Rabbi Zalman Melamed: Parshat Tetzaveh
Parshat Shavua
The Shiur was given in 7575-16
Remembering Rabbi Tzvi Yehuda
Parshat Tetzaveh
Rabbi Zalman Melamed
Summarized by students
Dedicated to the memory of
Bayle' finkle bat yocheved
1. The Priestly Vestments
2. Rabbi Tzvi Yehuda HaCohen Kook, zt"l
The Priestly Vestments
God commands Moses: "Make holy vestments for your brother Aaron which are both
dignified and beautiful." Later we bear witness to the great attention which the Torah
pays to the clothing of the high priest, Aaron. We find much care being taken when it
comes to the style of the vestments - they are to be beautiful and embroidered with
precious jewels. They are to be knit with exquisite threads: gold, sky-blue, dark red
and crimson wool, and linen - the work of an artist.
Truthfully, the great attention given to the clothing of Aaron comes as quite a
surprise. We are accustomed to thinking of pious people as remarkable in their inner,
spiritual side, and not the sorts to stand out with beautiful clothes. Preoccupation with
exterior beauty is foreign to them. What's more, we find the sages of the Talmud
voicing criticism of the Babylonian rabbis because they were noted for their fine
clothing. Why, then, does God trouble Himself to assure the outer beauty of none
other than the high priest?
The chapter of the priestly vestments intends to drive home the essential point that
everything must be anchored in sanctity. Beauty, gracefulness, splendor, and glory
must all flow from the wellspring of holiness. The Holy Temple is the splendor of the
world, for it is the source of the world's beauty. The high priest is obligated to receive
a hair-cut each week. He is obligated to appear before God in the height of his
beauty.
In the case of the high priest, beauty stems from holiness and purity. This sort of
beauty can only appear in the height of its perfection; one must be careful that
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Rabbi Zalman Melamed: Parshat Tetzaveh
Parshat Shavua
absolutely nothing is lacking. All of existence evolves from the source of holiness,
and when our physical world is connected to its source it must appear in flawless
beauty, in glory, and in splendor.
When, though, there is a severance between the physical world and its holy source,
beauty becomes like a "gold ring in the nose of a pig, a beautiful woman lacking
purpose." Without purpose beauty possesses no value. Indeed, it constitutes a
deficiency. Therefore, because we, the Jewish people, chased after the world's
external beauty, and neglected the inner bond to the true source of beauty, we were
exiled from our land and distanced from normal, natural life. We ascended to an
inner, spiritual, abstract life, completely detached from the outer, natural aspects of
existence. For the sake of purification, we were forced to confine ourselves to "the
four cubits of the Law."
Yet we long for perfection. Our eyes are to the great future which awaits us, in which
we will merit a complete and perfect union with the source of holiness, the source of
all existence. Then there will be a complete appearance of life in all its glory and
beauty, in all its splendor. Then the holy light will shine in all fullness, illuminating all
of existence.
Rabbi Tzvi Yehuda HaCohen Kook, zt"l
(Parshat Tetzaveh is generally read on the Sabbath before Purim, the anniversary of
the death of Rabbi Tzvi Yehuda HaCohen Kook, zt"l. Therefore, on Sabbath Parshat
Tetzaveh Rabbi Melamed makes a practice of recalling Rabbi Tzvi Yehuda's
approach to Torah, community leadership, and the education of his many students.)
We find ourselves once again faced with the question, how is it possible to educate
others concerning the importance of the completeness of the Land of Israel, while at
the same time stressing the importance of the complete unity of the People of Israel?
On the face of things it would appear that the stubborn and extremist stance which
expresses a lack of willingness to give up even an inch of the Land of Israel is the
very factor responsible for the rift in the nation.
In addition, we ask ourselves, how is it possible to educate the masses towards the
complete and unyielding fulfillment of all Mitzvoth, even the most seemingly
insignificant, and at the same time educate towards the love of all Jews, even those
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Parshat Shavua
who are estranged from the Torah and Mitzvoth? Does not this sort of guidance
contain something of an inconsistency?
And on top of all this, how, we painfully ask, can we continue to show respect for the
State of Israel and view it as the "first burgeoning of our Redemption," the foundation
of God's throne in the world? Why, not only is it made up of many who are distant
from the Torah, it is lead and its direction determined by Jews who have abandoned
the Torah all together.
Indeed, it was towards this seemingly impossible end that Rabbi Tzvi Yehuda
HaCohen Kook educated. Rabbi Tzvi Yehuda proved that not only is it possible to
educate towards all of these values together - it is the only way to educate. He
taught us, his students, that the Torah, the Nation of Israel, and the Land of Israel are
completely interdependent. The Nation of Israel cannot exist without the Torah and
the Torah cannot exist without the Nation of Israel. Similarly, the Nation of Israel and
the Torah cannot exist without the Land of Israel, and there can be no Land of Israel
without the Nation of Israel and the Torah. The completeness of the Torah depends
on the completeness of the Nation and the Land.
Our master's love of the Land was beyond compromise; Rabbi Tzvi Yehuda stood
opposed to even the slightest forfeiture of land. This extreme love of his stemmed
from a clear understanding that the relinquishment of portions of the Land of Israel
constitutes, in fact, a relinquishment of both the Torah and the Nation of Israel; the
Land, the Nation and the Torah are one, and therefore a blow to one of these entities
constitutes a blow to all of them.
This approach did not stem from a pragmatic, political, diplomatic, or securityorientated outlook. It stemmed from deep Jewish faith that the Land of Israel is the
Land of God, the Land of life for the Jewish people, and that any division or
separation of the Nation of Israel from its land is like separation from God Himself - a
veritable death blow, Heaven forbid.
Rabbi Tzvi Yehuda's love for both Torah-observant and estranged Jews did not stem
from humanistic kind-heartedness alone; neither was it the expression of a superficial
nationalistic outlook. It flowed forth from the depths of faith and Torah. It stemmed
from an acute awareness that each Jew, even the Jew who has altogether
abandoned the Torah, possesses a pure and Divine soul. This soul, constituting as it
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Parshat Shavua
does the Jew's true basic nature, is destined to overcome all transient outer
weaknesses.
Our beloved Rabbi's affection for the entire nation stemmed from a recognition that
the Jewish people are like one living body; though one part of the body is infected
and diseased, it remains a part of us, our own flesh and blood. Even if that element
denies the fact that it is part of the all-encompassing nation of God, the act denial
itself is part of our shared sickness. It is impossible, taught the Rabbi, to sever the
limbs of a living and united body.
Rabbi Tzvi Yehuda taught us that the State of Israel is not merely a formal, technical
apparatus guaranteeing existence of the nation, an apparatus with no intrinsic value.
Rather, the mere existence of the State of Israel has Divine meaning. He educated
us not to err, thinking that the worth of the state can be gauged and measured
according to the actions of the government; not to err, thinking that when the
government acts as it should, the State has value, yet when it does not act as it
should, it does not have value. The mere existence of the state possesses spiritual,
Divine value, for it constitutes a meaningful stage in the ongoing materialization of
the prophetic vision of our Redemption.
The ingathering of exiles, the settlement of the Land, the liberation the Land from
foreign hands together with its return to the sanctity of Israel, and the freeing of the
Jews from the yoke of the nations, are all stages in the Divine Redemption, for they
belong to the essential aim of the State of Israel. The return of the Nation of Israel to
its land and its independence is bringing, and will continue to bring about the return
of the Nation of Israel to its Torah and to its God.
Because of his great love for the State of Israel, and because of his recognition of its
Divine value, the Rabbi was shaken to the depths of his soul by the appearance of a
minority government in Israel which relied on the votes non-Jews. At that time Rabbi
Tzvi Yehuda spoke out vehemently, saying that such an act constitutes an
"incomparable desecration of God's Name." He called the episode a "comic-tragedy
of humiliation towards our people and our state... a great crime which will be
remembered forever as an abomination in the history of the People of Israel, the
eternal people."
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Rabbi Zalman Melamed: Parshat Tetzaveh
Parshat Shavua
Rabbi Tzvi Yehuda's extreme criticism of the government, though, did not effect in
the least his recognition of the value of the state. The Rabbi made a clear distinction
between our regard for the government - a body which is indeed measured according
to its actions - and our relation to the state, which is Holy. Governments come and
governments go. "We," the Rabbi used to say, "are commanded by the Torah - not
the government. The Torah comes before the government. The Torah is eternal and
the present disloyal government will pass on and disappear."
Finally, the Rabbi was not bewildered by obstacles standing in the way of the
Redemption. He viewed hindrances as part of the process of redemption - a process
which includes crises along the way. He educated us to maintain faith and to
recognize God's salvation, to discern the acts of the Almighty, and to be active
together with God, as Rabbi Yirmiya in the Jerusalem Talmud said, "...In the future a
heavenly voice will erupt in the tents of the righteous, saying, 'All those who worked
together with God, come and accept your rewards!'"
--------------Glossary:
Talmud - The voluminous embodiment of the Oral Torah. Basis of Jewish law and
philosophy.
Torah - the Five Books of Moses
Mitzvoth - commandments
E-mail : beitel@yeshiva.org.il
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