Parashat Tetzaveh (You shall command…)
8th Adar, 5785 / March 8th, 2025
By Kyle Doberstein
This Week’s Readings:
Torah: Exodus 27:20 – 30:10; Deuteronomy 25:17-19
Haftarah: 1 Samuel 15:2-34
Brit Chadashah: Romans 13:1-8
For those of you who know me, you know I was in the military for about 5 and a half years. One of the reasons why I joined was that I had a lack of structure and direction in my life. The future is quite scary when you think about it a lot. It makes you anxious to get that structure established in your life, so things can become more manageable. To get this structure, I sought order and the Navy was a call to me that I answered. I don't regret it. Those years in the Navy taught me a lot of lessons and gave me a deep respect for the authority who gave me a structure to live by. Of course, the synagogue does the same, and we will see that G-d often lays down orders to give us a way to live and have a relationship with Him, as we will hear in this parashah.
In the Torah portion, we have a long list of instructions from G-d to Israel for worship, starting with the Kohanim and the making of the altar. They were also commanded to bring fresh olive oil to for the lamp in the tabernacle to make it burn forevermore by the generations of Aaron. This became the start of the priesthood of G-d or the Kohanim. Aaron and his four sons at the time were the first set apart by G-d to become Kohanim, and they were commanded to make priestly garments that were very specifically tailored to set apart the priests. Every single part of the priest's garment meant something. These are very specific details by G-d, and they are rightfully there to symbolize the priests being the servants of G-d and to the people of Israel. G-d also provides detailed instructions to set apart new Kohanim as well as instructions for building an altar. These are all very specific and detailed instructions from G-d for good reason.
In the Haftarah portion, we have an example of what happens when you don't follow G-d’s instructions. Saul, who was to become the leader of the people of Israel, was instructed by G-d to totally destroy the Amalekites to avenge for what they did to Israel when they were escaping Egypt. Saul does this for the most part, except for a couple of things. Saul and his army spare Agag, the king of the Amalekites, and the best of the livestock, due to feeling no need to destroy them. G-d then tells Samuel that He regrets making Saul king. Samuel was troubled by this and went to inform Saul of this, who was rumored to be making a statue of himself at the time. Clearly, you can see Saul was seeking power for himself and had given himself to selfishness. Nonetheless, Samuel confronts Saul and tells him what G-d has told him and yet Saul says there were reasons for sparing all that he spared to serve G-d with burnt offerings and such. However, Samuel reaffirms that following G-d's instructions is worth more than burning offerings to G-d, which is a powerful statement in itself. Whenever we deviate from G-ds instructions, we are committing a great sin like Saul did. This sin led G-d to later reject Saul as king of Israel.
The Brit Chadashah portion tells us to respect authority. Remember the structure thing I was talking about? Well, authority has a lot to do with that. Authority provides structure to society so that we can all live in peace together. However, Romans 13 says there is no authority except G-d. This is true. G-d is the authority who provides structure in our lives so that we can follow Him. All His instructions are just, and we should carefully follow them from every small detail and down to the last word and we should respect that to the highest.
I tell you, this may sound like a lot to some people. I'm sure you all understand the pressures of following instructions completely. It's not easy. However, to someone who was lost, kind of like me before the military, this order is somewhat comforting. G-d gave these instructions to us by providing structures like the Kohanim, and warning us from walking astray from them like what happened to Saul. We should recognize His authority to survive and accept this life despite its hardships. Also, even in times when we can't fully follow, or fall short of G-d instructions we can be forgiven by G-d through the blood of Yeshua. But still, I challenge you all to continue to follow G-ds instructions to fulfil structure in your lives. Amen.