These divrei Torah were adapted from the hashkafa portion of Rabbi Yissocher Frand’s Commuter Chavrusah Tapes on the weekly portion: # 499, Davening Quietly. Good Shabbos!
The Korbon Olah Hints at the Fate of a Baal Gayva
The parsha begins with the mitzva of the Korban Olah: Hashem spoke to Moshe: Command Aharon and his sons, saying: This is the law of the olah-offering. It is the olah-offering that stays on the flame, on the Mizbayach (Altar), all night until the morning, and the fire of the Mizbayach shall be kept aflame on it. (Vayikra 6:1-2)
The Medrash finds an allusion within this pasuk to a person who is a baal gayvah (haughty person). The Medrash interprets the word “olah” (literally ‘that which goes up’) as a person who holds himself on high, deriving from this that such a person eventually inherits gehinom (hell), meaning he will remain on the flames all night.
The Chassidic work Vayedaber Moshe gives a further insight into this pasuk. If the word “olah” refers to a “baal gayvah,” the pasuk is hinting at the downfall of every baal gayvah. “Zos (this) is the Torah of the ‘baal gayvah.'” The word “zos” (meaning ‘this is the way it needs to be’) is the downfall of every baal gayvah. He is never willing to compromise. He is never willing to give in. It is always zo,s – my way, or the highway!
Unfortunately, so many times this is a cause of friction in marriages. People are unbending and unyielding. This stems from an underlying gayvah. Success in many of life’s endeavors and particularly in life’s relationships, boils down to midos (character traits). The Baalei Mussar, in effect, said: A man’s character is his fate. However we formulate this idea, it is a fact. A person’s midos determine how he is going to do on the job, how he will do in marriage, and how he will do with raising children.
“Zos” – always insisting on this way, is Toras ha‘olah, the practice of someone who holds himself on high. Unfortunately, as the Medrash points out, such a person does not wind up in a positive fashion in the world of truth.
The Kohen Is Always a Rookie
The next pesukim in the parsha teach the halacha of the removal of the ashes: “The Kohen shall don his fitted linen tunic, and he shall don linen pants on his flesh; he shall raise the ashes which the fire will consume of the olah-offering on the Mizbayach, and place it next to the Mizbayach. He shall remove his garments and shall wear other garments, and shall remove the ashes to the outside of the camp, to a pure place.” (Vayikra 1:3-4)
The Beis Hamikdash was a very busy place. Starting with the offering of the morning Tamid sacrifice, and throughout the day, there was constant activity on the Mizbayach, as the various private and communal offerings were brought. People who own their own business or manage an office know that there is always a set routine at the beginning of each business day. Whether it involves turning on the heat or the air-conditioning or turning on the computer or other equipment, there is always a standard procedure that is the first thing that is done to begin the daily cycle of any busy operation. The first thing that they did in the Beis Hamikdash was to remove the previous day’s ashes to outside the camp.
This was not just a matter of practicality – that if they did not remove the ashes each day, the Mizbayach would get stuffed up. There may well have been room to accumulate several days’ worth of ashes before cleaning out the Mizbayach. Nevertheless, this service of “terumas hadeshen” (Literally, ‘the offering of the ashes’) was the first thing that the Kohen did in the Beis Hamikdash every single morning.
Rav Samson Raphael Hirsch sees great symbolism in this. The message of the terumas hadeshen, he says, is that every day is a fresh beginning. A person must begin anew, as it were, every single day. In matters of spirituality, there is no resting on one’s laurels. There is no such thing as saying, “yesterday we had a banner day in the Beis Hamikdash.” Yesterday is gone. Today is a new beginning. There is no concept of relaxing – of being able to “take it a little easy today” because I accomplished so much yesterday. Each day, we wipe the slate clean and start over.
Rav Hirsch explains that the thought of what has already been accomplished can ruin that which is still to be accomplished. Woe unto him who, with smug self-complacency, thinks he can rest on his laurels, on what he has already achieved, and who does not meet the task of every fresh day with full fresh devotion, as if it were the first day of his life’s work! Every trace of yesterday’s sacrifice is to be removed from the hearth on the Mizbayach so that the service of the new day can be started on completely fresh ground. This is a powerful statement.
This is the message of the terumas hadeshen: “A new day, a new beginning. Today you are a rookie again. You must prove yourself again.” This is why the daily service that symbolically represents all Divine service always begins with taking out yesterday’s ashes.
Transcribed by David Twersky; Jerusalem [email protected]
Edited by Dovid Hoffman; Baltimore, MD [email protected]
This week’s write-up is adapted from the hashkafa portion of Rabbi Yissochar Frand’s Commuter Chavrusah Series on the weekly Torah portion. A listing of the halachic portions for Parshas Tzav is provided below:
- # 004 – When to Make the Bracha of HaGomel
- # 049 – Purim: Shalach Manos
- # 092 – Non-Kosher Products: The Dilemma of the Jewish Merchant
- # 140 – Pesach: The Mitzvah of Daled Kosos
- # 187 – Pesach: Does Maror Require a K’zayis?
- # 233 – Pesach: Women and Daled Kosos
- # 277 – Pesach: The Mitzvah of Heseiba
- # 323 – Pesach: Eating Matzo: How Fast?
- # 367 – Pesach: Afikomen After Chatzos
- # 411 – Pesach: Netilas Yodayim for Karpas & Wet Fruit
- # 455 – Pesach: Daled Kosos: Another Look
- # 499 – Davening Quietly
- # 543 – Birchas Hagomel, Airplane Travel & Other Issues
- # 587 – Afikomen Revisited
- # 631 – Bleeding Gums- More Than a Periodontal Problem
- # 675 – Going Away for Pesach and Bedikas Chometz
- # 719 – The Importance of Shabbos Clothes
- # 763 – Eating Matzo When Ill
- #851 Proper Attire for Davening
- #895 Birchas HaGomel – More Insights
- #1331 Should Women Bentch HaGomel?
- #1375 Thoughts on the Hagaddah
- #1419 Bedikas Chametz – Should You Shut the Lights Out? What To DO With The Leftover Chametz in the Garbage Can?
- #1463 Pesach Shailos During the Corona Pandemic
A complete catalogue can be ordered from the Yad Yechiel Institute, PO Box 511, Owings Mills MD 21117-0511. Call (410) 358-0416 or e-mail [email protected] or visit http://www.yadyechiel.org/ for further information.
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