From: Netvort@aol.com
Sent: Friday, March 05, 2004 1:31 AM
To: JoshHoff@aol.com
Subject: Netvort : parshas Tetzaveh, 5764



                                                 Out of Place


                 By Rabbi Joshua (incongruously known as The Hoffer) Hoffman


The last section of parshas Tetzaveh, covering Shemos, 10, 1-10, presents the command to build the incense altar, the details of its construction, and the laws pertaining to it. Many commentators, including Ramban, raise the point that since this altar was one of the inner vessels of the mishkan, it should, ostensibly, have been mentioned together with the other inner vessels, such as the aron, the shulchan and the menorah. Certainly we would at least expect it to have been mentioned somewhere in parshas Terumah, which is devoted to the construction of the mishkan and its vessels. Moreover, one altar was already mentioned in parshas Terumah, the altar of the Olah, which was an outer vessel, where animal sacrifices were slaughtered. If the incense altar was not to be mentioned together with the other inner vessels, wouldn't it have been appropriate to mention it together with the other altar? Why was it left until this point, in a different parsha, after the rest of the mishkan had already been mentioned?


There are basically two approaches among the commentators in explaining this peculiar placement of the command to build the incense altar in our parsha. One approach, followed by Rav Ovadiah Seforno and others, is to view the function of the incense altar as of a lesser status than the rest of the vessels. In the verses immediately preceding this command, after describing the daily Olah sacrifice to be brought on the outer altar, God says," I shall consecrate the Tent of Meeting and the altar… and I shall dwell among the children of Israel" (Shemos 29:44-45). The mishkan and its vessels, thus, were meant to bring about the dwelling of the divine presence among the people, in the mishkan. However, says the Seforno, this was not the purpose of the inner altar and its incense. Rather, they were meant to honor God after He came into the mishkan, and to ask Him to accept the sacrifices that had been brought. Rambam, in his Guide to the Perplexed (3:45), also seems to view the function of the altar as less significant than the rest of the mishkan. He writes that the incense served to overpower the pungent odor caused by the slaughter, cutting up and burning of the animals on the outer altar. Following his explanation, as well, one can understand why the incense altar was mentioned after the rest of the mishkan.


Ramban and Ibn Ezra, however, maintain the view that the inner altar actually has greater significance then the outer altar. Ramban writes that after God tells us that He will rest his divine presence on the mishkan, an added factor, that of the incense, is mentioned, hinting to the special power it possesses to rein in God's wrath at times when He exercises His attribute of justice. Rabbeinu Bachya, after citing the words of the Ramban, proceeds to criticize the afore-mentioned explanation of the Rambam to the purpose of the incense, saying that something so lofty should not be explained in such a mundane way. In Netvort to parshas Tetzaveh, 5762 (available at Torahheights.com), in which we first dealt with this issue, we suggested a way of defending the Rambam's opinion, which would align his approach with that of the Ramban.

On a somewhat different level, the Midrash Tadsheh, cited by Rabbi Menachem M. Kasher in his Torah Shleimah and elaborated upon by Rabbi Mordechai Ilan in his Mikdash Mordechai, notes that the two altars, the outer one made of brass, and the inner one, made of gold, relate to kinds of atonement that man needs.  The outer altar, where animal sacrifices are brought, brings atonement for sins that pertain to man's more animalistic nature, while the inner altar, where incense is brought, brings atonement for more inner related kinds of sins, those that relate to a person's soul. Just as gold is more precious than copper, continues the midrash, so, too, is the inner, golden altar, which atones for sins of the soul, of more significance than the outer, copper altar, which atones for sins of the outer, physical body. This is why the inner altar is mentioned at the very end of the dedication process of the mikdash, explains the midrash, because without it, the divine presence would not descend to dwell there. A number of commentators, beginning with Rabbi Shlomo Ephraim of Lunshitz, in his Keli Yakar, explain the different roles of the two altars in a similar way, without mentioning the midrash. I would like to mention another explanation of the differing roles of the two altars that I heard from my teacher, Rav Aharon Soloveichik, zt"l, which conforms to the approach of the this midrash, that the inner altar had an element that was more significant than the outer one.

Rav Aharon said that the various vessels in the mishkan symbolized the basic vessels that should be found in a Jew's home. Every home needs a table on which to eat, and a source of light, and a place set aside for the learning of Torah. Why, however, is there a need for altars in a Jewish home? Rav Aharon explained that every Jewish home must be imbued with a spirit of sacrifice. A Jew must be ready to make small, daily sacrifices, just as we must bring, on a daily basis, two animal sacrifices - the korbon tomid - on the outer altar, one in the morning and one in the afternoon. The inner altar, which is made out of gold, symbolizes large sacrifices that are made from one's wealth. Rav Yisroel Salanter, the founder of the Mussar movement, often remarked that the challenges of wealth can be greater than the challenges of poverty. Why we may find it relatively easy to make small, daily sacrifices when we are not especially well off, the acquisition of wealth can create a psychological barrier that restrains us from making necessary sacrifices for God. Perhaps, then, this is why the inner, golden altar is mentioned after the rest of the mishkan, to symbolize that the challenges of wealth can sometimes exceed all other challenges, and that we need to imbue ourselves with a spirit of sacrifice even when living in conditions of affluence.  



Please address all correspondence to the author (Rabbi Hoffman) with the following address - JoshHoff @ AOL.com.

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