Dvorah Torah
Chapter “Tetzaveh”The first verse in this week’s torah portion, תצוה פרשת (Parshat Tetzaveh) goes as follows: ואתא תצוה את בני ישראל ויקחו אליך שמן זית זך כתית למאור להעלות נר תמיד , Now you shall command the Children of Israel that they shall take for you pure olive oil, pressed, for illumination, to kindle a lamp continually. When looked at in context the placement of this verse is very perplexing.
שֵׁשֶׁת יָמִים, תֵּעָשֶׂה מְלָאכָה, וּבַיּוֹם הַשְּׁבִיעִי יִהְיֶה לָכֶם
קֹדֶשׁ שַׁבַּת שַׁבָּתוֹן, לַיהוָה; כָּל-הָעֹשֶׂה בוֹ מְלָאכָה, יוּמָת.
Six days shall work be done, but on the seventh day there shall be to you a holy day, a shabbos of solemn rest to the LORD; whosoever doeth any work therein shall be put to death.
This week’s Parsha, Parshas Pikuedei is the last torah portion in Sefer Shemos, The Book of Exodus. The parsha, and consequently the entire sefer, conclude with the erection of the mishkan (tabernacle), the resting place of God’s “glory”. The Ramban at the end of our parsha calls Shemos the Book of Redemption, the completion of the mishkan being the point where the Jews had finally reached a state of redemption.
This week’s parsha, Parshat Vayikra, is the opening chapter of The Book of Leviticus, or as the Talmudic Sages referred to it, Torat Kohanim (the torah of the “priests”). The primary topic in this third of the five books of Moses is the korbanot. The word korban (singular form of korbanot) is usually mistranslated as either an offering or a sacrifice.
