Prophet and Priest (Tetzaveh, Covenant & Conversation) |
The sedra of Tetzaveh, as commentators have noted, has one unusual feature: it is the only sedra from the beginning of Shemot to the end of Devarim that contains neither the name nor the words of Moses. Several interpretations have been offered.
The Vilna Gaon suggests that it is related to the fact that in most years it is read during the week in which the seventh of Adar falls: the day of Moses’ death. During this week we sense the loss of the greatest leader in Jewish history – and his absence from Tetzaveh expresses that loss.
The Baal HaTurim relates it to Moses’ plea, in next week’s sedra, for God to forgive Israel. “If not,” says Moses, “blot me out of the book you have written” (Ex. 32:32). There is a principle that “The curse of a sage comes true, even if it was conditional” (Makkot 11a). Thus, for one week his name was “blotted out” from the Torah.
The Paneach Raza relates it to another principle: “There is no anger that does not leave an impression.” When Moses, for the last time, declined God’s invitation to lead the Jewish People out of Egypt, saying “Please send someone else”, God “became angry with Moses” (Ex. 4:13-14) and told him that his brother Aaron would accompany him. For that reason, Moses forfeited the role he might otherwise have had, of becoming the first of Israel’s priests, a role that went instead to Aaron. That is why he is missing from the sedra of Tetzaveh, which is dedicated to the role of the Kohen.
All three explanations focus on an absence. However, perhaps the simplest explanation is that Tetzaveh is dedicated to a presence, one that had a decisive influence on Judaism and Jewish history.
Judaism is unusual in that it recognises not one form of religious leadership but two: the Navi and Kohen, the prophet and the priest. The figure of the........