Parashas Tzav and the Book of Mrs. Job

Much of parashas Tzav is about the same mitzvos as we read about last week in parashas Vayiqra. With one difference.

In Vayiqra, the parashah opens (1:2) with “דַּבֵּ֞ר אֶל־בְּנֵ֤י יִשְׂרָאֵל֙ וְאָמַרְתָּ֣ אֲלֵהֶ֔ם – speak to the Israelites and say to them…”

Whereas this week’s parashah starts (6:2) “צַ֤ו אֶֽת־אַהֲרֹן֙ וְאֶת־בָּנָ֣יו לֵאמֹ֔ר — command Aharon and his sons, saying…”

Why all the seeming repetition? While these are the same qorbanos, they are given different perspectives. Vayiqra is about the qorban as performed by the person bringing it. Tzav is the qorban as performed by the kohein. These are two totally different things. Each of us live in our own world.

We have a book of Iyov, which tells the story of the tragedies Iyov lived through. But Iyov’s wife? There is no book explaining her tragedy. Nor that of his children. Those would have been very different books with very different stories. Every person impacted by an event is a protagonist in and of themselves, and Hashem insures that their experiences and duties make sense for them within their own perspective.

You may also like...

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *