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April 6, 2001/Nisan 13, 5761, Vol. 53, No.27
Parashah hearkens to end of holocausts
Torah Study
RABBI ROBERT BARUCH
Tzav, Leviticus 6:1-8:36
A reader's initial reaction to Parashat Tzav might be, "This is just a list of irrelevant rituals." The reader may further note that the ritual instructions are addressed only to "Aaron and his sons," that is, only to priests and men. But few of us are kohanim, priests, and those who are have little function in the contemporary Jewish community. And only half of us, obviously, are men. Nevertheless, I would like to propose a message from the parashah that argues for its continued interest to modern Jews.
The language of Chapter 6 of Leviticus can be read both as poetry and as a commentary on modern Jewish history. Consider this verse: "A perpetual fire shall be kept burning on the altar, not to go out" (Leviticus 6:6). This language has a "burning" quality both literally and in that it poses a "burning question."
The portion begins with the instruction concerning torat ha-olah, the whole burnt offering. The commentator Sforno provides engaging remarks about this instruction: "There is no doubt that there is a difference among the children of the living God (the Jews) with respect to their actions and their intentions. This is similar to the differences among the offerings. The text mentions first the whole burnt offering, olah, which is completely consumed on the altar as a sweet savor."
We could say that the first part of Sforno's comment suggests his awareness of the diversity among Jews - that each of us is an individual who serves "the living God" in a unique way. The mention of a "whole burnt offering" conveys us back to the narrative of Abraham and Sarah. Abraham was told to go to Moriah to offer his beloved son Isaac as an olah, a whole burnt offering. We may presume that Sarah tacitly acquiesced.
But only a few of us are like Abraham and Sarah, told to offer wholeheartedly what is most precious to us. They may be people who are hardly visible, the silent heroes of everyday life - teachers, artists and community workers who give of themselves unstintingly.
The "whole burnt offering" further resonates for modern Jews because the "whole offering" is a holocaust. The word "holocaust" seems inappropriate to denote the mass murder of European Jewry; the victims did not offer themselves as sacred sacrifices. We should be aware that the word "Shoah" is more appropriate.
Finally, Parashat Tzav falls on Shabbat Ha-Gadol this year, the Shabbat preceding Passover. The words of the late prophet Malachi comprise the haftara for the day. Malachi takes us back to the teaching we associate with Moses at Sinai: "Be mindful of the teaching of my servant Moses, whom I charged at Horeb with laws and rules for all Israel. Lo, I will send the prophet Elijah to you before the coming of the awesome, fearful day of the Eternal. He shall reconcile parents with children and children with their parents." (Malachi 3:22-24)
Ultimately, the rules serve the purpose of reconciliation - between God and us and among the entire human family. Only when we achieve reconciliation will there be no more holocausts.
Robert K. Baruch has been a congregational rabbi and now teaches Jewish studies at the Milken Community High School in Los Angeles. Torat Hayim, produced by the Union of American Hebrew Congregations, is on the Internet at www.uahc.org/growth.
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