Tetzaveh - 1st Portion

Join as we learn together for parasav the first Torah reading of parasav chapter 27 verse 20. Last week's Torah reading we read about the vessels that were made in the tabernacle. Today we're going to be reading about the garments first about the oil that was brought for the candalabra and for the anointing oil and for the incense as well as the garments that were made for the cohen and the cohen godle. It is interesting to note that parasav is the only reading from Mosha's birth that Mosha's name is not mentioned in and usually parasav is read in the week that it is Mosha's yard site in Zion Adar. However, it is also the only Torah reading where the Torah is directed to Moshe where it says and you Moshe is should command to the Jewish people and you should command the Israelites and they should bring to you shem and Z olive oil zioo crushed for illumination. That should to kindle the lamp regularly. You should command. What should you command? And the Torah continues. What does it mean? Clear. It should be an oil without any without any pieces in it, without any sediment. How should this be made? Like it says in the tracted of that they collect it from the top of the olive tree and then they while they then collect it they bring it into the basket and while it was in the basket they would take the olives that were the best that were on top of the tree because the ones that were on top of the tree ripen the best and they have the best oil and their oil comes out the clearest. The wordus means crushed. the actual olives themselves, they would crush it with a in in a mortar before pressing it in ground. However, those that were used as he says over here that there should be no sediment in them after the first drop of oil comes out, they would use that for the manora. Then they would put it into a grinder and grind it. Sheeni and the rest of the oil that comes out after crushing it and grinding it then that would be that's unfit for the monora but would be used for the uh meal offerings as it says because over here when it says to illuminate it says that you should use specifically the ones that is pressed not the ones that are crushed. However, the Torah was not particular when it came to the oil. It was used for the meal offerings that would have to be the same process. What does it mean that it has to be kindled that to kindle the lamp regularly? The word means to uplift he would kindle it to the extent that the light the flame should be kindled on its own that you don't have to keep on holding a fire there to make sure that the wick is burning. regularly vala every single night is called regularly even though the word usually means constant and this was only kindled every single night. Therefore, he tells us the word rashi tells us that even it's something that's done regularly can be called constant as it says the for example the sacrifice that was brought daily in the holy temple which is called was only brought every morning to the meal offering that was brought every day also it's called aid though it was only brought once daily and that was even the meal offering with half in the morning half in the afternoon. However, when you find the word tid by the showbread in that case, mishabas shabas that actually was constant and was there from week to week without any uh separation in the middle. The word over here as we know it always means that to be able to help another person kindle the life and the soul of another Jew that they should be able to be a light on their own and not need constantly being fed. Verse 21. Where would this be kindled? And this would be kindled on the tent of gathering and the tent of meeting outside the curtain which the curtain would be concealing the ark of the covenant. That's where Aaron should set up these candles or sons from evening until morning in front of God. This should be an everlasting rule for the Jewish people for generations from the Jewish people for the generations to come. Rashi says what does it mean from evening to morning? Meaning 10 you have to put amount of doesn't mean that he has to be standing there holding it from the evening to the morning. You have to put the amount of oil that it should last from the evening to the morning. that the amount of oil that should be needed in the manura to be lit is the amount that the oil the lamp should last from evening to morning. And the sages evaluated how much oil that would mean a half for the nights of the winter nights which are very long. Even for the shorter nights they would also use the same amount was leftover oil in the morning. Nothing wrong with that as well. Chapter 28 verse1. Now that we're told about the laws pertaining the oil, now the Torah goes on to tell us the laws pertaining the priestly garments. Now you will bring your brother Aaron close and his children with him from amongst the rest of the Jewish people that they should minister for me. Who is it going to be? Some are the children of Aaron. This is referring to when are you going to bring iron clothes and adorn him with these garments. This is not talking about right now. This is later on after you finished completing building the tabernacle. Verse two, and you will make uh garments for Aaron your brother. Sacred garments for Aaron your brother for dignity and splendor. Okay. Verse three. And how are you going to do this? And you shall speak to everyone who is wise at heart. I invested the spirit of wisdom in them also. And they shall make as big the garments for Aaron to sanctify him for dignity and for splendor. and they should for him to make it holy and to sanctify and for him to minister to me. Rashi what does it mean? So Rashi explains the two terminologies that the Torah uses is number one that he should become holy and then he will enter into the priesthood through wearing these garments that he should be a to me that he should serve me and the word kahuna which means in this case priesthood also comes from the word to minister to work for me. The first garment that the the Torah now enumerates the garments that he's going to make and then the Torah will tell us how the garments are made. So the garments that are going to be made for our own are and these are the garments that he will be making that they should make number one a breastplate aphod and aphod what that is we're soon going to see in Rashi and a robe and a tunic checkered knit a turban the sash and they will then make these garments for Aaron and his sons that they would minister to me. So these were the garments that were made for Aaron, the eight garments and later on we'll see also the garments that were made for the children. Now Rashi explains what all these garments are. This is this is a breastplate aortment which was worn against the heart. So Rashi explains and says I have not heard or seen in the an explanation of what and how the shape of the aphod was. However, however, what the way I believe it is that it was something which was tied in the back from his back like the height of the back of an individual like an apron that they call a portent that the ministers wear when they are riding on their horses. That's the way it would be made on the bottom. Where does he know this from? Because if you look a similar terminology is used that David in the book of Samuel, it says that David was wearing this aphid out of a linen. So we know the fact number one that we learn from that verse that the word aphid means something that you tie like something that's wrapped. The efi proves that as you know that this is only for the bottom part of the body not that it went on the upper part. you can't be that there's only a you can't say that these this aphot didn't have any other parts and it was only a sash because if you're saying that it was that David wrapped it around maybe it was just another sash because it says that he put on him the awards it says that he tied him in the sash of the a and the And the translates what does it mean that there was a sash there was a there's a string that came from the aphod. So what do we know from here that the is called like the belt that was from the aphod and the was its own uniform was its own piece of was its own garment. And you can't call the two shoulder straps the aphod because that's where the two stones were because it says two shoulders for the aphod. What do we hear from here? That the aphot is that there were three parts of this garment and the name of these three part garment was called an aphot. So you have the aphot is one part, the shoulder straps is one part and the strap is another part. Therefore, I say, what is this aphod that we're talking about? This aphod is the part that hang on the bottom from the back, lower back to the over his legs because it's like an apron that covers over the bottom. They called it an aphod because it wraps him. It covers him. And as it says that they covered him and then the strap the belt is came on top of the of the part that wrapped them on the bottom and then your hand the uh shoulder straps that came on the top. And another thing I suggest I have a proof of this that it was a type of garment not that it was just a belt because we also have the translation besides the translation in Aramaic from there's another translation from that he says in that he translates in Aramaic many of the prophets in the book of Samuel he says that he uses a terminology which that he also uses when he talks about tunics and robes as well by the story of Tamar the sister of Shalom because this is the way the daughters of the king would wear these garbs. And he also uses the terminology. So we know that the actual aphod proving from there that the aphod is not just a belt or a shoulder. It is actual garment as well. What is the it was like a tunic like a shirt also later on when we talk about the different shirts that they were or the shirt over here is also a shirt. That shirt was closer to the flesh of the individual and the tunic was a the robe was on top of that tunic was on the higher was the upper garment taj the word tajbates we translated was this checkered knit. Sarashi explains they made this checkered knit for her beauty and these squares were like these little indentations. It had these little indentations and in it they would put in these diamonds, these special gemstones like it says by the stones of the surrounded with golden frames inserts that they would put in. What is the mitzph? Is a turban. It's a type of hat which they called in and other places when it talks about the hats that were made for the he calls it. It's a different kind of hat translated a hat a cap. The the sashi translates this was the sash that went on top of the shirt and the belt of the apho that we just explained before was what tied on top of the upper garment. We find this later on in the book of Leviticus when he dresses them. And it says he put on top of him the shirt and then he tied the sash and then he got him dressed with a robe. Then he put on top of that the aphod. He says they should use it from the donations that were sanctified specifically for godly purposes. That's how and what they should use when they make the garments. Verse five. of they will as well take the gold and the turquoise and the purple wool and the scarlet wool and the linen. What does it mean they should take? Who is it referring to? Rashi tells us those intelligent people, those uh people with the spirit of wisdom that we mentioned earlier, they will get from the donors this gold turquoise wall and all the other items to be able to make the garments. Verse six. Now he goes on to the detail. Now that he outlined the garments that had to be made, we're going to detail the of how they were made. The they will then make the aphod what theod will be made of. The materials that will be used is will be made as we mentioned earlier these 28 strands that will have in it gold turquoise purple wool scarlet wool twined together with shazer twined linen with a woven fabric woven design. Rashi explains as follows what the aphod was made of. If I'm here to explain the actual detail of how the aphod and the breastplate were made according to the order of the verses then the explanation will be split up into different parts. some here and some there. And therefore, a person reading it might make mistake where they're explained because parts will not be together and parts will be scattered in different places. Therefore, says the way I've laid it out and set it up, I'm going to explain the details of all these items as they are made. So the person who reads it should be able to go through it quickly and then later he'll delves the detail according to the verses of where they're mentioned. So here he's going to tell us the detail of how the aphod was made. The aphod as we mentioned in the previous in the previous verse that it was made like a robe for or an apron that women would then use when they would ride on their horses and he would tie it in the back of the cohen. He would tie it from the back. That means it would be strapped from the back and tie it in the front against his heart. That's how high it was. Below his elbows, the width of the aphold was the width of the back of an individual and a drop more. So it should be able to be wrapped around his body. Where would it reach until its heels? And then the belt, the strap was tied on its top on it going on the width woven into it would come out extend itself to the width to the right and left of the aphod. This way when you take the strap in the front of you would completely surround the individual and will then tie it. Then you had the shoulder straps that were attached as well to this strap. One shoulder strap going up to the right one to the left, but that was only in the back of the coe. Did you see the shoulders? This was on the two edges of the apron in the back. You had the two shoulder straps coming up. When you make these straps straight, they will come to the front of his two shoulders. These were two straps that were made out of the same material of the apher of the robe. They were long enough. They were to reach to reach his neck from both edges from both sides and they would go over his shoulders towards the front just a little bit. How much? That's where the sham would be situated. One small one on the right and one on the left. And what we mentioned before that the insets of these golden insets were there where the stones would sit in them were there in the front of the shoulders. Then from there two chains, golden chains would then come from the strap that was on the two shoulders would then draw down two straps, two golden chains and they were then stuck into the holes of the actual breastplate and the two edges of the on the two sides of the breastplate on the top of it. a small one to the right and one to the left. And these two chains, you had the two chains coming out of the breastplate were then stuck in the chains that were coming of the shoulder straps of the aphold, one to the right and one to the left. And then you had two chains coming out on the left and on the right. So it comes out that the breastplate would be hanging from the aphod straps in front of him. Then there was also with two little rings. That was the top of the breastplate. Then on the bottom of the breastplate there were two rings and from it was coming out two strings as well. And these rings of the bottom were against were parallel to the rings of the aphold. They would rest one on the other and he would tie them together with this turquoise string that would be coming out of the rings of their apron and the breastplate. So you had this the um golden chains that were connected to the shoulder straps. Then on the bottom you had as well holes which the strings of the apron would then tie into it. This way when the person walks it would not dangle and would be set on the actual breastplate and on the body of the individual of the coh. What was this made of? As we mentioned, Rashi explains these five kinds were tied, intertwined and woven in each one of its kinds. They would make the gold really really thin like very thin lines and they would cut them into strips into strands and they would then weave them in. One golden strand with six strands of turquoise. Then they would use one golden strand with six strands of purple wool. So with the scarlet with the linen. So every kind of material you had that six times and then there was a gold strand which every one of these six strands and then he would weave them all together as one. So what do you have? Because if you have four kinds of materials, you have the scarlet, the turquoise, and the linen, and the purple wool, that's four times is four times seven, six of its own kind, one of the gold gives you 28. That's how it's described in the track of he learns that out of this verse because it says that they took the gold and they made it very thin and then they cut it into strands and they wo it together with the turquoise and the purple wool you don't have from here that the gold was then intertwined with every kind of material that was made explained what does mean that this woven design that it was two walls woven at the same time and the pattern on one side wasn't the same as the pattern on the other. Verse seven, you have two shoulders, two shoulder straps of this apron. As we mentioned in the rashi to two shoulder straps attached on the two ends as Rashi said before he will explain previously he gave us the outline. Now he explains again the detail they were the apron was on the bottom. The actual strap, the belt was in the middle attached to it to the aotab and on the back of the co was connected with this um with this belt. Two pieces like very wide two wide straps. Two wide straps, shoulder straps that would go on to every shoulder. They would be straight up behind in the back and then they would fall over the front against his chest and then they were held by the chains that were holding the breastplate against his heart. And they were both straight like we explained before coming out of the apron coming to the front. And over there was situated the two special stones on each one. One on the right and one on the left. What does it mean on two edges? On the width of the aphod. The width of the aphod went according to the back of the coen and the height was as high as his elbows. They would not tie in a place where they would sweat which is by the armpits not above their elbows and not below their hips right by their elbows which there there's no sweat and they would connect it. The aphod would then be connected with the two straps of the aphod. He would then connect it with a needle below the actual strap of the aphod. Over here, he would make the actual apron one piece, the belt another piece, the straps another piece, and then they would attach them all together. Verse eight. And the belt that fastens the a the apron which is by it. It should be made of the same material. Gold, turquoise, purple, scarlet wool and linen. Translates what does it mean? which means the belt, the strap that fastens, which because of that he is able to fasten the belt and make it tight, whatever it may be, which he situates on him and makes him look good and fits and is fitted to him. What does it mean on it? On top of the apron part that would hang down to the bottom of his legs, you would put that belt, that strap around it. Same way you wo the uh apron, so too you should make that wrap from the same materials that you should weave that the same way and from those five kinds. It should be woven. Don't meaning that the actual uh part of the apron should be woven together with it. Not that it should be woven separately and then afterwards connected. Meaning we're talking about the part differently than when the uh different than the part of the shoulder straps which were later connected. This part has to be actually woven together with the bottom part with the apron. Then you will take two stones and you're going to inscribe on them the names two on stones and engrave in them the names of the 12 sons of Israel. Verse 10. Six of their names will be on one stone. The remaining six six names on the second stone in order of their birth according to the way they were born. What's the way they were born? And Rashi tells us on one stone you have that's one the second one you're going to write with two that's the way he was written when he was born because his father called him comes out that on each stone you have 25 letters verse 11 you shall engrave the two stones with their names in like a signate ring of that's the way you're going to engrave the two stones with the names of the Jewish people they're going to be inlet engraved and it's going to have a gold inlet around it and encase them with a gold setting says That's it would be done in a proper way like in a in in like a nice inlet inset of of the of the of gold of stones. This word is connected with the word that comes afterwards when she says of an engraved in the stone. Therefore, there's and the at the end like we find in other places anytime there's at the end it's connected to the following word. What does that word mean? Translates a written a writing which is engraved like a stone like a I'm sorry like a ring that makes an imprint makes an engraving that they're engraved within the stones. The same way when people make rings signate rings that they engrave it within the st within the ring that it's able to make a stamp an impression. So too like when they sign the letters you see the writing is clear and detailed what does it mean on the names in the names the names should be written the stone should be surrounded with a golden frame that he makes a nice insert um for the the setting should be a nice gold setting that the stone will sit in like insert like a indentation in it according to the size of the stone. That's the way they will make an indent in the gold and then it's surrounded with this and this gold then surrounds it will then surround the stone and this connects it. Then this musaba is this golden insert. This golden this gold setting that will then hold the stone is what is connected to the shoulder strap which is connected to the aphod and its uh belt. Take these two stones on the shoulder straps of the aphod. They should be stones for of remembrance for the Jewish people and Aram will carry their names on in front of God on his two shoulders as a remembrance before Hashem. God will see the names of the tribes that are engraved on these stones and will remember the Jewish people and remember their righteousness. This concludes the first reading of