STAM
TORAH
PURIM/SHUSHAN
PURIM
PARSHAS
TZAV 5779
“FANNING
THE FLAMES”[1]
Randy Pausch, a computer science professor, was diagnosed with terminal pancreatic cancer in September 2006.
On September 18, 2007, he delivered an inspiring lecture entitled "The Last Lecture: Really Achieving
Your Childhood Dreams". The video of the lecture went viral and has
been viewed by millions. Pausch subsequently co-authored a book called, “The Last Lecture” on the same theme, which became a New York Times bestseller. Pausch died on
July 25, 2008.
The following
quote is from his book:
“In 1969, when I
was eight years old, my family went on a cross country trip to see Disneyland.
It was an absolute quest. It was the coolest environment I’d ever been in.
“As I stood in line
with all the other kids, all I could think was “I can’t wait to make stuff like
this.”
“Two decades later
when I got my PhD in computer science from Carnegie Mellon, I thought that made
me qualified to do anything, so I dashed off my letters of application to Walt
Disney Imagineering. And they sent me some of the nicest go-to-purgatory[2]
letters I have ever received. They said they had reviewed my application, and
they did not have “any positions which require your particular qualifications.”
“Nothing? This is a
company famous for hiring armies of people to sweep the streets. Disney had nothing
for me? Not even a broom?
“So that was a
setback. But I kept my mantra in mind: The brick walls are there for a
reason. They’re not there to keep us out. The brick walls are there to give us
a chance to show how badly we want something…”
At the beginning of
parshas Tzav, the Torah instructs that the first avodah performed each morning
in the Mishkan/Bais Hamikdash was terumas hadeshen, removal of the ashes
from the previous day’s korbanos. If the ashes remained upon the Mizbaiach the
fire would dim. When the kohain removed the ashes, it enabled the fire to surge
upwards and consume the new day’s korbanos.
Rabbi Meir Shapiro
zt’l[3]
explained that this avodah contains an important message: Every Jew has a
spiritual fire within him. At times that fire can become dimmed because of sin
or the rigors of life which dull his emotions.
The role of the
kohain was to help the person whose fire has dimmed, by removing his
spiritual/psychological ashes which are impeding his inner fire, so that his
inner flame can surge upwards again. No matter how much one has strayed, his
internal flame can always be stoked and revitalized. But the first step is to
remove the ashes and spiritual debris that have amassed.
Every Yom Tov
affords us a unique opportunity to fan our inner flame. But perhaps there is no
time of year when that inner fire bursts forth and manifests externally as on
Purim.
When Haman maligned
the Jews to Achashveirosh, in building his case why the Jews should be
eliminated, Haman noted that the Jews are eccentric and different. “Their laws
are different from all of the other nations, and they do not perform the laws
of the king.”[4]
The gemara explains that Haman particularly noted that the Jews work
productivity is subpar because they are always saying “Today is Shabbos; today
is Pesach.”[5]
Why did Haman
specifically point out these two holidays?
More than other
holidays, these two special times entail tremendous preparation in order to
observe them properly.
During the summer
months, expert rabbinic personalities go out to the wheat fields to inspect the
wheat that will be used to produce the flour for the next year’s matzah
production. The actual baking of matzah begins Chanukah time.[6]
Ridding one’s home of chometz is also a tremendous undertaking that requires
time and effort. To properly observe Pesach, one also needs to be versed in the
many nuances of the unique laws of kashering, cleaning, and preparing for the
Seder. Pesach is not a one-week holiday. It requires months of prior
preparation.
Shabbos too is not
a one-day event at the end of each week. Every morning we recite the Yom[7], in
which we refer to that day as part of “Shabbos”. The first three days of the
week are still connected to the previous Shabbos, and we begin preparing in
earnest for the upcoming Shabbos in Wednesday. Shabbos consumes the entire life
of a Jew.
The mission of
Amalek is to eradicate G-dliness from this world. The first step in doing so is
to dull our excitement and devotion to avodas Hashem. Therefore, Amalek/Haman
particularly challenges the holidays of Shabbos and Pesach because they are not
merely celebratory events, but they become the entire focus of a Jew and fill
him with a sense of complete subservience to G-d.
When Haman
prevailed upon Achashveirosh to agree to the genocide of the Jews it was during
the month of Nissan.[8] As
soon as he received Achashveirosh’s signet ring that enabled him to enact the
edict, Haman hurried to have it dispatched immediately. “The couriers went out
in haste with the word of the king.”[9] If
the decree wasn’t to take effect for another eleven months, why the rush to
dispatch it?
Rabbi Chaim
Kanievsky shlita explains[10] that
Haman wanted to ruin the Jews’ celebration of Pesach. This is a tactic that
Haman’s successors, the Nazis, utilized as well. They would purposely schedule
selections, as well as impose other nefarious decrees and torture tactics,
particularly during Jewish holidays, to break the spirits of the hapless
inmates, and ensure that they would not be able to receive any inspiration from
the holiday.
At the beginning of
parshas Tzav the Torah instructs the kohanim about the procedure for offering
the korban olah – the elevation offering, which was completely consumed upon
the Mizbeiach. “These are the laws (procedures) of the Olah – the Olah upon the
fire upon the Mizbeiach, the entire night until the morning, and the fire of
the Mizbeiach shall burn upon it.”[11]
The Ben Ish Chai
derives a lesson from these words:
When the pasuk says
‘this is the procedure of Olah” it is also asking what is the way for a person
to grow and ‘ascend’ spiritually? The answer is, “It is the Olah upon the
fire”, i.e. one must invest heart and passion into his divine service.
The Mizbeiach’s
dimensions equaled 32 (לב) a hint to the heart of a person. One’s
heart must be fired up throughout the nights, and challenging times, and remain
that way until the morning sets in.
The gemara[12]
relates that in a leap year, we observe Purim in the second Adar in order to
juxtapose the redemption of Purim with the redemption of Pesach as much as
possible. The calendar has done its part to help us connect Purim to Pesach.
Now, it is incumbent upon us to take the excitement and emotional fire of
Purim, to carry it over and fuse it into our celebration of Pesach in just a
few weeks.
“Remember what
Amalek did to you”
“The Olah upon the
fire the entire night until morning”
Rabbi Dani Staum,
LMSW
Rebbe/Guidance
Counselor – Heichal HaTorah
Principal – Ohr
Naftoli- New Windsor
[1] The
following is the lecture I delivered at Kehillat New Hempstead, Parshas Tzav 5776
[2] My
alteration of his words
[3] Imrei
Da’as
[4]
Esther 3:8
[5]
Megillah 13b
[6] I’ve
asked employees at matzah bakeries how they are able to eat matzah on Pesach
after spending months producing matzah all day every day…
[7] The
psalm that was sung by the Leviim in the Bais Hamikdash
[8] The
decree was for the Jews to be killed eleven months later on the thirteenth of
Adar
[9]
Esther 3:15
[10]
Ta’ama D’kra
[11]
Vayikra 6:2
[12]
Megillah 6b
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