וַיְדַבֵּ֥ר יְהֹוָ֖ה אֶל־מֹשֶׁ֥ה לֵּאמֹֽר׃ And God told Moshe, say thus (i.e. repeat verbatim)

צַ֤ו אֶֽת־אַהֲרֹן֙ וְאֶת־בָּנָ֣יו לֵאמֹ֔ר זֹ֥את תּוֹרַ֖ת הָעֹלָ֑ה הִ֣וא הָעֹלָ֡ה עַל֩ מוֹקְדָ֨הֿ עַל־הַמִּזְבֵּ֤חַ כׇּל־הַלַּ֙יְלָה֙ עַד־הַבֹּ֔קֶר וְאֵ֥שׁ הַמִּזְבֵּ֖חַ תּ֥וּקַד בּֽוֹ׃ Command Aharon and his sons thus: This is the ritual of the burnt offering: The burnt offering itself shall remain where it is burned upon the altar all night until morning, while the fire on the altar is kept going on it (Vayikra /Leviticus 6:1-2)

First my apologies for tackling the sort of issue that everyone blithely ignores. In fact they don’t even notice it. If there is one thing that seems to unite most Torah readers it is an indifference to language usage. So let’s begin with the ABCs.

In Torah, when God wants Moshe to convey His command, the phrasing, in most cases is: וַיְדַבֵּ֥ר יְהֹוָ֖ה אֶל־מֹשֶׁ֥ה לֵּאמֹֽר׃. The word לֵּאמֹֽר is an instruction to quote Him verbatim.

In instances where Moshe is to relay something in his own words the phrasing is ויאמר ה’ אל משה “And God said to Moshe …” followed by the topic Moshe was then to share with the intended audience e.g. the entire community or just the kohanim.

This week’s parsha, Tzav, begins with the classic וַיְדַבֵּ֥ר יְהֹוָ֖ה אֶל־מֹשֶׁ֥ה לֵּאמֹֽר  indicating that what follows must be communicated verbatim. Except that nothing follows. We are left hanging.

With our desensitized ears and occluded eyes, we reflexively assume that the subsequent verse provides the instructions that are meant to be communicated:

צַ֤ו אֶֽת־אַהֲרֹן֙ וְאֶת־בָּנָ֣יו לֵאמֹ֔ר זֹ֥את תּוֹרַ֖ת הָעֹלָ֑ה הִ֣וא הָעֹלָ֡ה עַל֩ מוֹקְדָ֨הֿ עַל־הַמִּזְבֵּ֤חַ כׇּל־הַלַּ֙יְלָה֙ עַד־הַבֹּ֔קֶר וְאֵ֥שׁ הַמִּזְבֵּ֖חַ תּ֥וּקַד בּֽוֹ׃ Command Aharon and his sons thus: This is the ritual of the burnt offering etc.

Yet this cannot be the case as the words צַ֤ו אֶֽת־אַהֲרֹן֙ וְאֶת־בָּנָ֣יו are clearly not meant to be repeated. To do so would be kind of like Joe Biden reading from the teleprompter “Now pause”. What’s more, this stage direction is then followed by the requisite לֵאמֹ֔ר and God’s very precise verbatim instructions  concerning whole burnt sacrifice ritual.

If the sacrificial instructions in verse 2 were what was intended by the לֵאמֹ֔ר in verse 1, then the opening of Parshat Tzav would have read as follows

וַיְדַבֵּ֥ר יְהֹוָ֖ה אֶל־מֹשֶׁ֥ה צַ֤ו אֶֽת־אַהֲרֹן֙ וְאֶת־בָּנָ֣יו לֵאמֹ֔ר זֹ֥את תּוֹרַ֖ת הָעֹלָ֑ה הִ֣וא הָעֹלָ֡ה עַל֩ מוֹקְדָ֨הֿ עַל־הַמִּזְבֵּ֤חַ כׇּל־הַלַּ֙יְלָה֙ עַד־הַבֹּ֔קֶר וְאֵ֥שׁ הַמִּזְבֵּ֖חַ תּ֥וּקַד בּֽוֹ׃ And God told Moshe command Aharon and his sons thus: This is the ritual of the burnt offering …

Verses 1 and 2 would have been a single combined, coherent sentence. Yet what we have instead is an inconclusive Verse 1 that leaves us hanging and wondering (or at least we should be wondering) what the missing verbiage was.  Absent that, there would have to be some reason for this incoherent opening sentence.

I am reaching out to the broader public in the hope that someone, anyone, can offer a plausible explanation for this. After all, Torah is supposed to be concise and precise. If there are superfluous words – especially superfluous words at the opening of a parsha, either something is missing or it merits clarification.

I am reminded here of the ultimate non sequitur, which is totally unconnected to the non-narrative material in Parshat Tzav, but which goes similarly unnoticed by tin ears and occluded eyes. It is from Parshat Bereishit and the grossly misunderstood story of Cain and Hevel.

וַיֹּאמֶר קַיִן, אֶל-הֶבֶל אָחִיו; וַיְהִי בִּהְיוֹתָם בַּשָּׂדֶה, וַיָּקָם קַיִן אֶל-הֶבֶל אָחִיו וַיַּהַרְגֵהוּ And Cain told his brother Hevel, and it came to pass when they were in the field and Cain attacked his brother Hevel and killed him. (Bereishit/Genesis 4:8)

Hellloooo? Anybody home?  What was it that Cain told Hevel?  Clearly this is critical to our understanding of the story. Most likely Hevel’s reaction to Cain’s words  were not exactly terms of fraternal endearment. Else why even mention it.  And in the same verse, no less, as the murder of Hevel which took place later on, perhaps even much later on.

I bring this up here, because it baffles me how we simply ram through Scriptural text  without, at least, pausing when something is so glaringly problematic.

Once again, I welcome your input. Please write to me at jjgross13@gmail.com.

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