Perhaps the foremost obligation incumbent upon a Jew is to be מקדש שם שמים, sanctify the Name of heaven in this world. Our long history is replete with the many who have forfeited their lives rather than to submit to sin. But sanctifying G-d’s name goes beyond the willingness to sacrifice one’s life when faced with the choice of ‘do or die. One who withholds, even in the privacy of one’s home, from transgressing any of the commandments in the face of temptation, solely to fulfill the will of G-d, undue of ulterior motives of fear, embarrassment or consequence, is characterized as one who sanctifies G-d’s Name. Furthermore, one who goes the extra mile, in behaving beyond the letter of the law in promoting good character, kindness and sensitivity towards others, also falls under the rubric of sanctifiers of the Name of G-d. (רמב"ם יסודי התורה)
Yet this very extraordinary imperative is introduced almost tangentially at the very end of a paragraph that deals with seemingly unrelated commandments.
And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:
When an ox or a sheep or a goat is born, it shall remain under its mother for seven days, and from the eighth day onwards, it shall be accepted as a sacrifice for a fire offering to the Lord.
An ox or sheep you shall not slaughter it and its offspring in one day.
And when you slaughter a thanksgiving offering to the Lord, you shall slaughter it so that it should be acceptable for you. It shall be eaten on that day; do not leave it over until morning. I am the Lord.
You shall keep My commandments and perform them. I am the Lord.
You shall not desecrate My Holy Name. I shall be sanctified amidst the children of Israel. I am the Lord Who sanctifies you,
Who took you out of the land of Egypt, to be a God to you. I am the Lord.(ויקרא כב כו-לג)
The first injunction listed is the requirement for an animal to remain with its mother for seven days before being offered as a sacrifice. Only on the eighth day may it be brought.
The next rule prohibits slaughtering the mother and her offspring, even sacrifices, on the same day.
Thirdly, a thanksgiving-offering not only must be consumed by the next morning, limiting its being eaten to one day in contradistinction to similar classified shelamim sacrifices that may be consumed over two days, one may not even consider in his thoughts while slaughtering this sacrifice that he will eat it out of its assigned time. If he does have in mind to eat it outside of its time constraint it is disqualified as piggul, rejected.
These three laws would seem suited for placement together as each one represents a disqualification relating to זמן, time. Yet before concluding this paragraph the Torah ‘tosses in’ a general command to keep all the commandments by performing them and then segues to the two directives to sanctify G-d’s name and not desecrate it. What relevance might this have to the previous verses?
Finally, what is the reminder just now, more than by the myriad of other commandments, of G-d having brought us out of Egypt?
The next series of subsequent paragraphs enumerate the full gamut of Jewish holidays. In fact on Pesach and Sukkos it is this portion that the Torah reading is comprised of. Strangely though, we traditionally begin with this earlier paragraph as an introduction to the passage of the holidays.
Why is this added when there is no obvious connection to these special days?
The Holy Kohen of Tzefas, the Sifsei Kohen, renders a creative interpretation to a seemingly innocent verse, that is at the crux of success in avodas Hashem, serving G-d.
ושמרתם מצותי ועשיתם אתם (ויקרא כב לא), You shall keep My commandments and perform them. I am the Lord.
Although the root שמר, is generally translated as to keep, preserve or protect, it can also mean to take note and wait with anticipation, as indicated in the verse where Yaakov takes note of Yosef’s dreams and waits eagerly for its actualization. (בראשית לז יא ורש"י שם)
The Torah isn’t merely instructing us to heed the commandments and perform them, but rather is encouraging us to live with enthused anticipation. Don’t wait for mitzvos to simply happen. Choose to eagerly anticipate the endless opportunities that present themselves every instant of our life. Infuse each moment with meaning and the presence of G-d. Consider the mitzvos that loom upon the horizon, by planning, investing time, energy and thought to enhancing those gifts of time with the flavor of eternity.
If one does this he will be assured to perform the mitzvos with a pure and selfless devotion to the will of G-d.
The first two commands are instructive as to the value of healthy anticipation that fills our lives with His presence. A person desiring to offer a sacrifice is often eager to ‘get it done’, after all it’s an obligation. But that attitude defeats the whole notion of our relationship with G-d and His Torah. Wait enthusiastically, ponder, improve and enthuse your soul with noble thoughts of His benevolence and warmth in providing us opportunities to connect with Him. (ספורנו)
In the bringing of a thanksgiving-offering, after having been saved from peril, lies a challenge though. One desiring to celebrate his having been delivered by the hand of G-d from danger would naturally desire to linger on his good fortune by extending the celebration over two days, but the Torah teaches us otherwise. One who wallows in his ‘salvation’ is exposed to feelings of superiority, a sense of deserved righteousness. He must limit the celebratory eating of his offering to one day so that he may ponder the נסיך שבכל יום, the daily miracles, נפלאותיך שבכל עת, the wonders of every moment. He must limit the time he focuses on his ‘personal’ salvation so that it prods him to self-introspection whether he truly deserves it. He must be humbled by G-d’s intervention and commit himself anew to His service with even greater energy and fervor.
Time is our most prized possession; it is a gift that we must utilize in infusing every moment of our lives in His embrace. How we treasure each moment will define our attitude towards all else.
On the one hand we must live with a sense of healthy anticipation, being prepared and ready to ‘seize the moment’. We must also not squander those morsels of His presence lest we lapse into a sense of entitlement and comfort.
Living a life of Kiddush Hashem means literally to bring G-d’s presence into every moment, every encounter.
The Sifsei Kohen points out that in the word for commandment, מִ-צְ-וָ-ה , its first two letters, the מ and צ, correspond in the cypher system known as א"ת ב"ש , (where the first letter in the alef beis corresponds to the last, the second to the next to the last and so on,) to the letters י and ה respectively. This reveals that within every fulfillment of G-d’s will He is present. A מ-צ-ו-ה becomes the very Ineffable Name of G-d, י-ה-ו-ה!
The phrase for desecrating G-d’s Name is חילול השם, more literally rooted in חלל, signifying empty space. In a vacuum of sanctity we must fill the void with His presence.
The Torah concludes with a reminder how G-d took us out of Egypt. The Sifsei Kohen explains that the Torah’s intention here is to reveal for us how G-d, so to speak, left ‘His space’ to enter a world of defilement that was Egypt, so too we must leave ‘our space’ of comfort and fill that void with His presence.
No wonder the Torah then progresses to discuss the מועדים, the holidays or more precisely ‘times’. (תרגום אונקלוס מועדים: 'זמניא')
When we absorb the message in this prefatory paragraph we are guaranteed to enthuse our lives in the inspired anticipation of the holidays that surround the year, drawing from its special energy, and sensing the reality of G-d in every fiber of our existence.
באהבה,
צבי טייכמאן
