Tetzaveh

📜 The Story

Parashat Tetzaveh opens with a special command: the children of Israel were asked to bring pure, pressed olive oil to light the Menorah in the Mishkan without stopping. Aharon the Kohen was to tend the lamps from evening to morning, so a 'ner tamid,' a continual light, would always burn before God.

In this parasha God chooses Aharon and his four sons to be the Kohanim who will serve in the Mishkan. This is the moment the priesthood begins in the Jewish people. So they could serve with dignity, God commands special, beautiful garments to be made for them, 'for glory and for splendor.'

The Kohen Gadol, the High Priest, wore eight special garments: the Ephod, the Choshen, the robe, the tunic, the turban, the sash, the Tzitz, and linen breeches. On the shoulders of the Ephod were two onyx stones, engraved with the names of the twelve tribes of Israel, as if Aharon carried the whole people on his shoulders.

On the Choshen, the breastplate of judgment, were twelve precious stones, one for each tribe. Inside the Choshen were placed the Urim veTumim, through which the Kohen Gadol could receive answers from God. Around the hem of the robe hung golden bells and pomegranates, so their sound would be heard when the High Priest went in and out of the holy place. On his forehead the Kohen Gadol wore a golden Tzitz inscribed 'Holy to God.'

The parasha ends by describing the inauguration of Aharon and his sons into the priesthood, a ceremony lasting seven days, with special offerings brought each day. The parasha closes with the command to build a small incense altar, on which Aharon and his sons would burn incense every morning and evening before God.