Shabat Table Talk
This week’s teaching commentary was prepared by Kathleen Helbrecht, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, Bat Kol alumna, 2005, 2007
Week of 21 - 27 February
Torah Portion: Ex. 27:20-30:10
Haftarah: Ez. 43:10-27
Readings for Sunday
The Jewish Study Bible notes that the focus of this week’s parashah moves “from sacred objects to activities” (p.171). Here we find instructions for the oil for the lamps, and the parashah addresses who shall serve as priests, their vestments and ordination. This week’s parashah serves to remind us again of the reason behind the book of Exodus “that you shall know that I, the Lord, am their God” (Ex. 29:46). With this in mind, rather than reading the details of this parashah as an unending series of instructions, they can be understood as a means to an end – that of having God dwell amongst the Chosen People. Throughout the chapters of Exodus that contain the instructions for building the Tabernacle and inaugurating the priesthood, we hear the recurring phrase “you shall.” Like a drumbeat, or perhaps a heartbeat, once it penetrates our consciousness, we are compelled to pay attention as God instructs Moshe. Lawrence Kushner commenting about the details of the Tabernacle suggests that rather than curtailing human creativity and ingenuity, it is an act of love that God tells the people what to do. Kushner likens it to marriage partners wanting to buy the perfect gift for the other. Despite each partner’s love for the other, it is difficult to intuit the perfect gift. He writes, “[if] you really love someone, don’t make them guess what to give you” and surmises that “[perhaps] the relationship between God and the people of Israel is similar” (p.102).
As I read this week’s parashah my attention was drawn to the sentence, “Next you shall instruct all who are skillful, whom I have endowed with the gift of skill, to make Aaron’s vestments, for consecrating him to serve Me as priest” (Ex. 28:3 TJSB). On the surface (peshat) it speaks of the relatedness between God-given gifts and the need of developing those gifts. It becomes clear that the gifts given to any individual are in fact given for the good of the community, a point St. Paul also makes in 1 Corinthians. Everett Fox notes “wisdom in biblical literature most often denotes worldly wisdom or artisanry, not abstract intellectual prowess” (Fox p.414). Digging deeper however, the Etz Hayim commentary notes that more than worldly wisdom, the “literal meaning of the phrase translated as “skillful” (hakhmei lev) is “wise of heart” (p.505) bringing one to ponder the relationship of skill and competence, with that of having wisdom. It is not spelled out why God chooses Aaron for the priesthood, although the Rabbis did conjecture why this was so. One cannot help but reflect upon the idea of Aaron being chosen by God’s decree, and the difficulty in our day of being sufficiently open to the guidance of the Holy Spirit when choosing leaders, be they for the service of secular society or the church.
The value of using Jewish sources was brought home to me yet again as I studied this parashah, and also, both the power of language and the nuances associated with translation. At the first reading I failed to recognize the significance of the opening words of Parashat Tetzaveh, “You shall further instruct the Israelites to bring you clear oil of beaten olives for lighting, for kindling lamps regularly” (Ex. 27:20). After the destruction of the temple, the instruction to bring oil for the lamps becomes the practice of the ner tamid, the “eternal light” hung in the synagogue in front of the Ark and in time, within Roman Catholicism of the sanctuary lamp kept burning by the tabernacle. Etz Hayim differentiates between the usage of light and fire as symbols of God. “Light itself cannot be seen [and] we cannot see God, but we can become aware of God’s presence” (p.503) through our senses and our experiences. Fire is described as “the process of liberating the energy hidden in a log of wood or a lump of coal, even as God becomes real in our lives in the process of liberating the potential energy in each of us to be good, generous, and self-controlled” (p.503).
Nehama Leibowitz raises the question: “What is the inner spiritual meaning of this everlasting light that is to burn ‘from evening to morning before the Lord’?” She compares “two Midrashim which regard the lamp as a symbol of the guidance and education of the individual” (p.515). In one Midrash, the lamp symbolizes words of Torah and through study of Torah; one becomes wise so as to avoid error (p.516) in line with “Thy words are a lamp to my feet” (Ps 119:105). In the second Midrash, the emphasis is not study of Torah but by “commandment performed” (p.516) with the emphasis on what happens to the one who performs the commandment. Leibowitz, quoting from Shemot Rabbah, continues: “Just as the light of a lamp remains undimmed, though myriads of wicks and flames may be lit from it, so he who gives for a worthy cause does not make a hole in his own pocket.” Leibowitz then traces the movement from the individual to “the blessing the lamp brings to others, to those who kindle their lamp from it…without diminishing its own light in any way. The light of the lamp can thus serve as a symbol for wisdom and spiritual treasures” (p.517).
“The Torah and Man combined comprise the Lamp of God on earth. The Torah is the flame issuing from the flash of Him that dwelleth in the heavens. Man, (comprising body and soul) is the torch that draws light from it. His back is the twining wick and his soul—the pure olive oil. Through their intertwining and fusion (torch and flame) the whole house becomes filled with light” (Yedaiah be Abraham Bedersi, quoted by Leibowitz p.520).
For Reflection and Discussion: [1] With what have I been endowed which serves to bring “light” to home/church/world? Perhaps our havrutah partner might help us answer this if a long ingrained humility keeps our gifts hidden under a bushel basket. [2] In ‘light’ of this week’s Torah portion, comment on Sunday’s responsorial Psalm Ps 27:1 “The Lord is my light and my salvation.”
Bibliography: Lieber, ed., Etz Hayim: Torah & Commentary (New York, 2001); Fox, The Five Books of Moses (New York, 1995); Kushner, God was in this Place & I, I did not know (Vermont 2006); Leibowitz, New Studies in Shemot (Jerusalem, 1996); Plaut, ed., The Torah, A Modern Commentary, (New York, 1981).
