Shabbat Parashat Tetzaveh - 5782

Shabbat Parashat Tetzaveh - 5782

Rabbi Hal Miller

And you shall command the children of Israel that they shall take for you

clear olive oil, crushed for illumination, to light a lamp continually. [Shemot 27:20]

Our verse is the source of much commentary, covering the oil and lamp, and

especially the word command, both how it differs from similar verses and the

meaning of the word itself. But there is another item that seems confusing. Why

does God tell Moshe to have the people take this "for you"?

Onkelos and others seem to sidestep this point entirely, referring it back to Moshe

being the one to command this action by the people..

In the Gemora [Menachot 86b], "R'Shmuel bar Nachmani said, 'for you' and not for

Me, I do not need its light." This implies that God is speaking about the people, but

the word is eilecha, which is "to you" or "for you" in the singular.

Ramban addresses it directly, "The explanation of "to you" is that the oil was to be

brought before Moshe and he would see if it was suitably pure and pressed." There

are any number of other ways to express such a command that would have been

more clear, making explicit that Moshe was to inspect the oil.

Ibn Ezra understands that there is a direct benefit here for Moshe. Up to this point

God had only spoken with Moshe during daylight, but now with this light, He would

speak with Moshe at night as well. This seems to mean that this command was for

the immediate time period. Others say the opposite, that, due to the form of the word

'command', it implies that the people are commanded to do this in the future. Kol Dodi,

for example, explains that God is telling Moshe here, I will command this in the future,

this is just a heads-up. Sforno says something similar, that Moshe himself was to

command the people about the oil as the need arises in the future. Rashbam also is

similar, that this is a continuing command, not a one-time instance.

Rav Hirsch comes at it from a different direction. The "for you" does not mean for Moshe's

own benefit, but for that of the people. Moshe is, for now, merely the one who is going to

use it, but the oil and the commandment remain theirs. Moshe is merely the 'gizbor', the

one who holds the oil for use in the Sanctuary. From this we see that Moshe is, at that

point, the official Kohen Gadol, the only one to hold the position outside of the sons of

Aharon. He only held the role a short time, but this shows that he was not just in the king

role, but also in the religious leader role. Those two roles get separated soon, but for the

moment, they are both in Moshe.