Parashat Tzav/Shabbat HaGadol
March 28, 2023
Rabbi Abby Sosland, Morah Ruchanit (Spiritual Advisor) and Talmud Department Chair
Wouldn’t it be great if we could do our Pesach cleaning once and be done with it for a lifetime?
Perhaps the hardest thing about cleaning is the understanding that we’ll just have to do it again tomorrow. Dust the house? A new layer of dust will appear in an hour! Do the laundry? The clothes will just get dirty again. Unfortunately, yesterday’s shower won’t keep us clean today. Most simple tasks have to be done again and again. The work of the world must be done on repeat, day in and day out.
This, I believe, is the message of the Trumat Hadeshen, the daily removal of ashes that was done in the Mishkan, in the Tabernacle sacrificial service.
Perhaps the hardest thing about cleaning is the understanding that we’ll just have to do it again tomorrow. Dust the house? A new layer of dust will appear in an hour! Do the laundry? The clothes will just get dirty again. Unfortunately, yesterday’s shower won’t keep us clean today. Most simple tasks have to be done again and again. The work of the world must be done on repeat, day in and day out.
This, I believe, is the message of the Trumat Hadeshen, the daily removal of ashes that was done in the Mishkan, in the Tabernacle sacrificial service.
Vayikra 6: 3-4
וְלָבַ֨שׁ הַכֹּהֵ֜ן מִדּ֣וֹ בַ֗ד וּמִֽכְנְסֵי־בַד֮ יִלְבַּ֣שׁ עַל־בְּשָׂרוֹ֒ וְהֵרִ֣ים אֶת־הַדֶּ֗שֶׁן אֲשֶׁ֨ר תֹּאכַ֥ל הָאֵ֛שׁ אֶת־הָעֹלָ֖ה עַל־הַמִּזְבֵּ֑חַ
וְשָׂמ֕וֹ אֵ֖צֶל הַמִּזְבֵּֽחַ׃
The priest shall dress in linen raiment, with linen breeches next to his body; and he shall take up the ashes to which the fire has reduced the burnt offering on the altar and place them beside the altar.
וְשָׂמ֕וֹ אֵ֖צֶל הַמִּזְבֵּֽחַ׃
The priest shall dress in linen raiment, with linen breeches next to his body; and he shall take up the ashes to which the fire has reduced the burnt offering on the altar and place them beside the altar.
וּפָשַׁט֙ אֶת־בְּגָדָ֔יו וְלָבַ֖שׁ בְּגָדִ֣ים אֲחֵרִ֑ים וְהוֹצִ֤יא אֶת־הַדֶּ֙שֶׁן֙ אֶל־מִח֣וּץ לַֽמַּחֲנֶ֔ה אֶל־מָק֖וֹם טָהֽוֹר׃
He shall then take off his vestments and put on other vestments, and carry the ashes outside the camp to a pure place.
He shall then take off his vestments and put on other vestments, and carry the ashes outside the camp to a pure place.
It was the Kohen’s job to lift up the ashes that had been created by the daily Tamid offering, change clothes, and take the ashes outside of the camp. To be sure, this was not the most glamorous of jobs. Of course, it must have been thrilling to offer up sacrifices, to light the fire, to lead the cultic rituals, but the Torah reminds us here that the Kohen also had to do the dirty work, to clean out the ashes each day, and to be involved with the most mundane aspect of the sacrificial service.
Nineteenth-century German Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch understood the Trumat Hadeshen, the lifting up of the ashes, as a daily spiritual practice: “Each and every day our obligation to observe is renewed, and we wish for it to remain new in our eyes, as if we have never done these acts before . . . Yesterday’s ashes need to be cleaned out if we are to start the new day renewed.”
Doing the act of Trumat Hadeshen kept the Kohen humble; in addition to the glory of the sacrifices, he needed to do the dirty work and clean up the ashes, as well. Maybe it can be a model for our own lives, too. The laundry will always pile up, and there will always be daily residue. Still, starting fresh and cleaning out yesterday’s dust can offer us renewed energy for the spiritual and practical work of the world. May each of us have a restorative, residue-free holiday. Chag Kasher V’Sameach!
In loving memory of Rabbi Henry Sosland, z”l on the occasion of his fourth yahrzeit
Doing the act of Trumat Hadeshen kept the Kohen humble; in addition to the glory of the sacrifices, he needed to do the dirty work and clean up the ashes, as well. Maybe it can be a model for our own lives, too. The laundry will always pile up, and there will always be daily residue. Still, starting fresh and cleaning out yesterday’s dust can offer us renewed energy for the spiritual and practical work of the world. May each of us have a restorative, residue-free holiday. Chag Kasher V’Sameach!
In loving memory of Rabbi Henry Sosland, z”l on the occasion of his fourth yahrzeit