Tzav 5761
April 01-07, 2001 by Reb Yosef

Judaism Is for Every Jew Equally

Many other religions have people who are considered more worthy before God or who are closer to God.  In Judaism, we have no such ideas.  In Judaism, every Jew is the same before God and the Torah makes this clear. 

This Week's P'sukim - Perek Khet (8): 

1. Hashem spoke to Moses, saying:

2. Take Aaron and his sons with him, and the garments and the oil of anointment, and the bull of the sin-offering, and the two rams, and the basket of matzos:

3. Gather the entire assembly to the entrance of the Tent of Meeting:20. Hashem spoke to Moses, saying:

 4. Moses did as Hashem commanded him; and the assembly was gathered to the entrance of the Tent of Meeting:

5. Moses said to the assembly - "This is the thing that Hashem commanded to be done.":

Stone Edition Chumash by ArtScroll Publishing

God did not instruct Moshe (Moses) to anoint Aharon (Aaron) and his sons in private.  The practices that went on in the Torah were for everyone equally.  When Aaron and his sons were anointed as priests for B'nei Yisrael (the Children of Israel), everyone witnessed it - these proceedings were done in public.  At the same time, we can see that the kohanim (priests) were there to perform a religious and spiritual function not to hold themselves as superior to the rest of us. 

I guess we might say that Moses was an exception to this rule - that he was closer to God, and I think this would be right.  We should notice, however, that no one replaced Moses.  He was there as a person to lead us out of bondage and to establish Hashem's Torah in our hearts, minds, and souls.  And once that had been accomplished, the function ended. 

Sometimes, it is a good thing to realize that we, as Jews, are all equal in God's eyes because it helps us to realize how to better treat each other.

With best wishes for a joyous and kosher Pesach (Passover).

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Translations in Torah Portions of the week are partially taken from the ArtScroll Stone Edition Chumash and from Rav Samson Raphael Hirsch Chumash

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