by Rabbi Eitan Cooper
Posted on March 30, 2023
You’re sitting down at your seder and everyone is enjoying each other’s company, when all of a sudden, you hear a knock at the door. Someone gets up to answer and finds a person who is clearly in need standing at the door.…
by Rabbi Dov Linzer
Posted on March 24, 2021
Dear Friends, I want us to ask ourselves a simple question: What is the story that we will be telling? The central mitzvah of Pesach night is maggid, to tell the story of the Exodus from Egypt. In many of our homes on Seder night, we will have spirited discussions and debates as we attempt to be doresh – to engage in the story, to bring our personal lens to it, exploring its meaning and relevance to us today.…
by Rabbi Dov Linzer
Posted on March 22, 2018
Two weeks ago we began to explore the question of whether kohanim may become doctors according to halakhah. We noted that three halakhic arguments could be advanced to question the applicability of this prohibition to the case at hand: (1) Kohanim nowadays are only presumed (hazakha) to be kohanim and might only have the status of doubtful (safek) kohanim; (2) If we are all presumed to be tamei nowadays, then, according to Ra’avad, kohanim do not violate a Biblical prohibition by becoming tamei again by a corpse; (3) According to Yereim, it is not a violation for kohanim to become tamei by the corpse of a non-Jew. …
by Rabbi Mosheh Lichtenstein
Posted on November 1, 2016
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by Rabbi Asher Lopatin
Posted on September 23, 2016
Making Meaning of the Ashes in Our Lives Parshat Tzav “This is the Torah of the sacrifice… let the priest where his cloth clothes…and lift the ashes that the fire creates… and place them near the altar.” (Leviticus 6:2-3). When we think of sacrifices and gifts to others, we think of important things: objects of beauty and value, gestures that sacrifice our time and money but show our love and concern for others. …
by Rabbi Avi Weiss
Posted on May 25, 2016
Parshat Tzav continues the theme of the sacrificial service. There are many suggestions as to the reasoning behind this enigmatic, yet important element of our tradition. Ramban understands the Mishkan (tabernacle) as a kind of portable Mt. Sinai. Mt. Sinai was a physical mountain through which the Jewish people were able to feel God’s presence more powerfully.…
by Rabbi Dov Linzer
Posted on March 23, 2016
We often speak of the clergy as “klei kodesh,” literally, “holy vessels.” There is something beautiful about this as it allows us to see them as vessels for connecting with God. But at the same time, there is something dehumanizing about this label.…
by Rabbi Dov Linzer
Posted on March 25, 2015
Vayikra began with a detailed list of the different sacrifices a person could bring and the laws pertaining to them. Somewhat surprisingly, the Torah seems to repeat itself in this week’s parasha, listing once again all the sacrifices and how they are to be brought.…
by Rabbi Dov Linzer
Posted on March 22, 2011
In another post we discussed the differences between Tzav and Vayikra, focusing on the order in which the korbanot are listed. As a wrap-up of that discussion, here are some additional differences worth noting: Tzav’s discussion of the olah is very brief (6:1-6), without an enumeration of all the possible different animals. …
by Rabbi Dov Linzer
Posted on March 22, 2011
The beginning of parashat Tzav seems like almost an exact repeat of the beginning of parashat Vayikra. Each parasha deals with the details and rituals of the different korbanot, and Tzav winds up seeming like merely a repeat of Vayikra. However, closer examination shows that while they deal with the same topics, they approach them from different perspectives. …
by Rabbi Dov Linzer
Posted on March 21, 1998
Parshat Tzav continues with a discussion of the sacrifices to be brought in the Sanctuary, this time from the perspective of the priests that do the service. It concludes with a seven-day induction of Aaron and his sons into the priestly order.…
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