וְ אַ תָּ ה תְּ צַ וֶּה אֶ ת בְּ נֵי יִ שְׂ רָ אֵ ל וְ יִ קְ חוּ אֵ לֶיךָ שֶׁ מֶ ן זַיִ ת זָךְ כָּתִ ית לַמָּ אוֹר לְ הַ עֲלֹת נֵר תָּ מִ יד (כז, כ)
And you shall command the children of Yisroel, and they shall take to you pure olive oil, crushed for lighting, to kindle the lamps continually. (27:20)
This Parshah’s Connection to the Previous Parshah:
The Zohar Hakadosh points out that Moshe Rabenu’s name is not mentioned anywhere in this Parshah. The reason for this is because he said to Hashem after the chet ha’eigel (Shemos 32:32): “Please erase me from Your book.” These words were fulfilled by erasing his name from one Parshah.
The Chida zt”l (Sefer Chomas Anach) says that this is the reason this Parshah begins with the word “v’atah” (and you), with a “vav” that connects it to the previous Parshah. Hashem did not want there to be an entire Parshah without Moshe’s name in it, so He connected it to the previous Parshah, Parshas Terumah, where Moshe’s name is mentioned numerous times. Thus, Parshas Tetzaveh is somewhat of a continuation of Parshas Terumah, so it is as if Moshe’s name is mentioned in it.
This also explains the statement of the Zohar (Chelek 1, 104B) that there are 53 Parshios in the Torah. The commentators ask that if one counts the Parshios, he will see that there are 54. However, if Parshas Terumah is a continuation of Parshas Terumah and is not really its own Parshah, we can understand why the Zohar says that there are only 53 Parshios.
A Poor Man’s Prayer:
The Divrei Shmuel of Slonim zy”a notes that the word “tetzaveh” can be an acronym for “tze’akas hadal takshiv v’soshiah.” Hear the cry of the pauper and save him. This indicates that a haughty man cannot properly daven to Hashem. Only a person who holds himself lowly can speak to Him.
Chazal say (Kesuvos 77B, Avos D’rov Nosson 9:2): “There are 24 types of people who are diseased with boils, and the soul of Moshe was lowlier than all of them.” He was very lowly in his own eyes, but he still poured his heart out in prayer before Hashem and told Him that if He wiped out Klal Yisroel, He should erase his name from the Torah (Shemos 32:32). In this case he prayed for the public as a whole, and he also prayed for Miriam in particular, when he asked Hashem to heal her (Bamidbor 12:13).
When Hashem told Moshe: “Ata Tetzaveh” (you shall command), He was telling him to pass on the message of hearing the cries of the pauper. He was told to teach us that even if think of ourselves as insignificant, we should still daven to Hashem, and He will hear our prayers.
The Power of a Poor Man’s Tefillah:
His son, the Bais Avrohom zy”a, adds that the Zohar Hakadosh (Chelek 3, 195A) says that there are three types of tefillos: “Tefillah L’Moshe”, “Tefillah L’Dovid” and “Tefillah L’Ani”. The loftiest of the three is “Tefillah L’Ani” (the prayer of a poor man) because a poor man davens with a broken heart. This is another reason why Hashem hears the cry of the pauper and saves him.
Davening for Hashem’s Honor:
He quotes the Yesod Ha’avodah of Slonim zy”a as saying that “tze’akas hadal” has the same connotation as the pasuk in Yeshaya (38:14): “Dalu einei l’marom.” (My eyes were lifted on high.) This indicates that if someone speaks to Hashem and says, “Please Hashem, lift me up from my lowly state so that I can draw near to You!”, he will be immediately answered.
If one prays for his physical needs, he will only be answered if he is found worthy. However, if one prays to be raised up spiritually in order to get close to Hashem, his prayer will always be answered.
While it is true that we sometimes see people who daven for ruchnius but still are not answered, this can be explained with the words of Chazal (Brachos 35B): “Rav Shimon bar Yochai said: Is it possible for a person to plow in the plowing rime, plant in the planting time, reap in the reaping time, winnow in the winnowing time...What will be of the Torah? However, at times when Yisroel does the will of Hashem, their work is done by others, and at times when Yisroel does not do the will of Hashem, they must do their work themselves.”
The Gemara then says that many people tried to live according to the dictum of Rav Shimon bar Yochai and were not successful. They tried to spend their entire lives only learning Torah, with their work done for them by others, but they were not successful because their intentions were not fully l’sheim shomayim. Rather, they had an agenda of wanting to be like Rav Shimon.
So too, if one davens for ruchnius, if his intentions are because he wants to know what it feels like to reach a lofty level, then it cannot be said that he is fully l’sheim shomayim and his tefillos may be unanswered. But if one cries out like a poor man, meaning his sole intention is to increase the honor of Hashem, and he asks nothing for himself, he will definitely be answered immediately.
The Benefit of Torah L’Shmah:
Rashi states: “Crushed for lighting, and not crushed for Menachos.”
The Avnei Nezer zy”a (quoted in Siach Sarfei Kodesh) explains by quoting the Gemara (Yoma 72B) that says about the Torah: “If one merits (zocheh) it is an elixir of life for him. If one does not merit, it becomes a poison of death.” He explains that if ones Torah is pure (the “zocheh” can mean either to merit or to purify) and is studied l’sheim shomayim, he can reach great levels through it. But if one’s Torah is impure, meaning that it is learned with ulterior motives, it will not provide as much benefits. However, it still will be “a poison for death”, meaning that it will be effective to save the person from harm.
This is hinted to by the words “crushed for lighting”. This means that the merit of Torah illuminates a person’s life and grants him many blessings. However, this is only true if the Torah is “crushed” and purified to remove all sediment. “Menachos”, on the other hand, are brought to atone for sins. They are symbolic of the Torah’s power to save a person from harm. For that, the Torah does not have to be free of impurities. It could even be not fully l’shmah to get this benefit.
The Benefits of Accepting the Yoke of Torah:
Rashi further states that the olives must be crushed with a mortar (machteshes), and not in a mill (raychaim).
Sefer Divrei Yisroel explains these words by quoting the Ohr Hachaim Hakadosh, who says that the light of the menorah is symbolic of the light of Torah. The olives must be ground to symbolize that one must “grind” his body and use up all his strength to toil in Torah. This means that one must accept “the yoke” of Torah and toil under this burden in order to merit its benefits.
How can one do this if he is busy all day working for a living? In fact, Chazal ask (Kiddushin 29B): How can one toil in Torah if he has a “raychiam” (the burden of parnassah) around his neck?
The answer is that Chazal say (Avos 3:5) that one accepts upon himself the yoke of Torah has the yoke of government and the yoke of earning a living removed from him. If one accepts the yoke of Torah, he can take the raychaim off his neck, as Hashem will provide him with his livelihood.
Accordingly, Rashi when Rashi says that the olives should be crushed for lighting, he is saying that one should crush his body through toiling in Torah. When one accepts the yoke of Torah in this way, he will not be crushed with a “raychaim”, i.e., by the yoke of parnassah, as he will be granted his livelihood by Hashem.
The Light of Toiling in Torah:
Rav Shalom Schwadron zt”l explains the words “crushed for lighting” by citing the Gemara (Brachos 63B) that says “they crushed themselves over words of Torah.” He explains that one wants to merit the light of Torah, the way to do it is to crush his body by toiling over his Torah studies.
To illustrate this idea, he relates the story of a man who approached the Kotzker Rebbe zy”a and asked, “Why don’t you travel around the world to save people in trouble? Why do you sit in your room all day? You teach Torah to your chasidim but you don’t go out and travel to inspire others.”
The Rebbe answered him with the following moshol:
Three wealthy men were once imprisoned. They were lowered into a small, dark pit, where they were left to rot. Two of them were smart men, while the third was not very intelligent. When the guards lowered food into the pit, the unintelligent man fumbled around for the spoon but could not find it. As he felt around for it, he knocked all of the food onto the ground. One of the other men felt bad for him. He picked up the spoon and helped him get the food into his mouth. This went on every day. This smart man had to help the foolish man with every task. Meanwhile, the third man sat by himself and didn’t help the unintelligent man at all.
One day, the second man asked the third man, “We are all suffering here together. You can see how I am trying to help our foolish friend. Why don’t you lend a hand?”
The third man answered, “We are sitting here in the darkness and often cannot see a thing. You are working hard to teach this man how to feed himself and how to move about, but it is all for naught. You have been trying for weeks and he hasn’t learned anything. I don’t think you ever will.
“But while you were spending all your time on that pointless endeavor, I have been busy digging a hole in the wall. I have already succeeded in making a large enough hole for some sunlight to come in. Soon, he will be able to see on his own and he won’t need our help to eat and drink.”
The Kotzker Rebbe concluded, “That’s why I don’t travel around to teach people how to live properly. I create a light of Torah here, and it provides light for all other places.”
This idea is seen from the pauk (Esther 8:15): “The Jews had light, joy, happiness, and prestige.” Chazal say that the word “light” is a reference to the light of Torah. It is listed first in this verse to indicate that the most important thing is to create a light of Torah, and once one has that, he will have everything else.
This is hinted to from the words “crushed for lighting”. If one crushes himself to learn Torah, he will create light for the world.
וְ הָ יָה פִ י ר ֹאשׁוֹ בְּ תוֹכוֹ שָׂ פָ ה יִ הְ יֶה לְ פִ יו וגו' כְּ פִ י תַ חְ רָ א יִ הְ יֶה לּוֹ ל ֹא יִ קָּ רֵ עַ (כח, לב)
Its opening at the top shall be turned inward; its opening shall have a border around it...like the opening of a coat of armor; it shall not be torn. (28:32)
By Guarding One’s Words, One Acquires Strength to Fight the Yeitzer Hara:
Rashi states: “Like the opening of a coat of armor: We learn that their coats of armor had the opening folded inward.”
Rav Henoch of Alesk zy”a (Siddur Lev Sameach) explains that this is a hint that the main power one has to be victorious in the war against the yeitzer hara is guarding one’s words. The pasuk is saying that if one’s “mouth is folded inward”, meaning that he refrains from forbidden speech, he will get the benefit of the “coat of armor” and will be protected in his battle against the yeitzer hara.
Every Word Can Illuminate or Darken the World:
The Dubno Magid zt”l describes the importance of guarding one’s speech by relating a moshol of a king who traveled with his entourage to visit the king of a neighboring country. He saw the other king’s palace and was greatly impressed by its splendor and beauty. He told one of his assistants, who was a talented artist, to make a sketch of the palace so that he could build an identical one when they got back.
The assistant did his best to sketch the palace on a piece of paper. He brought his rendering to the king, who looked at it and immediately pointed to one of the towers and said, “Aren’t there any windows there?”
The assistant said, “I’ll go check.”
He ran outside to take a look at the tower. When he came back inside, he said, “You’re right. There is a window. But that is a minor detail that will just take a second to add.”
He grabbed a pen and drew in the window on the spot.
The king told him, “Yes, on the picture that’s only a minor detail. But when they are actually erecting the building, it will be an important part of the tower. That’s why it is important to have it on the blueprint.”
The nimshol is that Hashem built many beautiful worlds in Shomayim. In relation to them, he made this world and created a nature wherein every act of man has a tremendous impact on the Upper Worlds. Therefore, every word we utter is important. Even if one word does not seem important to is, it makes a great impact on the “true worlds” and can cause light or darkness there.
Ruach Hakodesh Through Guarding One’s Words:
The pasuk states (1 Shmuel 3:19): “And Shmuel grew. And Hashem was with him and none of his words fell to the ground.”
The Ozherover Rebbe zy”a (Sefer Be’er Moshe Parshas Matos) explains this verse by quoting the Zohar Hakadosh (Chelek 3, 183B) on the pasuk (Esther 5:1): “And Esther cloaked herself in royalty.” The Zohar says that she clothed herself in Hashem’s holy royalty – meaning that she merited ruach hakodesh. How did she merit this? As a reward for guarding her mouth and not revealing her secret, as is stated: “Esther did not reveal her birthplace.”
We learn from this that one who guards his words can merit ruach hakodesh.
וְ כִ פֶּ ר אַ הֲרֹ ן עַ ל קַ רְ נֹ תָ יו אַ חַ ת בַּ שָּׁ נָה מִ דַּ ם חַ טַּ את הַ כִּ פֻּרִ ים אַ חַ ת בַּ שָּׁ נָה יְ כַפֵּ ר עָ לָיו לְ דֹ רֹ תֵ יכֶם וגו' (ל, י)
And Aharon shall make atonement upon its horns once a year; with the blood of the chatas of the atonements, once a year he shall effect atonement upon it for your generations... (30:10)
Accordingly, the pasuk is saying that Shmuel valued every one of his words and did not use them wastefully. Therefore, he merited having Hashem with him, meaning that he merited ruach hakodesh.
The Downfall Comes Through Words:
It occurred to me that, with this in mind, we can explain the pasuk in Esther (10:1): “Al tapeil dovor m’kol asher dibarta.” (Do not leave out anything from all that you said.) These words can be translated to mean that all downfalls (nefilus) are a result of improper speech, as everything depends on one’s words.
Purim is a Time of Atonement:
Sefer Imrei Noam asks why the words “once a year” are repeated in this verse. He answers by quoting the Tikunei Zohar (57B) and Sefer Kedushas Levi (on Purim), who say that the day of Yom Kippurim is a day that is “like Purim”, in the sense that after Moshiach’s arrival, Yom Kippur will be a day of rejoicing like Purim. Since these two days are compared to each other, we can infer that Purim is a day of atonement for sins, just like Yom Kippur.
Accordingly, the pasuk is saying that Aharon provided atonement once a year, on Yom Kippur, and there is an additional time in the year when atonement will be provided for future generations, which is Purim.
