I wrote a post for 70 Faces of Torah, the weekly Torah commentary blog we publish at Hebrew College, where I work in the marketing department. The week we spent reading this portion, “Tetzaveh”, concluded this evening according to Jewish custom, so technically this is a little late but I don’t think you mind. And I’d like to think it’s a pretty accessible take on one of the more esoteric sections of the Book of Exodus. Here’s the intro:
“Tetzaveh” begins when God pauses dictating instructions for the Tabernacle to consecrate Aaron and his four sons — Nadab and Abihu, Eleazar and Ithamar — as priests. The appointment reads like necessary information dispensed to get on with the instructions for the making and fabrication of priestly garments and vestments. Later, Aaron and his sons return to the text for enrobing and anointing, and to conduct the sacrificial slaughters and burnt offerings.
Reading these instructions in 2025 is a study in contrasts. I experience kinship with these ancient people, lovingly applying their dyes in the same shades that run along the edges of my tallis: blue, purple, crimson. And I am alienated by the animal sacrifices and blood-dipped toes; I do not relate to the version of Judaism being practiced in Exodus 29. But more than this braided experience of opposites, I am compelled by the text’s hyperfocus on procedures, details, designs — the particular arranging of material, by way of ritual, drawing us closer to the immaterial.
Read the whole thing here.
Adam Zemel 