A
few weeks ago, we had Shabbat dinner at a friends’ home. While we were there,
our friends little boy (maybe 5 or 6) spilled something and began to cry. The
little boy’s father tried to calm his son down, he tried to get him to stop
crying. The little boy was hysterical, clearly he was crying about something
more than just a spilled glass of water. The father continued to try to calm
his son, reassure his son that “it’s no big deal, it’s just a little water.”
Through his tears and gasping, the little boy whimpered and asked, who was
going to clean it up if the nanny wasn’t there to clean it up? We all laughed
and the father said that both he and the son could clean it up together. They
did and everything returned to normal. On the walk back from dinner, our kids
talked about the incident. We all agreed that on one level there was an innocence
and humor about the little boy. However we also agreed that there was something
disturbing about a child who had not yet learned to be responsible enough to clean
up after himself.
This
week’s Parsha is Tzav. It is also Shabbat HaGadol, the Shabbat that immediately
precedes Chag HaPesach, the Passover Holyday.
Like last week’s Parsha, Parsha Tzav focuses upon Korbonot (offerings).
While last week we read of God’s commanding Moshe to tell Aaron and his sons,
this week we read of Moshe actually telling Aaron and his sons. This week we
read about the actual sacrificing, the actual sprinkling, the actual burning
and the actual donning of appropriate clothing. The Parshah concludes with
instructions for Aaron and his sons to remain outside of the camp for seven
days. These are the seven days required for spiritual and to some degree,
physical preparation. The Priests must remain outside of the camp because they
are in the process of purifying themselves for this extremely sacred and vital
position, Kohen Gadol.
Besides
Moshe, the Kohen Gadol was the most vital role within Israelite society. It was
the Kohen Gadol that served as a vehicle for the common person to draw closer
to God. When the common person or the king needed to atone, they would bring a
sacrifice to God. However it was the Priest that had to check for blemishes. It
was the priest that had to slaughter the animal in a very precise way. It was
the priest that had to sprinkle the blood.
Later on it was the priest who became the “spiritual advisor” to the
king. Unlike any other position, the priesthood was based upon lineage and was
promised by God to Aaron for eternity (or as long as there was a Temple). Yet
as important as this was for the welfare of B’nai Yisroel’s relationship to
God, the Priest was eternally reminded of the importance of humility within a
leader. V’hotzi et a Hadeshen el Michutz
La’Machaneh el Makom Tahor-“and he
shall bring the ashes to the outside of the camp, to pure place (Lev 6:4).”
Here is arguably the most important position within the community and he has to
shlep the ashes out of the Mishkan. What’s even more amazing is what the
Talmudic tractate Yoma teaches. The Talmud explains that the priests were so
anxious to take out the ashes that a lottery system had to be introduced to
pacify all those who wanted this “honor”. Anyone could have been commanded to
take out the ashes. Why the Kohanim (the Priests)? Like all other aspects of
the sacrificial process, the priests’ sole concern was the Temple and
everything about the Temple. No task was below the priest. No aspect of the
Temple remained untouched or unaffected by the Priest. The Sefer HaChinuch, a
thirteenth century work enumerating and explaining all 613 Mitzvot explains
that Terumat HaDeshen is a positive commandment. The priest removes these ashes
daily, and in doing so, he is enhancing the Mizbeach (the altar) and
beautifying it to the best of his ability. Rashi adds that the priest would
wear old clothes and nice his daily Priestly Vestments or his Holiday Vestments
to do this type of menial work. All agree that the Kohen was never thought to
be too important for such a lowly task.
So
what can we learn from Parsha Tzav, and the Priest’s most menial of tasks?
First we learn just how vital it is for leadership, of any kind, to roll of its
shirtsleeves and do some of the dirty work. After all, if leadership is
unwilling to “to get dirty” for a greater purpose, then the purpose is not so
great. Also if the leadership is unwilling “to get dirty”, why should anyone
else “get dirty”? Effective leadership is not only about convincing others to act;
it is about one’s observance of the same rule. No matter how important we think
we are, we always should be reminded to take out the ashes. We need humility in
order to remind us of where we fit in, and who we are. Possessing this humility
gives us credibility when dealing with anyone. Possessing this humility reminds
us of how we should treat others as well as how we wish to be treated. As we make
our final preparations for Pesach, as we rid our homes of chometz, as we cook,
clean and make all the preparations for a festive and Kosher Pesach, we should
be aware that we are not only preparing our homes, we are preparing ourselves.
If we participate in the preparations, we appreciate the Pesach. If we
participate in the preparations, we will invariably rid ourselves of our own
chometz, our own arrogance. If we participate in the preparations, we remind
ourselves that Judaism is about the individual fitting into something larger,
the community, the Jewish people and our ancestors. Let us all remember that
none of us are so important that we can’t throw out the trash or clean up after
ourselves. Hopefully that little boy has learned to clean up his room for Pesach,
and not rely upon the nanny or the maid.
Peace & Chag Kasher v’ Sameach,
Rav Yitz
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