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Parashat Tetzaveh (Exodus 27:20-30:10) and Purim

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Parashat Tetzaveh (Exodus 27:20-30:10) and Purim Rabbi Allan Berkowitz Cong. Beth David Approachable Torah 5781/2021 Torah Cornucopia: Parashat Tetzaveh (Exodus 27:20-30:10) and Purim Overview of the Parashah • Command to establish the eternal or perpetual light in the Tabernacle • 43(!) verses centered on the ritual garb of the Kohanim. 39 of those are details of the High Priest’s clothing and 4 verses on those of the ordinary priests. • Installation of the Kohanim 1. An Oddity: Where’s Moses? Exodus 27:20 And you will command the Children of Israel that they take you pure olive oil beaten for the light, to light the lamp always A) Gaon of Vilna (18th c. Lithuania) Why doesn’t the Torah state, “And God spoke to Moses…” rather than “And you will command…”? And why is Moses not named a single time in this entire parashah? A possible answer is that in most years the 7th of Adar, the yahrtzeit of Moses, occurs in the week of this parashah. God knew in advance that Moses would die on the 7th of Adar and that is why his name is not mentioned in this parashah. (Note: so as to prevent a personality cult from forming). B) Nahal Kedumim (R. Hayyim Yosef David Azulai 18th C. Kabbalist, Israel) The reason is that Moses said to God (in Ex. 32:32), “Wipe me out of Your book” and the curse of a righteous person is fulfilled even if it is made conditionally. This is hinted at in the verse, “And you will command the Children of Israel that they take you…” The Jewish People will take you as an example, that even if a person has good intentions, he should not allow a curse to escape his lips.” C) Exodus 32:32 The next day Moses said to the people, “You have been guilty of a great sin. Yet I will now go up to God; perhaps I may win forgiveness for your sin.” Moses went back to God and said, “Alas, this people is guilty of a great sin in making for themselves a god of gold. Now, if You will forgive their sin [well and good]; but if not, erase me from the record which You have written!” But God said to Moses, “He who has sinned against Me, him only will I erase from My record.” • Talmud Berachot 32a: Rabbi Crospedai said in the name of R. Yochanan. Three books are opened up on Rosh Hashana. One for confirmed evil-doers, one for confirmed tzadikkim/righteous ones, and one for ordinary people. (This is derived from this Torah verse). ‘Erase me’ refers to the book of evil-doers. ‘from Your book’ refers to the book of the tzadikkim. ‘which You have written’ – this is the booK of ordinary people. 1 Rabbi Allan Berkowitz Cong. Beth David Approachable Torah 5781/2021 D) Exodus 27:20: God’s Gift to Sermon-Writing Rabbis Forever • Midrash Shemot Rabbah 36:1 - A sighted person and a blind person were walking together. The sighted person said, "Come and I will be your guide"; which enabled the blind person to walk. When they entered the house, the sighted person said to the blind person, "Go and light the candle for me, and provide me with light, so that you should no longer feel obliged to me for having accompanied you; therefore, I said to you to light [the candle]." • Tikkunei Zohar 73a:2 An everlasting fire shall be kept burning on the altar, it should not be extinguished. And, on that it is also said: To light the eternal flame. This is surely the light of the divine, the light that shines within the soul of every person. 2. For Purim: Insights Into the Megillah All quotes from JPS Bible Commentary on the Book of Esther unless otherwise noted. A) Megillat Esther: Irreligious, Comedic • “As a Diaspora story – a story about, and presumably for, Jews in the Diaspora during the Persian period – it provides an optimistic picture of Jewish survival and success in a foreign land.” • “The threat of the destruction of the Jews is no laughing matter, but the Book of Esther is hilariously funny.” • Parties abound, heavy drinking, bawdiness, hyperbole, mocking tones, misunderstandings (eg, Haman assumes the honor is to be bestowed on himself, instead it is for Mordechai; Haman falls on his knees begging Esther for forgiveness, but the King sees this and thinks Haman is bent on ‘having his way with her’), plotline reversals (just when we need a Jewish heroine in the palace, Vashti is deposed and Esther wins the beauty contest; the gallows intended for Mordechai are used on Haman and sons). B) Megillat Esther: Disputed Sanctity • Sanhedrin 100a Levi bar Shmuel and Rav Huna bar Ḥiyya were mending mantles for the sacred scrolls of the school of Rav Yehuda. When they reached the scroll of Esther they said: This scroll of Esther does not require a mantle, as it is not as significant as the other sacred scrolls. Rav Yehuda said to them: A statement of that sort also seems to express irreverence like the irreverence typical of an apikoros, as you should not have referred to the scroll of Esther as: ‘This scroll’. • Megillah 7a Rav Shmuel bar Yehuda said: Esther sent to the Sages: Establish me for future generations. Esther requested that the observance of Purim and the reading of the Megilla be instituted as an ordinance for all generations. They sent to her: You will thereby arouse the wrath of the nations upon us, as the Megilla recounts the victory of the Jews over the gentiles, and it is best not to publicize that victory. She sent 2 Rabbi Allan Berkowitz Cong. Beth David Approachable Torah 5781/2021 back to them: I am already written in the chronicles of the kings of Media and Persia, and so the Megilla will not publicize anything that is not already Known worldwide. The Sages did not accede to Esther’s request until they found a verse written in the Torah: “Write this for a memorial in the book, and rehearse it in the ears of Joshua: That I will utterly blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under the heavens” (Exodus 17:14). The Sages interpreted the verse: “Write this,” that which is written in the Torah here in Exodus, and in Deuteronomy; “a memorial,” that which is written in the Prophets, i.e., in I Samuel, on this matter; “in the book,” that which is written in the Megilla. After some additional back and forth, the Talmud comments: Here too, the tanna’im (=sages from the first two centuries ce) disagreed whether or not the booK of Esther has the same force and sanctity as that of the canonized books of the Bible. • JPS Bible Commentary: “Esther lacks overly pious characters and does not model a religious lifestyle. Esther is the most ‘secular’ of the biblical books, making no reference to God’s name, to the Temple, to prayer, or to distinctive Jewish practices such as kashrut. Yet Esther, of all the biblical books outside of the Torah, is the only one that addresses the origin of a new festival. For this reason, if for no other, Esther should be considered a ‘religious’ book.” • Finding God in the Megillah After All Deuteronomy 31:18 Yet I will keep My countenance hidden on that day, because of all the evil they have done in turning to other gods. • The Rabbis ‘read God back into’ the megillah through a Hebrew word pun. I will keep My countenance hidden/Ve-anokhi hosteer esteer – note the similarity between the last word and the name Esther. • Questions For Thought: a) Is the Megillah ‘religious’? b) Is it strange that God is never mentioned in the Megillah? c) How do you feel about a comedic farce included in the canon? C) Literary Elements to Note • “The story is structured on repetitions and reversals, climaxes and anticlimaxes. The audience’s expectation is continually heightened only to be frustrated by yet another complication or delay, with the intention of increasing the tension and the humor.” • Question For Thought: Consider how many banquets and parties are staged in the book. How does this help the storyline? • There is very little dialogue in this story. It is mostly told by the narrator. And it is generally told in the passive voice (eg, “let it be written”; “the matter was investigated”). These devices flatten the tone. However, pay attention to how many ‘scene changes’ there are? The characters flit about to and fro. That is where the sense of action and adventure comes in. 3 Rabbi Allan Berkowitz Cong. Beth David Approachable Torah 5781/2021 • A leitwort is a Key word that repeats over and over again. In a storytelling tradition (think ‘sitting around the campfire’) a leitwort adds a subtle message that the listener may not even be aware of. In the Book of Esther a form of the words ‘up’ and ‘down’ appear a large number of times. Question For Thought: How do the words ‘up’ and ‘down’ contribute to the story? When you are listening to the megillah and your attention wanders, go on a word search and count all the times a form of these words appear. D) Links to Other Biblical Stories • “There are noticeable similarities between the story of Joseph and the story of Mordechai and the two stories have often been compared…Both Joseph and Mordechai rose to high positions in the court of a foreign king, and both used their positions to help their families or people.” • “Several motifs appear in both stories: the main action is set at a foreign court; the heroes suffer a decline in their fortunes and then overcome their problems and rise to prominence; eunuchs plotting against the king are the vehicle through which the hero renders a service to the king; a banquet scene where the true identity of the host or hostess is revealed; punishment by impalement.” • Some scholars find comparisons to the Exodus narrative, as well.
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