Tzav - Shabbat Hagadol 5775 - English

Leviticus 6:1-8:36

March 28, 2015 – 8th of Nisan 5775

Learning to combine ideas with actions 

This week we read Parashat Tzav.  The central topic of this parashah is the ritual that had to be done in the Mishkan, the Tabernacle.  We continue the text from last week’s parashah, Vayikra, to find a complete description of the sacrifices that had to be offered.  Given that the main theme of the parashah is ritual, its reading is somewhat arid and abundant in details.  

It is interesting that we read parashat Tzav on the Shabbat immediately before Pesach, which is known as Shabbat Hagadol, the Great Shabbat.  I believe we can learn something from this insistence on ritual just before Pesach.  In Jewish tradition, as in life in general, nothing happens by chance.  

Undoubtedly, Pesach is a holiday that seeks to transmit a clear and deep message related to the value of freedom.  The central focus of this holiday, which we repeat over and over again, is to remember we were slaves and with a lot of effort and the help of God, we achieved liberation.  In each generation, we must feel like it was us that left Egypt, to be able to value the sense of freedom and understand that no human being should ever be enslaved.  I am certain that Pesach is the Jewish holiday on which more essays and reflections have been written.  After all, freedom is perhaps one of the most important values the Jewish people were able to transmit to the world, and without a doubt it is a fundamental value for all humanity.  Pesach is a holiday with a lot of content, one that we can reflect upon extensively.  

However, Pesach is not only about its content and message, it is also about ritual and traditions.  Each year, when Pesach approaches, we are overwhelmed with memories about how Pesach was celebrated in our childhood homes or at different points in our lives.  If I asked you what memories you have of Pesach, surely you would tell me what foods you ate in the Seder, how you got rid of chametz, how you changed the flatware, some grandfather looking for chametz in the pockets of his pants, the taste of matzah, grandpa conducting the Seder, the search for the afikoman, and many other stories.   I think it is clear that few of you would have memories regarding the profound significance of freedom, or how fantastically free you felt when celebrating Pesach as children.  Even when they do not necessarily symbolize great ideas, what we usually remember are those little rituals that called our attention.  

 It is more than obvious that even though the central topic of Pesach is freedom, the ritual occupies such an important part that it is often the only thing we really remember.  I think this is a principle we can apply to almost everything having to do with Jewish tradition: the ritual and the ideas make up a harmonious body.  Ideas give sense and content to the way we live, while ritual helps us to understand and express those ideas.  

The great Abraham Joshua Heschel said that a body without a soul is an organism without life, but a soul without a body is like a ghost flying away.  The body and the soul need each other to be able to manifest themselves, in the same way ideas and ritual must complement each other wisely so that they both acquire their best expression.  

Nobody doubts that it is highly important to convey to our children the value of freedom, how awful slavery is, the gratitude we must feel towards God for the miracles He created for us, and for other great ideas and similar principles.  But we should understand that Judaism is not simply a body of doctrines or a complex ideology; it has a body that holds the weight of ideas.  It is the body of ritual, of customs, of the small traditions that we pass on from generation to generation and that help us identify as Jews.  We can appreciate and enjoy an idea, but the most beautiful memories we keep have to do with things we did, saw, smelled, touched and heard.  Ritual feels our heart with beautiful memories and experiences that endure throughout our whole lives.  

It is my wish that starting with the reading of the Torah about the ritual in the Tabernacle, this Pesach we may begin a week of profound reflection on the meaning of freedom, so that we may once again feel that we were freed from Egypt.  May we also enjoy with our families the delicious traditions of Pesach, the immense beauty of its rituals.  Our memory and that of our children will treasure those moments in a prominent spot in our souls.   

Shabbat shalom!

Rabbi Rami Pavolotzky

Congregation B’nei Israel

San Jose, Costa Rica