Exodus Cycle 6 Tetzaveh

Tetzaveh

Holy Community and the Holy Path

There’s an interesting line in Tetzaveh. It’s 29:35.

V’asitah l’Aaron  ul’banav cachah  c’kol asher  tsiuiti  ot-cham ….

And you will do to Aaron and to his sons all that I have commanded...

It seems run of the mill, a regular curve-of-words God might throw to Moses.  The word all though is big. How can we catch this abstract all?  How can we do all that He has commanded?

We may also wonder this: The shoresh to command has only been used once in this parsha.  Just once.  Just at the  beginning. Right at the kick-start, God tells Moses to command the Israelites to bring clear illuminated oil made from hand-crushed olives to light the ner tamid (the eternal light).

The inference of all (commands) therefore is in real contrast to the fact that there's only one (clear command) involving that same word in that same parsha until that moment.

Also, we must face one more thing.  The grammatical use of the word command (in the beginning) isn’t even in direct reference to God.  God is telling Moses to command. Therefore (if we look at the p’shat here) God is not commanding. God is speaking.  God speaks a lot in Torah. Here God is speaking once again. The subject of the conversation infers the command that will come from the mouth of Moses.  But there isn’t even the use of direct address. 

Of course, we can always drash (and add) that the action of God telling Moses to command automatically makes this a commandment from God. But syntactically and grammatically that is not the exact meaning. 

Please follow my process here. I always don’t stick so stubbornly to the letter. But let’s see where it will take us. 

Again….What is this all that God has commanded we do to Aaron?

Let’s look at the parsha. Here, we get a series of instructions involving our preparation for enlightenment. These instructions  are breath-taking.  The detail reminds me of these Balinese etchings I once saw in Ubud.  It reminds me of leaves etched up the spine of this girl at the YMCA.  They were living leaves, tiny, gold and green.  

For the holy instructions and details in Tetzaveh to be manifest however Aaron and his sons must let-go. They are (after all) about to be rushed into the veins of Divine Love, straight to the heart.  They’re about to be consecrated, to be admitted to the Holy of Holies. They are building their inner wisdom while Moses and the people are preparing their clothing layer after layer. Yes, Moses and the people are preparing the textures of their outer-weavings, the gold and the stones and the crown that says Holy for God.  If we really look at it, Aaron and his sons seem so passive. Everything is being done to them on the outside. Yet on the inside, they are doing their work, no doubt. It’s like before a wedding. They are about to be married. To God.

Yes, Aaron and his sons are getting ready to let-go, empty their minds, give in, accept, allow themselves to be only vessels of love. They are preparing to receive, fill up, be strong, be ready, be first, be safe, be worthy. All levels of minds gravitate in their direction and they are soon eternally capable of transmitting their release to God to enable atonement for the people.  This is all about deep digging into the blood and heart of our humanity and community, into our ancestry and future. 

And it is only when they are ready to be isolated for seven days in preparation for the consecration when we hear that line. It rings like a million bells on the hems of all the angels in all the heavens:

And you will do to Aaron and his sons all that I have commanded.

The Rambam opens up the possibilities here.  Like I said before, this all (given the shoresh and the p'shat meaning) can really only be linked to one specified act of commanding. With respect to all the codes though let's explore this a bit further: According to the Rambam there are 4 positive and 3 negative commandments in this parsha. We light the menorah every day. The priests must wear the priestly garments during the service, the Breastplate must not be loosened from the Ephod, and the garments must not be torn. To continue, the priests must eat the sacrificial meat, the incense must be burned everyday and only incense can be burned on the incense altar. 

Is that what God then is referring to (in this parsha) when he says all I have commanded ? Seven commandments, to be exact? Four that occur before the line, three after?

I think so. But I also think that He’s referring to every other tiny detail. Like I said, there are many. Yes, my friends, God is referring to the whole megillah.

Please understand I honor the Rambam.  And I happen to agree.  I agree with the process of our great rabbis. I agree with the fact that the commandments (however they are organized) need to be gathered like wheat as the soil, sun and rain permits. And the weather is not always the same. Nor is the top-soil on the earth.

Note:  I'm simply looking at Torah as it is laid out before us. If we make use of the rational or the p'shat to move through the codes then we can arrive at a much more expanded vision of the mitzvoth. This (in my opinion) is necessary for health and survival. While using the rabbinic process, therefore, my attempt is to make possible suggestions.

In other words, the opening commandment in its expression through the soul and heart of Moses opens us all to more possibilities. Seven (according to the kabbalists) means infinite. There are millions of mitzvoth in other words (right here right before our eyes) that so radiantly shine forth. Some were so distant to ancient Torah-culture that they were not yet heard. Some were known in the middle ages. Some are there in the letters. Some are with us today.  Some speak of our trees, some speak of our hands. Some speak of our heart or the light moving through all layers to prophecy.  Some we are just beginning to hear this very moment.  Some we can't even imagine. Whatever the verb constructs, the meaning of the verbs, or the details applicable in any one society, these commandments are (as instructed by God) vast. They  are the all. 

They all however, by their very definition, bring us to our greatest release. They all, by their very definition, bring us step by step into the arms of God.  They all  must be done to the very edge of what our consciousness and our era permits.  They all take-on the boundaries and the flow of holy action and behavior. It is the all of holy community and the all that ordains the path.