Parashat Tzav
Torah: Leviticus 6:1 - 8:36
Haftarah (Shabbat Hagadol): Malachi 3:4-24
My blog has a “Mini Passover Workshop” to
help you prepare to prepare for Pesach! Go to:
If
you want a thoughtful perspective on what Pesach is really about, read this
pre-Pesach (or any time) article by Rabbi David Hartman, z"l:
Please feel free to pass this on to a
friend, and please cite the source.
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Studying Matters
"The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 'Command Aaron and his sons, thus: This is the law (literally, "the Torah") of the burnt offering ...'" Leviticus 6:1-2
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Studying Matters
"The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 'Command Aaron and his sons, thus: This is the law (literally, "the Torah") of the burnt offering ...'" Leviticus 6:1-2
Rabbi Simchah Bunem compares our verse with one from 1 Samuel 15:22: "And Samuel said, 'Does the Lord delight as much in offerings and sacrifices as in obedience to the voice of the Lord? Surely to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams.'" To Samuel, "obeying" must mean something other than obeying the commandments to offer the sacrifices. Simchah Bunem attempts to reconcile the apparent contradiction between the two verses by citing the following passage from the Talmud: "All who engage in Torah study have no need for the burnt offering, the meal offering, the sin offering, or the guilt offering." Menachot 110a
One might think that the Talmud here means that while one is studying Torah, one is exempt from bringing the sacrificial offerings. Simchah Bunem says it means much more than that. According to him, the study of the Torah of the offerings is even better than actually bringing them!
But what about the obedience that Samuel referred to? The answer might be found in the notion that we are commanded to study Torah. Note the blessing in the daily morning service that concludes, "... and Who commanded us to be engaged with matters of Torah."
Observing the commandment of study leads to practice. If we learn the Torah regarding how to treat each other, and put it into practice, we do not need to seek atonement, so we need not bring sacrifices. Study of the Torah of the offerings will not only suffice, it will be better than sacrificing. Hence the Rabbinic dictum: talmud torah k'neged kulam - Torah study is equivalent to all the commandments, because it leads to observance of them.
In this regard, please note that Monday
evening is the first Seder shel Pesach. From sunrise until the Seder, it is
traditional for first-born Jews (except Kohanim and Levi’im) to observe Ta’anit
Bechorot, Fast of the First-Born. How might one avoid the fast? By studying and
completing a section of Talmud, then celebrating with a siyyum, a feast, in
honor of that completion. Take this opportunity, even if you are exempt from
the fast, to study on Monday in preparation for your liberation from slavery!
Have a wonderful Shabbat, and a happy and kosher Pesach!
Have a wonderful Shabbat, and a happy and kosher Pesach!
Rabbi Richard A. Flom – ZSRS ‘00
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"For the sake of Zion I will not be silent; for the sake of Jerusalem I
will not be still." Isaiah 62:1
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Candlelighting (Los Angeles): 6:48 pm
Lunch and Learn is an ongoing
program of Beit Midrash Shalom that meets Tuesdays to discuss Jewish texts and
other topics of Jewish interest. It is open to all regardless of affiliation.
We will NOT be meeting again until after Pesach. Next meeting is Tuesday, April
9, 12:00 noon, at Congregation Beth Meier, 11725
Moorpark St., Studio City 91604. PLEASE DO NOT BRING ANY FOOD UNLESS IT
IS IN ITS ORIGINAL SEALED CONTAINER AND BEARING A HEKHSHER AS DAIRY OR PAREVE.
Lunch will be provided by Congregation Beth Meier. Donations gratefully
accepted.
This d'var torah is offered for a
refuah shleimah for Deb Berenbach, Gabor ben Devorah, Selby Horowitz, Pamela
Huddleston, Micah Kosche, Morris Kronzek, Sara Lanxner, Emily Levin, Helen
Reiter, Len Reiter, Gil Robbins, Rachel Robbins, Judith Sakurai, Kitty
Schmerling and Helen Tomsky.
My weekly divrei torah are also available
via e-mail subscription to Cyber Torah.
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salesman will call!):
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send an e-mail with the subject heading “Subscribe Cyber Torah” to: ravflom@sbcglobal.net
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