ואתה תצוה. אזכיר בתחלה טעם לדבק הפרשה כי כאשר השלים לספר כל כלי הקדש והפרוכת והמשכן והאהל והמכסה. ומזבח העולה והחצר והמסך. החל לפרש משרתי המשכן. ומה היא עבודתם בעצמם אין זר אתם. והחל שיעלו נרות בשמן זית לא בשמן זר. ואלה המשרתים ראויים להיות נכרים ונבדלים במשפחותם גם במלבושיהם. והזכיר הכתוב זה אחר זה. ואחר כן הזכיר שהם חייבים ללמד שבעת ימי המלואים שילמדם משה וירגילם. ואחר כן ישרתו ויעלו עולות התמיד על מזבח העולה לא על מזבח הזהב. רק שיקטירו עליו ויכפרו על קרנותיו אחת בשנה: AND THOU SHALT COMMAND. I will first note the reason for the position of this Torah portion.49Why the Torah portion Tetzavveh follows the Torah portion Terumah. After God finished enumerating all the holy utensils, the veil, the tabernacle, the tent, the cover, the altar of the burnt offering, the courtyard, and the screen,50All of the aforementioned are enumerated in Terumah. He commenced51In Tetzavveh. to deal with those who ministered in the tabernacle.52That is, the kohanim, the priests. He explained the service which they alone were to perform. No stranger was permitted to perform the service alongside them. God opened53Our Torah portion. with the command that they54The priests. cause a lamp to burn using pure olive oil. They were not to employ any other oil. It is only fitting that those who ministered in the tabernacle were to be distinguished and set apart, both in family and in dress.55From the rest of the nation. Scripture lists the garments one after the other.56Krinsky. Scripture then mentions that those who served in the tabernacle were obligated to learn the service during the seven days of consecration. Moses was to teach and train them. After this, the priests would serve in the tabernacle. They would offer the daily burnt offering on the altar of the burnt offering. They were not to offer it upon the golden altar. The priests were to offer only incense upon the golden altar and to make atonement upon its horns once a year.57Ex. 30:7-10.
וטעם ואתה תצוה. שהיא מצוה עולמית על הצבור לתת תמיד שמן זית להעלות נר תמיד. ואל תשתומם בעבור השמן שהביאו הנשיאים. כי הוא היה שמן המשחה. רק שמן למאור חיוב הצבור. ויש מנהג במקומות ששם זיתים שיבחרו הזית הזך. והטעם הגרגרים שאין בהם עפוש או שלא נאכלה קצתם וממנו יעשו שמן למאכל המלכים. ע"כ הזכיר הכתוב זך לפני כתית: And thou shalt command 58The children of Israel, that they bring unto thee pure olive oil beaten for the light. means that there is an eternal command upon the congregation to continually provide olive oil to kindle a perpetual light. Do not be troubled by the oil which the princes59See Ex. 35:27,28. brought.60This indicates that the oil is brought by the individual rather than by the congregation. It was anointing oil.61Rather than oil for the light. However, Scripture explicitly states that the princes brought oil for the light, and for the anointing oil (Ex. 35:28). Krinsky explains that only the princes had pure olive oil in the desert (see I.E. on Ex. 35:27). Hence after the princes donated the oil to be used for anointing oil, some of it was utilized for the light. The congregation, on the other hand, was obligated to bring oil for the light. There is a practice in countries where olives grow to choose pure olives, that is, olives that do not have any rot on them or olives that have not been partially eaten. These olives are then used to make oil for the king’s food. This is the reason that Scripture mentions pure62Pure refers to the olives, not to the oil. According to I.E. our verse should be interpreted as follows: that they bring unto thee olive oil, from pure olives beaten for the light. before beaten.
למאור. לצורך האור בלילה: FOR THE LIGHT. For the light needed during the night.63I.E. interprets la-ma’or (for the light) as: needed for the light. He then elaborates: needed for the light at night.
להעלות. להדליק הנרות. ועל מנורת שלמה כתוב לבערם כמשפט: TO CAUSE A LAMP TO BURN. To kindle the lamps.64Le-ha’alot ner (to cause a lamp to burn) literally means to cause a lamp to go up. Scripture states, that they should burn65Hebrew, le-va’aram.according to the ordinance (II Chron. 4:20) concerning Solomon’s candelabra.66In other words, the use of the term le-va’aram with regard to Solomon’s candelabra shows that le-ha’alot used in connection with Moses’ menorah means to kindle.
וטעם תמיד. כל לילה ולילה. ויש מלת תמיד קשה מזאת. והיה על מצחו תמיד. כאשר הושם המצנפת על ראשו לעולם ישימו עליה ציץ הקדש: [CONTINUALLY.] The meaning of tamid (continually) is nightly.67For the menorah did not burn continually. The word tamid means continually. Hence I.E.’s comment. There is a more difficult usage of the term tamid,68That is, a use of the term which presents us with greater problems than the one in our verse. namely, and it shall be always (tamid) upon his forehead (Ex. 28:38).69For the Bible explicitly states that the holy plate shall always be on the high priest’s head. However, in our verse the phrase ner tamid is merely descriptive. The meaning of the latter is that the holy plate shall always be upon the miter whenever the miter is placed upon the head of the high priest.70In other words, always means whenever the miter is worn by the high priest.