiva of R' Shimon Shkop in Grodno. Although R' Chaim served as a teacher there, he also became a student of R' Shimon, and to a large extent, adopted his style of learning. (More on this next week, IY"H.) For many years, R' Chaim's notes were the only reliable source of R' Shimon's teachings, and even after R' Shimon published his Shaarei Yosher, R' Chaim's notes were used as a commentary on that work. In 1925, R' Chaim joined the Mir Yeshiva, a relationship which lasted 54 years. His scholarship became legendary. Even the generation's leading sage, R' Chaim Ozer Grodzenski, stood up for him, explaining, "When the Mir Yeshiva library walks in, I stand up." One prominent scholar presented a manuscript for R' Chaim's review, and he knew that all of his thoughts were original because R' Chaim did not say that he had seen them elsewhere. (It was later learned that one of the author's explanations was, in fact, contained in a Sefer which the Mir Yeshiva did not own.) Before long, the Rosh Yeshiva of Mir, R' Eliezer Yehuda Finkel, took R' Chaim as his son-in-law. To many, R' Chaim Shmuelevitz is best known as a teacher of Mussar, rather than Talmud. This is due largely to the work, Sichot Mussar, which contains the discourses which he delivered between 5731-33 (1970-73). In fact, R' Chaim did not (officially) begin to deliver Mussar discourses until after 1965, while he had long been giving lectures in Talmud. TO BE CONTINUED ************************************ The learning schedule for this Shabbat is: Daily Mishnah Kelim 19:2-3 (Learn two Mishnayot every day) Daily Halacha Orach Chaim (Mishnah Berura) 345:8-10 (Learn three paragraphs each day) Daf Yomi Rosh Hashana 15 (Learn two sides of a page each day) Shmirat Halashon: L.H. 2:5-6 or Guard Your Tongue: L.H. 11:1 Rambam Chapter/Day: Hilchot Mechirah, Chapter 11 3 Chapters/Day: Hilchot Maaser Sheni V'Neta Reveye - Ch. 5-7 Sefer Hamitzvot Sh:N141-N143; Su:P119; M:P131,P125; Tu:N149,P132 W:P133,P143,P144; Th:P80,P81; F:P82,P135,N220-N222 ************************************ The hard copy distribution of this week's Hamaayan is sponsored by: Dr. and Mrs. Alan Goldman in memory of Sam W. Goldman