Parshas Tzav
Divine Worship
The Torah emphasizes in this week’s parsha a basic truism regarding
religious leadership. There are no perfect people in the world as all
humans commit some wrong at one time or another. Naturally the magnitude
of that wrong will vary by its very nature and by the position and public
perception of the individual involved. This feature can be very
disheartening to the religious purist who seeks only perfection from
others.
The Torah comes to teach us special rules regarding the kohanim – the
priests of Israel who minister, so to speak, between God and humans. The
kohen was not a free agent to improvise the service, to make it more
currently popular or meaningful. The service in the Temple was what it was
and was not to be tampered with or improved upon. The kohen was held to a
standard of behavior and a discipline of participation in the Temple
service.
He was meant to be holy but there were provisions made for his own sin
offerings as the occasion warranted. Apparently holiness is still not
perfection. The kohen could fulfill his duties only by following the
instructions exactly as proscribed in the Torah itself. This was not meant
to stifle creativity or originality of the individual. It was meant
however to standardize the Temple service, to make certain that everyone
who participated was treated equally and that the kohanim did not
discriminate, play favorites or otherwise indicate behavior not in keeping
with their station and service requirements.
The kohanim went through an installation ceremony described in this week’s
parsha. There were many lessons to be learned before one actually took up
the duties of being a kohen. One of the lessons was to discipline one’s
self in performing the service in the Temple. In next week’s parsha we
will read of the tragedy that befell the oldest two sons of Aharon when
they disregarded this iron rule of Temple service discipline and
improvised their own “strange fire” into the service.
Apparently the week’s training that preceded the actual opening of the
Mishkan for sacrifices and services was insufficient, in their case, to
impress upon them the severity of deviating from God’s instructions, no
matter how noble and innovative they thought this deviation might be.
Over the long history of the Jewish people many have come to improve and
be overly innovative, to tamper with God’s instructions and “improve” the
services of worship. None of these innovations has been able to stand the
test of time and vicissitudes. Prayer services, houses of worship and
study must conform to a tradition of discipline and continuity. This is
the key to Jewish survival and longevity.
Though neither Mishkan nor Temple is present currently in our world, the
synagogue, its rituals, orders and services, have served as the substitute
Temple for Jews for almost two millennia. Those who administer and care
for the synagogue are today’s kohanim, so to speak. All of us would do
well to heed the clear messages of this week’s parsha.
Shabat shalom and a happy Purim.
Rabbi Berel Wein
