Parashat Tetzaveh, Exodus 27:20-30:10

This Parasha has been generously sponsored by Diane Sacks, to honour her dad - a man of learning.

Who has not felt the twinges of jealousy, irrational as they may be?

Last week we looked at the powerful connection of siblings and how, ideally, the bonds of brothers and sisters form the foundation of community and family. Unfortunately, reality often falls short of the ideal. At times tremendous pressure is put on these bonds, which can bring them perilously close to snapping. Who has not known or experienced a situation of great difficulty with a loved one? The closer we are to the individual, the greater our vulnerability. The book of Genesis provides many such painful episodes, the most dramatic one, namely that between Joseph and his brothers, is the catalyst that brought us to Egypt.

At its core, the book of Exodus is about the formation of the Jewish people as a nation, the creation of group identity and cohesiveness. The leadership role falls within one family among three siblings: Moses, Aaron and Miriam. Their roles are not equal. We know that Moses has the greater leadership role. From the book of Exodus through the book of Deuteronomy, Moses appears in every single Torah portion – except for the one we read this week, Tetsaveh.

This week the Torah is concerned with priestly matters: the menorah and its proper lighting, the altar and sacrifices, but mainly the priests, their garments and the process of ordination. The focus thus is on Aaron and not Moses.

Naturally, this did not escape the notice of our eagle-eyed commentators. One tradition holds that Moses is absent from Tetsaveh because it is read at the time that is held to be Moses' yahrzeit, the seventh of Adar. A second tradition claims that Moses, a deeply humble man, bowed out of this parashah so that his brother Aaron might be in the limelight. Yet a third perspective states that Moses’ absence this week is punishment due to his jealousy. What on earth could cause Moses to be jealous? The fact that his brother Aaron was chosen to be the kohen gadol, the high priest.

Think about it: Moses, who was chosen from among all the Israelites to be God's representative before pharaoh, who held the Ten Commandments in his hands, who communed with God panim el panim (face to face), got his kishkes (guts) in a knot because Aaron was chosen to wear fancy clothes, fire up the barbeque, and clean up after the meal. True, Aaron's role as priest was to be the ritual mediator between the people and God. Moses did this too, but with greater freedom than Aaron's limited role. Why the jealousy?

The only answer is that Moses was human. Who has not felt the twinges of jealousy, irrational as they may be? We can speculate endlessly on what would trigger such a reaction in Moses, but that would be a futile exercise. Better to look at this all too common failing and see our own reflections.

Too often, jealousy results from frustration and dissatisfaction with who we are. This was stated eloquently by Morrie Schwartz in one of his conversations with his student Mitch Albom. Though he was commenting about whether he was jealous of youth, his answer holds true for all of us:

…the issue is to accept who you are and revel in that .... You have to find what's good and beautiful in your life as it is now.

Mitch Albom, Tuesdays with Morrie

Or as Ben Zoma teaches in Pirke Avot: "Who is wealthy? The one who is happy with his portion." (Avot 4:1)

The Talmud teaches us that there are only two exceptions to jealousy: "Rabbi Jose ben Honi said: A person is jealous, except of his child and his disciple." (Sanhedrin 105b) What makes these two relationships resistant to the forces of jealousy is that the individual has a stake in their success: You have helped them get where they are.

Perhaps this explains the beginning of our parashah. It contains the odd structure: You shall bring forward (hakrev eilechah) your brother Aaron (Exodus 28:2), or literally: You shall draw near to you…. It continues by saying you shall make garments for him (Exodus 28:2), you shall make a breastplate (Exodus 28:15) as well as other items of the priestly wardrobe, concluding with: And for Aaron's sons also you shall make tunics, and make sashes for them, and make turbans for them, for dignity and adornment. Put these on your brother Aaron and on his sons as well; anoint them, and ordain them and consecrate them to serve Me as priests. (Exodus 28:40-41) "You" refers to the unnamed Moses, who is being given a stake in things. This helps to lessen his very human feelings of envy, easing the tension and transforming him from the one who withdraws in jealousy to the one who eagerly rejoices in his brother's success.

Emotions are powerful forces, but they are within our control. Properly channeled they can even contribute to the greater good. A jealous sibling turns into a zealous supporter. A situation that could have weakened family and communal ties becomes a lesson in cooperation. Moses was able to overcome his envy through Divine guidance and so can we. The yearning to do so is eloquently stated by an anonymous Talmudic sage: "May it be your will Adonai our God that jealousy of us overcome no one, and jealousy of no one overcome us." (Yerushalmi Berachot 7d)

Shabbat shalom,
MS