Weekly Torah Commentaries UMJC - Union Of Messianic Jewish Congregations

Spiritual discipline through the repetitive action—the “walking” out—of the
mitzvot builds within us emotional muscle memory. Given that we are largely
driven by our emotions, any repetitive action binds itself to our
personhood, our heart, our mind, and that same action builds within us an
emotional response.

Telling our children and grandchildren a story rooted in ancient history,
and equipping them to pass it on, amidst our culture of endless sound bites
and news flashes can be challenging indeed. That’s why Passover in this
current generation may be different from all other Passovers.

Along with other rabbis, Rabbi Sha’ul correlated reckless speech with an
infectious skin disease that starts off as a small infection, grows if left
unchecked, and eventually consumes and kills the body as it expands.

The kohanim, or priests, were in a sense the “doctors of the soul.” This is
the role of a kohen, to restore the person to wholeness—to have the
imagination to see beyond a person’s present brokenness, and to recognize
his or her own power to heal.

If this is true for Israel as a whole, God’s priestly nation among the
nations of the world, how much more for the family of Aaron, chosen to be
the priestly family of the priestly people? The great tragedy in this
week’s portion makes the danger of election all too evident.

Tzav is our reminder to continue to practice sacrificial worship in our
lives today. How do we do this? Let’s take a moment to reflect on two
questions. First, what is considered a sacrifice today? And second, where
is the altar?