Father Knows Best
Our future redemption is achieved by making our connection to the past vitally present. TETZAVEH TETZAVEH
Be-jew-eled!
One of the most striking features of the garments worn by the High Priest, described in this week’s parsha, is the choshen, the breastplate, that contained twelve jewels. Each of these jewels represented one of the twelve tribes, the names of which were etched into the twelve stones.
The last of the twelve stones was the jasper, referred to in the text as Yashpei. This stone represented the tribe of Benjamin. Commentators point to the fact that the word yashpei shares a numerical equivalency with the phrase, “Benjamin the son of Jacob.”
The Missing Jasper
The Talmud relates an interesting story
TETZAVEH concerning this particular jewel.
Once, the Sages sought to replace the yashpei of the High Priest’s breastplate that got lost. A certain Roman official, Dama ben Nesinah, who resided in Israel had such a jewel. When they approached him to purchase it for the Temple, he refused to sell it, even at a very large profit, because the key to his safe was under his father’s pillow. He refused to awaken his father to get the key. The Talmud extols this Roman official’s profound respect for his father.
The Ba’al Shem Tov taught us that nothing happens by chance. Everything that happens is b’hashgacha pratis, by Divine Providence. Why, commentators have wondered, was the lesson of honoring parents, conveyed specifically by the stone that was associated with Benjamin?
The answer given by commentators was that when Joseph was sold by his brothers causing their father anguish—the very antithesis of honoring a parent—Benjamin was the only brother who did not participate in that event. Hence the lesson about honoring a father TETZAVEH came about through the jewel associated with Benjamin.
Losing Touch with their Roots
When the Talmud relates that they lost the yashpei jewel, it may be interpreted to mean that the Jewish people were beginning to lose touch with their roots and were gradually drifting away from their heritage. The Talmud acknowledges that more and more disputes arose amongst the Sages because, as the Talmud puts it, ”they did not serve their masters adequately.” Their link to the past was beginning to erode.
To help them restore this “jewel,” G-d orchestrated it so that a Roman official—the very people who dominated the Jews and who ultimately destroyed their Temple and ushered in the longest period of exile—would reinforce their connection to their past.
Tradition and Moshiach
Commentators also have made the observation that the Hebrew word for the
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Breastplate is Choshen, which has the numerical value of 358, the same as the word Moshiach. The Breastplate’s complete name was Choshen Mishpat. The word Mishpat has been translated as either justice or the laws of the Torah that form the basis of Jewish justice. The connection between Mishpat and the Messianic Age is that it takes the study of Torah to get us ready for the coming of Moshiach and that when it happens, and only then, will justice be fully restored.
It follows then that each of the twelve stones of the Choshen, represents one of twelve approaches that one can take towards the attainment of the highest ideals of justice and Torah knowledge.
The last jewel, yashpei, associated with honoring parents, thus alludes to the need to respect the Torah tradition. It does not suffice to learn Torah and master it. One must forge a link between oneself and the generations of the past.
In the words of King Solomon: “listen my son to the words of reproof pf your father and do not forsake the teachings of your mother.”
TETZAVEH
The Father and Mother of Torah
Our Sages comment that “father” and “mother” in this regard refer to the Written Torah and Oral Torah, respectively. However, by using the metaphor of father and mother, King Solomon, was telling us that one must study always go back to the previous generation of Torah teachers to get the deeper insights contained within the Torah.
Torah study, though it is an intellectual exercise, is also primarily an attempt at retracing our steps to Sinai. In order for us to capture the spirit of Sinai—the thunder and lightening that accompanied the giving of the Torah—we cannot rely on our own understanding of the Torah. It is crucial that we speak to our fathers and mothers, our teachers and masters, for they form the link between us and the Sinai experience.
Moshiach’s Link to the Past
One of the characteristics of Moshiach, Maimonides records, is for him to be steeped in Torah as “his father David.” It does not suffice for him to have mastered the Torah TETZAVEH independently, he must also feel his link to his “father.” To usher in the coming of Moshiach, thus, every one of us must awaken the spark of Moshiach within ourselves, and connect to our ancestors.
And when we feel we may have lost this “gem” our “Breastplate of Judgment” is incomplete. To bring Moshiach, we must look for every way—even by following the good example of “Romans,” i.e., foreign influences—to reconnect to our forebears, our parents and teachers, through whom we reconnect to the Sinai experience.
Our future redemption is achieved by making our connection to the past vitally present.
TETZAVEH
From the book Light from the Future: Parshas Tetzaveh by Rabbi Heschel Greenberg, published by the Jewish Discovery Center.
