The Torah-Reading Anthology: Tzav 5768
PLEASE NOTE: To read the full article from which any one
of the following synopses is derived, click on its title-link.
Zohar: Consuming Fire of Loving-kindness
Fire in every place represents Judgment and is connected
with anger. A person who comes to sin before his Master sets his own bones
ablaze with the fire of his evil inclination. The priest is from the right side
of the tree of the
sefirot, the side of chesed, which
is far removed from Judgment on the left side of the tree.
This impure spirit - whether of the sinner himself or of the supernal source
from which it came - can only be removed in the flames of the Altar. There
is a fire that eats fire; the higher fire eats the "other" fire.
The priest set up the fire on the Altar and made it flare
up in the early morning each day, because that is specifically the time when his
side [of the tree of sefirot, the side of chesed] reigns and is
ascendant in the world. This is done in order to perfume the world, and the
judgments will be subjugated and will not awaken in the world.
Ari: Burned Again!
Spiritually, a sacrifice consists of both an "upward" and "downward"
spiritual movement. The animal ascended in flames on the altar, signifying and
effecting the elevation of man's animal nature into holiness. This elicited a
downward flow of divine beneficence in response. The priests represented the
downward response of the offering, since, as a result of the rituals they
performed (slaughtering and burning the animal), divine fire descended from
heaven onto the altar to consume the sacrifice. The Levites, in contrast,
represented the upward soaring of man's heart - as expressed in the consumption
of the sacrifice in the flames - in their music and song.
These two movements reflect the natures of the first and
principle two
sefirot of the emotions: chesed and
gevura. The downward flow of G-d's
beneficence into the world expresses His chesed, while the ecstatic,
upward soaring of the soul expresses the ardent power (gevura) of human
love and yearning for G-d expressed in the song accompanying the sacrifice.
Mystical Classics: Forgiveness: the Extra Fifth
The Torah portions Vayikra and Tzav speak mainly about sacrifices. There are
some which serve as atonement for their owners, such as the sin offering. Some
are to obtain forgiveness for a sin which has become second nature to us due to
the pollutant from the serpent. There are also sin-offerings for various leaders
of the community and the community as a whole respectively. In each instance of
sin, different elements are at the root of the sin committed, therefore
requiring separate sacrifices to secure atonement and absolution of the residual
pollutant of the serpent.
There is even a sacrifice called "asham taluy", a sin-offering of a
suspended nature, which must be offered when the owner is in doubt whether he
has become guilty of a certain transgression. One's duties must be clear
as the light of the sun, and being in doubt whether one had behaved in a
circumspect manner or not is a doubt that should never arise.
Chasidic Masters: Refined Tastes
Two things are accomplished through eating:
1) the human
being gains strength - body and soul are kept together, and
2) the food is
spiritually elevated.
The physical archetypes of Mineral, Vegetable or Animal
are elevated by becoming the flesh and blood of Human. Furthermore, when a
person then uses the strength gained from food to serve G-d, the food then
ascends to a level that is beyond the world of the created and enters the realm
of the Creator. This elevation of the food is part of the "Avodat Habirurim",
the task of elevating the sparks of holiness that are scattered through the
physical world.
Ascent Lights: A Change of Clothing
The Hebrew word "avoda", lit. "work",
is used often in this
Torah portion to refer to the service of the
High Priest on
Yom Kippur. Even
the removal of the ash from the altar was a
requirement of the priest on duty. This reminds us that each Jew is a
miniature Temple and that every aspect of our lives, even the
unspectacular and mundane of our day-to-day work, have a holy and spiritual purpose.
Shabbat Shalom.
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