Exodus, 27:20-30:10

Portion Summary

In the portion, Tetzaveh (Command), the Creator provides Moses with additional details regarding the tabernacle, and commands the children of Israel to take olive oil to light the everlasting candle in the tent of meeting outside the veil, so it may burn from dusk to dawn.

The Creator instructs Moses to appoint Aaron and his sons, Nadav, Avihu, Elazar, and Itamar to be his priests. He elaborates on the commandment of preparing the holy garments “for honor and glory” (Exodus, 28: 2): the vest, fringe, coat, and the rest of the garments of the priest.

Afterward comes an explanation about the sanctification of Aaron and his sons for their roles in the tabernacle. This includes their offering of an ox and two rams on the altar, of the incense to be positioned inside the tabernacle before the veil, and how the incense is to be made. Finally, Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement) is mentioned, which is to take place once a year.

Commentary

The portion, Tetzaveh (Command), is very matter-of-fact, short, and pragmatic. The whole of the substance of Creation is the desire to receive. This is the solid basis from which we should begin. We feel the will to receive within us divided into four levels: still, vegetative, animate, and speaking. All our desires are divided in this manner, and we give them the shape of bestowal, namely to aim them toward giving. All desires must be aimed toward our connection “as one man with one heart,”¹ with love of others, as in “Love your neighbor as yourself.”²

To the extent that we correct each one of our desires, we shape the image of man, thus becoming similar to the Creator. This is Adam HaRishon (the first man), who shattered and divided into myriad souls. Our purpose is to reassemble those souls into that single soul. We achieve this by annulling our egos and connecting all our desires. The connection is at the levels of still, vegetative, animate, and speaking. In these degrees we gradually reconnect everything into the new reality that the Torah has described.

First, the oil for the lamp is a special oil that must be lit in a special way. Subsequently, from the emitted light, we can prepare the priesthood garments that clothe the will to receive.

The will to receive remains the same, whether it strives to benefit others or itself. The difference lies in how we use it—for our own sake or for the sake of others. That is, do we want to use it to benefit ourselves, even if it is detrimental to others? Or do we want to benefit others? These are our two options, with myriad variations.

All this relates to “clothes” over the desire. The Torah details how to design these clothes—how to place the right intentions over our desires, meaning the degrees Yod-Hey-Vav-Hey, or degrees of Aviut (thickness, will to receive) one, two, three, and four. The corrected desires may be from the still (inanimate), such as building the tent of meeting and the ark of the covenant, or from the vegetative, such as wool or linen, or from the animate, which are the offerings themselves.

The “speaking” are people who are united in their degree, and those who wear the clothes that befit the high priest, such as a breastplate, a girdle, a miter, or a tunic. The high priest is one whose aim is entirely toward bestowal, love of others, through which this person reaches the Creator. There is a priest and a high priest. That is, there are Katnut (infancy) and Gadlut (adulthood) in this degree. These are the stages through which we must progress in order to correct our desires.

The sum of the desire that the Creator created in each of us is 613 desires, which are 613 desires that we must invert from the inclination to receive to the desire to bestow upon others. This is how we connect with one another, gathering all these desires into a single mechanism.

Questions and Answers

Can we change desires through our intentions?

Yes, we can change desires through our intentions. By wanting to give to each other, we tie our desires as a single body in a Kli (vessel) known as Beit HaMikdash (lit. The House of Holiness; trans. Temple). Bait (house) is a Kli of Kedusha (holiness), bestowal, love of others, the aim to give. This is the Adam that we build, our common soul, Shechina (Divinity), the Assembly of Israel, Malchut of Atzilut, and there the Creator appears.

This portion explains that our desires are divided, too. The writings of the ARI teach us that our souls consist of Shoresh, Neshama, Guf, Levush, Heichal (root, soul, body, clothing, hall, respectively). Shoresh is inside us. Neshama is our innermost part. Guf is the desires themselves, and Levush and Heichal are additions.

The Torah tells us that the Levush (clothing) consists of the five types of garments of the high priest. Heichal (hall) is the surroundings—the tent of meeting with all its details. Of course, none of this relates to any physical tent, person, vessels, or a lamp. Rather, the text relates to the way we develop the will to receive into working in order to bestow, as the Creator bestows upon us. Through these corrections of many degrees and parts in our desires, we achieve similarity with the Creator and Dvekut (adhesion) with Him.

The end of the portion also mentions Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement). All the corrections we perform during the year, the preparations, corrections over the nations of the world, over the people of Israel, and over the Levites and the priests, bring us to the degree of the high priest. When we rise above those desires and bring them together to a place of general bestowal, called Beit HaMikdash, a place of special unity where we achieve oneness with the Creator—the point of Dvekut—it is called “the work of the priest in the Holy of Holies on the day of atonement.”

Aaron and his sons are all in spirituality, yet we know that spirituality is not transferred by inheritance. Many Kabbalists had no children, or had children who did not become Kabbalists. And yet, here we see a very clear order of Aaron and his sons. Moreover, some researchers claim that it is possible to find genes of priests even today. What is the meaning of this order?

This is true; they can be found in both the material world and the spiritual world. There are many reasons for it, but what we understand is that a Kli (vessel) that is in bestowal—meaning a spiritual Partzuf, or Neshama (a soul) that is working in bestowal in order to bestow—operates in active bestowal and begets a more advanced Partzuf, called a “son.”

Is a “son” the priest’s next degree?

Yes. This is why it is impossible for a holy Partzuf to emerge from a Partzuf that is not bestowing in order to bestow, or receiving in order to bestow. In our world, we may or may not pay attention to this because in projecting to corporeality, it becomes mere customs. But in spirituality, we understand where it comes from; a Partzuf that has a Masach (screen), Aviut (thickness), and Ohr Hozer (Reflected Light), and works in holiness cannot yield an impure act. This is why priesthood is inherited from father to son.

Why do we not know what happened to Moses’ sons, but do know about priests?

Moses represents contact with the Creator, in which all are included, above all the priesthood. The priests provide direction in the work of the Creator, in corrections, and Moses is the point of contact. This is not a direction, but merely a point of attachment, of Dvekut.

In other words, it is all in us; we are not talking about a physical Moses.

No, there is no such thing as a physical Moses; it is all within us. When we connect among us, we produce a Kli that yields a sensation of connection, bonding between us. First comes the love of people, as it is written, “Love your neighbor as yourself.”³ Afterward, the love of the Creator arrives. These are the circles we need to build in the bonding between us. The whole of humanity must achieve it—the people of Israel, as well as non-Jews who are drawn to it and can achieve real connection with the Creator.

This is why Moses did not belong to the priests, or the Levites, or Israel; he is a point above any definition. Although he includes them, he is still above them. The correction of the world is that all of us will unite. The more we unite and make ourselves similar to the upper light, the Creator, the more He is with us and within us.

This portion details garments. It was said that only the “wisehearted” can prepare these garments. Who are the wisehearted?

The “wisehearted” are those whose hearts, meaning desires, are arranged according to Hochma (wisdom). These are not ordinary desires, but those that have been arranged by the light of Hochma. Therefore, the beginning of the portion talks about the general light that reforms, which illuminates all the Kelim (vessels). Only with this light is it possible to carry out the Mitzvot (commandments) described in the portion, which is why it is called Tetzaveh (Command). The Creator’s command comes only to give us the light that reforms. The Creator tells us how to use it in order to achieve corrections, such as the garments of the high priest and the building of the tabernacle.

Is it only when we reach a certain stage of wisdom of the heart that we can wear these garments?

The heart is the tabernacle of all our desires, but only if we arrange all of our desires in the right order, using the upper light, the Menorah (lamp) that illuminates to that person, the light that reforms. The “right order” means in order to bestow, from easy to difficult. It is not something we need to build; it is built by itself. The commandment relates only to our willingness; we must come under the light with our Kli, then the Kli will acquire the shape of the light. The wisehearted do not know how to do everything; they only know how to prepare themselves for the light to work on them.

Why is the engagement with garments possible only from this point onward?

“Clothing” is the intention to bestow.

So what are the intentions of the wisehearted?

The wisehearted are those who prepare themselves for correction. When it comes, it brings them garments.

From The Zohar: And You Shall Command

When it writes, “And you,” it means to include Divinity in the command and in the speech. The upper light, ZA, and the bottom light, Nukva, are included together in the word, “And you,” since “you” is the name of the Nukva, and the added Vav (“and”) is ZA, as it is written, “And You preserve them all,” relating to ZA and Nukva.

Zohar for All, Tetzaveh (Command), items1-2

Zeir Anpin is the Creator, the upper force, the light that reaches us. We who want to connect build the Nukva. Although she herself does not exist, this part was left after the breaking. The soul has broken and its pieces are scattered. As much as we may want to connect, we cannot. However, we have the tendency toward it, and accordingly, the light affects us and connects us. If there is an additional inclination, then additional light influences us and connects us.

This is why our work is called “day-to-day,” as in “Day to day pours forth speech” (Psalms, 19:3). This is how we arrive at the end of the year, the Day of Atonement that connects us and leads us to all the corrections. This is when we atone for our iniquities.

Yet, these are not our own iniquities, but from the time of the breaking of Adam HaRishon, before we were created, since “the inclination in a man’s heart is evil from his youth” (Genesis, 8:21). When we scrutinize these matters and want to overcome them and connect above all gaps and hatred to achieve love, we reach the foot of Mount Sinai.

Why is Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement) considered the holiest day?

It is the point of contact of all the desires that we have prepared to connect to everyone in a single Kli, to be in Dvekut with the Creator. That is, it is the implementation of our work in this world. Next, we must achieve the revelation of the Creator, unity, and love of others. Yom Kippur symbolizes it.

Is it a specific day in the year?

No, a day is a degree. If a person performs all the corrections, the degree that one reaches is called Yom Kippur. It could happen on any of the days in the year because it is not a day, but a spiritual state.

What is so special about this day that only the quality known as the “high priest” makes the required correction in the Holy of Holies?

When we add all the corrections on the still, vegetative, animate, and speaking levels in their final form, we achieve Dvekut (adhesion). It has to be “world,” “year,” “soul,” and “place.” That is, we arrange all the desires—still, vegetative, and animate—“the clothes,” which are also the cover of the tent, and all of our garments from the vegetative. The “animate” are the offerings of Yom Kippur. The “high priest” includes the whole of humanity, with all the corrections on the human, speaking level.

If we join them together on the special day called Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement) it brings us to the point of Dvekut with the Creator. This is the highest level we can achieve, the end of correction and the ascent to a higher dimension.

From The Zohar: Blow the Horn (Shofar) on the New Moon

Thus, “Serve the Lord with gladness,” since man’s joy draws another joy, the higher one. Similarly, the lower world, Malchut, as it is crowned, so it extends from above. This is why Israel hurry to awaken a sound in the Shofar, which includes fire, wind, and water, the middle line, which consists of three lines that became one and rises upwards.

Zohar for All, Tetzaveh (Command), item 94

The three lines describe the work of the priests—Priest, Levite, and Israel—which describes our work. There are two Klipot (shell/peels): the Klipa (singular for Klipot) of the right, Ishmael, and the Klipa of the left, Esau. Right and left are our work and our will to receive, opposite which is the desire to bestow, and the extent to which we can add these desires by removing the Klipot of Ishmael and Esau.

This is how we build the middle line, the line of Dvekut, called Adam. On this line, the more we connect all the desires among us, the higher we ascend in our connection. These include all our intentions to achieve similarity with the Creator, bestowal, and love of others, and from there to the love of the Creator. If we achieve unity in that line, we have reached the purpose of Creation.

We must understand that the current changes the world is going through, the myriad problems, the global crisis, are signs that we must begin to bond, since only by bonding will we be able to resolve the crisis.

This is the reason why the wisdom of Kabbalah is now surfacing, so that the light that reforms, the illuminating Menorah, can shine on those who want to sanctify themselves and arrive at the Temple, to realize their task in the world. Today, we are in the midst of the actual realization of the portion, “Command.”

The Creator sounds like a forceful, domineering force, while the creature is in a state of constant sin and request for forgiveness. It is a rather complicated system.

For what should one ask forgiveness? If it is written, “I have created the evil inclination,”⁴ then the Creator created it. Why should we ask for forgiveness? On the contrary, we should demand, “I want You to correct what You have created in me.” It is called, “My sons defeated Me.”⁵ The Creator will welcome it. We misconstrue the Torah by thinking that we are sinners, while the sin is not in us. Our only sin is in not requesting correction. What is in us did not come from us; we cannot blame ourselves for what we were born with.

We should say in regard to all our qualities, characters, and all that we are, “Go to the craftsman who made me.”⁶ We are not to blame. Our fault, our blemish, is that we do not examine ourselves and ask for correction, to become similar to the Creator—bestowing, loving others, and benevolent.

When we do not reveal and do not ask for correction, this is when we are at fault. However, we did not commit the transgression for which we demand correction. This is simply something with which to connect with the Creator, to be in constant dialogue with Him. The evil inclination is “help made against us.” On the one hand, it removes us from the Creator. On the other hand, it gives us an “official” reason to connect with Him.