Shabbos Parashas Tzav - 5780

Shabbos Parashas Tzav - 5780

Rabbi Hal Miller

Command Aharon and his sons, saying, this is the law of the burnt offering. It is

the burnt offering on the flame, on the Altar, all night until the morning, and the

fire of the Altar should be kept aflame on it. [Vayikra 6:2]

Throughout the Torah we find God telling Moshe, "speak to", whether to Aharon and

his sons, to the elders, or to the people as a whole. Why here do we have

"command"? What is different about the burnt offering mentioned here?

The Talmud in Kiddushin [29a] cites R'Shimon, "Scripture must especially urge in a

situation where there is a loss of money." Rashi expands on this, saying "command

can only be meant to express urging on, for the immediate moment and for future

generations." Questions jump out at us here. What is the loss of money involved,

how did future generations get involved, and why the urging? These questions are

intricately intertwined.

Or HaChaim brings a Tosefta in Pesachim, noting that no sacrifice was allowed before

the daily morning olah. If one brought a sacrifice before this daily event, the sacrifice

would be wasted, thus there was financial loss. Therefore Aharon had to be urged to

make this first one right away. But since the Torah repeatedly says that Kohanim are

diligent, this seems a stretch.

Ramban cites another Rashi that an earlier verse in Vayikra said to "speak to the

children of Israel" about the sacrifices they have to bring, and that "command" is used

here because the Kohanim must execute the sacrifices for the people. Ramban then

asks why this entire argument would apply here since the Kohanim are not in a position

to suffer any monetary loss since it's not their sacrifices they are bringing. Kol Dodi

comes to the rescue here and says that the harsher "command" would be required

because a failure to do this zealously would waste one of God's animals, so the Kohen

had to be urged. Further, God does not need the sacrifice, so it seems a waste anyway.

Sifrei writes that there is in fact a monetary loss to the Kohen if not done properly as

the Kohen who performs the sacrifice gets the hide of the animal, and would lose it.

Rav Soloveitchik notes that many mitzvos involve monetary loss, such as the giving of

charity, ma'aser, terumah, etc., but they are not introduced by "command". It must

involve a classification of mitzvos. Certainly tefillin, Shabbos, mezuzah, etc., are meant

for all future generations too, mitzvos that we do all the time. The commandments of

the Temple we do not do now, until the Temple is returned to us. The Gemora in Megillah

[31b] reviews a conversation between God and Avraham, where Avraham asks how he

will know that God would not forsake the people if they sinned. God answered, "in the

merit of the sacrifices." For this, Aharon and his sons had to be extremely careful.

In this time, we rely on the rule that to study these laws is a valid substitute for performing

them when we are not able to do so. Thus, God's promise relies upon our Torah study.