Parsha Review Podcast · Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe

00:01 - Intro (Announcement)
You are listening to Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe of Torch in Houston, texas. This is the Parsha Review Podcast.

00:10 - Rabbi Aryeh Wolbe (Host)
Welcome back, my dear friends, to the Parsha Review. This week's Parsha is Parsha Tetzaveh. Before we begin this week's Parsha Review, I'd like to dedicate this week's Parsha Review to the Refu Shalema, to the speedy recovery for Paraleah Bas, Sara Esther. She should have a speedy recovery. Paraleah and her husband are very, very dear friends of ours. She's having a surgery today and I want to dedicate all the Torah that we learned today, all of our listeners online, all of our viewers online the Torah, the inspiration that we have from this class, should be a merit to her speedy recovery and Be'ezus Hashem, she'll be strong and in good health really, really soon.

00:54
This week's Torah portion, parshas Tetzaveh, is the eighth portion in the book of Exodus and the 20th portion since the beginning of the Torah. There's 101 verses, 1,412 words and 5,430 letters. We repeat this every week, every week. Why? Because there's not an extra word in the Torah. There's not an extra letter in the Torah. There's not an extra verse in the Torah. If it's there, there's something Hashem wants us to learn from it. That's what we try to invest our time in these classes to figure out. What is it that Hashem wants us to learn from these verses? There are seven mitzvahs, four performative mitzvahs, mitzvahs ase, and three prohibitions. Mitzvot lo ta'aseh. Okay, so here's the story of this week's parasha.

01:35
Hashem commands Moshe to solicit the Jewish people for pure olive oil for the menorah. The menorah is lit every evening in the outer chamber of the Mishkan in the Tent of Meeting the Kohanim. The priests, the children and descendants of Aaron who did the services in the Mishkan and then later in the Holy Temple, would light that menorah. The Kohanim were required to wear their special garments during all services performed in the Mishkan, including when erecting and deconstructing the Mishkan for traveling. Hashem instructs Moshe on the exact details of the special eight priestly garments of the high priest, four of which are worn by the ordinary Kohen. He wore eight garments. The ordinary Kohen wore only four. So the first is the eifo, the apron it was made of blue, purple and red dyed wool, linen and gold threads. The choshin the breastplate it was worn on the Kohen gadol, on the high priest's chest, with 12 precious gems on it, each one representing one of the 12 tribes. The me'il. The robe or the coat it was blue wool with gold bells and pomegranates hanging all the way at the bottom by his feet, and then the tzitz, which was the crown, or the forehead plate, a golden plate with the words Kodesh L'Hashem, holy to Hashem, engraved on it. These following four were the four garments worn by every Kohen the ordinary Kohanim. The Michnasayim. The pants they were short linen pants worn under the Kohen's clothings. The Ktones. The tunic, a long shirt covering most of the priest's body. The avnet, the sash or belt wound above the waist and over the heart. And the mitznefes. The mikbat, the turban or hat worn on the Kohen's head.

03:38
After the garments were fabricated, moshe performed a seven-day ceremony to consecrate Aaron, the high priest, and his sons. Each day, they sanctified themselves in a mikvah. Moshe dressed Aaron and anointed him with anointing oil, the shemen ha-mishcha. Moshe dressed Aaron's sons and tied their avneit belt for them. Moshe then brought offerings, sprinkled the blood and the oil on Aaron and his sons, and they spent each day in the Mishkan sacrificing offerings to Hashem. After these seven days, moshe was no longer able to bring offerings. It was only during these seven days that Moshe was like a Kohen. But after these seven days, that's it. It was now the time for the Kohen, aaron and his descendants to bring these offerings. Then they have officially become Kohanim and could begin the service in the Mishkan.

04:33
Hashem commands the Karbentamit, a daily morning and afternoon sheep offering on the altar. This offering should be accompanied by a meal offering and libations of wine and oil. Hashem commands the construction of another altar of gold, the Mizbeach HaZov for incense, and that it be built from acacia wood and covered with gold. And these woods the acacia wood, was the wood that Moshe brought from Egypt. When the Jewish people were collecting all of the gifts that the Egyptians were giving them, moshe was busy with two very important tasks. Number one bringing Joseph's bones with him so that they can be appropriately buried in Israel, as promised, and Moshe chopped and carried the acacia woods that would later be needed for the temple. Aaron and his sons burnt incense spices on this altar each day and from here on, all the descendants of Aaron will be Kohanim forever. So anyone who you know who is a Kohen is a Kohen, not because he did something voluntarily, but because Hashem said all the descendants of Aaron will be Kohanim.

05:50
Now I want to share with you a very funny story, and then we'll go into the important lessons. A friend of mine lived in Cincinnati and he said the following story he was in a synagogue for the first time. He went to some synagogue and they're like looking around when they bring out the Torah. You know the first aliyah, the first honor goes to the Kohen, the second goes to the Levi and the rest go to the Israelites, the simple people like us. So they asked is there Kohen, kohen, kohen, kohen, anyone Kohen? He sees nobody's volunteering, so he raises his hand and he says me. So they call him up and for the next 10 years or so, every Shabbos he goes for services, they call him up as a Kohen. And then after 10 years or so, he says to the rabbi he says you know, I've been volunteering as a Kohen for so many years. I think it's time to give it to somebody else. The rabbi is beside himself not knowing what to do because he didn't realize that he's like I just volunteered, nobody else volunteered. So I volunteered to be the Kohen.

06:53
But that's not how Kohen works. You have to actually be a descendant. By the way, katz, the name Katz is a very common Kohenite name, because Katz is the name Kohen Tzedek, the chaf right the chaf and the tzedek is Kohen Tzedek, meaning this is a Kohen who has been directed all the way back up. Their lineage has been tracked all the way to Aaron. You have also Kahan, which is Kohen. Many people with the name Kahan are Kohanim. You have also Kahan, which is Kohen. Many people with the name Kahan are Kohanim. There are many names that identify because only Kohanim took those names. So it's important for a person to know what their lineage is, so that they know where they come from. And if someone is a Kohen, it's an unbelievable honor.

07:41
Just by the way, a very important thing for people to realize is that we say, oh, we're not going to profile people, we're not going to decide that people have greater status or lesser status. Well, the Judaism we do. Okay, a Kohen has the highest status, the Levi has the next highest and the Israelites, which is the majority of the Jewish people, are third rank. I'm sorry, you don't like it, it's too bad. That's the way God constructed the world. There are people who are given certain privileges and, although the world that we live in today doesn't like that concept or that idea of people having special privileges, that's the way it works In the world of truth, in the world of godliness. That's the way Hashem constructed the world. All right.

08:27
So some important, important lessons to learn from this week's parashah. Number one is that the regular Kohen had four garments. The high priest had eight garments. Another example of how there is difference in status. The high priest had a higher status and there's no equality. Everyone's asking for equality equality None of it. There's no such thing as equality. Men's asking for equality equality none of it. There's no such thing as equality.

08:54
Men and women will never be equal. They're different. They're different. They're uniquely different. An apple and an orange will never be equal. They're different. Each one has different compositions. Each one has different nutrients. Each one has different texture, flavor, benefits. They're different. A man and a woman will never be equal. They're different.

09:22
Okay, now which one is better? Learn the Torah. Which one is on a higher level? Learn the Torah. The Torah tells you. The Torah tells you that a woman is on a higher level. Learn the Torah. The Torah tells you. The Torah tells you that a woman is on a pedestal and the woman elevates the man. A man cannot be alone. It's an obligation for a man to get married. Why? Because he needs a wife who's at a higher level to pull him up. She's at the top of the ladder and she's reaching down. Please hold my hand and let me pull you up.

09:52
The garments atoned for Israel's sins. Our sages tell us that the breastplate atoned for the errors of judgment, because judgment, many times, the breastplate was on the heart. If someone made bad judgment, the breastplate was in atonement for that. The ephod, which was the apron, atoned for idolatry. The robe atoned for evil speech. The tunic atoned for killing, for someone who murdered someone, someone who needed atonement for that. The turban atoned for haughtiness, for someone's head. You hold up your head up high, you distance yourself from Hashem. The turban atoned for that haughtiness. It's someone's head. You hold up your head up high, you distance yourself from Hashem. The turban atoned for that haughtiness. The sash, the belt, atoned for sins of the heart. The thoughts, inappropriate thoughts, and the pants atoned for sexual transgressions. The last one I don't have here, but it atoned for it meaning.

10:46
The idea is that it wasn't just random garments that God just picked out of a hat saying, oh, this is what you should wear. Each one represented something. We have to realize that, more than anything, clothes represent dignity. They don't represent fashion. When you wear clothes, you're not wearing Christian Dior or you're wearing whatever name you have emblazoned on it. It represents you and you need to dress yourself in a way of dignity and carry yourself in a way that is appropriate as being a representative of the Almighty in the world. We see that there's a very strong emphasis in almost an entire portion on the garments of the Kohen, because here's the Kohen.

11:39
What was the Kohen? The Kohen was the representative of the iconic Jew. You want to know who the ideal Jew was? Look at the Kohen. You know that the Kohen, if he was in a quarrel with someone, he was in a fight with someone. He couldn't serve in the temple. You know why? Because someone who has a fight they're not happy, they can't serve in the temple. He had to be the image of happiness, the image of perfection. He had to be a married man. A Kohen Gadol was married to two women in case one died, that at no moment could he possibly be alone in a state of sadness.

12:22
The idea here is that a Kohen represented the perfection of the Jewish people. Kohen has to dress in a way that is royal, that is regal. It's not only his dignity, it's the dignity of the Jewish people and what he represents as a representative of the Almighty the 12 stones etched with the miracle Shamir worm. So how are they able to chisel these little stones, so perfectly rectangular, into the breastplate of the Kohen? So there's a special worm called the Shamir and in fact King Solomon used the same worm in the construction of the Temple of Jerusalem. If you look at those massive, massive stones at the Western Wall, how is it possible I mean, even today it would be almost impossible to schlep those stones and to put them so perfectly? King Solomon used the Shamir worm and they would make a line, the Shamir would sit on it and it would like chisel it through in a very. It was a little worm and it was able to bite right through the stone. And the same was with the stones of the breastplate of the Kohen. The names of Reuven, shimon, of all of the tribes was etched. First they wrote, they inscribed it and then they put the Shamir on top of it and the Shamir would just eat it out and that was perfect without cracking the stone. And that was perfect without cracking the stone.

13:52
The bells on the robe. There's a very, very important, very, very important principle that my father taught us about education. You know, why did the Kohen have bells in the bottom of his garment? I mean, it's like wherever the Kohen went, you knew that the Kohen was coming. So there are a couple of things. First is so that everybody was prepared. Wherever the Kohen went, you knew that the Kohen was coming. So there are a couple of things. First is so that everybody was prepared. The Kohen is walking in, everybody's standing up. It's like when the president not to compare between holy and unholy but before the president walks into the room, everyone is. You know, everyone. Please rise, the president of the United States and everyone stands up because it's an honor that you show for someone of great power, of great honor. But here we see something even more special. You see the Kohen. Wherever he walked, everybody knew that the Kohen was about to come.

14:42
My father said something so brilliant. He says this teaches us that perhaps there were young little Kohen kids running around playing tag, playing hide and seek. But when the Kohen came they knew uh-uh, let's get in order. What do you mean? What do you mean? Maybe they shouldn't do that and maybe the Kohen should catch them in what they're doing and reprimand them. My father says brilliantly the best thing for education is not to catch your children. Not to catch your children, because here's the difference.

15:16
Imagine you catch your child doing something wrong, red-handed. So now what are they going to do next time? They're just going to hide it better. But if you don't catch them, you don't just storm into their room and surprise them. You knock on their door and you wait till they say, please come in, and they have a chance to hide whatever it is that they were doing. So now what happens? Now, the guilt remains with them. Now they're thinking to themselves I didn't trick anybody, I tricked myself.

15:51
And what the Kohen here is teaching us, what the Kohen with the bells is teaching us that there's no need to catch someone in doing something wrong. Let them still have a dignity, let them still have a conscience, let them still have a conscience for what it is that they're doing, right or wrong because the minute you catch them, their conscience is out the window. Now I may get some hate mail from listeners and they say well, that's ridiculous, you're just going to let your children do whatever. No, there's guidelines to how to love your children properly and how to educate them properly and how to give them a sense of trust and not to abuse the relationship. These are other principles that need to be discussed. We can talk about that in a different class on education, but it's important. The Kohen wasn't going to surprise these younger Kohanim. The Kohen is coming. Let's get in order. They knew what the right thing to do was.

16:49
Sometimes we need a little reminder. The olive oil the olive oil needed to be little reminder. The olive oil the olive oil needed to be pure. Pure, and we mentioned this previously. The Jews are compared to olive oil. Why? Because sometimes the only time the Jewish people produce the best goods is when they're squeezed, is when they're smashed. Sometimes we need a little bit of anti-Semitism to knock us into shape, to realize that we need to love each other, to realize that we're better than that. But also, oil floats to the top. As much water as you put in, oil will always float to the top, and that's what we need to be. We need to be representatives of what it means to be the people who float to the top.

17:38
Okay, animal offerings, and this is sometimes, especially in our generation. We have organizations like PETA that say eating animals is cruel. So we have to understand that Hashem created a world for us. Hashem created a world for us to use, not to abuse. Therefore, yes, actually recycling and I'm not a tree hugger, I'm not an environmentalist wacko, but I do believe that it is a Torah value to recycle.

18:11
I do believe that it is a mitzvah not to waste. The Torah tells us bal tashchah not to waste. The Torah tells us bal tashchis not to waste, and everything that Hashem created should be put to use. I've been to events, to programs, where they're throwing out so much food you can feed millions of people with the amount of food that's thrown out daily and I think that's a terrible thing. But not to use what Hashem has given us. Hashem gave us animals so that we can enjoy the food from them in a proper way, and they should be ethically treated, there's no question. But not to use what Hashem gives us is a dereliction of our duty when Hashem gives us these resources for us to enjoy them. So what's the proper way? They were brought? As offerings, as a service to Hashem, as an offering to Hashem in the most dignified and most beautiful way, not in a brutal way.

19:11
If you look at the way the Jewish people are commanded to bring an animal to slaughter, it's the most painless and the most humane way. There's many things we could talk about this, but I'll just tell you something very, very beautifully quickly. You know that there are two main veins that go to the brain, that deliver oxygen. So it's very, very interesting that on a kosher animal they're all at the front of the neck. Non-kosher animals they're all at the back of the neck. That means when you slaughter that kosher animal properly, where it's supposed to be, at the front of the neck, it doesn't feel the pain Because at an instant and that's exactly the two veins that need to be cut in a proper slaughter it doesn't feel the pain anymore because there's complete disconnect and it doesn't experience any pain. I don't want to get into the gory details, but the most humane. When it's a non-kosher animal, you bet it feels that pain and it's inhumane. Specifically, the kosher animals have the veins in the front, which is a little bit of an indication. Hashem says those are the animals that you should eat. That is the proper way to slaughter an animal.

20:32
Now the Torah tells us that the breastplate of the high priest had the 12 stones representing each of the tribes, and you'll remember that I'm your god. Very interesting, we have to remember constantly the miracles that we experience, but also the the miracles that our ancestors experienced, like our tribes, the miracles that they experienced. And when we realize what went on when the Jewish people descended to Egypt and how we were saved from Egypt, then it's a whole new set of rules, a way for us to appreciate the world that Hashem has given us. And lastly, there was a special, special opportunity for a Kohen to bring the incense offering on the gold altar. Everybody wanted to do that because it says that whoever performed that special offering would merit unbelievable wealth. So everybody wanted that honor. So here's the thing they had a lottery and that lottery every coin on shift would stand. They would put out a finger and they would pick a random number and they would start counting and whichever one it ended by, that coin was the one who had the privilege of bringing the incense offering and he never again could bring that offering. Once he had that privilege, he had that blessing of wealth. That's it. It was now another person's turn to merit, to that privilege.

22:09
I think it's important for us to realize to take turns. We tell that to our children when they're playing in kindergarten, in nursery. We say you know, share your toys, share your things. But somehow, when we become adults, we forget that idea of sharing with others, giving other people a chance, giving other people the opportunity and the privilege to also benefit, to also get the bonus to also. And we were very competitive. But you know what? Here we learn from the Kohen give another person a chance, give another person the opportunity for that. Blessing, my dear friends, have a remarkable, beautiful, uplifting Shabbos. Shabbat Shalom.