Tyler’s Torah Thoughts for 12 Adar 1, 5784
Parsha Tetzavveh: (Exodus 27:20 – 30:10)
Fourth Portion: Exodus 29:1 – 29:18

Good morning!  As we come close to the full moon on Shabbat, full light is being given to our celebration for the work we’ve been doing within over the past year. Today’s portion is about anointing – and as we will learn – atonement. Because in order to fully celebrate – to enjoy the BEAUTY of the work we are doing – we must be washed clean – like the mikveh – and we must be anointed with the newness of the moment. If we do not participate in this? We carry with us these past burdens into the future with us.  We have a choice in this moment to release – to wash – and to anoint in newness the celebration of the inner work we’ve been engaged with over the past year.

Let’s dig in:

1And this is the thing that you shall do for them to sanctify them to serve Me [as kohanim]: take one young bull and two rams, perfect ones.

2And unleavened bread and unleavened loaves mixed with oil, and unleavened wafers anointed with oil; you shall make them out of fine wheat flour.

3And you shall place them upon a basket, and you shall bring them in the basket, and the bull and the two rams.

4And you shall bring Aaron and his sons near the entrance of the Tent of Meeting, and you shall bathe them in water.

Ok. So full stop here.  For those unaware – the “bathe them in water” passage refers to the Mikveh.  For a more modern take on the Mikveh, this is a great article from Chabad.  For those who don’t want to read it, basically the Mikveh is the baptismal. Yes. Jews have baptism. But we wouldn’t call it baptism. The church (in my opinion) called it baptism because they didn’t want to be connected with Judaism, despite their savior being Jewish.

Regardless, it is interested we go from the clothing in wisdom – we have male priests, with clothes made by wisdom (feminine) and we jump right into purification and atonement.

The mikveh was about purification. It was a washing. A way to let go of the guilt of the past in order to enter the most holy of holies. Let’s keep going:

5And you shall take the garments and clothe Aaron with the tunic, with the robe of the ephod, with the ephod, and with the choshen, and you shall adorn him with the band of the ephod.

6You shall place the cap upon his head and place the holy crown upon the cap.

7You shall take the anointing oil and pour [it] on his head and anoint him.

8And you shall bring his sons near, and you shall clothe them with tunics.

9And you shall gird them with sashes, Aaron and his sons, and you shall dress them with high hats, and the kehunah will be a perpetual statute for them, and you shall invest Aaron and his sons with full authority.

So once they exited the Mikveh, they were anointed and clothed.  I wrote this two years ago, and I feel like it is worth repeating:

The Talmud says this about the inauguration:

The passage about the priestly garments is followed by the inaugural sacrifices of the priests. These texts are positioned in sequence to teach you that, just as the sacrifices atone, so do the priestly garments atone.

• • The tunic atones for the spilling of blood, as alluded to in the verse, “They took Joseph’s robe, slaughtered a young goat and dipped the robe into the blood” Genesis 37:31
  • The linen pants atone for illicit relations-“Make for them linen pants to cover the flesh of their nakedness” (28:42).
  • The turban atones for arrogance, as Rabbi Hanna said, “Let an article perched high atop the head atone for haughtiness”
  • The sash atones for immoral thoughts of the heart; the priest wears it around his chest, just below his heart.
  • The breastplate atones for neglect of civil laws “You should make a breastplate of judgment” (28:15).
  • The apron (ephod) atones for idolatry. “There is no ephod and, (as a result, there is) the sin of teraphim (idol-worship) (Hosea 3:4)
  • The robe to which the bells were attached atones for slander, as Rabbi Hanna said, “Let sound atone for the sinful ‘sound’ of slander”
  • The forehead-plate atones for brazenness “You had the forehead of a harlot” (Jeremiah 3:3; Babylonian Talmud, Arakhin 16a)

So the takeaway here is – whatever things we are stuck in the past about – we can release them.  If Aaron as the high priest could be released – so can we. All of us have guilt and shame. All. Of. Us. And – we can grieve this guilt and shame and release it. Wash ourselves in the spiritual mikveh of our own tears, and anoint ourselves in the newness of being clean.  And move forward in freedom and liberation.

That is (as a dear friend says all the time) “Yummy.”

Then, they provided a sacrifice for Hashem:

10You shall bring the bull to the front of the Tent of Meeting, and Aaron and his sons shall lean their hands upon the head of the bull.

11You shall [then] slaughter the bull before the Lord, at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting.

12And you shall take [some] of the blood of the bull and apply it on the horns of the altar with your finger, and you shall pour out all the blood upon the base of the altar.

13You shall then take all the fat that covers the innards, and the diaphragm with the liver, also the two kidneys and the fat that is upon them, and make them go up in smoke upon the altar.

14But the flesh of the bull, its hide and its dung you shall burn in fire outside the camp; it is a sin offering.

15And you shall take the one ram, and Aaron and his sons shall lean their hands upon the ram’s head.

16You shall slaughter the ram, and you shall take its blood and sprinkle [it] on the altar all around.

17And you shall dissect the ram into its parts, and you shall wash its innards and its legs and put them with its parts and with its head,

18and you shall make the entire ram go up in smoke upon the altar; it is a burnt offering made to the Lord; it is a spirit of satisfaction, a fire offering for the Lord.

The laying of hands in verse 15 is meant to place the energy of the transgressions into the animal – and release it in smoke to Hashem.  It was freedom. It was liberation. It was yummy.

Those are my thoughts. What about you?

Here are my thoughts from the past two years:

Tyler’s Torah Thoughts for 8 Adar, 5783

Good morning! As we continue on our journey of liberation and freedom, this anointing process for the priests is really fascinating.

As we enter the second part of the week, making our way towards the full moon and Purim, May we let go of things that are holding us back. What is it we need to sacrifice to go to this new space? If we want to grow we have to sacrifice the old “us” in order to move forward and live our authentic lives.

We don’t do this FOR SOMEONE ELSE; like in a relationship- no we do this with ourselves. What is holding me back from what I want and desire?

This is the true anointing! What are your thoughts?

Tyler’s Torah Thoughts for 8 Adar I, 5782

Good morning! Today we continue this week’s parsha. It looks like we have everything set for the tabernacle – it’s time to inaugurate Aaron and his sons!

It all starts with a sacrifice. One young bull and two rams and Unleavened bread (boiled and fried).

Then Aaron and his sons were to enter the mikveh- immersed in water.

The Talmud says this about the inauguration:

The passage about the priestly garments is followed by the inaugural sacrifices of the priests. These texts are positioned in sequence to teach you that, just as the sacrifices atone, so do the priestly garments atone.

• • The tunic atones for the spilling of blood, as alluded to in the verse, “They took Joseph’s robe, slaughtered a young goat and dipped the robe into the blood” Genesis 37:31
  • The linen pants atone for illicit relations-“Make for them linen pants to cover the flesh of their nakedness” (28:42).
  • The turban atones for arrogance, as Rabbi Hanna said, “Let an article perched high atop the head atone for haughtiness”
  • The sash atones for immoral thoughts of the heart; the priest wears it around his chest, just below his heart.
  • The breastplate atones for neglect of civil laws “You should make a breastplate of judgment” (28:15).
  • The apron (ephod) atones for idolatry. “There is no ephod and, (as a result, there is) the sin of teraphim (idol-worship) (Hosea 3:4)
  • The robe to which the bells were attached atones for slander, as Rabbi Hanna said, “Let sound atone for the sinful ‘sound’ of slander”
  • The forehead-plate atones for brazenness “You had the forehead of a harlot” (Jeremiah 3:3; Babylonian Talmud, Arakhin 16a)

Once Aaron and his sons exited the mikveh, they were to be anointed with oil and dressed with the clothes listed above.

Then they sacrificed the bull, then the first ram.

It is interesting that the anointing involved sacrifice.

In our lives; if we are going to enter into new space, what must we sacrifice? What are we holding onto as anchors that may prevent us from incredible blessings? What can we let go of so that we can grow spiritually? Thoughts?