The topic of the Mishkan is repeated many times in Vayakhel and Pikudei. Parashat Terumah deals with: “Let them make me a sanctuary, that I may dwell in the midst of them. According to that which I shall show you, the pattern of the Tabernacle and the pattern of all its vessels.”

Parshat Tezaveh deals with the priestly garments, the garb of those who work in the Tabernacle. “Let Aaron your brother approach you, and his two sons with him, from the midst of the children of Israel, to appoint him as a priest unto Me, Aaron, Nadav and Avihu, Elazar and Ittamar, Aaron’s sons. And you shall make garments of holiness for your brother Aaron, for glory and splendor.” Which garments? In many respects there is a similarity here to the opening verses of Parshat Terumah, regarding the materials to be used. There the reference was to materials required for the Tabernacle – silver, gold, brass, blue, purple, crimson, twined linen, goat’s hair, ram’s skin dyed red, tachash skin, acacia wood, all the necessary tools for constructing the Tabernacle and its vessels.

Parashat Tezaveh opens with a list of those materials necessary for the priestly raiment: “These are the garments they shall make; a breastplate and an ephod, and a robe, and a quilted inner garment, a mitre, and a belt… and they shall take the gold, and the blue, and the purple, and the crimson, and the twined linen.”

I intend to focus on the first two verses of our Parasha, the verses preceding “Let Aaron your brother approach you…”.

If I had been responsible for dividing the parashiot, I would have done it differently, ending Parashat Terumah after those verses, and beginning Parashat Tezaveh with the section on the priestly raiment. Until this point the text dealt with the building of the Tabernacle and its vessels. Parashat Tezaveh deals with those who worked in the Tabernacle and their garments. The first two verses of our parashah open with: “You shall command the children of Israel to bring you clear olive oil pressed for the light, to set up the lamp continually.” We recall that Parashat Terumah dealt with this – oil for the light. Where do we use this oil? In the Menorah. An entire section of Parashat Terumah was devoted to the Menorah, its branches, cups, knobs and flowers – a detailed description. So if we want to discuss the oil, the subject surely belongs in the section on the vessels and the Menorah in Parashat Terumah. What does it have to do with the mitre, the belt and the other garments? “In the Tabernacle, outside the partition which is before the Testimony, Aaron and his sons shall set it in order from evening to morning…” What should they set it order? The light, the Ner Tamid. That same eternal light which must remain kindled “from evening to morning before the Almighty; an everlasting statute unto the generations of the children of Israel.” This is where the previous chapter ends and the new one begins.

First of all let’s see what we’re dealing with here. The section refers to the lights of the Menorah. You must take “clear olive oil pressed for the light” – apparently an indication of the oil’s appearance. It must be made from olives, it must be pure, it must be pressed and it must be suitable for lighting. This oil is not the same as the oil used for the sacrifices, which is apparently of a lesser quality and has its own set of rules. The oil under discussion is used for the Ner Tamid, which is situated “in the Tabernacle, outside the partition which is before the Testimony.” And who is appointed to tend the lamp? Not Moses, but Aaron and his sons. “…from evening to morning before the Almighty; an everlasting statute unto the generations of the children of Israel.”

All of this is apparent from the first two verses, but the real difficulty lies in the fact that, first of all, this topic does not belong in the section concerning the vessels of the Tabernacle. It belongs, rather, with the use to which they are put. It belongs with the work of the priests. It really belongs in either Vayikra or Bamidbar, where we find an entire parasha dealing with the kindling of the seven candles. Why is it here? Parashat Terumah does not deal with the purpose and functions of the vessels. So in fact, the subject of the lights doesn’t belong in this parasha. Furthermore, this section appears in its entirety, unchanged, elsewhere in the Torah – for example, Chapter 24 in Vayikra: “And God spoke to Moses saying: Command the children of Israel, that they bring unto you pure olive oil pressed for the light, to cause the lamps to burn continually. Outside the partition of the Testimony, in the Tabernacle of the congregation, shall Aaron order it from the evening unto the morning before the Lord continually, it shall be a statute forever in your generations.” Almost word for word, with no additions. There is nothing new here, so why does it appear again? Why does it appear for the first time in the section on the construction of the Tabernacle? And why does it reappear, word for word, in Vayikra?

Rashi comments in Vayikra as follows: “Command (‘tzav’) the children of Israel – this is the section containing the commandment concerning the lamps, while in the section beginning with Tezaveh it is only mentioned for the sake of giving an orderly account of the work of the Tabernacle, to explain the use of the Menorah – for this is what these words ‘ve’atah tezaveh’ imply, that you will at some future time instruct the children of Israel about this.” This is an excellent Rashi commentary for Parashat Emor in Vayikra, but for our purposes, it merely complicates things further. What is Rashi saying here? He’s saying ‘this does not really pertain to anything in this section, it refers to some future time.’ Well, if all the commandments handed down by Moses were mentioned ahead of time, we would have ended up with precisely ten books of Moses! Rashi says that the oil is mentioned to indicate the purpose of the Menorah. If so, why wasn’t the purpose of each vessel listed in turn, thus eliminating the need for the entire Sefer Vayikra? The whole section is strange – why was it necessary to repeat it word for word? Rashi says that the difference between ‘tzav’ and ‘tezaveh’ is as follows: ‘tzav’ denotes the real passage, in Sefer Vayikra, unlike ‘tezaveh.’ Another commentator has another, related question, which I’ll come to in a minute. The text reads “…that they bring unto you pure olive oil…” – who is the ‘you’ referred to here? I came across one explanation which says ‘for when it is needed. Keep it with you in the meantime.’ Store it in your ‘boidem’ until we finally reach Vayikra. That’s all very well, and it serves as a fine explanation for the passage in Sefer Shemot, but the problem is that ‘you’ also appears in Sefer Vayikra – but that’s another problem!

Let’s go back to the two verses and examine their meaning. “Ve’ata tezaveh” – “And you shall command” - Rashi interprets this to mean sometime in the future. Well and good! “… the children of Israel, that they bring you clear olive oil.” This differs from the usual form of address – normally we read ‘And you shall make… an ark of cedar wood; And you shall make… a table; And you shall make… a Menorah.’ But here we have ‘that they bring you.’ Why? This form of address only appears once again in the whole Torah, in the section on the red heifer. There we read: “And God spoke to Moses and to Aaron saying: This is the statute of the Torah which God commands, saying, speak to the children of Israel that they bring you a pure red heifer.” In this instance, it is also clear that Moses will not carry out the injunction, because it continues: “and you shall give it to Elazar the priest.” So why is the reference to ‘you’? Rashi sees fit to provide the following explanation: “It will always be called by your name – the heifer that Moses made in the wilderness.” I do not know exactly why it should be called by your name, but there are already a lot of things we do know. We know that nobody, apart from Moses, understands the reasons for the red heifer. On the other hand, the matter of the oil and the lamps was a straightforward task. It was the duty of the priests to tend the lamps. The lamps burned throughout the night, from evening to morning. Many of the tasks in the Tabernacle were carried out by the priests and not by Moses. The mitzva of the red heifer was unusual in that nobody knows its reason, although we know that its purpose was to remove the impurity incurred by death – the greatest impurity of all. But the constant lighting of the lamps? And what’s with the ‘you’?

Our sages say (Sifri, Parshat Hukat): “And they shall bring you - they shall bring it to you, and you will be in charge of it” – Moses will be directly responsible for everything pertaining to the red heifer. The Midrash says: “How do we know that Moses was not only in charge of the red heifer but also responsible for the oil?” - especially since these two matters are so disparate - “Because it says ‘they shall bring unto you pure olive oil’. How do we know that you will be responsible through the generations? Because it says that you will command (for the future) the children of Israel.”

The entire passage is difficult – both by virtue of its specific location and the issue it deals with. Apparently it is unique, because the important thing to remember before we start to examine it in depth is that it is found at the end of the work of the Mishkan, followed immediately by the description of the priestly raiment. In other words, the item that concludes the section on the Tabernacle and its vessels is the commandment concerning clear olive oil pressed for the light, as Rashi says, which was required for the work of the Mishkan. In other words, you apparently cannot understand the work of the Tabernacle unless I explain this unusual section, which doesn’t belong here in the first place. Why is it here? What is its purpose? It doesn’t belong with the vessels but with the duties of the Tabernacle. I want to read the Rashi once more, because it is very important: “Command (‘tzav’) the children of Israel – this is the section containing the commandment concerning the lamps, while in the section beginning with Tezaveh it is only mentioned for the sake of giving an orderly account of the work of the Tabernacle, to explain the use of the Menorah.” This is important, although it does not appear in connection with any other vessel. It signs off, as it were, all the different duties of the Tabernacle.

I want to begin with “that they bring you”, because even before we begin, we sense that in the section on the Tabernacle Moses is merely conveying a message. He is not in charge here. He is not the one who builds the Tabernacle. He is familiar with its design, but others are responsible for its construction – Bezalel and Oholiav. Neither will Moses carry out any duties in the Tabernacle. He will not tend the lamps or light the Menorah. All this will be done by others. And yet, despite this, he has a special interest in the matter of the oil, he is responsible. It’s a strange task – Moshe Rabbenu in charge of the oil for the Menorah. I don’t yet understand its importance or why this is the final topic concerning the Tabernacle and its duties.

I want to discuss this matter of the pure olive oil in order to comprehend Moses’ position and perhaps through this we can answer our other questions. In Midrash Rabbah our sages bring an interesting Midrash in three parts, none of which relate to our questions. It concerns the olive oil and the olive. I hope, by examining this Midrash, to shed some light on our topic. Our Parasha opens with the words “And you shall command”. The Midrash Rabba says “As the verse in Jeremiah reads: ‘The Lord called your name, a green olive tree, fair with good fruit’.” This is a fine verse, it even sounds pleasant and restful, but it appears in a particularly negative context, in connection with the destruction of the Temple. Jeremiah is here describing the tension between the Almighty and the people of Israel, when He decided upon the hurban, the destruction. “What has my beloved to do in my house?” asks the Prophet. This phrase, too, is usually indicative of a harmonious atmosphere, but its source is once again the destruction of the Temple. The ‘beloved’ is the nation, and the question asked here is: What do you seek in the Temple? The verse continues: “She has wrought lewdness with many, and the holy flesh is passed from you. When you do evil, then you rejoice.” Why did the nation behave with lewdness in the Temple? All the sacrifices will be removed, the Lord will end them, because Jerusalem rejoices in behaving wickedly. The tie between us has been severed. In the midst of this harsh description comes the phrase which we are interested in right now – “the Lord called your name, a green olive tree, fair with good fruit”. The children of Israel are likened to an olive tree, and the Prophet now uses the olive to describe the hurban – “with the noise of a great tumult He has kindled fire upon it, and its branches are broken”.

Our sages use this verse to try and understand the concept of the pure olive oil, and in fact the comparison sheds a great deal of light on the entire prophecy. God compares Israel to an olive tree. He speaks of the ‘green olive tree’, which reminds us of the pure olive oil that always burned in the Temple. That same oil, that same olive will now be put to different use, kindling the flames of destruction. The olive serves an interesting purpose here – it symbolizes the greatness of Israel, which is how the sages begin the Midrash: “Israel were specifically compared to this particular olive, but there are many other fine and praiseworthy trees to which they have been compared. They have also been likened to the grape and the fig, the date and the cedar, to the nut and to grains. Yet in Jeremiah it is written “a green olive tree, fair with good fruit.” Why does Jeremiah use this comparison? It is important to understand the full significance of this question. Why is Israel compared to an olive tree particularly in this context, in connection with the torching of the Temple, with the destruction, when the people of Israel have sunk to the lowest depths of degradation?

They provide three answers: “Even while the olive is still on the tree it is gathered” – olives are harvested from the tree before they fall to the ground – “they are removed from the tree and beaten. Then they are taken to the olive press and ground, then they are tightly bound and pressed with heavy stones. This is how the oil is obtained. So it is with Israel. They are beaten and forced from place to place and bound and oppressed with yokes and surrounded with taskmasters until finally they repent and the Almighty answers them, as it is written, ‘and the children of Israel groaned from the labor and their supplication arose’ and also, ‘when you are in distress and all these things come upon you’, ‘for your Lord is a merciful God’ then you will be ‘a green olive tree, fair with good fruit’. This imagery represents the process by which the olive is transformed into oil. “And another thing: Why did Jeremiah liken our fathers to oil? All other fluids can be mixed together, but oil does not mix, it always stands apart. So it is with Israel. They do not mingle with idol worshippers, as it is said ‘you shall not marry them’. Another thing: all other fluids can be mixed so that he who mixes them does not know which is at the bottom and which is on the top, but even if you mix oil with all the other fluids in the world it will always remain on top. So it is with our fathers, when they were doing the will of the Almighty they remained above the worshippers of idols. As it is said, ‘and the Lord your God will place you above’ so that you will be ‘a green olive tree, fair with good fruit.”

The Midrash does a fine job of describing the concept of pure olive oil. Jeremiah’s use of this imagery is very interesting in this context. The idol worshippers, humiliating, beating and degrading the Jewish people, vividly call to mind the situation in which Jeremiah describes the Jewish people, the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple. The more the olive is beaten and crushed, the longer it takes, the purer is the end result, the more refined is the olive oil. This is a good illustration of the verse, but it doesn’t really answer our purposes. Nevertheless, I will dwell on it a little longer. Precisely at that most difficult hour described by the Prophet, he is in effect saying that it is impossible to entirely eradicate the olive oil. The olive is crushed, but in the end, it produces oil. This is the final scene, according to Jeremiah, ‘He has kindled a fire upon it, and the branches are broken’ – but not the roots! This is a contradiction which can be said to describe our history, which is both tragic and magnificent at the same time. The more you beat us, the more you crush us, the purer will be the end result. We have often used this comparison for favorable purposes, says Jeremiah, but now I see the flames, I see the destruction, and I see the olive oil that is destined to kindle an eternal light from this place for the entire world. In this place I see how from that same oil, that same flame, all those other things have emerged.

Moses seeks to be responsible for the oil – the oil which represents the tasks carried out in the Tabernacle. We asked why those specific tasks are mentioned here. Why was the task of lighting the Menorah singled out of all other duties? The oil refers to a task which is carried out every night. There are, of course, certain sacrifices which were offered every day, but the only duty which was carried out every night from evening to morning was that of the lamps. The olive oil used for kindling the lamps was apparently destined to be maintained by the power of Moses. The rest of the Tabernacle was under the jurisdiction of Aaron and Bezalel. Many of the children of Israel would have duties, but the duty of Moses was the Torah. All other duties are carried out at appointed times. Sometimes there were priestly functions to be performed because there was a Temple and all the duties connected thereto. Sometimes there were no priestly duties to perform. Sometimes there was a king, fulfilling kingly functions, and sometimes there was a period of exile and no king. But there is one function which you maintain, and that is the root, the Torah. Even when Israel is in exile, even when they are far away, even when they are as far removed as it is possible to be, this light accompanies them at all times. Even if Israel is at its lowest depths, at rock bottom, they never depart from the halacha. Before we complete the chapter on the duties of the Tabernacle Moses must be told that despite the fact that he will yet command the children of Israel concerning many laws and precepts, one particular one must already be clarified before we go on to the subject of the priestly raiment – one duty yet remains with you!

“Ve’ata Tezaveh” – And you shall command – you will in the future give the children of Israel many precepts. It is possible that there are many people who are either suited or unsuited for every other position and task, but everybody is linked to the light of Torah. “They shall bring you clear olive oil pressed for the light” – you are in charge of this oil. Moses is commanded to be responsible for two things – the red heifer and the olive oil. The red heifer purifies from death. Only a red heifer that is completely flawless, without blemish, that has never borne a yoke, can remove the worst of all impurities - that imparted by contact with a dead body, so that one so defiled can return to take his place among the living. Death occurs in our world in consequence of the original sin. As soon as man is cut off from his roots death becomes a reality. Only Moses can be in charge of the red heifer, and similarly, only Moses can be responsible for the pure olive oil that was supposed to burn continuously. When the Prophet brings word of the imminent destruction of the Temple he sees Nebuchadnezzar enter the holy portals and watches as the lamp is extinguished. The leaves are broken but the root cannot be touched.

The following midrash describes the oil: “God said to Israel, so long as the Holy Temple remains standing and Israel offers sacrifices their sins are pardoned. But after the Temple is destroyed no sacrifices remain other than the Torah, as the Prophet said, ‘Take with you words and return unto the Lord’ for the words of the Torah are likened to the sacrifices. Food is sacrificed upon the altar, as it is said, ‘My food which is presented unto Me for offerings made by fire, of a sweet savor unto Me, and it is written ‘and you shall set upon the table show-bread before Me always’. Torah is compared to bread...” and now comes the most important part, for our purposes: “At all times they brought oil for the Menorah, ‘that they bring to you olive oil’. The Torah is compared to oil, as it is said ‘let thy garments always be white and let thy head lack not oil.” The motif of olive oil is the constancy of the light. This constancy pertains to something very deep which this parashah comes to teach us.

The Sfat Emet touches on this: “It comes to teach us that even when the children of Israel are at their lowest ebb, the light of Torah can be found hidden within them, but it requires effort to find this inner attribute.” This is wonderful imagery - the effort can be a positive thing, achieved through beating or pressing, which is not painful because the process is similar to that which produces pure oil. The effort may also be the result of beating by one’s enemies, but since ‘the Lord called your name, a green olive tree, fair with good fruit’ I am obligated to ensure that my oil will be seen in the world. If I do not ensure it, someone else will, but in the end, the pure oil will definitely be seen. Especially in those places where I am at my lowest ebb, where there is no priesthood, no kingship, no crown - especially there you will find that permanence, that constancy, that continuity. This is what Moses reveals to us, only he can reveal it. The Sfat Emet now goes on to speak of Moses: “And so, if they have several levels, one above the other,” - priesthood, kingship - “this level is always to be found among them.” I am not referring here to specific levels of Torah learning, but the actual connection between Israel and the Torah, and the connection between the Torah and Israel. “Jeremiah spoke of this - even when they were at their lowest, they were as a green olive tree...”

The Sfat Emet is now touching on our subject - how is it connected to pure olive oil? We are acquainted with the well known dispute whether the Tabernacle and its commandments occured before or after the sin of the golden calf. The Sfat Emet is of the opinion that it comes after the golden calf. He says as follows: “Even after the sin (of the golden calf) when the children of Israel were at their lowest level, the Almighty showed Moses that a hidden light is to be found within them.” This is the essence of the conversation between Moses and the Almighty after the sin. The Holy One said to Moses, “Let Me destroy them, and I will make of you a mighty nation, greater and mightier than they.” Moses replied, “Ribono Shel Olam, Remember Your servants Abraham, Isaac and Israel to whom You swore in Your name”. In effect, he says to God, this won’t work - I understand the snare You are placing before me, but it’s not going to happen. I’m not the people of Israel, I can be finite, I can come to an end, but the people of Israel cannot end. I am Moses, but the people of Israel are the children of Abraham, of Isaac and of Israel. The root continues to exist.”

We once referred to a beautiful midrash on the verses “And Zion said, God has left me, the Lord has forgotten me” - thus speaks the Congregation of Israel in the haftaroth of consolation,. ‘Can a woman forget her child, will she not have mercy on the child of her womb? Even if she will forget them, I will not forget you.” We recall the midrash where the people of Israel say - the Almighty has forgotten us. God replies - how can you say such a thing? There is no forgetfulness before Me. The congregation of Israel responds - Lord of the Universe, if there is no forgetfulness before the seat of Your glory, it’s not so good, because there are some things that we would prefer for you to forget. For example, the sin of the golden calf, it would be better for you to forget that day, when we said “these are your gods, O Israel”. The Almighty replies - I’m prepared to forget that. Israel then says - In that case, there is forgetfulness before Your seat of Glory, but that’s not so good either, because maybe You’ll forget not only the golden calf but also some good things, such as the Assembly at Mount Sinai. The Almighty replies - these will be forgotten but I will never forget you.

The Sfat Emet addresses this last sentence. The Congregation of Israel asks the Almighty - what is the root and what is transient? The worst sin of all, the sin of the golden calf, that can be compared to a bride who conducts herself with lewdness under the bridal canopy, even the sin of the golden calf at the foot of Mount Sinai is not of the essence, ‘even these will be forgotten’. But “I” cannot continue to exist without you, so even as I live and exist for ever, for eternity, so the nation of Israel will endure for ever.

The Almighty then addresses Moses, says the Sfat Emet - immediately following the sin of the golden calf: “Even after the sin (of the golden calf) when the children of Israel were at their lowest level, the Almighty showed Moses that a hidden light is to be found within them. And He said, And you shall command that they shall bring you… because Moses was entirely free of sin.” He was the only Jew who was nowhere near the scene. Joshua was there, so was Aaron and Hur, but Moshe Rabenu was not - he is the root of all. “Since he was not at all connected with the sin, he was the head and the root of all Israel, and therefore he had the power to make them once again cleave to the root. The whole essence of Moses was this, “And they shall bring you pure olive oil to cause a lamp to burn continually.”

Our sages say “he who sees olive oil in a dream shall look to the light of Torah, as it is said, ‘they shall bring you pure olive oil’. It doesn’t say he should look to the Torah. If one sees olive oil in a dream it’s doesn’t exempt him from his day’s quota of study. He shall look to the LIGHT of the Torah. The light of the Torah is the root.

There are many who did not grasp this matter of the root. One such was Haman. The gemara says that Haman cast lots and they fell on Adar. He was delighted because, he said, the lot had fallen on the month when Moses died. Haman, the great “talmid chacham”! This is the beginning of a very strange midrash, but the end is stranger still. Haman was not aware that Moses did not only die on the seventh of Adar but he was also born on the same day. That’s why Haman was out of luck. This is exceedingly strange - if Moses had not been born on the seventh of Adar would Haman have fared any better? What does it mean? Haman is Amalek, he casts lots, but he has no practical reason to fight Israel. From a geographical point of view, Israel holds no interest for him. Israel is not a neighboring country – it is not Sichon, Moab, Canaan… Amalek’s onslaughts on Israel are always unprovoked. They have only one purpose – to cut down Israel at the root, to cause them to stop fearing God. That’s why he tries to persuade them that the Exodus and the parting of the Red Sea were really no big deal, nothing to make a fuss about. In this way he hopes to separate the children of Israel from their roots.

This is why Amalek must fight differently from other nations. This is why Moses tells Joshua Ben Nun to go out and fight Amalek, “You must weaken Amalek and his nation by the sword, but tomorrow I will stand on top of the hill… and when Moses raised his hands Israel prevailed, but when he lowered his hands Amalek prevailed.” ‘Now the hands of Moses did not decide the battle, but when Israel looked upward they prevailed, and when they did not do so, they fell.” Amalek’s task was to ascertain our connection, our link with our root, by battering and pressing upon Israel, while the task of Moses was to reveal, precisely through this beating, that the root cannot be harmed. Haman seeks to do exactly the same thing, he wants “to destroy all the Jews, young and old, children and women, in one day.” Mordechai doesn’t concern him, he has no interest in destroying any individual, because his aim is to cut down the root itself. Amalek is always casting lots, testing destiny, trying to cut down the root. Haman realized that his lot had fallen upon the month of Moses’ death, that same Moses who constantly restored Israel to its root. He didn’t know that Moses was born in the same month, on the same day. He didn’t die, he was born and then he died, he died and was born – so it continues – “And no man knows the place of his burial unto this very day”…

Do you know why Moses was the most humble man on earth? Because he is the root, and the deeper the root goes, the less of it can be seen. But the higher it grows, the easier it is to cut it down. Everything can be cut down occasionally – the priesthood, the monarchy, but never the root. This is why Moses was the humblest man on earth – because he was really below the earth. He wasn’t interested in anything upon the earth. This is the reason why this Parasha, Tezaveh, which entirely concerns Moses, the first and only time that his name is not mentioned at all, always occurs on the seventh of Adar. He is the root, there is no need for him to appear. This is not a very popular rule for leadership, but it is very interesting. Apparently, whatever appears too much upon the ground is really a branch, it is transient. The less it appears, the more it is part of the root.

And so – the Menorah, the table, the acacia wood, the Ark, all the vessels and all the garments – they were all the work of Aaron, Bezalel and Oholiav. But the red heifer that comes to remind us that we are destined to return to a world where there is no death, and the everyday oil that reminds us that Israel is connected to the light of Torah, these things were in the custody of Moses. “That they bring YOU a red heifer without spot…” and “… to bring YOU clear olive oil pressed for the light, to set up the lamp continually.” The pressed olive oil, without waste, without shell, skin or stone – humble, the humblest man upon earth. In all other matters you may have a conflict of interests or mixed interests – in the priesthood, for example, or in the monarchy, the incumbent has a vested interest in training his son to take over his position. With the study of Torah, however, this is not the case. There is no difference between your link with the Torah, your son’s connection, and that of anyone else. There is no shell or waste – all is like clear olive oil, pressed for the light.

Rashi says “clear olive oil, pressed for the lamp” is specifically to be used for lighting the Menorah. It is not necessary to use such pure oil for the sacrifices, which are generally intended to atone for transgressions. The lamp, however, comes to reveal that light - “he who sees olive oil in a dream, should look upon the light of Torah” – which is quintessentially Moses. And so, when Moses is revealed in his glory in his parashah – Tezaveh – his name doesn’t appear. And again, when he appears in the Pesach Haggadah – once again, he does not appear by name. The leader doesn’t need to be named because he is the root of the exodus from Egypt. He is the root. When you connect to him you are connected to the exodus in every generation, as if you yourself are now departing from Egypt.

The Sfat Emet concludes: ““Even after the sin (of the golden calf) when the children of Israel were at their lowest level, the Almighty showed Moses that a hidden light is to be found within them. And He said, ‘And you shall command’ – because Moses was entirely free of sin. He was the head and the root of Israel. Therefore he had the power to restore and connect them with the root, as we saw above. This was all due to the negation of the root, for it is known that every person of Israel has a good soul, upon which a bad soul attaches itself. As the result of lowering and sinking this outer shell becomes thicker, and the bad soul prevails upon the good soul.” The root can only be revealed, every time, by the one who is not connected to any changeable thing. He has no link with the monarchy, the priesthood, or any other impermanence. He sees how the olive is beaten and pressed and what is endures until finally it yields pure oil.

Anything that would endure must be connected to the root. Especially in a world where so many great systems totter and crash, anything that endures has special force and power, it is pure and lasting. Perhaps this is the reason why the greatest pain is caused when the Torah or those who carry it do not appear in their best light, in complete purity. Because when this happens, we do not see a system that may crash but can be restored, but rather something which eternally attaches us to the root, irrespective of changing realities. If ever anything could express the eternity of Israel in its deepest possible form, it would be the idea that there was never an evening, never a morning, when oil was not brought to the Menorah, as the midrash says. The thought that those who bear the Torah are the ones who continue and perpetuate the root, this is the concluding thought for the tasks of the Tabernacle. It is only with this strength and power that we can begin to address ourselves to the priestly raiment.

When I was thinking about the oil it occurred to me that perhaps this is what Moses found so difficult to understand regarding the construction of the Menorah: “This was the work of the candlestick, it was of beaten gold.” Our sages say that Moses had difficulty constructing the Menorah. Everyone asks the same question – is the difficulty technical or is it something else? His problem was with the lamp that had to be lit at all times. Our sages describe a discussion between several Tannaim. One says that there is one great rule in the Torah, as Rabbi Akiva said, “You should love your neighbor as yourself.” We’re all familiar with this. Another Tanna claims that there is a greater precept that this, “Hear O Israel the Lord our God the Lord is One”. Another one claims that the greatest of all is the unity of God in the world. Another one favors unity among mankind. Rabbi Shimon ben Pazi, however, claims another law that supersedes all of these, and that is, “one lamb you shall offer in the morning and the other lamb you shall offer in the evening.” The midrash concludes with the words, “I have not found the source for this midrash.” In other words, it was cited by no less that the Ein Ya’akov, who remarks that he quoted it from memory.

What most concerns us here is that ben Pazi claims that the most important precept of all is the perpetuity of ideology. In other words, what matters is to continue, morning and evening, ALWAYS! Continuity and permanence are not only characteristics of personality. They are indications of the strength of the connection with the root. Whatever concerns the root itself cannot cease. Two verses after the beginning of the Parasha Moses will instruct the people concerning the priestly garments. He has just concluded the section on the Tabernacle, the mishkan. It is important to remember, however, that there may not always be a mishkan. This is why the Almighty tells Moses that “they shall bring you clear olive oil…” The pure olive oil will never cease to exist. It is not dependent on the priesthood, the high priesthood, the altar, or the monarchy. This oil will be used “to tend the lamps ALWAYS, to light an everlasting lamp every night from evening to morning … an everlasting statute unto the generations…”

When Jeremiah needs to illustrate this perpetuity, this continuity, he reaches out to the nation at this hour in particular, when all is being destroyed, and he says, in effect: “I see the flames. They were kindled by that oil, that olive oil which continues to burn, but it is only burning the branches. If this flame, which burns at present, rather than illuminating – if this flame is attached to its root, the root cannot be eradicated.”

Only after Moses has touched the heart of the matter, once he has reached the core, can we go further: “Let Aaron your brother approach you…” and we can continue to learn about the priestly raiment.