From the account of his birth at the beginning of the book of Shemos until his final monologue in the book of Devarim, Moshe is mentioned by name in every Torah portion with the exception of Tetzaveh. This notable absence hints to the timing of this portion’s reading, which is always close to the 7th of Adar—the date of Moshe’s passing.
But why hint to Moshe’s passing by erasing his name? Is not the name and legacy of a righteous person remembered even after his physical demise? In addition, it seems that Moshe is more present in this Parshah than in many others. Often Moshe is mentioned in the third person, as though he himself is absent. In Tetzaveh, however, Moshe is repeatedly addressed by G-d in the second person, beginning with the uncharacteristically direct reference “You shall command,” emphasizing that he is indeed “present.”
The Zohar teaches that a tzaddik who has passed on is “present in all the worlds—our physical world included—even more than during his lifetime.”
For on the one hand, the tzaddik’s physical passing reflects his soul’s ascent to its spiritual essence, such that it utterly transcends visible manifestation in this physical world. On the other hand, in its heightened condition the tzaddik’s soul is now fully accessible for all who wish to draw spiritual life and inspiration from it, even more so than during his physical lifetime. No longer confined to a body, the tzaddik’s influence is far greater than when he was limited to what he expressed in words and thoughts.
Accordingly, we can understand why Moshe’s passing is hinted to in Tetzaveh by the absence of his name, even while referring to him directly in the second person. For a person’s name is not his essential identity; it is merely the means by which he can be identified to others. The absence of Moshe’s name in the Parshah, yet simultaneously his additional presence—“you shall command”—thus aptly represents the passing of Moshe on the 7th of Adar, when on the one hand Moshe’s soul ascended from its external plane (i.e., his name), yet at the same time his nameless essence—“you”—became revealed in the world to an even greater degree than before.
—Likkutei Sichos, vol. 26, pp. 204–206
