This week's parsha

Unless otherwise noted, "This week's Parsha" comprises articles taken from contributors to the Chabad.org website. We show the original author's name here, so that proper attribution is given. For the sake of brevity, footnotes cited in the original author's writings are omitted from this website. If you need to see the citations, please refer to the original articles on the Chabad.org website.

A Call to the Priest

Published: 22 February 2010 | Written by Yitschak Meir Kagan

In the Parsha of Tetzaveh we read how the Priests ("Kohanim") were consecrated to serve in the Sanctuary. The Priests were selected by G-d to fill a sacred position, requiring them to be on a higher level of holiness than the rest of the people. But over and above them, there was to be the High Priest ("Kohen Gadol") who occupied a position of even greater sanctity.

With regard to the High Priest's needs, the Torah specifically commands his brother priests to support and elevate him. This is somewhat surprising; it would seem that the Torah should exhort all Israel, the plain person as well as the kohen, to lend their support to the High Priest. But here a strange phenomenon becomes evident: When it comes to helping the High Priest, the righteous, you would think that our religious functionaries, etc., would be the first to lend their assistance. If anyone would need persuasion -- it would surely be the plain folk.

The Temple at Home

Published: 17 February 2010 | Written by Tali Loewenthal

The Jewish home is called "a small sanctuary". It has the quality of the Temple, a dwelling for G-d. This week's Torah reading describes the Sanctuary which Moses and the Jewish people were going to build. They constructed it before leaving the Sinai region and carried it with them throughout the forty years in the desert. Then they brought it into the Land of Israel. It was later replaced by the Temple built in Jerusalem.

In the command to build the Sanctuary, G-d tells Moses "They shall make for Me a Sanctuary, and I will dwell in them."

The Divine Loan

Published: 10 February 2010 | Written by Tali Loewenthal

The intimate Jewish relationship with G-d is expressed in the idea that G-d Himself keeps the laws of the Torah. The Sages tell us they are called "G-d's laws" because not only do they come from G-d, but they are also kept by G-d. This teaching helps a person understand more clearly how closely we are connected with the Divine at every step of our lives. The Zohar states: "G-d, the Jewish people and the Torah are one." This applies in many ways. The teaching that, so to speak, both we and G-d keep the laws of the Torah helps us understand that we are truly bonded together.