ו אֵשׁ, תָּמִיד תּוּקַד עַל-הַמִּזְבֵּחַ–לֹא תִכְבֶּה.
6 Fire shall be kept burning upon the altar continually; it shall not go out.
Listen to the Voice of your Lord!
Don’t stroll to the right or to the left!
This is not a game, your life is at stake
Here, and even there
“The Korban Olah is completely burnt up, completely dedicated to God and its ashes are left on the mizbeach, the altar, all night until the morning. In a time of sparse resources, the idea of giving an entire animal to God, without any human benefit teaches us that this Korban is one of real sacrifice and complete devotion. It demands intense commitment on the part of the giver. ” Yaffa Epstein
9 And that which is left thereof shall Aaron and his sons eat; it shall be eaten without leaven in a holy place; in the court of the tent of meeting they shall eat it.
10 It shall not be baked with leaven. I have given it as their portion of My offerings made by fire; it is most holy, as the sin-offering, and as the guilt-offering.
כָּל-זָכָר Every male
ו וַיַּקְרֵב מֹשֶׁה, אֶת-אַהֲרֹן וְאֶת-בָּנָיו; וַיִּרְחַץ אֹתָם, בַּמָּיִם.
6 And Moses brought Aaron and his sons, and washed them with water.
7 And he put upon him the tunic, and girded him with the girdle, and clothed him with the robe, and put the ephod upon him, and he girded him with the skilfully woven band of the ephod, and bound it unto him therewith.
13 And Moses brought Aaron’s sons, and clothed them with tunics, and girded them with girdles, and bound head-tires upon them; as the LORD commanded Moses.
Every little detail moves the worlds you don’t know about
Every sound or smell means a lot – not to me – to yourselves
Learn to curb your desires and obey Gd!
לו וַיַּעַשׂ אַהֲרֹן, וּבָנָיו–אֵת, כָּל-הַדְּבָרִים, אֲשֶׁר-צִוָּה יְהוָה, בְּיַד-מֹשֶׁה.
36 And Aaron and his sons did all the things which the LORD commanded by the hand of Moses.
Rabbi Jonathan Sacks contends Leviticus is a manual for recalibrating the relationship between God and the Israelite people. If God is too close, the people retreat in fear (Ex. 20:16) If God is too far, they resort to idol worship (Ex. 32:1).
Since I am not putting much of my own, I am reverting to Partners-in-Torah‘s explanation. I will never be able to say it better:
Re-bloging this just because I won’t be able to say it better nyway. And – adding this d’var from Dr. Ackerman:
“Gather the entire assembly to the entrance of the Tent of Meeting.” (Leviticus 8:3)
Parashat Tzav describes the rituals for performing each of the sacrifices listed in last week’s parasha (portion): the olah (burnt offering), mincha (meal offering), chatat (sin offering), asham (guilt offering), and zevach sh’lamim(peace offering). But Tzav is more than just The Priest’s Guide to Jewish Barbecue. The sacrifices are expressions of personal responsibility: you bring one to atone for sin or to acknowledge (undeserved) good fortune. Now, personal responsibility is culturally determined: its form depends on when, where, and who is expressing it. The sacrificial cult recognizes people make mistakes and no one, not even the kohen gadol, the high priest, is exempt from atoning (e.g., taking responsibility) when that happens. Taking responsibility is a cultural norm.
The rabbis are clear: cultural norms emerge out of individuals’ behaviors. They determine there are three sins requiring immediate atonement (rather than waiting for Yom Kippur): walking next to a shaky wall, arrogance in prayer, and calling God’s judgement on someone else (Babylonian Talmud Rosh Hashana 16b). Those three behaviors are driven by a self-righteous narcissism: I am so blame free of course the wall won’t fall on me, of course God will respond to my prayer, and of course I can judge others.
The rabbis’ message (Don’t think you’re such a tsaddik, or righteous person) is a helpful corrective to today’s litigious, finger-pointing, it’s-their-fault world. It is a reminder no one, regardless of station or office, is perfect and everyone makes mistakes. Imagine how much better the world could be if we each exercised a little more humility, rejected any sense of entitlement, acknowledged our errors, and atoned for them immediately.
Noshing Across the Nation 
Reblogged this on Noshing Across the Nation and commented:
Re-bloging this just because I won’t be able to say it better nyway. And – adding this d’var from Dr. Ackerman:
“Gather the entire assembly to the entrance of the Tent of Meeting.” (Leviticus 8:3)
Parashat Tzav describes the rituals for performing each of the sacrifices listed in last week’s parasha (portion): the olah (burnt offering), mincha (meal offering), chatat (sin offering), asham (guilt offering), and zevach sh’lamim(peace offering). But Tzav is more than just The Priest’s Guide to Jewish Barbecue. The sacrifices are expressions of personal responsibility: you bring one to atone for sin or to acknowledge (undeserved) good fortune. Now, personal responsibility is culturally determined: its form depends on when, where, and who is expressing it. The sacrificial cult recognizes people make mistakes and no one, not even the kohen gadol, the high priest, is exempt from atoning (e.g., taking responsibility) when that happens. Taking responsibility is a cultural norm.
The rabbis are clear: cultural norms emerge out of individuals’ behaviors. They determine there are three sins requiring immediate atonement (rather than waiting for Yom Kippur): walking next to a shaky wall, arrogance in prayer, and calling God’s judgement on someone else (Babylonian Talmud Rosh Hashana 16b). Those three behaviors are driven by a self-righteous narcissism: I am so blame free of course the wall won’t fall on me, of course God will respond to my prayer, and of course I can judge others.
The rabbis’ message (Don’t think you’re such a tsaddik, or righteous person) is a helpful corrective to today’s litigious, finger-pointing, it’s-their-fault world. It is a reminder no one, regardless of station or office, is perfect and everyone makes mistakes. Imagine how much better the world could be if we each exercised a little more humility, rejected any sense of entitlement, acknowledged our errors, and atoned for them immediately.
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