A Taste of Torah - Shabbat Zachor and Tetzaveh

Our Torah portion this week, Tetzaveh, is filled with intricate details about the priests' clothing and sacrifices that are to be offered on the altar of the Tabernacle, hardly things that we might find meaningful today in the ways in which we practice Judaism. But in reading over the parashah and some commentary, I encountered an interesting verse towards the end of the portion. "Seven days you shall perform purifcation for the altar to consecrate it, and the altar shall become most holy; whatever touches the alter shall become consecrated" (Exodus 29:37). The last part of that verse, in Hebrew, reads 'kol ha-noge'a ba-mizbei-ach yikadeish - everything that touches the altar will be holy.'

A few of our commentators (Rashbam and Ibn Ezra, in particular) read this verse and see a warning against coming to close to the altar. Rather than reading "whatever touches the altar," they read "whoever touches the altar" and teach that it means that before someone can touch the alter he or she (though likely he in those days) must be ritually pure. Others (Rashi and Bekhor Shor among them) indicate that it means that anything that touches the altar will become holy, whether it is a person or an object. Rashi goes so far as to say that even something that was previously ritually impure will become holy just by coming in contact with the altar.

What does all this mean for us? When I read Rashi's commentary, and commentary of those who agree with him that the altar has the power to make anything holy, I think about how we convey holiness today. In Judaism, holiness is inherently about separation, about distinction. God makes things holy by setting them apart from other things. But here, we see that things become holy by coming in contact with other holy things, in this case, the altar. As we make our way through this Shabbat towards the holiday of Purim, we can think about how Mordechai and Esther drew the king away from Haman, and towards themselves in order to bring him closer to holiness. Just by being in Esther's presence, Ahasuerus was able to make better decisions, perhaps, and became holier by being in the presence of holiness. It's sort of the opposite of guilt by association; it's holiness by association. It would benefit all of us to keep that in mind when we make decisions about our behaviors and interactions. Do we want to disassociate ourselves with the altar and its holy power. Or do we want to be closer to the altar and its holiness, closer to the likes of Mordechai and Esther. Shabbat Shalom and Happy Purim!