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Torah
Stories By Hannah Parasha Tzav |
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This
week’s Parasha starts with HaShem again speaking to Moshe, and giving commandments
to Aharon and his sons regarding the ritual of the burnt offerings. The burnt offerings
shall remain on the altar all night until morning, and the fire on the altar
should keep burning. The priest shall be dressed in linen garments, and linen
underwear. He shall take the ashes from the burnt offering, and place them
beside the altar. Then he shall take off his linen garments, and put on other
garments, and then carry the ashes outside the camp to a clean place. The fire
on the altar had to keep burning, and never go out, so the priest had to put
wood on it every morning, and put the offering of well-being on it.
And this is the ritual of the
meal offering: Aharon’s sons shall present it before HaShem, in front of the
altar. A handful of the choice flour and oil of the meal offering shall be
taken from it, and all the frankincense, and this token portion shall be turned
into smoke on the altar as a pleasing odour to HaShem. What is left of it shall
be eaten by Aharon and his sons; it shall be eaten as unleavened cakes, in the
sacred place. They will eat it inside the Tent of Meeting. It may not be baked
with leaven. This is the priests’ portion. It is most holy, like the sin
offering and the guilt offering. Only the males among Aharon’s descendants may
eat of it. It is what is due to them at all times. Anything that touches these
cakes will become holy.
Then
HaShem spoke to Moshe saying: This is the offering that Aharon and his sons
shall offer to HaShem on the occasion of their atonement: a tenth of an ephah
of choice flour as a regular meal offering, half of it in the morning and half
in the evening,
shall be prepared with oil on a griddle.
Moshe should bring it well soaked, and offer it as a meal offering of
baked slices, of pleasing odour to HaShem.
And the priest should prepare it like this: it is HaShem’s – a law for
all time – to be turned entirely into smoke. So, too, every meal offering of a
priest shall be a whole offering: it shall not be eaten.
Then
HaShem spoke to Moshe saying: Speak to Aharon and his sons about the ritual of
the sin offering: The sin offering shall be slaughtered before HaShem, at the
spot where the burnt offering is slaughtered: It is most holy. The priest who offers it as a burnt offering
shall eat of it; it shall be eaten in the sacred place, within the enclosure of
the Tent of Meeting. Anything that touches its flesh shall become holy; and if
any of its blood is spattered on a garment, the garment should be washed in the
sacred place. An earthen vessel in which
it was boiled shall be broken; if it was washed in a copper vessel, the vessel
shall be scoured and rinsed with water.
Only the males in the priestly line may eat of it: it is most holy. But no sin offering may be eaten from which
any blood is brought into the Tent of 
Meeting for atonement in the
sanctuary; those should be consumed by fire.
This is
the ritual of the guilt offering: it is most holy. The guilt offering shall be slaughtered at
the spot where the burnt offering is slaughtered, and the blood shall be dashed
on all sides of the altar. All its fat
shall be offered: the broad tail; the fat that covers the entrails; the two
kidneys and the fat that is on them at the loins; and the protuberance on the
liver, which shall be removed with the kidneys.
The priest shall turn them into smoke on the altar, as an offering by
fire to HaShem, it is a guilt offering.
Only the males in the priestly line shall eat of it; it shall be eaten
in the sacred place: it is most holy. (The picture right is the altar from
templeinstitute.org)
The
guilt offering is like the sin offering. The same rule applies to both: it
shall belong to the priest who makes atonement with it. So, too, the priest who
offers a man’s burnt offering shall keep the skin of the burnt offering that he
offered. Further, any meal offering that
is baked in an oven, and any that is prepared in a pan or a griddle, shall
belong to the priest who offers it. But
every other meal offering, with oil mixed in, shall go to the sons of Aharon
all alike.
This is
the ritual of the sacrifice of well-being that one may offer to HaShem: If he offers it for thanksgiving, he shall
offer it together with the sacrifice of thanksgiving unleavened cakes with oil
mixed in, unleavened wafers spread with oil, and cakes of choice flour with oil
mixed in, well soaked. This offering,
with cakes of leavened bread added, he shall offer along with his thanksgiving
sacrifice of well-being. And the flesh
of his sacrifice shall be eaten on the day that it is offered; none of it shall
be set aside until morning. (The picture
left is from templeinstitute.org, and shows knives used for slaughter)
If,
however, the sacrifice that he is offering is a votive or a freewill offering,
it shall be eaten on the day that he offers his sacrifice, and what is left of
it shall be eaten in the morning. What
is then left of the flesh shall be consumed by fire on the third day. If any of the flesh of this sacrifice is
eaten on the third day, it shall not be acceptable; it shall not count for him
who offered it. It is an offensive
thing, and the person who eats of it shall bear his guilt.
Flesh
that touches anything unclean shall not be eaten; it shall be consumed in
fire. As for other flesh, only he who is
clean may eat such flesh. But the person
who, in a state of uncleanness, eats flesh from HaShem’s sacrifices of well-being,
that person shall be cut off from his people.
When a person touches anything unclean, be it human uncleanness or an
unclean animal or any unclean creature, and eats flesh from HaShem’s sacrifices
of well-being, that person shall be cut off from his people.
And
then HaShem spoke to Moshe saying: Speak
to the people of Yisrael, and command them not to eat any fat of ox or sheep or
goat. Fat from animals that died or were
torn by beasts may be put to any use, but you must not eat it. If anyone eats the fat of animals from which
offerings by fire may be made to HaShem, that person will be cut off from his
people. And you must not consume any
blood, either of bird or of animal, in any of your settlements. Anyone who eats blood shall be cut off from his
people.
And
then HaShem spoke to Moshe saying: Speak
to the Yisraelite people like this: The offering to HaShem from a sacrifice of
well-being must be presented by him who offers his sacrifice of well-being by HaShem:
his own hands shall present HaShem’s offering by fire. He shall present the fat with the breast, the
breast to be elevated as an elevation offering before HaShem; the priest shall
turn the fat into smoke on the altar.
And the breast shall go to Aharon and his sons. And the right thigh from your sacrifices of
well-being you shall present to the priest as a gift. So this is due to Aharon and his sons for all
time.
These
are the rituals for the burnt offering, the meal offering, the sin offering, the
guilt offering, the offering of ordination, and the sacrifice of well-being,
which HaShem gave Moshe on
Then HaShem spoke to Moshe saying:
Take Aharon along with his sons, and their sacred clothing, the anointing oil,
the bull of sin offering, the two rams, and the basket of unleavened bread; and
assemble the whole community at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting. Moshe did as HaShem had commanded him. And when the community was assembled at the
entrance of the Tent of Meeting, Moshe said to the community: “This is what
HaShem has commanded to be done.” Then
Moshe brought Aharon and his sons forward, and washed them with water. He put the tunic on him, girded him with the
sash, clothed him with the robe, and put the ephod on him, girding him with the
decorated band with which he tied it to him.
He put the breast piece on him, and put into the breast piece the Urim
and Thummim. And he set the headdress on
his head; and on the headdress, in front, he put the gold frontlet, the holy
diadem – as HaShem had commanded Moshe.
(The
picture right is from daat.co.il and shows the priest’s headgear)
Moshe took the anointing oil and
anointed the tabernacle and all that was in it, thus consecrating it. (Making
it holy) He sprinkled some of it on the
altar, seven times, anointing the altar, all the utensils, and the laver with
its stand, to consecrate them. He poured some of the oil on Aharon’s head, and
anointed him to consecrate him. Moshe
then brought Aharon’s sons forward, clothed them in tunics, girded them with
sashes, and wound turbans upon them as HaShem had commanded Moshe.
(The
picture left is from templeinstitute.org and shows the priest’s robes)
He led
forth the bull of sin offering. Aharon
and his sons laid their hands on the head of the bull, and it was
slaughtered. Moshe took the blood and
with his finger he put some on each of the horns of the altar, cleansing the
altar; then he poured out the blood at the base of the altar. This is how he made it holy so that atonement
can be made on it. Moshe then took all
the fat of the offering and the protuberance of the liver and the two kidneys
and their fat, and turned it into smoke on the altar. The rest of the bull, its hide its flesh and
its dung, he put to the fire outside the camp – as HaShem had commanded
Moshe.
Then he
brought forth the ram of burnt offering.
Aharon and his sons laid their hands upon the ram’s head, and it was
slaughtered. Moshe dashed the blood
against all sides of the altar. The ram
was cut up into sections and Moshe turned it into smoke on the altar. Moshe washed the entrails and the legs and
turned the entire ram into smoke. That
was a burnt offering of pleasing odour, an offering by fire to HaShem – as
HaShem had commanded Moshe.
He
brought forth the second ram, the ram of ordination. Aharon and his sons laid their hands on the
ram’s head, and it was slaughtered.
Moshe took some of the blood and put it on the lobe of Aharon’s right
ear, and on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe of his right
foot. Moshe then brought forward the
sons of Aharon, and put some of the blood on the lobes of their right ears and
the thumbs of their right hands, and on the big toes of their right feet, and
the rest of the blood Moshe dashed against every side of the altar. He took the fat – the broad tail, all the fat
of the entrails, the protuberance of the liver, the two kidneys and their fat –
and the right thigh. From the basket of
unleavened bread that was before HaShem, he took one cake of unleavened bread,
one cake of oil bread, and one wafer, and placed them on the fat parts and on
the right thigh. He placed all these on
the palms of Aharon and on the palms of his sons, and elevated them as an
elevation offering before HaShem. Then
Moshe took them from their hands and turned it into smoke on the altar with the
burnt offering. This was an ordination
offering of pleasing odour; it was an offering by fire to HaShem. Moshe took the breast and elevated it as an
elevation offering before HaShem; it was Moshe’s portion of the Ram of
ordination. – as HaShem had commanded Moshe.
And
Moshe took some of the anointing oil and some of the blood that was on the
altar and sprinkled it upon Aharon and upon his clothing, and also on his sons
and their clothing. Moshe said to Aharon
and his sons: “Boil the flesh at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting and eat it
there with the bread that is in the basket of ordination – as I commanded: and
Aharon and his sons shall eat it; and what is left over of the flesh and the
bread you shall consume in fire. You
shall not go outside of the entrance of the Tent of Meeting for seven days,
until the day that your period of ordination is completed. For your ordination will require seven days.
Everything done today, HaShem has commanded to be done for seven days to make
atonement for you. You shall remain at
the entrance of the Tent of Meeting day and night for seven days, keeping
HaShem’s laws – that you may not die – for so I have been commanded.”
And
Aharon and his sons did all the things that HaShem had commanded him through
Moshe.
