We can but aspire to the role of a Kohen

Rabbi Chaim Willis

Aish Hatorah

There is one major difference in this parsha from all other parshot in the Torah. Despite all the laws in the parsha coming (as with the rest of the Torah) through Moshe, Moshe’s name is never mentioned. The parsha starts: “And you command” and continues in that way for the entire parsha.

The Sages explain why. After the Golden Calf, when G-d was ready to withdraw His support from the Jewish people, Moshe challenged the A-mighty: “And now if You would but forgive their sin! – but if not, erase me now from Your book that You have written”.

Moshe told the A-mighty in so many words that “I and the Jewish people are a package deal. If You don’t forgive them, don’t involve me either!” The A-mighty listened to Moshe, and the process of forgiveness started.

That moment can be considered Moshe’s greatest act in the Torah. Because he was willing to give up everything for the Jewish people (and that is what G-d wanted from him), he merited the highest level of connection to G-d that any human being ever experienced:

“You will see My back, but My face may not be seen.” Seeing G-d’s back – metaphorically a level of realisation of the specialness of G-d that no other human being ever received – was the reward for standing up to G-d.

Yet the rabbis say: “The curse of a wise man, even on condition, comes true”. Even though G-d forgave the Jewish people, Moshe’s curse, that he would be wiped out of the Torah, came true in Parshat Tetzaveh.

But why that parsha, and not another parsha? We can understand that, if we understand the role of a Kohen.

The Kohen was our representative to do the service in the Temple. As the representative of the Jewish people, he needed to demonstrate the zealousness and holiness that is necessary in the service of G-d.

The rest of the Jews could see from watching the Kohanim how they should take the service of G-d seriously in their daily lives. That is why even the clothes the Kohanim wore are a part of Torah – even their clothing needed to show to the rest of us “kavod and tiferet”, “honour and beauty”.

One of the requirements of a Kohen is that he does everything exactly according to the rules. A Kohen who does a sacrifice according to his own way, destroys the sacrifice. G-d gave us a Torah based on His greater wisdom. The follower of halacha needs to learn from the Kohanim the value of zealous obedience to achieve the end goal of a relationship with G-d.

But we learn from Moshe that sometimes you can’t be a Kohen. Sometimes G-d wants you to argue with Him, like Avraham did with Sodom and Moshe did over the Golden Calf. But that is only for people on the greatest level of wisdom and humility. For the rest of us, we can aspire to the level of a Kohen.