Tetzaveh

📜 The Story

The parsha begins with a special command. The Israelites must bring pure olive oil, pressed from olives, to light the Menorah in the Tabernacle. Aaron would take care of the lamps every evening so that they burned until morning. This light is called the 'ner tamid,' the light that is always there.

God chooses Aaron and his four sons to be the Kohanim (the priests) who serve in the Tabernacle. This is the beginning of the priesthood in Israel. God commands that special, beautiful clothes be made for them, 'for honor and for beauty.'

The High Priest wore eight special garments: the ephod (an apron), the breastplate, the robe, the tunic, the turban, the sash, the golden headplate called the tzitz, and linen pants. On the shoulders of the ephod were two onyx stones with the names of the twelve tribes carved into them. It was as if Aaron carried the whole people on his shoulders.

The breastplate had twelve precious stones, one for each tribe. Inside it was something called the Urim and Tumim, which helped the High Priest get answers from God. Around the bottom of the robe hung golden bells and little pomegranates made of cloth, so people heard him coming and going. On his forehead the High Priest wore the golden tzitz, with the words 'Holy to God.'

The parsha describes a seven-day ceremony to make Aaron and his sons Kohanim, with special offerings each day. It ends with the command to build a small golden altar. On it, Aaron and his sons would burn sweet-smelling incense every morning and every evening.