Shabbos Parashas Tetzaveh - 5775

Shabbos Parashas Tetzaveh - 5775 Rabbi Hal Miller And I shall meet there with the Children of Israel, and it shall be sanctified

through My honor. [Shemos 29:43] Our parsha talks about how to make things and how to do things. The Torah

describes the construction of the menorah and the clothing of the Kohanim. It

describes the service of consecration of the Kohanim, the consecration of the

altar, and how to offer service on the altar. After our verse it describes the

construction of the incense altar and how to offer incense. Right in the middle

of all this comes our verse, which seems quite out of place and leads to confusion

as to what it actually refers to.

Immediately before our verse the Torah discusses offerings on the copper altar.

Is that where G-d plans to meet with the people? The verse immediately following

ours may offer some help: "I shall consecrate the Tent of Meeting and the

Mizbeach, and Aharon and his sons shall I consecrate to be Kohanim to Me."

From this, most commentators say that our verse is the concluding consecration

of all that Moshe would build and do. But if so, why did it come in the middle? Does

it exclude from consecration the things and services that follow?

Rashi says that the place where He will meet the people is the Mishkan, and that

it is also what is to be sanctified. Rav Hirsch believes that with each direction G-d

gave Moshe about building or doing, that matter was individually sanctified, but

that the overall consecration occurs when G-d actually establishes His Presence

in the Mishkan, thus our verse is explanatory for what will come to all the items

Moshe is working.

Onkelos reads the verse differently. Instead of "it shall be sanctified", he says

that it means "I shall be sanctified". This puts an entirely different spin on things.

Instead of wondering what will be consecrated, we now have to ask what causes

this sanctification. Is it the articles that Moshe will make? Or is it the meeting with

the people?

Rashi adds another wrinkle. Instead of reading the end of our verse as "through

My honor", he says it means, "through My honored ones", which refers to the

upcoming deaths of Nadav and Avihu, sons of Aharon. In other words, as Moshe

will tell us shortly, their deaths were what sanctified the Mishkan.

Another way to look at our verse, on its own and in the simple interpretation, is

that G-d will meet the people, and the people will be sanctified by His presence.

The lesson to derive is that if we perform the commandments as Moshe gave

them to us, G-d will sanctify us!