Tzav Leviticus 1:1–5:26
G-d instructs Moses to command Aaron and his sons regarding their duties and rights as kohanim (“priests”) who offer the korbanot (animal and meal offerings) in the Sanctuary.
The fire on the altar must be kept burning at all times. In it are burned the wholly consumed ascending offering; veins of fat from the peace, sin and guilt offerings; and the “handful” separated from the meal offering.
The kohanim eat the meat of the sin and guilt offerings, and the remainder of the meal offering. The peace offering is eaten by the one who brought it, except for specified portions given to the kohen. The holy meat of the offerings must be eaten by ritually pure persons, in their designated holy place and within their specified time.
Aaron and his sons remain within the Sanctuary compound for seven days, during which Moses initiates them into the priesthood.
Summary of the Passover Torah Readings
On the FIRST DAY OF PASSOVER we read from the book of Exodus (12:21-51) of the bringing of the Passover Offering in Egypt, the Plague of the Firstborn at the stroke of midnight, and how "On this very day, G-d took the Children of Israel out of Egypt."
The reading for the SECOND DAY OF PASSOVER, Leviticus 22:26-23:44, includes: a list of the moadim — the "appointed times" on the Jewish calendar for festive celebration of our bond with G-d; the mitzvah to Count the Omer (the 49-day "countdown" to the festival of Shavuot which begins on the 2nd night of Passover); and the obligation to journey to the Holy Temple to "to see and be seen before the face of G-d" on the three annual pilgrimage festivals — Passover, Shavuot and Sukkot.
The readings for the four INTERMEDIATE DAYS OF PASSOVER include:
- Instructions to commemorate the Exodus by sanctifying the firstborn, avoiding leaven and eating matzah on Passover, telling one's children the story of the Exodus, and donning tefillin (Exodus 13:1-16).
- A portion from the Parshah of Mishpatim, which includes the laws of the festivals (Exodus 22:24-23:19).
- A section describing Moses' receiving of the Second Tablets and G-d's revelation to him of His Thirteen Attributes of Mercy, which likewise concludes with the laws of the festivals (Exodus 34:1-26); when one of the "intermediate days" of Passover is Shabbat, this is the reading read on that day, and it begins 12 verses earlier, with 33:12).
- The story and laws of the "Second Passover" (Numbers 9:1-14).
