Parashat Tzav

I WILL SEND THE PROPHET ELIJAH TO YOU BEFORE THE COMING OF THE AWESOME, FEARFUL DAY OF THE LORD. HE SHALL RECONCILE FATHERS WITH SONS AND SONS WITH THEIR FATHERS, SO THAT, WHEN I COME, I DO NOT STRIKE THE WHOLE LAND WITH UTTER DESTRUCTION.

(Malachi 3:23-4 from the haftarah 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 [demote someone's pedigree] or draw near [improve someone's pedigree]. Rather 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)

 

Love Truth and Peace

The author of Midrash Shemuel wrote regarding the Mishnah's statement (Avot 5:7) "Any disagreement that is for the sake of heaven [will endure.]": "According to RaMBaN, this is to be understood along the lines of the dictum, 'If everyone finds guilt, he is innocent' (Sanhedrin 17a). When no party opposes the prevailing view with arguments and difficult questions, it is impossible for the matter to be properly illuminated and everyone may fall into error - (consult the cited text). Understand that when each one takes heart to present his view, acuity is increased and the truth becomes purified.

(Yismah Moshe II 7b)

 

Some people mistakenly believe that world peace can only be achieved by [establishing] uniformity of opinion and character. And so, when they see scholars investigating wisdom and Torah ideas, and as a result of these investigations the number of viewpoints and methods multiplies, they think that they [the scholars] cause controversy and the opposite of peace. But in truth it is not so, for true peace can only come to the world by way of the value of the multiplicity of peace. The multiplicity of peace occurs when all viewpoints and methods become visible, and it becomes clear how each has its own place, each according to its worth, its place, and its concerns.

(HaRav Avraham Yitzhak HaKohen Kook, ztz"l Olat RaAYaH, pg.330)

 

 

 

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 cantellation signs. Not including Mishlei, Iyov and Tehillim (which use a different system of cantellation), 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 hands of his wife and his two daughters - in the Lord's mercy upon him - and 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 to find a wife for Isaac, as explained by Rashi:

Rashi on Bereishit 24:39: 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." (Silberman translation).

This is a case of hesitation caused by the desire for status.

 

3) Bereishit 39: 8:

But he refused. He said to his master's wife, "Look, with me here, my master gives no thought to anything in this house, and all that he owns he has placed 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 was slaughtered. Moses took some of its blood and put it on the lob of Aaron's right ear, and on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe of his right 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 cantellation 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 cantellation 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

 

 

The Joy of Deliverance does not Cancel Sorrow over the Loss of Human Life

You find joy mentioned three times in connection with the holiday [of Sukkot]: and you shall rejoice in your holiday (Devarim 16:14), and you shall have nothing but joy (Devarim 16:15), and you shall rejoice before the Lord your God for seven days (Vayikra 23:40). However, in connection to Pesach, we do not find even a single mention of rejoicing. Why? You find that judgment is passed [by God] on the grain crop on Pesach, and no one knows if there will be [grain] this year or not [therefore, people's anxiety interferes with their joy]. Another opinion [has it] that [rejoicing is not mentioned] because Egyptians died during it [during the deliverance from Egypt]. Similarly, you find that we read the Hallel all seven days of the [Sukkot] festival, but on Pesach we only read Hallel on the first day and its night. Why? Because, Do not rejoice when your enemy falls, and do not let your heart be glad when he stumbles. (Mishlei 24:17).

(Yalkut Shimoni 23: 654)

 

Abarbanel explains that our custom during the seder of spilling wine when we recall the plagues of Egypt as intended to strengthen in our minds the ethical importance of regretting, even as we celebrate our deliverance, the price paid by other human beings, even though they were rightfully punished for their evil deeds, in accordance with the verse, Do not rejoice when your enemy falls.

Some time after that, when Moses had grown up, he went out to his kinsfolk and witnessed their toil. He saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew, one of his kinsmen. He turned this way and that and, seeing no one about, he struck down the Egyptian and hid him in the sand (Shemot 2:11-12).

The four actions taken by Moses tell of his soul's greatness: it was full of exalted, divine courage. He was incapable of [passively] witnessing injustice and violence, always rescuing whomever he could: 1) While living in the royal house, he set out to observe the condition of his Israelite brothers, 2) He struck the Egyptian who had hit one of his Hebrew brothers 3) He reprimanded the wicked Hebrew who had hit his neighbor 4) He delivered the Priest of Midian's seven daughters from the shepherds.

Any person of character and pure heart will learn from his example to stand in the breech and save his brothers from their murderous tormentors.

This is particularly true in those places where our brothers are oppressed and tormented by the gentiles. However, one should not disregard abuse perpetrated by one of our own brothers from the House of Israel. Even if the victim is a gentile, one must stand by him because all injustice is abhorrent to God. From this we must also learn that even when one lives comfortably, in peace and security in his own tent, surrounded by wealth and honor, the regime attentive to his words, such a person must not say to himself, "I am at peace in my own tent, why should I trouble myself about others, be they my brothers or from the world at large."

(Rabbi Moshe Kalfon, Darkhei Moshe, Gerba, Tunis circa 19^th cent.,

as quoted in HaLayla HaZeh an Israeli Haggadah edited by Mishael and Noam Tzion)