Torah · Weekly Parasha VideoParashat TzavRabbi Uri Nahum · June 19, 2017 · Tzav · צו · 15 Min Parasha RoundupSave⌄ShareParasha class with Rabbi Uri Nahum, from BSD Productions’ 15 Min Parasha Roundup.Transcript0:05Parashat Tzav. This week's parasha has 96 pesukim.0:09Like its name, Tzav, tzadi-vav pesukim.0:13Usually this parasha will fall out right before Pesach, usually Shabbat HaGadol,0:16or if it's a leap year, it will fall out before Purim.0:20As the first pasuk says, or second pasuk says,0:25Tzav et Aharon v'et banav leimor, the parasha speaks about instructions specifically to the Kohanim, as we'll see.0:30The parasha is divided into two parts.0:33The first part of the parasha, the first half of the parasha exactly,0:36Torah tells us laws of korbanot that are relevant specifically to the Kohanim,0:42and the second part of the parasha, Torah tells us about the inauguration of the Mishkan,0:47beginning from Chaf-Gimmel Adar.0:48Eighteen mitzvot in this week's parasha, again also divided exactly in half,0:53nine mitzvot aseh and0:57nine mitzvot lo ta'aseh, and they number from number 131 to 148 in Sefer1:02HaChinuch. Let's get to the parasha.1:03The first half of the parasha, like we said, speaks about the mitzvot of the korbanot1:08that are specifically needed for the Kohanim to know.1:13We'll first introduce this part of the parashah with the Ramban.1:15The Ramban in this week's parashah, right in the beginning, says the following.1:19He says that what is the difference between Vayikra and Tzav?1:22In Vayikra, we find laws of korbanot, and in Tzav also we find laws of korbanot.1:25And he says if you look at the beginning of the parashah, you'll see the difference.1:28In the beginning of last week's parashah it says,1:31Daber el Bnei Yisrael, speak to the Jewish people.1:35Last week's parashah, Vayikra, tells us about the mitzvot the Jewish people need to know1:40as far as them bringing, offering the korbanot.1:42In this week's parashah, pasuk says,1:45Tzav et Aharon1:47v'et banav lemor. These are the laws that the Kohanim need to know regarding the1:51parashah. And as one of the last pesukim in this section, in the first half of the parashah says,1:57Torah says the famous pasuk that we know from the Gemara and from our daily prayer.2:02It says, Zot2:07haTorah la'olah, laminchah, velachattat, vela'asham, velamilu'im, ulzevach hashelamim. These are the laws regarding the korban olah, the korban minchah, the korban chatat, the korban asham,2:14regarding the milu'im, which we'll speak about also, and2:18zevach hashelamim. And that's exactly what the Torah does in the first half of this week's2:22parashah. It speaks about the halachot and some mitzvot regarding olah, minchah, chatat, asham, milu'im, and the korban shelamim.2:31And let's begin with the first one, and that is the korban2:34olah. The laws in this week's parashah, besides the fact that the olah is burnt on the2:41mizbeach, we also find the Torah telling us about the laws of the fire that's found on the mizbeach hachitzon, the outside2:49mizbeach. Now, the Torah begins telling us that the limbs of the animal that's brought as a korban2:54olah, or really any other animal, could burn the whole night.2:56Unlike the blood of the korbanot, which has to be sprayed or sprinkled on the mizbeach before sunset,3:02the limbs could be burned throughout the day and even throughout the night.3:07And the Torah tells us that there are three fires on the3:11mizbeach. Of course, it doesn't say straight out; the chachamim derive it.3:13And the three fires are as following.3:15The first one is called the ma'arachah gedolah, the big fire.3:18That's where all the limbs of the animals of the korbanot were burnt.3:22The second one is called ma'arachah shniyah shel ketoret,3:24which was— Place where they made a fireplace where they made coals,3:28which was used to put on the afterwards, to put on the3:33mizbeach hazahav inside the place the ketoret on it.3:36And the third fire is called3:40ma'aracha l'kiyum ha'esh. That's the way the Rambam says it.3:42And that is that there's a mitzvah in this week's parashah,3:44which is, Esh tamid tukad al3:46hamizbeach. There must be a constant fire on the3:50mizbeach, and this is the purpose of that last fireplace.3:54The last fireplace is to keep that constant fire to always be3:57burned. And still, the Torah commands, Lo4:00techbeh, that it's forbidden for any person to shut off any of the fires on the4:05mizbeach. Another mitzvah that we find that Torah mentions in this section of4:09Va'era is the mitzvah of terumat4:10hadeshen, and that is that every single day the kohanim—this is how they began their day,4:15and usually began alot hashachar, except for holidays and4:19Shabbatot—they would take a shovelful of the ashes from the burnt,4:23you know, after you burn the fire, there's ashes.4:24They would take a shovelful and they place them on the floor4:29to the east of the ramp going up to the4:33mizbeach. Another thing that we find is also that the limbs of the korban4:38olah, of the korban olat tamid, that is,4:40every single day we brought a korban in the morning and a korban in the afternoon,4:44the limbs were placed on the fire first before any other korbanot,4:47and the limbs of the korban olah shel4:50bein haarbayim, which is brought in the afternoon, were the last ones to be burnt on fire.4:53So it comes out that the daily sacrifice that we brought4:56had its limbs burnt first and last of the day.5:00We move on now to the korban5:02minchah. Torah tells us here more details about korban minchah that we saw in last week's5:06parashah. The kometz that we mentioned last week, which is what the kohanim separate,5:10must be selected with most of the oil with it,5:14and then to place the rest of the levonah for the korban minchah on top of the5:19kometz. Afterwards, the leftovers are given to the kohanim to eat.5:23This is true by every single korban5:25minchah except for one that's being offered by a kohen,5:28where the leftovers are also burnt on the5:31mizbeach. Also, the mincha was never allowed to become5:36chametz. Even that which is distributed, when they want to bake it or cook it,5:39it has to remain matzah, which means without any yeast.5:44And when bringing the korban mincha with the korban,5:46and that will become called5:49nesachim, so then the korban mincha will have the same rules as the korban itself5:52as far as one to eat it and what thoughts to have of it.5:56Next, the Torah tells us about the5:58miluim. Over here also, Torah tells us about the training.6:00When a kohen becomes, the first time the kohen comes to work in the Mishkan,6:04what does he have to do?6:05What a kohen has to bring is something called6:09minchat chinuch. It's a korban6:10mincha. Chinuch means training.6:11For the first day that he begins to work ever in the Beit HaMikdash or the Mishkan,6:14he brings a issaron, about 3.7 pounds of flour.6:19Half of it is offered in the morning, half of it is offered in the afternoon.6:22The way it's done, it's made into dough,6:25then it's baked, and then it's fried,6:27and then he do6:29kemitzah. And like we mentioned before,6:31any time that the kohen offers a6:33mincha, it's never eaten; the whole thing is burnt.6:35Next we move on to6:37chatat. Torah tells us about some laws about6:40chatat. Chatat, like we mentioned last week,6:41it's kodshei kodashim, which means it's slaughtered in the northern part of the Mishkan or the Beit6:46HaMikdash. Also, it's only eaten by the male kohanim.6:49No one is allowed to eat it from it,6:51only male kohanim who are not tameh at the time when the blood is being thrown on6:55or placed on the6:57mizbeach, and it must be also eaten in the azarah, like all other kodshei kodashim.7:01Any blood of the korban7:04chatat that's taken in the inside chamber,7:07in what we call the kodesh or the Ohel7:09Moed or the heichal in the times of the Beit7:15HaMikdash, then it makes that the meat cannot be eaten.7:19Whether it happened on purpose or by accident.7:20For example, Yom Kippur, where you take the blood inside and we sprinkle it in the Kodesh Kodashim.7:25So now, the animal that's brought on Yom Kippur,7:28even though it's a korban chatat, it makes it, you cannot eat it.7:31Even if it's taken by mistake inside,7:33then it makes the animal forbidden to eat.7:35And also in this section in the Torah,7:37the Torah tells us much halachot that are needed for7:40Pesach, or some of the basic7:42halachot, which is how to kosher kelim,7:43what's considered7:47beli'ah and how to do hagalah. A lot of it is learned from these pesukim over here in this week's parashah.7:49Then the Torah tells us about the korban asham.7:52The korban asham is kodshei kodashim,7:54slaughtered in the north,7:55and you only have two choices as far as animals are concerned.7:58You can only bring it either as a...8:01ram or is a sheep. Like the korban chatat, the kohanim must be fit, which means they cannot be tamei in the time of applying the blood on the mizbeach in order for them to eat from this.8:14And also, since the Torah is talking about over here that what the kohanim get from the parts of the animal, so the Torah mentions other things that are given to the kohanim are called matanot kehunah, and that's only for the kohanim working that day.8:25And what is that? When a person is offering a private korban olah, so the hides of the animal are given to the kohanim.8:32Also, all the leftovers of the different types of the menachot, after you do the kemitzah, that's only to be distributed to the kohanim.8:42Now, and finally we get to the last section over here where the Torah talks about the shelamim in this first half of the8:49parashah. And the Torah discusses first the korban todah.8:53Korban todah is brought by four types of people. That's the people who say birkat hagomel, and it's basically like its name. It's a thanksgiving. A person is giving it as a thanks to HaKadosh Baruch Hu.9:03The korban todah is unique because unlike all the other shelamim, it must be eaten only that day and that night.9:10Usually shelamim have that day, the following night, and the following day as well to eat.9:14Not so by korban todah. You only have that day, that night only to eat it,9:19and it's brought also with lechem todah, special breads.9:23What are these breads? First of all, the way they make it is they would take9:27twenty esronim. Remember, each esron is about 3.7 pounds of flour.9:29They take twenty of these, twenty esron, divide in half.9:33Ten would be made matzah, which means without chametz, loaves without9:36chametz, and ten would be made of ten loaves with9:40chametz. Now, the ones with matzah are broken up to three groups.9:45They divide the esron in three parts, a third is made, and each group has a different type of way of making the bread,9:53the ones of matzah.9:55Three types of loaves are called ma'afeh tanur, where it's baked;9:59rekikin, which are made thin;10:01and murbechet, which is basically cooked and baked at about the same time.10:06You make ten loaves of each.10:07So it comes out that when a person is bringing a korban todah, he's bringing with it forty loaves.10:13Ten loaves are chametz, and the other thirty are from matzah, from the three types, ten each.10:21Also, the korban todah requires10:24tenufah. Tenufah means that you place the fats of the animal on top of the owner's hands,10:31and on top of the fats you put the chazeh and the shok, which means the chest and the right leg of the10:36animal, and then you put on top of that the kidneys and the diaphragm on top,10:40and on top of all that you put the bread.10:42Then the kohen puts his hands under the owner's, and they wave it.10:45They go from backwards to the sides, up and down, and that's called10:48tenufah. And then the kohen gets his part, the owners get their part, and the mizbeach gets their part.10:53Now, before we finish this section, the Torah tells us about things that are asur karet,10:58things that a person does where he would be punished by the punishment of karet.11:01Number one is notar, eating any part of the animal after its time.11:07Like we mentioned, a korban todah has that day and that night.11:09If a person would eat a korban todah past its time, whatever was left over, that's called notar,11:15and the punishment is karet.11:17Torah commands that anything that's notar must be burnt.11:20Pigul. Pigul means that if the kohen who is offering the animal, bringing the animal, has the wrong thoughts,11:28that means he's thinking that this animal will be eaten past the time that the Torah prescribed,11:33then the animal becomes pigul.11:34Anybody who eats from that animal, even immediately, will be punished by the punishment of karet.11:41Then the Torah tells us about— A commandment called tameh, who cannot eat a korban.11:47First of all, he cannot make any meat from the korbanot tameh,11:51and if a person himself is tameh and eats from the kodesh, even though the meat itself was11:57tahor, it didn't have any impurities, still it's punishable by karet.12:03The fourth thing that's punishable by karet that's mentioned in this week's parashah is12:09chelev. Chelev means a person is forbidden to eat certain fats of the animals.12:12What are these certain fats?12:14These fats are the ones that are usually burnt on the12:18mizbeach, and therefore this issur of chelev only applies to the animals that are usually brought as sacrifices,12:23which is sheep, cattle, and12:25goats. All other types of animals, although they might be kosher, like a deer, since it's not brought as a korban,12:32its fat is not forbidden mide'oraita; it's permitted to eat.12:36And keep in mind, the ones that are forbidden, we're talking about even the ones that are not brought as a sacrifice.12:40The last thing that a person is forbidden to eat and is punishable by karet is the blood of an animal.12:47It's forbidden to eat any blood of the animal.12:49If a person consumes a kezayit of the blood of the animal, then the punishment is karet,12:53and that's why we salt all our meats in order to make sure to drain out any of the blood that may be in the meat.13:00And now we get to the second part of this week's parashah, the inauguration of the Mishkan,13:05and it should be familiar to us because we spoke about this really in Parashat Tzav.13:08There in Parashat Tzav, the Torah tells us, Parashat13:14Tetzaveh—sorry, we have to fix this.13:17And now we move on to the second part of the parashah.13:20The Torah tells us about the inauguration of the Mishkan.13:22This should be familiar to us since the inauguration of the Mishkan was mentioned in Parashat Tetzaveh,13:27also na'aliyat Revi'i, like in this week's parashah.13:30There the Torah tells us about the commandments which we see in this week's parashah being fulfilled.13:34First of all, Moshe is told to take the following six. Items or people.13:39Number one is to take Aharon and his children.13:41Number two is to take the bigdei kehunah, the clothing of the kohanim.13:44Number three is to take the special oil that he needed to anoint with it, the13:49shemen ha-mishchah. Number four, to take the following three animals:13:51one par, young bull, and two rams.13:55Number five is to take ten loaves of the following three types of bread:14:01lechem, challah, and14:03rekik. Lechem is basically cooked in water and then baked.14:06Challah is regular loaf of bread that's baked,14:08and rekik, which is made very, very thin.14:11All these menachot, remember, like we said beforehand, cannot be with any14:14chametz. And the six is to take all the Jewish people and to make them congregate outside of the Mishkan to observe the inauguration.14:21How did the inauguration take place? First of all, the anointment.14:24Moshe takes Aharon and his children and he makes them dip in the mikveh.14:27After they get dipped, Moshe dresses Aharon.14:30Torah tells us in detail how he dressed them, all the eight garments.14:34And then Moshe anointed the Mishkan and all the utensils with the14:39shemen ha-mishchah. And then he sprinkled from the shemen ha-mishchah on the mizbeach seven times.14:43Afterwards, Moshe poured oil on Aharon and then smeared it on him. That's anointing him.14:48And then Moshe dresses the other kohanim with their four garments.14:53Now Moshe comes to the second part of the inauguration, which is bringing the14:59korbanot. He starts first with the par ha-chatat, which is the young bull.15:03All the kohanim, including Aharon, duchenim, they lean on top of the head of the animal.15:08And then Moshe slaughters the cow, takes from the blood and applies it on the horns of the15:12mizbeach. The rest of the blood Moshe pours on the yesod of the15:15mizbeach. And then the fats of the innards, the diaphragm, and certain parts of the animal were taken and burnt on the15:22mizbeach. And the rest of the animal was burnt outside of the Jewish camp.15:26The second animal to be offered was the... First ram, which is called the15:31Il haOlah, was brought as15:32korban olah, and just like the first one, there was, like the young bull, they did semicha,15:36and then they took the blood, but instead of applying it to the four corners,15:39they only applied it to the two corners of the15:42mizbeach, and there it hit the two walls, and that's what we call shtei matanot shehen arba.15:48Afterwards, the ram was cut up,15:50the head, limbs, and the fat were burned on the15:53mizbeach, the innards were then washed and then burnt,15:56and the rest of the animal also was also burnt on the mizbeach like a regular korban.16:00This second ram was brought as a korban shelamim, which means part of it were eaten by the kohanim, in this case, which was Moshe Rabbeinu.16:10Part of it was eaten by the owners, which was Aharon and his children, and part of it was16:14ba'mizbeach. And again, like the same thing, same chiddush, the only difference over here is that the blood over here Moshe took and he applied it to the right ear, the right thumb, and the right big toenail of Aharon,16:24and then afterwards his children, he did the same thing, and then he applied it to the mizbeach,16:30and then he took one loaf from each of the breads, remember that we said that he had to take with him, and he put them all in a basket.16:36He put the basket on top of the fats and the parts of the animal on top of the kohanim's hands, like we mentioned by korban todah,16:42and he did tenufah like a regular korban shelamim. Moshe put his hands under the kohanim and he waved all those parts,16:49and then everybody took his part. The kohanim took their part, which is Moshe;16:52the regular kohanim, which were the owners, took their part, and the mizbeach had its part, which was burnt.16:57And that's how we finished the parashah.17:00One detail is missing in this week's parashah, which we didn't mention.17:03That's mentioned in parashat Tetzaveh,17:05and that is that they brought a special bull, par, on the mizbeach for the sake of17:13chanukat hamizbeach. That's not mentioned in this week's parashah, but it's from parashat17:16Tzav. And that's how we finished the parashah, which was the last part of inaugurating the Mishkan.17:21And what are we to learn from this week's parashah?17:24One thing I noticed when we're reading this week's parashah is how, again, the details of setting up the Mishkan17:31and everything that needs to be done in order for the Mishkan to begin working, again it's found in Sefer Vayikra.17:36We spent the whole, almost the second half of Sefer Shemot, the last five17:41parashot, discussing in very, very detail, which the Torah doesn't usually do, about the building of the Mishkan and what they have to do.17:48Here the Torah, again in parashat Tzav. Says these details again.17:53It could have just said, as we said in Parashat Tetzaveh, but the Torah doesn't say it again.17:57Again emphasizing the point of how important the avodah is in the Mishkan.18:02But even there's a deeper lesson over here.18:03Besides that, it's important to do the avodah, it's important also to do it as if it was said for the first time.18:10We know the Torah, everything that it writes is a18:12chiddush. The chiddush of writing all these things again is that when we do avodat Hashem, it has to be done18:18b'chiddush. It has to be done as if it's the first time we hear it, as if it's new in our eyes.18:22And that's like the Kohanim being inaugurated, as if they're working for the first time.18:27Hashem also wants us that when we come to do any mitzvah, we should do it as if it's the first time we're doing it,18:33as the first time we're being commanded to do it.18:56Shabbat shalom.