Weekly Parsha

Refuah Sheimah: "May it be Your will, LORD my G-d, and the G-d of my forefathers, that You quickly send refuah sh'lemah (complete healing) from heaven, spiritual healing and physical healing to Aryeh ben Leah, Esther bat Simcha and Stuart Holtzclaw from Syracuse, NY.

Continue praying for: Teddy Welz, Miriam (Mariana) "bat Zulay", Adina (Heidi) "bat Sarah" e Yosefa (Josie) "bat Sharon", Rafael ben Gladis e Esther Bracha "bat Sarah".

Tzav

Leviticus 6:1 - 8:36

In Hebrew, "Tzav" (צַו) means "command" or "to command". It's the imperative form of the word "command" and is the name of the 25th weekly Torah portion in the Jewish cycle of readings. The root of "Tzav" also relates to the concept of "connection" or "joining", suggesting a deeper meaning of spiritual practice and connection with G-d. 

This week's Torah portion includes the laws of: the Burnt Offering, Meal Offering, High Priest's Offering, Sin Offerings, Guilt Offerings and Peace Offerings. It concludes with the portions of the Peace Offerings which are allotted to the Priests and the installation ceremony of the Priest for serving in the Sanctuary.

"And the Lord spoke to Moshe saying: Speak to Aharon and his sons, saying: 'This is the Law of the Transgression Offering, in the place where the Burnt Offering is slaughtered shall the Transgression Offering be slaughtered before the Lord; it is most holy' " (Leviticus 6:17-18).

Why does the Torah emphasize that the Transgression Offering must be made in the exact same place as the Burnt Offering?

The Talmud (Yerushalmi Yevomot 8:3) explains that they were offered in the same place in the Sanctuary to save from embarrassment those people bringing a sin offering; anyone witnessing the event could assume that the offering was brought as a Burnt Offering (which is not a sin offering) and not necessarily as an atonement for one's transgression.

Our lesson: We must be very careful not to cause someone embarrassment or discomfort when they have done something improper in the past and now regret it. Never remind anyone of past misdeeds. Always do whatever you can to protect people from embarrassment.

How happy are the pessimists? What joy is theirs when they have proved there is no joy? Arrogance is weakness disguised as strength.

Freedom consists not in doing what we like, but in having the right to do what we ought.

Shabbat Shalom,

R. Ovadiah Tank

Online Learning 

Rabbi Tank is a professor at the American Jewish College in New York, where he teaches classes on Talmud, Jewish History, and Contemporary Jewish Law. Rabbi Tank is dedicated to finding modern utility and meaning in ancient wisdom texts and is pleased to provide spiritual, cultural, social and educational programming to communities around the world. 

Rabbi Tank was educated at Yeshivas in New York and Miami. He studied Biblical Archeology at Bar Ilan University and Jewish Studies at Harvard University. Rabbi Tank has a Bachelor degree in Business Administration and he is also graduated in International Economic Development from the University of Oxford. 

Rabbi Tank is actively involved in peace negotiations and relief operations. Rabbi Tank is the director of international affairs at the World Jewish Confederation in the United States and He is member of the White House National Religious Leaders , an Executive Office of the President of the United States in Washington, D.C.

Ask Rabbi Tank