Divrei Torah Tzav
Torah Table of Contents
Laying Down the Law, Divrei Yisrael and Alei Deshe "Out of Pocket" Expenses, Divrei Yisrael.based on ma'amarim in Divrei Yisrael and Alei Deshe
There's an interesting connection between this week's Parsha, Tzav, and the Maftir, which is Parshas Parah. They both contain the words, "Zos Toras," or "Zos haTorah" [this is the law of...].
Our parsha begins with instructions from Hashem to Moshe, to command Aharon and his sons, "Zos Toras ha'Olah, hee ha'Olah al Mokda al HaMizbeach... - this is the law of the Olah [the elevating or burnt offering]. The Olah shall be burning on the altar..." [Vayikra, 6:2]. The Divrei Yisrael points out that the words, "hee ha'Olah" are seemingly superfluous, and that the word "hee" [the female "it"], normally written Heh-Yud-Aleph, is written Heh-Vav-Aleph [or identical to "Hu", the masculine "it"].
Last week we read Parshas Zachor, which speaks of the mitzva of the eradication of Amalek, the Jews' archenemy. At the end of Parshas Beshalach [read on Purim], which describes the first encounter with Amalek, Hashem takes an oath: "Ki yad al keis Kah, Milchama LaShem b'Amalek, mi'dor dor - For Hashem's hand is upon His Throne, there will be war for Hashem with Amalek from generation to generation" [Shemos, 17:16]. Hashem's Name, "Kah" is spelled Yud-Heh [two letters, the Vav and Heh, are missing from the usual 4-lettered Name]. The word for Throne, usually "Kiseh," is written "keis" - an Aleph is missing. Our Sages [Pesikta, see Rashi] point out that this indicates that neither Hashem's Name nor His Throne will be complete until Amalek is eliminated.
With this in mind, the Divrei Yisrael now explains our verse: "Zos Toras ha'Olah" - this is the ma'ala, the uplifting, of the Torah. By engaging in Torah, one uplifts the letters of the word "hee" - that is, Heh, Vav and Aleph. The Heh and Vav "rejoin" as it were, the letters Yud and Heh [of Parshas Beshalach], restoring the fullness to Hashem's Name. The Aleph goes back together with the Kuf and Samech, to form "kiseh", Hashem's Throne, which then becomes complete.
Interestingly, Rashi also says on our verse, that "Tzav" implies an extra sense of diligence - one has to be extra diligent
where there is a loss. The Divrei Yisrael tells us that this could refer to the restoration of the loss of letters in Hashem's
Name and His Throne.
This week's Maftir, Parshas Parah, describes the purification process for one who comes into contact with a corpse. After the description, the verse says, "Zos haTorah adam ki yamus b'Ohel - this is the law of a man who dies in a tent (or other enclosed area, such as a house, etc.)" [Bamidbar, 19:14]. Our Sages [Shabbos, 83b] derive an interesting principle from this verse - "the Torah is only sustained by one who kills himself over it." (They break up the verse as follows: "this is the Torah" - the sustenance of it; "a man who dies in a tent" - a man should 'kill himself' in the tents of Torah study).
The Divrei Yisrael is astonished by this, for we know that "v'Chai Bahem - and you shall live by them" is a cardinal principle of the Torah - so much so that one must violate the laws of the Torah (with three exceptions) in order to save a life. How then do we explain this teaching about killing oneself?
Rashi on the verse [Breishis, 47:29] which refers to Yaakov Avinu's passing, "and deal with me with Chessed [kindness] and Emes [truth]", tell us that the Chessed which one does with the departed is a truthful one, for he expects no reward in return. Similarly, says the Divrei Yisrael, one's learning of Torah should be in this manner - to have no expectation of reward. This is also indicated in the Mishna [Pirkei Avos], that people who learn Torah should be "like servants who serve their master without any condition of reward or compensation." It is for this reason as well that the Torah is referred to as both "Toras Emes" and " Toras Chessed," for one who engages in its study should do so as a "Chessed shel Emes", without any expectation of reward or recompense.
So now our verse and its explanation are understood - "this is the Torah" - this is the way the Torah should be learned. How? Like "a man who dies in a tent" - just like a person who attends to the dead has no expectation of reward, so too, should our learning of Torah be without any ulterior motives. Translated by Reb Yitzchak Dorfman of Yerushalayim, a Modzitzer Chassid
Based on the Divrei Yisroel, Parshas Tzav
The parsha starts off with a seemingly simple command:
"Tzav es Bnei Yisroel... Zos Toras HaOlah..." - "Command the Children of Israel.... This is the Torah of the Olah (sacrifice)". Rashi is also seemingly simple - he quotes Chazal in saying that the term Tzav is always used to engender enthusiasm or to speed up someone/something. Rashi continues, quoting Rav Shimon - "the pasuk needs to go even further to engender enthusiasm and speed things up when there are 'out of pocket' expenses." Also a logical, simple idea.
The Divrei Yisroel reminds us that the Olah sacrifice, which is totally consumed, comes to atone for improper thoughts. And, as is mentioned in the Gemorra, (Baba Basra 164:), this problem of improper thoughts is one of the 3 sins that people typically succumb to on a daily basis.
Now it gets complicated. The Divrei Yisroel goes on to mention a famous Medrash in Bamidbar Rabba - "the eyes and the heart are a team of "taunters" that can lead one to sin - the eyes see, leading the heart to desire, and ... " man falls into the trap. Rashi quotes this Medrash in his commentary to the pasuk in Shma - "Lo Sasuru Acharei Levavchem..." - Don't turn astray after your hearts or your eyes".
Now, in light of the logical order presented previously by the Medrash, we would think that the order of the pasuk would be not to turn astray after the eyes or after your heart. The eyes are the first step in the downward spiral of sin. Why does the pasuk in the Torah start with the heart?
The answer is that it is much, much harder to be protected from the tauntings of the heart. Its relatively easy to be protected from things we shouldn't see - we have a "pocket" to protect the eyes - our eyelids. Close the lids, and we needn't view what we shouldn't. We also have a "pocket" for the ears - if there is a sound (loshon hora, for example) that I shouldn't hear, I simply twist the earlobe to block it out, or insert my fingers. Sound protection. We can even protect the mouth rather easily - we have lips and jaws that we can close. In each case, we have a pocket, a covering that protects the limb from improper use.
But its much, much harder to protect the heart. The heart has no protective pocket. Quite the opposite - the only "pocket" we have for the heart is the "orlas halev" - the gross, desensitizing forces that lead to tuma'ah - impurity. The "orlas halev" doesn't protect the heart - it kills it. In fact, we are commanded to remove this pocket - "And you shall 'circumcise' the 'orlas halev'" {Devarim 10).
That's why we need extra caution concerning the heart's pocket. On the one hand, we need to protect ourselves from the "lev chomed" - the heart desiring that which we shouldn't have, but this cannot be done at the expense of giving the heart life - of true sensitivity, Torah emotion and thought. That's why in the Sh'ma, this warning is given first - it is of paramount importance.
So for each of our sensory inputs (the vehicles for our interaction with the world) we have protective pockets - lids for the eyes, lobes for the ears, lips for the mouth. But the heart has no protective pocket - only a repressive one.
Now we can understand the flow of Rashi and the pasuk itself - Tzav is used to engender cautious enthusiasm,
and an extra measure of this is needed when there is an "out of pocket" expense - either a financial one, or
if the expense of time and effort is due to the fact that we're simply "out of pockets" - we don't have a good
one. We don't want to repress the heart from being a heart. The heart's protection must come from the "ziruz"
process, a careful balance of willpower and creative thought.
Translated by Reb Eliezer Weger of Rechovot, a Modzitzer Chasid
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