20.3 Par'shah Tetzaveh- You are to Order

[alon]

Name of Par’shah- 20.3 Tetzaveh, You are to Order
Par’shah- Ex 27:20 – 30:10
Haftara- Ezek 43:10-27

D’rash: Most of this is instructions for the priesthood. But there are some commandments we can extrapolate from this reading. All are under the category of worship.

Exodus 29:4 (ESV) You shall bring Aaron and his sons to the entrance of the tent of meeting and wash them with water. Semicha, or ordination should always begin with tevilah. Immersion in a Mikva was a statement that the ordinate knows he needs cleansing. Idealy he should undergo tevilah each day, but this is not always possible.

Exodus 29:7 (ESV) You shall take the anointing oil and pour it on his head and anoint him. Officers in the synagogue should be anointed with oil. Exodus 27:20 (ESV) “You shall command the people of Israel that they bring to you pure beaten olive oil for the light, that a lamp may regularly be set up to burn. Typically this oil should be the same as was specified for the lamp, as both represent the Ruach Ha’Kodesh.

Exodus 29:8-9a (ESV)  Then you shall bring his sons and put coats on them,  and you shall gird Aaron and his sons with sashes and bind caps on them. Usually at his semicha, the issuing authority gives the one being ordained a tallit. This is because when Elijah appointed Elisha a prophet in his stead, then was taken up his cloak fell from his shoulders: 2 Kings 2:13 (ESV) And he took up the cloak of Elijah that had fallen from him and went back and stood on the bank of the Jordan.

Exodus 29:21b (ESV) He and his garments shall be holy, and his sons and his sons' garments with him. Once ordained, that person is set apart for service of the Lord. Typically an ordination is only acknowledged by the entity that issued it. However it is a calling by the Most High, and a responsibility forever. The Almighty never revokes a calling. Romans 11:29 (ESV) For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.

Exodus 29:35 (ESV) “Thus you shall do to Aaron and to his sons, according to all that I have commanded you. Through seven days shall you ordain them, Biblically an ordination should last seven days. This is not always possible as far as congregational involvement. But for the ordinate there should be some kind of seven day ritual.

Exodus 30:9 (ESV) You shall not offer unauthorized incense on it, or a burnt offering, or a grain offering, and you shall not pour a drink offering on it. We should strive to worship HaShem as He tells us to worship Him. Remember Nadav and Avihu? Leviticus 10:1-2 (KJV) And Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, took either of them his censer, and put fire therein, and put incense thereon, and offered strange fire before the Lord, which he commanded them not. And there went out fire from the Lord, and devoured them, and they died before the Lord. HaSHem takes our worship seriously. Rabbinical Judaism says of this verse only that we should not burn anything on the golden altar except incense. I think especially as these verses apply to us today this is a very limited and inaccurate view.

We are Meshiachim. We strive for a much higher standard for the average believer in our understanding. More knowledge for the congregant, better understanding. Knowledge is meant to be shared, not hoarded by the few so they are in control. Neither do we set our face against authority. But we better know what authority to follow as we understand more!

[alon]

So let’s look at what we are doing here. This year we are going through our parashot and looking for actual “commandments.” But why are we finding more than the Rabbis did? Well, I suppose it is in how we look at Torah; תּוֹרָה, “Instruction," “teaching," or “Law.” Were we to look at this as “Law” then we’d have a series of commands, violation of which would send us to jail, or Hell. And there is some of that.

But if we look at Torah as instructions then really we begin to pull more meaning from these books. Laws are impersonal. Go 56 in a 55 zone, you get a ticket. You broke the law! But understood as instructions for holy living and developing a relationship with our Elohim, we get a warmer, and much richer view of the scriptures. It becomes easier to understand the concept of grace if we make mistakes. Most cops won’t ticket you for 1 mph over the posted limit. Neither does Yashar, the Upright One (Is 26:7) condemn us for honest mistakes. And so it becomes more a joy to keep these instructions rather than a chore.

Add to these however the fences placed on every commandment and the idea they are as binding as the original commandment and obedience can become a huge burden. I’ve read from missionaries to Israel and talked to others and am told many Jews there are secular because of this. They say they cannot keep all the mitzvoth, so why try?

Many Meshiachim who have no Rabbi or other authority on Torah they can trust get very frustrated trying to interpret “the Law” and keep it absolutely. We tend to get bogged down in the minutia of keeping Torah, and have questions that are difficult but need answering right now. When commandments clash, what do we do? I used to work with hazardous chemicals. There were several beurtcracies which regulated us, all with their own requirements; and these often clashed. Keep the standards of one agency and you’d violate another's. When asked what to do, all we could get from any of them was if we had an incident and were not in compliance with their regs, they would fine us. That makes it difficult to function.

If we view the mitzvoth like this, we too can become paralyzed by indecision and find it hard to function. We start looking for less mitzvoth and miss the instructions laid out in some. But when we look at them as instructions and not so much as “the Law,” we find it easier to comply. Working from principles we can usually determine which mitzvah is more important in any instance. So more instruction helps rather than hinders.

And we don’t have to learn it all at once. We read through Torah completely, studying the lessons therein every year, learning more each time.

So we can lighten up; relax and enjoy being obedient, set apart, and developing a relationship with Boreh Ketzot HaAretz, Creator of the Ends of the Earth (Is 40:28). Can you imagine? He wants a relationship with us so much, He gave us these instructions to guide us in developing just that! We are truly privileged:

Matthew 11:30 (ESV) For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

We shouldn’t make this hard on ourselves. Looking at most of Torah as instructions instead of “the Law” helps. Viewed in this context, more is better.