2020/5780

Parashat Tetazaveh begins by speaking about the olive oil that will be used for the Neir Tamid. The Parasha then continues to speak about the Bigdei Kehunah, the inauguration of the Kohanim, various Korbanot and, finally, the special reading of Parashat Zachor. A common theme among all of these occurrences in the Parasha is the Torah’s specificity. Why does Hashem demand such specific detail even with regards to the seemingly small insignificant details?

  The Gemara (Megilah 16a) describes Haman following the king’s orders, as the verse states: “Vayikach Haman Et HaLevush VeEt HaSus,” “Then Haman took the clothes and the horse” (Esther 6:11). When he went, he found Mordechai as the Sages were sitting before him, and Mordechai was demonstrating to them the Halachot of the Kemitza, i.e., the scooping out of a handful of flour from the meal-offering in order to burn it on the altar. Once Mordechai saw him coming toward him with his horse’s reins held in his hands, he became frightened, and he said to the Sages: This evil man has come to kill me. Go away from him so that you should not get burnt from his coals, i.e., that you should not suffer harm as well. At that moment Mordechai wrapped himself in his prayer shawl and stood up to pray. Haman came over to where they were and sat down before them and waited until Mordechai finished his prayer. In the interim, as he waited, Haman said to the other Sages: With what were you occupied? They said to him: When the Temple is standing, one who pledges a meal-offering would bring a handful of fine flour and achieve atonement with it. He said to them: Your handful of fine flour has come and cast aside my ten thousand pieces of silver, which I had pledged toward the destruction of the Jewish people. 

When explaining how it’s possible that the great-grandchildren of Haman became Talmidei Chachamim (as recorded in Gittin 57b) the Shem M’Shmuel, Purim 5680, explains that at the moment when Haman was pulling Mordechai on the horse he had thoughts of Teshuva, and acknowledged that Hashem controls everything. With that thought alone, Haman merited to have great-grandchildren learning Torah in Bnei Brak. The Shem M’Shmuel concludes “And from here everybody can learn a valuable lesson, that a person should never belittle any small thought or action because they have the power to give birth to things one can’t even fathom”. In fact, the Chovot HaLevavot (the Gate of Self-Accounting, chapter 5) writes “Do not underestimate any good act that you perform for the sake of Hashem, even if it is only a few words or a glance; for even the smallest act on your part is large in Hashem's eyes”. Additionally, the Gemara (Megillah 15a) cites a dispute with regard to the meaning of the verse: “Vayaavor Mordechai,” “So Mordechai passed” (Esther 4:17). Rav said: This means that he passed the first day of Passover as a fast day, understanding the word Vaya’avor in the sense of sin [Aveira], as by doing so he transgressed the obligation to rejoice on the Festival. And Shmuel said: It means that he crossed over, Avar, a small stream of water in order to bring the message to all. Rashi explains that he passed over a small stream to gather the Jewish people. What is Shmuel trying to teach us? Rav Shlomo Alkabetz (the famed author of Lecha Dodi) in his Manot Levi, explains that Shmuel teaches that even a small and seemingly insignificant act, like crossing a small stream is considered something great and merits being acknowledged, praised and written in the Megillah. 

One of the ideologies that Amalek represents is to make us feel like we are disconnected from Hashem and that our actions have no ability to affect change and are meaningless. Through Parashat Zachor we are reminded that not only can and do our actions affect change but even the most minimal positive turns towards Hashem in thought. Speech and action have the power to affect change in our world and the worlds above. 

The Kabbalah teaches that whatever happens in the material world happens in the spiritual world as well. This means that what we see happening in the physical world will help us understand spirituality. The coronavirus has been causing widespread fear around the world but is a microscopic virus that can’t even be seen. We can learn from a microscopic bug that something so small, that may not even be able to be seen, has the ability to create such a powerful impact. 

This is perhaps the message of Tetzaveh; Hashem cares about the minuscule details. The intricacies of the Bigdei Kehunah are parallel to the small gestures in our Avodat Hashem. Not only are they noticed, but they truly matter and are regarded as tremendous things on high. This too is the message of the oil. Oil does not rush out of the olives, it drips quite slowly. Each drop is significant by itself, each drop adds to the mixture that will in turn aid a fire to be lit. And finally, this is the message that Haman, the offspring of Amalek, finally recognized when he said “Your handful of fine flour has come and cast aside my ten thousand pieces of silver, which I had pledged toward the destruction of the Jewish people”, what to many would seem like a small, insignificant act that might be overlooked,  affects much more on high than all the money in the world.