[Jewish] [Mindful Torah] Beyond the Ego: a Commentary on Parshat Tetzaveh

[Rabbi Steven Nathan]

This week’s parashah is Tetzaveh (Shemot/Exodus 27:20-30:10). The
parashah begins with God commanding Moses “And as for you, you shall
instruct the Israelites to bring you pure olive oil of beaten olives
for lighting, for kindling the Eternal Lamp (v. 20).” At first glance
it does not appear that there is anything unusual or extraordinary
about this verse. God is simply giving Moses another instruction
concerning the Mishkan (Tabernacle), just as God instructed him in the
last parashah on how he was to build it. However, it is precisely
because God’s instructions to Moses had been at the center of the
preceding narrative that commentators have questioned why the verse
begins "and as for you, you shall command" rather than simply "command"
or "you shall command." After all, “and as for you” would seem to imply
that the previous verses had been addressed or referred to someone else.

In her exploration of this strange wording Aviva Zornberg points out
that there are two other instances where God’s instructions begin “and
as for you.” These other commands are “bring forth your brother Aaron,
with his sons, from among the Israelites to serve me as priests (28:1)”
and “speak[ing] to all who are wise of heart … to make Aaron’s
vestments for consecrating him to serve Me as priest (28:3).” In all of
these cases, preparing the oil for the Menorah, bring Aaron and his
sons forward to be made priests, and instructing others how to make the
priestly vestment, God is instructing Moses concerning aspects of the
priesthood, the realm that is to be his brother’s and not his.

In a midrash we read that during each of the seven days when Moses was
at the burning bush he pleaded with God to send someone else. In the
end of the midrash, God informs Moses that, because of his
unwillingness to take on the mantle of leadership during those seven
days, he will not be permitted to ascend to the priesthood. Rather, it
will be Aaron and his descendants who are to become the priests.
However, God tells Moses, during the seven days when the mishkan is to
be dedicated, Moses will be allowed to perform the priestly functions.
After that, they belong to Aaron and his sons.

Moses’s reaction to what some might perceive as a punishment is to
rejoice over the good fortune of his elder brother Aaron. After all, we
read in another midrash, one reason why Moses was reluctant to take on
the leadership role was his fear that Aaron would be jealous that his
younger brother was to become the leader of the people. However, God
informs him that Aaron will rejoice at Moses’s return and upon hearing
that he is to lead the mission to Pharaoh. This is exactly what Aaron
does and for that he is rewarded by God: let “that same heart that
rejoiced in the greatness of his brother [have] precious stones (the
priestly breastplate) set upon it.”

Aaron rejoices at God’s choice of Moses as leader and Moses rejoices at
the choice of Aaron as High Priest. Nevertheless, according to yet
another midrash, after Moses is given the instructions on how to build
the mishkan he tells God that he is ready and able to serve as priest.
How can this be so if had not only been informed at the burning bush
that Aaron was to serve
as priest, but he had actually rejoiced over hearing this news?

Zornberg likens this phenomenon to the Freudian theory that our
memories are often forgotten so that we can then proceed in the
“remaking of something [that] to all intents and purposes never
existed; [for] memory is [in part] a way of inventing the past.”
(Zornberg, The Particulars of Rapture, p. 360). We all know of times in
our lives when we “conveniently” forget something and then are stunned
when we later “discover” it. Still, when Moses “learns” that Aaron is
to become priest and that he is to be “demoted” to the status of
a 'mere' Levite (as will his sons) he does not react negatively.
Rather, he rejoices, just as Aaron rejoiced in Moses’ choice earlier on.

The choice of Aaron, the elder brother, as priest now means that the
rejection of the elder in favor of the younger that runs through the
entire book of Bereshit/Genesis has been “set right.” Moses, the
younger, may indeed be the leader, but his sons will not inherit his
position, and they are all but forgotten in our narrative and our
tradition. It is Aaron, the elder, who is given the religious
leadership position that will then be inherited by his descendants.

The rejection of Moses and his sons and the reversal of the ancient
patterns could easily have been viewed by Moses with anger or disdain.
And yet it was not. The relationship between Moses and Aaron is one
that involves both loss and gain for each, as well as the altruistic
love of
each brother for the other that is symbolized by their reactions when
the other is chosen.

In the Torah we are told that Moses’ primary attributes were that of
greatness and humility. In reality it is his humility that is at the
heart of his greatness. Though Aaron is appointed High Priest, Moses’s
humility allows him to rejoice, much as his humility caused him to
reject God’s initial call for fear that Aaron would be hurt. This is
the meaning underlying the seemingly innocuous “and as for you” that
begins the command for Moses to prepare the oil, decorate the courtyard
of the mishkan and instruct others to prepare Aaron’s garments. In this
way the
“and as for you” is not viewed as further punishment for Moses’ initial
reticence (i.e., “And as for you… if you’re going to hesitate to follow
my orders I going to take away the priesthood!) Instead, it becomes an
acknowledgement of Moses’ humility and his ability to rejoice for his
brother (i.e., “And as for you … you have shown your greatness through
your humility and your concern for your brother, and so you shall have
the pleasure of preparing all that he needs to begin his priestly
service”)

However, there is a danger in humility as well. This danger is that
humility itself has the potential to become as much a tool of the ego’s
machinations as does hubris. For if the ego is that within us that
tries to convince us that everything is about “me” and keeping “me” in
control, then even humility can serve the ego’s purpose. For if one
makes too much of one’s humility the result could be that others will
then begin to focus on and praise him/her for that humility. Moreover,
since the ego seeks praise, comfort, security and dominance, the ego
can easily learn that it can catch as many – if not more – flies with
the sweetness of humility than it can with the bitterness of hubris.

However, Moses does not seem to get caught up in this ego’s game in
this parashah or in it’s various midrashic interpretations. So perhaps
we need to think of this verse not so much in terms of humility, but as
evidence that Moses, as well as Aaron, was able to see the reality of
the “big picture” at that moment.

At first when God chose Moses, he fought against the reality of the
moment and what God was showing him. For seven days, an entire period
of creation, his ego struggled with God. Perhaps it was ego in the
guise of humility saying “I’m not worthy” and looking for the strokes
it might get from God: “of course you’re worthy,” “you’re the best man
around,” “you’re going to be an amazing leader!” On the other hand,
perhaps it was the ego’s desire for comfort, stasis and
certainty telling Moses “don’t do it! You don’t know what you’re
getting yourself into! Just keep moving in the other direction!”

Whatever the tactics of the ego, it did not succeed during this
seven-day period of creation of Moses as leader at the Burning Bush.
Rather, it seems clear that Moses was able to drop the stories of which
the ego was trying to convince him and focus on the reality of the
moment.
Moses was able to rid himself of his ego and it’s messages. He was able
instead to see and hear the reality of what God was saying to him. At
that moment, God let him know his role, as well as that of his brother.
In addition, from this broadened perspective he was able to accept both
his and his brother’s role with joy.

Therefore, “and as for you, you shall command” can be interpreted as
God saying, “I am
commanding you, Moses, to do this. I am not speaking to your ego; I am
not speaking to your brother. I am speaking to you directly. We are
here face-to-face. There is nothing between
us.” So, it is from this place of egoless connection with the Divine
that Moses is able to continue his journey as a leader meant to bring
all the people to understand that ultimately there is nothing between
us and God, for all is God and God is all.

This is something that we all need to remember in those moments when
our ego gets in the way or when we separate ourselves from others and
from God. Letting go of the ego and its stories, we can each feel
commanded by the voice of God within to be present in the moment and to
prepare ourselves for the next step of our journey together.

Shabbat Shalom,

Steven

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Posted By Rabbi Steven Nathan to Mindful Torah at 2/19/2010 03:17:00 PM
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