TORAH: Leviticus 6:1-8:36 *
HAFTARAH: Jeremiah 7:21-8:3, 9:22-23
GOSPEL: Matthew 9:10-17
Portion Summary
The twenty-fifth reading from the Torah and second reading from the book of Leviticus is called Tzav (צו), which means “Command.” The name comes from the first word of Leviticus 6:9, where the LORD says to Moses, “Command Aaron and his sons …” Tzav reiterates the five types of sacrifices introduced in the previous portion but this time discusses the priestly regulations pertaining to them. The last chapter of the reading describes the seven-day ordination of Aaron and his sons as they prepared to enter the holy priesthood.
Portion Outline:
Torah
Leviticus 6:8 | Instructions concerning Sacrifices
Leviticus 7:11 | Further Instructions
Leviticus 8:1 | The Rites of Ordination
Prophets
Jer 7:16 | The People’s Disobedience
Portion Commentary:
In Jars of Clay
The presence of Messiah within us consecrates forever. Though we still occupy mortal bodies, these are not ordinary clay pots. We are holy because of the holy treasure within us.
The strange laws of Leviticus 6 seem to indicate that anyone who touches a grain offering or a sin offering becomes automatically sanctified. “Anyone who touches its flesh will become consecrated” (Leviticus 6:27), the Torah says. What does this mean? It seems strange to imagine that a person could go into the Tabernacle and touch the flour from a grain offering and it would make him holy just like that. Is that what the Torah really means to teach?
These passages do not refer to consecration by means of a casual touch. The sages explain that consecration occurs only when some of the particles of the most holy sacrifice are transferred to the person or object touching them. For example, if a sin offering is cooked in a clay pot, the porous nature of the clay inevitably absorbs some of the meat of the sin offering. As a result the pot takes on the same sanctity as the sin offering itself and cannot be removed from the sanctuary or used for something else. The Torah says it must be broken.
Also the earthenware vessel in which it was boiled shall be broken; and if it was boiled in a bronze vessel, then it shall be scoured and rinsed in water. (Leviticus 6:28)
A bronze vessel, however, is not porous like clay. Therefore, it can be scoured clean and reused for other purposes. Similarly, a garment on which some of the blood of a sin offering is splashed must be cleaned inside the sanctuary before it can be removed. Until the “most holy” blood is removed, the garment takes on the “most holy” status of the sacrifice. These laws are the source of many of the complex and technical rules that regulate a kosher kitchen in Traditional Judaism today.
Read complete commentary at First Fruits of Zion.
