Parasha Tzav
By Michael R. Mantell, Ph.D.
SAN DIEGO — What’s the most frightening question you can ask a Jew this week?
“Have you finished cleaning for Pesach yet?” It’s Shabbat HaGadol, the first Seder follows immediately after Shabbat and, oh my goodness! And if that’s not enough, along comes parasha Tzav to point to how we benefit from de-cluttering our homes, and I’d add, our lives.
It’s estimated that the average American home has tens of thousands of items in it. Psychologists tell us that we keep many more things than we need based on hope. We hope that we’ll lose weight and fit into those clothes we’ve been saving, hope we’ll get to read all of those magazines that are piling up, and this week we hope to finish cleaning out the garage, cabinets, our cars, our pockets – all before Pesach. Gevalt!
The Kohanim were instructed to gather and clear the ashes, terumat ha-deshen, that were from the residue of the burnt offerings from the altar, and specifically told where to place and transport the ashes outside the camp, and what to wear while doing so, linen priestly vestments.
We can learn from this if we pay close attention to the words, to recognize the value of elevating the most mundane activities in our lives such as cleaning, to a holy status. Deshen, the Hebrew word for “ash,” may also be seen as an acronym, davar shelo nechshav, meaning “something without importance.” When the Kohanim were told to “dress in linen raiment, with linen breeches next to his body; and he shall take up the ashes to which the fire has reduced the burnt offering on the altar and place them beside the altar” we see the message as to why it was such a ritual: to learn that even cleaning ashes can be elevated, “lifted up,” to the holy.
But if we only study this we may be elevated but nothing outside of us improves. We would be wise to move from just learning Torah, to tangibly applying our knowledge and improve our world with our learning.
Imagine if you infused holiness into cleaning up after Shabbos dinner? Imagine if you de-cluttered your thinking of “negative thinking ashes” to make room for elevated thoughts? Imagine if you considered how fortunate you are to have garbage to take out and how blessed you are to be able to physically do so? Imagine if you became an example by cleaning out “shmutz,” including “shmutzich” behavior, wherever you went?
If we did clean our thoughts and our lives, not just think about doing so, perhaps we’d be in a better position to learn from Tzav the origins of daily prayer and the benefit of daily spiritual practice in our lives and be able to live a more fulfilled spiritual life. As the priests tended to the fire of the sacrifice every morning and during the day, adding wood contributed by all to keep the fire burning, so too are we called to not let the light go out. It is up to us individually to bring daily prayer and action into our lives. From our mizbeach, our “altar” in our homes, our tables where we gather daily to eat and converse with family and friends, to the many opportunities we have to give tzedakah, charity, in a sincere and caring manner, to learning Torah from the wise Rabbis in our community, we can elevate our lives toward holiness through mitzvos. It requires that we sweep away the old and begin daily with a clean, freshened, grateful heart and mind, and doing, not just thinking about doing.
As we approach Passover, celebrating our freedom, our renewal, the first week of Spring, let us strive to be more mindful of how we can go beyond what we feel, and focus on how we can change our actual behavior, especially towards each other, and elevate our world to include more holiness.
Leftover ashes? They’re a big deal… if we learn from them to transform the mundane into the holy in our daily lives.
Shabbat shalom and Chag same’ach
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Michael R. Mantell, Ph.D., prepares a weekly D’var Torah for Young Israel of San Diego, where he and his family are members. They are also active members of Congregation Adat Yeshurun. He may be contacted via michael.mantell@sdjewishworld.com