Parshat Tzav
By: Moshe Goodman, Kollel Or Shlomo, Hebron בס"ד
לשכנו תדרשו
Calling for the Holy Presence in Our Holy Land
"Our God and the God of our Forefathers! Compassionate King, have compassion upon us... Return to us with Your great mercy, because of Forefathers who have done Your will. Rebuild Your House as of old... and return the Holy Presence within it..." (Musaf of three festivals)
It is evident from this prayer and other prayers that our Forefathers of Hebron play a crucial role in the rebuilding of the Bait Hamikdash and in our Redemption in general. Similarly, our week's haftorah of Shabbos Hagadol may also allude to the role of connecting (also Hebron means to connect) to our Forefathers in bringing the Redemption: "and he (Elijah) will return the hearts of fathers to sons and the hearts of sons to their fathers..." (end of Malachi)
The parshios of the book of Vayikra, and our week's parsha within it, are full of the mitzvoth that we aspire to keep in Redemption, may it arrive speedily. Our title quote illustrates the first mitzvah of this week's parsha, to have fire burn upon the altar every day. This mitzvah entails that the choicest woods be picked for the sake of this Divine service, just as all offerings are to be brought from the choicest animals, grains, etc. as ruled by Rambam in Tmidin Umusafin (ch 7).
There the Rambam adds that although the choicest woods are to be used for burning on the altar, wood from grape-vines and olive trees are not to be used because of "settling the Land of Israel". What the Rambam means by this is that because these trees have special productive value in the form of wine and oil, therefore they are not to be hindered for their wood, even if this wood is used for our holiest site, the Bais Hamikdash.
Here again we see the great value and emphasis the Torah puts on the settlement of the Land of Israel, even on an economic level, and even when this value comes in slight contradiction to the way of service in the abode of the Shechina. However, as we have shown many times before, indeed the Land of Israel is also strongly connected to the Shechina, and therefore the support of its settlement even slightly on account of the Bais Hamikdash, pinnacle point of the Shechina, is justifiable.
That said, what meaning can we gain from this commandment of burning wood upon the altar? "Etz Hadaat Tov" (parshat Tzav) explains that the wood alludes to the wood put on the altar at Akeidat Yitzhak, thus alluding to the merit of our Forefathers Avraham and Yitzhak. This wood is to be burnt continuously in order to allude to the eternal merit of Yitzhak, who, because of his will to be offered, is considered to be as if actually offered and burnt as ashes forever on the supernal altar.
Now we gain added meaning to the subsequent commandment to lift the ashes from the altar, as a sign of merit regarding the "ashes" of Yitzhak. From this idea we can also infer how great is the value of will and effort made towards a mitzah even if in the end one was not able to actually commit the mitzvah. May HaShem see our efforts for the Shechina, and grant us to see in "His return to Zion with compassion".
Israel Hashgaha Story #10: "I called a friend (A) of mine who I haven't spoken with for a number of years to inquire about a town he lived in. Incidentally, he informed me that a different friend (B) of mine is getting married in about two days. After several hours I "happened" to meet this friend (B) while shopping in Jerusalem to whom I wished a hearty Mazal Tov. I hadn't met or talked to this friend (B) for several months, and also I hadn't been or gone shopping in Jerusalem for a number of weeks."
