A PERPETUAL FIRE SHALL BE KEPT BURNING ON THE ALTAR, NOT TO

GO OUT.

(Vayikra 6:6)

Why was the fire on the altar

rather than elsewhere? Scripture said: Make for me an altar of earth (Shemot

20). Why of earth? Because

man was created from earth and he was called Adam because he was taken

from the adama [earth]. We make fire offerings

and sacrifices on the altar – which is made of earth – in order to gain

atonement for the body, which is taken from the earth. How do we know that the

soul also gains atonement? It is written: The soul of all flesh – its blood

is in its soul (Vayikra 17), and it says it is the blood, as life, that effects atonement (loc cit) as it says, and they shall

throw the blood on the altar (Vayikra 1), that is to say, they shall throw

the blood – which is the soul – on the altar – which, like the body, is made of

earth – and gain atonement for the soul.

What is mizbe’ah [altar]? [The letter] mem

absolves their sins. Zayin [stands for] zehut [entitlement], for it entitles them to a place

in the world to come. Bet [is for the] berakha

handiwork. Het is for hayyim

these – absolution, entitlement, blessing, and life – and goes and worships

idols – shall be burned by His great fire, as it is said for the Lord your

God is a consuming fire, a jealous God (Devarim 4). How is He jealous? As it is

written: I betroth you in faithfulness (Hosea 2); just as a husband is jealous

for his wife, so too the Holy One blessed be He is

jealous.

(Tanhuma

Tzav 96:14)

The Shalshelet as

Interpretive Cantillation

Yossi Morgenstern

Excluding leap years, parashat Tzav is always read on

Shabbat HaGadol. On this Shabbat we are commanded to

prepare for the upcoming Pesach holiday, to study the Haggadah

and learn about the festival. There are those who claim that there is a

correlation between the contents of the parshiyot and

the seasons in which they are read. (For instance: Eichah

esah levadi [how

will I bear alone] (Devarim 1:12) is

read on Shabbat Hazon, which always precedes the 9^th

of Av. Also: The parshiyot touching upon repentance

are read in the month of Elul.) I shall argue that such a connection exists

between Shabbat HaGadol and parashat

Tzav. And what is the locus of this connection? The cantillation sign known as the shalshelet.

The shalshelet

is among the rarest of cantillation signs. Not

including Proverbs, Job and Psalms (which use a different system of cantillation), it only appears seven times in all of

Scripture, and of those, only four times in the Torah itself. Here I shall only

consider its appearances in the Torah.

The shalshelet

marks a break between words and it always appears towards the beginning of a

verse, over a verb conjugated in the singular. It comes to tell us that the

subject of the verb suffers a difficult moment of indecision and hesitation.

Let us investigate the cause for indecision involved in each of the four cases

in which the shalshelet appears in the Torah. We

shall try to uncover the method behind the selection of these verses and how

the use of the shalshelet which occurs in our parasha is connected with Pesach.

1) Bereishit 19:16:

Still he delayed. So the men seized his hand and the

brought him out and left him outside the city.

Rashi: Still

he delayed – In order to save his property.

Lot was concerned about his

wealth and property. At first he refused to obey the angel. Here we have a case

of hesitation caused by greed.

2) Bereishit 24:12:

And he said, "O Lord, God of my master Abraham, grant me good fortune this day, and deal graciously with my

master Abraham.

The shalshelet

over the word vayomer [and he said]

expresses his indecision regarding the fulfillment of Abraham's request. The

word perhaps uttered by Eliezer in 5:24

expresses his hope that he will not be able to find a wife for Isaac, as

explained by Rashi:

Peradventure the woman will not follow me – The word ulie [perhaps]

is written without the letter vav so that it

may be read eiylie [to me] Eliezer

had a daughter and he was endeavoring to find some reason why Abraham should

say that he must appeal to him [Eliezer] that he

should give his daughter in marriage to Isaac. Abraham said to him, "My

son is blessed and you are subject to a curse. One who is under a curse cannot

unite with one who is blessed." (Rashi on Bereishit 24:39 Silberman

translation).

This is a case of hesitation

caused by the desire for status.

3) Bereishit 39: 8:

But he

in my hands."

The shalshelet

over the word va'yema'ein (but he

refused) demonstrates Joseph's indecision regarding his behavior towards Potiphar's wife. This is a case of hesitation caused by

bodily desire.

4) Vayikra 8:23:

And it

foot.

If we have succeeded in

explaining the three earlier uses of the shalshelet

in the Torah as signifying a moment of indecision, why would we expect Moses to

be especially indecisive and hesitant in the verse from our parasha?

(There are differences of

opinion regarding whether Moses or Aaron slaughtered the animal mentioned in

our verse. I follow Sifra 179's view that Moses was

the slaughterer. In Bar-Ilan University's parashat hashavua sheet for Tzav of 5756, Rabbi Shlomo Pik claims that according to the plain meaning of the text,

Aaron was the slaughterer and that he hesitated out of fear that he may not be

worthy).

On each of the seven Days of

Ordination, three offerings were made: a sin offering, a burnt offering and a

peace offering. Tension builds from slaughter to slaughter. This is expressed

by the cantillation sign appearing above the word vayish'hat (and it was slaughtered) in

each verse. Verse 15, referring to the sin offering, uses the sign reviya, which marks a break of moderate

significance. Verse 19 deals with the burnt offering, and the very first word

of the verse, vayish'hat, is marked with an etnahta, signifying the most important division of

the verse. Our verse treats the ram of ordination, and is marked with a shalshelet. There are those who explain that in the

course of the service, Moses experienced spiritual exaltation while performing

the tasks that would be later reserved for the High Priest. While dismayed by

the thought that he will soon have to abandon this role, he remains true to the

divine command. (See Goren Zechariyah, Ta'amei Ha'Mikra Ke'Parshanut, Ha'Kibbutz Ha'Meuhad, 5755, pp.

75-6.)

It seems to me that Moses'

hesitancy had a completely different cause. The third slaughter, on the seventh

of the Days of Ordination, was Moses' final ritual act before handing over the

priestly role to Aaron. In the course of those days, Moses served as an

educator. Just before he executes the slaughter and completes his job, Moses

asks himself: Have I taught flawlessly? Perhaps I have failed in my preparation

of Aaron for his role? That is why the word vayish'hat

is marked with a shalshelet. The great teacher is

subjecting himself to merciless self-criticism.

Unlike Lot, Eliezer,

and Joseph, Moses' hesitation is positively motivated; not by greed or status

or carnal desire, but by concern for his student and the future of the

priesthood. Perhaps the cantillation signs reflect

the Mishnah's statement in Pirkei

Avot (4:21): "Rabbi Eliezer

says: Jealousy and desire and status drive a person from the world."

Moses, who was principally concerned with building up the world, did not

hesitate because of jealousy, desire, or status.

When we read the shalshelet on Shabbat HaGadol –

the day when we must educate our children in preparation for Pesach – let us

take Moses' example to heart. Let each of us ask himself

or herself: Have I taught my children in the best way possible? Have I given

all that I can give? Were my answers to the Four Questions no more than empty

formalities? Have I fulfilled the commandment of and you shall tell your

child (Shemot 13:8)? Let us adopt Moses' self-questioning

hesitancy, and be granted, God willing, a kosher and joyful holiday.

Yossi Morgenstern is

a computer programmer

Command Aaron: this is the law of the burnt offering – the Law

of One who “Aggrandizes Himself”

The Holy One blessed be

He said: Any one who aggrandizes himself will end up going to the fire, for its

is said, that is the olah [burnt offering, literally

that which goes up or he who raises himself up, i.e. takes on airs] on

the fire.

The generation of the

Flood [were self-aggrandizers] for they said Who

is the almighty that we should worship Him? (Job 21). Therefore, they were sentenced

to the fire, for it is said but when they thaw, they vanish in the heat,

etc. (Job 6) and it is written, their

remnant was consumed by fire (Job 22).

And regarding the

people of Sodom [it is written] and the Lord rained brimstone and fire upon

Sodom and upon Gemorrah (Bereishit 19).

Pharaoh said who is

the Lord that I should hearken to His voice? (Shemot 5), and aggrandized himself, saying, my

Nile is my own, I made it for myself (Ezekiel 29). Therefore [he was burned] on its

fire, for it says then the Lord thundered from heaven…Out of the

brilliance before Him hail and fiery coals pierced His clouds (Psalms 18), and it says there was hail and

fire flashing (Shemot

9).

Sancherib

aggrandized himself as well, for it is said I rose to the mountain heights,

to the remotest parts of Lebanon (II Kings

19). What happened to him? Through your envoys you have blasphemed my

Lord (ibid) – he blasphemed by means

of an envoy [malakh], so an angel [malakh] was sent to strike him. What did he do to

him? Instead of his glory he will surely burn as a fire burns (Isaiah 10).

(Tanhuma Tzav

2)

Then he removed his clothing and dressed in other clothing and

removed the ashes to a pure place.

(Vayikra 6:44)

Our rabbi taught: Then

place. This sounds to me to be similar to Yom Kippur, that he removes his holy garb and wears regular

clothing? The verse teaches us: Then he removed his clothing and dressed

in other clothing

– the clothing that he puts on are comparable to the clothing that he removed;

just as those were holy garb, so too, these are holy garb.

If so, what is learned

Rabbi Eliezer says: other… and removed – this teaches

that the priests who bore physical defects could remove the ashes.

Mar said: Other

– less important than them, as is taught by the school of Rabbi Yishmael, for the school of R.Yishmael

teaches: The clothing that he wore when preparing a stew for his master – he shall

not wear them while mixing a drink for his master.

(Yoma 23b)

…every trace of

yesterday’s sacrifice is to be removed from the hearth on the altar, so that

the service of the new day can be started on completely fresh ground. Under

these circumstances, the law, that occupation with the achievements of the

previous day, removal [of the ashes], and indeed [their] lifting

too, should be done in worn-out, less valuable garments, gets its

understandable meaning. The past is to be there and not forgotten, but it is to

be retired to the background, and is not to invest us with pride before the

fresh task to which each new day calls us.

(Rabbi S.R. Hirsch ad loc, Isaac Levy translation)

Those who cheat laborers of their hire… who subvert the [the cause

of] the stranger: God’s Judgment of Those Who Mistreat the Weak (from the haftorah).

Resh

Lakish said: Anyone who subverts the legal case of a

stranger – it is as if he subverted the Divine judgment, for it said: who subvert [mateh]

the [the cause of] the stranger. The text actually reads mati – subverts Me.

(Hagigah 5a)

Rabban

Yohanan ben Zakai would expound: I will step forward to contend

etc. (Malachi 3:5). Woe unto us since

the day of the reproach, for Scripture connected subverting the stranger with

serious transgressions. Therefore, the Holy One blessed be

He warned [us]: Do not subvert judgment.

Rabbi Hima bar Oshiyah said: When a man

is worried about his eyes, he pays a great sum to the doctor [even though] it

is questionable whether he will be cured or not. But one who takes a bribe

blinds his own eyes, distorts judgment, and causes Israel to be exiled from its

land, and brings famine upon the world, for it says justice, pursue justice,

etc. If you pursue justice, you shall live and inherit the land. But if

not, you shall not inherit.

(Tanhuma Shoftim

8)

I

destruction.

(Malachi 3:23-4

from the haftorah for Shabbat HaGadol)

Rabbi

Joshua said: I received a tradition from Rabban Yohanan ben Zakai

who heard it from his teacher, who heard from his teacher – a halakhah given to Moses on Mount Sinai – saying that Elijah

will not arrive in order to proclaim some pure and others impure, to push away

he will push away those who were brought near by force, and draw near those

pushed away by force. The Beit Tzarifah

family lived across the Jordan, and Ben Tzion pushed

them off by use of force. Another family there was brought near thanks to Ben Tzion's violence. These are the kinds of cases in which

Elijah will intercede, declaring pure and impure, bringing near and pushing

away.

Rabbi Yehudah said: [Elijah will come] to bring near, but not to

push away.

Rabbi

Shimon said: To settle disagreements [regarding halakhah].

The Sages say: Not to push off or draw

near, but rather to make peace in the world, for it is said: Lo, I will send

the prophet Elijah to you and it concludes, he

shall reconcile fathers with sons and sons with fathers.

(Mishnah Eduyot 8:7)

The

question has been asked, what is the difference between the view of the Sages

and that of the first rabbi quoted in the mishnah.

It would appear that his statement jibes with the Sage's opinion that Elijah

will come "to make peace in the world."

Prof. Hanokh Albek explains the Sage's

statement from this mishnah

by supplying it with an additional word: "to make peace in the entire

world." That is to say, while the other Tannaim

in our mishnah understand

Elijah's mission as involving the establishment of peace between fathers and

sons, and the settlement of disagreements between Jews, the Sages emphasized

the word "world" in order to say that peace would be established not

only within the Jewish People, but also throughout the entire world.

(Yeshayahu Leibowitz, Sihot al Hagei Yisrael, 64-5)

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