This week’s portion describes the ritual of the sacrificial offering by the High Priest (Kohen Gadol) in detail. Honestly, this is not one of the portions I find particularly interesting, but to the rabbis of the Talmud, it was absolutely essential. It was the primary way through which humans could atone for sin and connect to God.
In the Talmudic era, a few centuries after the destruction of the Second Temple and the Roman exile from Israel, it was important to document the ritual in detail both as a historic record of the Temple service, and as a preparation for the arrival of the Messiah, who would bring back the exiles and rebuild the Temple.
This Sabbath is also known as Shabbat HaGadol, the “Big Sabbath,” which always precedes Passover, the festival of liberation. The additional reading, from Jeremiah, declares: “Thus says the Lord: Let not the wise man boast of his wisdom, nor the strong man boast of his strength, nor the rich man boast of his riches. But let him that boasts exult in this, that he understands and knows me, for I am the Lord Who practices kindness, justice and righteousness on the earth; for in these things I delight, says the Lord.” (9: 22-23)
https://www.chabad.org/parshah/torahreading.asp?aid=2492715&jewish=Tzav-Torah-Reading.htm&p=complete
This is the portion that all journalists should love: the Torah tells the story of the 12 spies, only two of whom tell the truth when the other ten shade it in a negative away (perhaps to suit a political agenda that is opposed to Moses).
It's not that the ten "lying" spies misconstrue the facts about the Land of Israel; rather, they interject their opinions that the land is impossible to conquer, which strikes unnecessary terror into the hearts of the people.
We have many examples of such fake news today -- from the Iranian propaganda outlets spreading false claims that they are winning the war, to California politicians spreading false horror stories about ICE raids in L.A.
The people realize, too late, that they have been fooled, and once they are condemned to die in the desert, they try to rush into Israel -- only to be defeated by the inhabitants, as the spies predicted that they would be.
But as consolation, God gives the people new commandments -- focused on things they must ...
This week's portion discusses the procedure for lighting the menorah, the holy seven-branched lamp, in the Tabernacle (and later the Temple). It also describes an episode where the people crave meat, and God punishes them by giving it to them in excess. We also read the story of Miriam, Moses's sister, who is punished with the spiritual skin blemish of tzara'at for speaking about her brother, thus violating the prohibition against lashon hara (evil tongue).
I heard a fantastic sermon this week about the lighting of the menorah: that while only the priests were qualified to clean and purify the menorah, anyone could light it. A reminder that each of us can inspire others along the way.
This week we study the vow of the Nazirite; a reminder that sometimes trying to be too holy is excessive, and the best we can do is to be the best that we are.
https://www.chabad.org/parshah/torahreading_cdo/aid/2495720/p/complete/jewish/Naso-Torah-Reading.htm
