Moses' name does not appear in Parshat Tetzaveh. Rabbi Levi Yitzchak of Berditchev uses this conspicuous absence to explore a question about wisdom, unity, and the priestly garments.
"A wise son brings joy to his father" (Proverbs 10:1). What is this wisdom? Job answers: "The awe of God, that is wisdom" (Job 28:28). When a person looks at the world and realizes their complete powerlessness, when they see that they owe their very existence to the Creator, awe overwhelms them. That awe is wisdom.
Wisdom goes further. God created phenomena that are direct opposites: fire and water, night and day, wind and earth. A deeper look reveals that even these opposites share a common denominator. They all emerged from the will of a single Creator. Recognizing this unity beneath apparent opposition is the highest wisdom, and it inspires the realization that all creatures should perceive themselves as part of one great whole.
The archangel Michael is made of snow. The archangel Gabriel is made of fire. But neither harms the other (Bamidbar Rabbah 12:7). In the heavenly realms, the peace between opposites is already achieved. On earth, we struggle to replicate it.
The priestly garments were instruments of this unification. Each tzaddik (a righteous person) has a unique "color" or style of serving God. Abraham's service was white, the color of chesed (חסד), lovingkindness. Isaac's was red, the color of gevurah (גבורה), strength. The High Priest's garments combined all colors and all modes of service into a single unified whole, a wearable Torah. When the High Priest donned these garments, he embodied the principle that opposites can coexist in the service of the one God.
Moses' name is absent from this portion because the garments represent a form of divine service that transcends any individual, even Moses. The garments atone for the entire nation, weaving together every soul's unique color into a single priestly garment of atonement.
Let us first deal with a question raised by most commentators, i.e. the reason why Moses’ name has not been mentioned in this portion. In Proverbs 10,1 we read בן חכם ישמח אב, “a wise son brings joy to his father.” What precisely is this “wisdom” Solomon speaks of in that verse? Furthermore, what is the nature of “wisdom” that Job speaks of in Job 28,28 where we read הן יראת א-דוני היא חכמה, “here the awe of G’d is wisdom!”We must remember that the Creator created all the phenomena in all the parts of His universe, and that when His creatures look at the world and realize that they themselves are totally powerless, they look at their own “lives” and are overcome by a feeling of awe for this Creator.They also realize that the Creator in His wisdom has created phenomena that are direct opposites of one another such as fire and water, night and day, wind (air) and earth. When reflecting on this they realize that even these opposites possess a common denominator, they emerged into existence as an expression of the will of the One and only Creator. It follows that they should perceive themselves as being part of one great whole.The word הן as explained by Rashi on Genesis 3,22 refers to man in the lower universe being as unique as G’d is unique in the higher universe. In Greek the word for “one, uniformity,” is also “hina” (compare ערוך). Unity in our world is the result of the recognition that we all share the same root. The fear inspired by this realization inspires unity, or at least should inspire unity, the common goal of all of G’d’s creatures being to serve the Creator. The well known verse, (Job 25,2):עושה שלום במרומיו הוא יעשה שלום עלינו וגו', “He who makes peace in His lofty heights may He also make peace among us, etc.;” alludes to the peace in the higher worlds being the result of the creatures in that world having realized that they are all part of the same root, something that alas, we on earth have so far failed to realize, or at least we have failed to let our actions reflect that realization.Our sages (Bamidbar rabbah 12,7) when commenting on this verse says that the archangel Michael is made of snow whereas the archangel Gavriel is made of fire. In spite of this neither angel causes any harm to his colleague or celestial counterpart. This may also be viewed as the allusion of which the Talmud Taanit 11 speaks when discussing that during the days of the consecration of the Tabernacle when Moses performed the duties of the High Priest, what garments did he wear? After sending to Ginsak to make enquiries, Mar Ukva was told that Moses wore a white shirt while performing these duties, and that this shirt did not have a border at its lower edge. This comment implied that every tzaddik has his own individual style when serving his Creator. Each style is distinguished by a certain colour. Avraham wore a colour bordering on white, Yitzchok wore a colour bordering on green, whereas Yaakov wore a colour bordering on red. Both Moses and Aaron each wore colours that were unique to them. Similarly, every tzaddik wears a garment tailored to his specific measurements. When these tzaddikim look at the eyn sof, they divest themselves of all that marks them as distinct individuals. The Talmud saying that Moses wore white is an allusion to the eyn sof which is not distinguished by any specific colour, and therefore is perceived as “white,” i.e. as not claiming any specific distinction. All the scientists agree that “white” is not a colour, as it is able to accept any dye.The question regarding what garments Moses wore during the days when he performed the functions of the High Priest although he was not a priest, and therefore was not allowed to wear priestly garments, was therefore being interpreted by the Talmud as quite a legitimate question. The answer given reflects the fact that Moses was spiritually so far above the priests even, that his wearing white, i.e. something that lacked any aspect of ego, of individuality, is a great compliment to Moses. It would not have been appropriate to have mentioned his name, which is after all a reference to his individuality at this time when he was able to face the eyn sof without first having to divest himself of individuality. When the Talmud states that the white shirt worn by Moses during these seven days when he preformed the functions of the priests did not even have a visibly stitched edge at the bottom, this is another allusion to the absence of any sign by means of which it could be identified as his garment, i.e. reference to his individuality.There are tzaddikim who after reaching the level of complete self-negation and attachment to the eyn sof nonetheless revert to a degree of individuality. Moses was not this kind of a tzaddik. He maintained the level of self negation he had achieved, and that is what the Talmud in Baba Batra 25 has in mind when it advises: הרוצה להחכים ידרים, loosely translated as “he who wishes to acquire wisdom let him turn southward.” What is meant is that if someone has already progressed spiritually a great deal and he feels he wants to progress still further, in order to get a glimpse of the eyn sof, the closest it is possible for a creature to get to the essence of the Creator, he should strive further upward, the word דרום being understood as if it had been written ד'ר רו'ם "residing in lofty heights.” When we consider this we can also better understand Nachmanides who, when commenting on the making of the priestly garments in Parshat Pekudey, (chapter 39) draws our attention to the fact that whereas in connection with the execution of the orders to make these garments, the Torah repeatedly states at the end of dealing with a particular garment, כאשר צוה ה' את משה, “in accordance of how G’d had instructed Moses.” In Parshat Vayakehel, where the construction of the Tabernacle itself is reported, we do not find a comparable confirmation of “as G’d had commanded Moses,” at the end of each section. This may be an allusion that as far as the Tabernacle was concerned Moses was able to arrive at the precise details of the Tabernacle without having to be instructed by G’d in the details.The Zohar II 232 calls this uncanny ability of Moses as שכינה מדברת מתוך גרונו של משה, “the Sh’chinah was speaking from the throat of Moses.”While the Tabernacle represented the Jewish people, Moses, as its leader could “be on the same wavelength” as G’d, concerning it. Seeing that Moses was not a priest, he could not be expected to be on the same “wavelength” as the priests, so that he required to be instructed in the details of how and from what materials the priestly garments were to be made.Only after Moses had divested himself of all aspects of ego, individualism, was he able to know exactly how the priestly garments were to be made and from which materials. When the Creator spoke to him “mouth to mouth,” Moses was on that level of disembodied holiness.[The remarkable aspect of the author’s explanation of why Moses’ name was not mentioned in this portion is that it was not a rebuke by G’d for his having given G’d an “ultimatum” that unless He would forgive the sin of the golden calf Moses would want his name to be erased from the Torah, as most other commentators say. For our author, the absence of Moses’ name is a compliment, not a rebuke. Ed.] Exodus 27,20. “and you shall command the Children of Israel to take to you pure olive oil, etc.;” the expression ויקחו אליך instead of ויביאו אליך, “they shall bring to you,” or ויקחו לי “they shall take for Me,“ as at the beginning of Parshat T’rumah, is unusual, to say the least. The point is that the menorah together with all its details was part of a vision that Moses had been shown by G’d while he had been on the Mountain, just as he had been shown the other components of the Tabernacle there. Being shown all this by G’d had been an expression of G’d’s joy at the degree of awe and love for Him that Moses had achieved, a level of closeness to the Creator not achieved by any subsequent prophet. When Moses was instructed to tell the people to bring the pure oil for lighting the menorah “to you,” instead of “to Me,” [and he was instructed to write this down in the Torah, Ed.] this was to tell the reader to what exceptional spiritual heights Moses had risen. This is why the Torah testified after Moses’ death (Deuteronomy, 34,10) that no prophet who was as close to G’d as Moses ever arose after him in history. An alternate way of understanding the introductory words: ואתה תצוה את בני ישראל, “and you are to command the Children of Israel, etc.” When G’d told Moses in Exodus 3,10: לכה ואשלחך אל פרעה, “go and I will send you to Pharaoh,” the Ari z’al finds it strange that G’d had to spell out to Moses that He appointed him as His messenger. Every child reading this paragraph would have understood this without being told that Moses was the messenger. However, we have a rule that anything negative never originates directly from G’d. G’d does not even directly associate His holy name with something destructive, negative. It is even difficult for G’d to directly bring harm on those of His creatures who worship idols. Therefore, when the Torah introduces a chapter that introduces the harm that will befall Pharaoh and his people, G’d wishes to employ a “messenger” to be the harbinger of such news. The word לכה therefore is not to be understood as derived from לך, meaning: “please go,” but as derived from the word לך, “for you.” In other words, the primary purpose of Pharaoh’s punishment if and when it will occur, is “for your benefit,” it is not the destruction that is part of the Exodus which is G’d’s primary purpose in what will follow. The secondary meaning is that the destruction when it does occur, will be attributed to Moses who had warned Pharaoh about it, i.e. לכה, it will be perceived by him as originating with Moses. Moreover being punished by one of G’d’s creatures, Moses, instead of by the Creator Himself, is demeaning for a great King such as Pharaoh.The considerations that we discussed right now, help us explain a statement in the Talmud that in the distant future, the time of the Messiah, the entire Jewish nation will be worthy to perform the service in the Temple which at this time only the priests are worthy to perform. If G’d has difficulty in bringing harm on any of His creatures however much they may have deserved this, how much more so does He have reservations about initiating what may be perceived as harm for a great part of His people. When Moses is commanded to single out the priests for service in the Temple, the priestly garments, etc., this too He prefers to do through a messenger rather than to exclude the other 99% of the people from such a distinction Himself. Exodus 27;20 “they shall take to you pure oil of beaten olives for lighting;”we know that the evil urge is trying to seduce human beings by causing them to give in to lust and the desire aroused by what they see that appeals to them. It is his foremost desire to prevent man from carrying out the commandments of his Creator. What is the remedy that can stop the evil urge in his tracks? The remedy is for man to use logic. He should say to himself that if fulfilling his desire to satisfy his lust and cravings with merely physical objects, objects that satisfy only momentarily, how much more worthwhile is it for him to satisfy his ability to come closer to his Creator and to experience enduring satisfaction from the result?When a person applies this kind of reasoning and as a result eschews sin in favour of carrying out what he knows to be G’d’s will, even the evil he had had in mind originally becomes a כסא, “throne, supporting stool,” for the good he does. When G’d created evil [only in its most primitive stage, ברא, Ed.] in the first place, He did so in order to provide His creatures with this additional merit when he decides to carry out G’d’s will although he had been given another option. By creating evil, G’d had, so to speak, placed man at a distance from Him. When man has to cover this distance in order to approach G’d more closely, G’d derives far more satisfaction from man’s efforts to serve Him than He would if such “service” would be “natural.” Any תענוג, pleasurable experience, regardless if it is experienced in our spheres of the universe or in the celestial spheres, retains its flavour only when it is not a continuously, repetitive experience. When it is experienced at relatively infrequent intervals it is especially welcome as such. When G’d observes how man in the attempt to come closer to His essence, has to break through repeated obstacles, this is what pleases G’d.It is the tzaddik’s challenge to sublimate all those thoughts that could so easily have led him astray instead of confirming him in his pursuit of קרבות ה', close affinity to Hashem.It is altogether not surprising that in this quest, even the tzaddik from time to time is assaulted by what we would term “unworthy thoughts;” this happens in order to afford him an opportunity to refine and sublimate such thoughts when he stands in prayer before the Almighty. Another challenge facing the tzaddik is to try and elevate others, so that they too will come closer to their Creator. If he were to be concerned exclusively with purifying his own soul and personality, he would have left unused a channel that could provide G’d with pleasure, a serious deficiency [as we know from Avot 5,12 where people who give charity without endeavouring to involve others in the same mitzvah are not complimented for their charitable activities. Ed.] If and when the tzaddik engages in helping others to establish closer ties with their Creator, G’d’s pleasure of his service will keep increasing even though he has been serving G’d constantly, without interruption. When applied to the symbolism expressed by lighting the menorah and keeping it burning, the commandment of ואתה תצוה וגו', contains the challenge addressed to every true servant of the Lord to elevate both himself and his peers.In kabbalistic parlance every thought formulated, reflects the letters it contains if it were committed to paper or parchment. Alien thoughts, i.e. unworthy thoughts, are considered as “broken letters.” The word כתית, crushed, symbolizes such thoughts, and the function of the servant of G’d, primarily the priest representing the collective soul of the Jewish people, is to elevate, i.e. להעלות, to sublimate such unworthy thoughts so that they all point in the direction of the נר תמיד, “the eternal flame,” expressing the desire for communion with the Creator. That expression reflects the satisfaction, pleasure derived by the Creator from efforts by His people who crave His closeness. Exodus 28,2. “you are to make sacred garments for your brother Aaron, for dignity and adornment. Next you shall instruct all who are skilful and whom I have endowed with the gift of skill, to make Aaron’s vestments to sanctify him, etc.” Judging from the apparent repetition in these two verses, i.e. Moses was commanded to sanctify his brother Aaron, and then the craftsmen were commanded by Moses, that Aaron was to be attired in these vestments to be made in honour of G’d; apparently Aaron was to serve as a vestment for G’d, Who, when on earth, must garb Himself in a manner that prevents harm coming to the people among whom He “dwells.” We have a concept according to which the souls of the righteous serve as vessels harboring celestial attributes. This is the meaning of: ועשית בגדי קודש לאהרן אחיך, that Aaron’s soul was to serve as sacred vestments for celestial attributes. The words: לכבוד ולתפארת, refer to these celestial attributes of G’d. However, the people described as חכמי לב, “endowed with wisdom,” were employed to construct garments for Aaron’s body. This is why in this connection (verse 3) we have the word אהרן, whereas previously in verse 2 the Torah spoke of לאהרן, “for something that was part of Aaron,” referring to Aaron’s soul rather than to his body. Another approach to help us understand the line ועשית בגדי קודש לאהרן אחיך לכבוד ולתפארת: We know that of the twelve months of the year 6 months belong to the season known as “winter”, whereas the other 6 months are known as “summer.” The twelve months correspond to the 12 lunar cycles each of which is identified by star patterns described as מזלות, “constellation of stars in the sky.” Each month another one of these constellations carries out its assigned tasks. The twelve constellations may be summed up as 6 holy attributes, part of the mystical אור ישר ואור חוזר, “direct light emanating from the source, and reflected light carrying the spiritual input by the creatures who had encountered it. The six holy attributes are: 1) man’s love for his Creator, and his desire to serve Him out of love so as to provide Him with pleasure from His creatures. 2) The awe in which man holds G’d; his dread of transgressing rules that outlaw certain activities and defy His wishes. 3) the glory of G’d that man must experience when he sees how G’d “boasts” of man’s good deeds, compare Isaiah 49,3: עבדי אתה ישראל אשר בך אתפאר, “You are My servant Israel in whom I glory.” 4+5) the faith Israel displays. These are two virtues, even though they have a common heading. [The author had on a previous occasion distinguished between faith which is totally oblivious of any advantage one might personally gain from it, and faith which is tied to certainty that G’d will reward one tangibly. Ed.] 6) The attribute of negating self interest by linking oneself unreservedly to G’d and being completely content with whatever it is that He has in mind for him.The 12 constellations are represented in the gemstones of the breastplate of the High Priest where they symbolize the 12 tribes of the Jewish people, the holy nation.The month of Adar corresponds to the tribe of Joseph from whom 2 of the twelve tribes emerged. This is why when there is a need to insert an extra month in the calendar to compensate for the 11 days plus, that the lunar “year” is shorter than the solar year, this month appears in our calendar as both Adar I and Adar II. The appropriate zodiac sign for this month is therefore that of דגים, fish, which are a symbol of fertility as we know from Genesis 48,16 where Yaakov blessed Joseph by predicting that his sons’ offspring would be as numerous as that of fish. Another example of Joseph’s numerous offspring is alluded to in the words בן פרת יוסף “Joseph is a fruitful son.” Genesis 49,22. Just as fish are safe from the evil eye, seeing they are not visible on the earth’s surface, swimming beneath the surface of the oceans, so the Talmud in B’rachot 20 understands the words עלי עין, in the same verse as the protection afforded Joseph’s offspring from the potential damage from the evil eye of people envious of them.When the letters of the word דג, “fish” are inverted, the result is גד, a word related to מזל in the sense of good fortune. (compare Talmud Shabbat 67) There the sages accuse people who wish themselves “that their mazzal, גד (protective star), not be tired either by day of by night,” as uttering idolatrous phrases. In the case of Joseph, whose two sons were called מנשה and אפרים respectively, the former is an allusion to historically negative phenomena, whereas the word אפרים is symbolic of historically favourable occurrences. Joseph already presaged this when naming his sons (Genesis 41,51-52) when he saw in the birth of his first son a reminder of his years of suffering, whereas he predicted a better future as being associated with the birth of his second son. The month of Adar similarly symbolizes hard times for the Jewish people during the first half, until after the 14th when the nation during the reign of Ahasverus had been saved from Haman’s wicked plots.According to the Talmud Shabbat 104, where positioning of the letters and its symbolic significance is discussed, the symbolism of the letters of the Jewish calendar telling us something through the sequence in which they appear, our sages see in the sequence גד an abbreviation of the words גומל דלים, “G’d at work in reversing the fate of the poor, (Jews in exile)” The letter ד is understood to refer to the initial subjugation of the Jewish people, whereas the letter ג is understood as the subsequent turn for the better in the fortunes of this people. This is used as a reversal of the normal interpretation of such pairings of letters when the letter that is later in the alphabet appearing first, is considered as a bad omen. It was reserved for G’d to demonstrate that when He, as opposed to astrological factors, i.e. mazzal, is involved, He can reverse the predictions of the astrologers based on idolatry. Besides, we must never forget that even when G’d subjects us to harsh measures, the ultimate objective is to bring about our repentance and subsequent redemption. The Purim story is the best example of this, although it was unique in that not a hair of a single Jew was touched on that occasion, the disaster having been warded off by the people’s repentance in time. Exouds 28,5. “whereas they will take (receive) the gold, the blue wool, the purple wool, the crimson yarns and the fine linen.” Compare Rashi according to whom the subject of the word: והם, are the חכמי לב, people endowed with skill, who received the materials required from the Israelites who had donated it. Keeping all this in mind, even the reversal of the letters דג to read גד does not need to indicate something negative as it does elsewhere, but is an allusion to the well known concept of G’d sending the cure before He activates the disease, or expressed differently: גומל דלים “He renders good to the poor.” (in that order).We need to understand why the priestly vestments should have been constructed from public funds, seeing that although the priest would perform the service in the Tabernacle, presenting the offerings on behalf of the people, unless he “dressed himself” personally, indicating that he loved the people on behalf of whom he performed these services, he was not considered as having performed his duties. [According to the Zohar in Parshat Nasso, even nowadays when the priests have pronounced the blessing on the people, and the members of the congregation thank them for this, they do not thank the priests for the blessing, but for the love with which this blessing had been dispensed. This is why the benediction preceding the blessing mentions that it is to be performed with love, something that is unique in all such benedictions preceding fulfillment of a commandment. Ed.]G’d has demonstrated His love for the Jewish people when He chose them from among all the other nations to be His “firstborn” son. (Exodus 4,22) Seeing that G’d loves us, He must hate those who hate us. When He chose the priests for special status among the Israelites He did not thereby remove them from the people at large, but was at pains that this elevation was only within the beloved Jewish people, i.e. מתוך בני ישראל, as is clear from Exodus 28,1 as well as regarding the Levites themselves in Numbers 3,12. It is because He loved us collectively, that He appointed the priests to act as means to achieve atonement for our sins. Exodus 28,29. “and Aaron will carry the names of the tribes of the Israelites on his heart.”We need to examine why in this instance the names of the tribes of Israel were so important, when elsewhere it was always the names of the patriarchs Avraham, Yitzchok, and Yaakov that were important to be remembered.Although our sages point out that the letters of the names of the patriarchs were also represented on the breast plate, (compare Bamidbar rabbah 2,7 and Sh’mot rabbah 38,11) we do not find this spelled out in the text. The text only tells us that the letters of the names of the 12 tribes were engraved on the 12 jewels making up the breastplate.We have explained that Aaron was chosen as priest from amongst the Children of Israel, (28,10). We must assume that the selection of one out of many refers to the selection of an individual, seeing that he was especially beloved, and this implies normally that by comparison the community at large was relatively despised; in order to counter such an assumption, the Torah commanded that the names of all the tribes be inscribed on the breast plate to show clearly that G’d loved all of them. Exodus 29,9. “you shall ordain Aaron and his sons.” We know that in this lower world, better known as עולם הזה, “this world,” i.e. the world inhabited by mortal creatures, we cannot find absolute perfection, as every creature is tied to a greater or lesser degree to the need to satisfy physical requirements. It is also a fact that these “joys or satisfactions” our bodies derive from fulfilling their cravings never endure, and we always experience the lack of something. This is the basic difference between serving the Lord, and indulging one’s physical or erotic fantasies. David expressed this beautifully, when he said in psalms 34,11 ודורשי ה' לא יחסרו כל טוב, “but those who seek their satisfaction by seeking out G’d will not ever feel that something is missing.” The “good” they will experience will be felt to be absolute, enduring.The elite of our people who have succeeded in glimpsing the אין סוף with their mental eye will be rewarded by this feeling of having attained something sublime, complete.When the Torah instructs Moses to ordain Aaron, by using the expression: ומלאת, from the root מלא, “full, fill,” it conveys to Moses that Aaron will find total fulfillment in his role as High Priest. Also Aaron’s sons will feel this sense of fulfillment when carrying out their duties in the Tabernacle, an experience that cannot be compared to fulfilling one’s secular needs. When G’d tells Moses about this, it is because He wants him to know that he, Moses, will have a share in elevating both his brother and his nephews to such spiritual heights.Our author feels that the reason why the eight days of consecration were called שמונת ימי מלואים, was to symbolize that Aaron and his sons used these days to get familiar with this new level of serving the Lord, something they would not do ad hoc, in their spare time, so to speak, but something that henceforth would afford them a degree of satisfaction that is not to be found when devoting oneself to earthly concerns, however noble in intent and deed. During these days they would experience the meaning of G’d’s presence being among them on earth. Exodus 30,1. “you are to construct an altar for the burning of incense.” Nachmanides questions why mention of this altar has been left until this point, whereas all the other furnishings of the Tabernacle have been described in Parshat T’rumah., where we would have expected to find this paragraph also.I believe that at this point, after G’d (through Moses) had appointed Aaron and sons as priests, there might be a challenge to this appointment, as indeed we find later in Parshat Korach. If, the command to build the golden altar for the burning of incense was commanded only after Aaron’s appointment, G’d hoped that it would become clear to the people that the appointment had not been at the instigation of Moses but was the result of instructions Moses had received from G’d.
