Guarding Joy -- שמירת שמחה Drash for Parshat Tetzaveh 5779 Traditional Egalitarian Minyan

(44) I will sanctify the Tent of Meeting and the altar, and I will consecrate Aaron and his sons to serve Me as priests. (45) I will abide among the Israelites, and I will be their God. (46) And they shall know that I the LORD am their God, who brought them out from the land of Egypt that I might abide among them, I the LORD their God. (1) You shall make an altar for burning incense; make it of acacia wood. (2) It shall be a cubit long and a cubit wide—it shall be square—and two cubits high, its horns of one piece with it.

"You shall make an altar for burning incense." Look, all the components were given in parshat Terumah, except for this golden altar, for the reason brought in the holy Zohar: "The incense binds everything together." Meaning, everything that happens in this world in bound up in the will of ha-Shem. For without ha-Shem's will, nothing would happen.

But from this, a person might, g-d forbid, become dismissive, thinking that whatever they do is necessarily in the hands of Heaven. That's why we didn't get the golden incense altar in parshat Terumah, but rather, only after we were told about the priestly vestments in parshat Tetzaveh -- to teach about the importance of caution and guarding ourselves from the pleasures of this world (as is explained in the gemara Arachin 16a [that each element of clothing makes atonement for a different category of sin, for example]) the jacket atones for murder, etc. Through the clothing, the Kohen brings an understanding of great caution to every Jew, and after the Kohen causes that caution to enter everyone, then we find it's possible to receive joy and love, which comes from the power of the incense.

I found in the book of King Solomon, that the incense represents joy and the power over death. What's the explanation? Because judgement is found only with the outside altar, while joy and pleasure and the connection to the light, these are with the inside altar. Once this is aroused, all judgement is dismissed, and it's impossible for judgement to happen. By this means, incense rises to annul death.

Therefore incense binds everything together, and thus is offered up on this inside [altar, where all joy is found]. Happy are Israel in this world and in the world to come, and concerning them Isaiah wrote, "You are My servant, Israel in whom I glory."

§ The Sages taught: This ḥilazon, which is the source of the sky-blue dye used in ritual fringes, has the following characteristics: Its body resembles the sea, its form resembles that of a fish, it emerges once in seventy years, and with its blood one dyes wool sky-blue for ritual fringes. It is scarce, and therefore it is expensive. It is taught in a baraita that Rabbi Natan says: There is no mitzva, however minor, that is written in the Torah, for which there is no reward given in this world; and in the World-to-Come I do not know how much reward is given.

Go and learn from the following incident concerning the mitzva of ritual fringes. There was an incident involving a certain man who was diligent about the mitzva of ritual fringes. This man heard that there was a prostitute in one of the cities overseas who took four hundred gold coins as her payment. He sent her four hundred gold coins and fixed a time to meet with her. When his time came, he came and sat at the entrance to her house. The maidservant of that prostitute entered and said to her: That man who sent you four hundred gold coins came and sat at the entrance. She said: Let him enter. He entered.

She arranged seven beds for him, six of silver and one of gold. Between each and every one of them there was a ladder made of silver, and the top bed was the one that was made of gold. She went up and sat naked on the top bed, and he too went up in order to sit naked facing her. In the meantime, his four ritual fringes came and slapped him on his face.

He dropped down and sat himself on the ground, and she also dropped down and sat on the ground. She said to him: I take an oath by the gappa of Rome that I will not allow you to go until you tell me what defect you saw in me. He said to her: I take an oath by the Temple service that I never saw a woman as beautiful as you. But there is one mitzva that the Lord, our God, commanded us, and its name is ritual fringes, and in the passage where it is commanded, it is written twice: “I am the Lord your God” (Numbers 15:41). The doubling of this phrase indicates: I am the one who will punish those who transgress My mitzvot, and I am the one who will reward those who fulfill them. Now, said the man, the four sets of ritual fringes appeared to me as if they were four witnesses who will testify against me.

She said to him: I will not allow you to go until you tell me: What is your name, and what is the name of your city, and what is the name of your teacher, and what is the name of the study hall in which you studied Torah? He wrote the information and placed it in her hand. She arose and divided all of her property, giving one-third as a bribe to the government, one-third to the poor, and she took one-third with her in her possession, in addition to those beds of gold and silver.

She came to the study hall of Rabbi Ḥiyya and said to him: My teacher, instruct your students concerning me and have them make me a convert. Rabbi Ḥiyya said to her: My daughter, perhaps you set your sights on one of the students and that is why you want to convert? She took the note the student had given her from her hand and gave it to Rabbi Ḥiyya. He said to her: Go take possession of your purchase. Those beds that she had arranged for him in a prohibited fashion, she now arranged for him in a permitted fashion. The Gemara completes its point about the reward of mitzvot and points out how this story illustrates the concept: This is the reward given to him in this world, and with regard to the World-to-Come, I do not know how much reward he will be given.

"You shall make an altar for burning incense." To burn incense on it for the ruler of the heavens, corresponding to the ruler of earth, corresponding to what kings do with the after-dinner spices and the havdalah spices versus the sacrificial altar, or just like the slaughter kitchens versus the display table and the candelabra. [A king will place] the slaughter kitchens far from the royal scepter, while the display table and the candelabra and the after-dinner spices will be as close as possible, along with the holy-of-holies, the chamber of the king and the throne room.

It's not because the K"BH needs any of this. For ha-Shem already has all the beasts of the forest, the cattle and the fowl, as the Psalmist says (50:12), "Were I hungry, I would not tell you, for Mine is the world and all it holds." Rather, the K"BH desires to do justice for Yisrael. Just as the sages said, ha-Makom wants Yisrael to have Z'chut (virtue/merit), and therefore multiplies Torah and Mitzvot, by means of which, the Shechina dwells among them.

In order that the awe and respect of ha-Shem will be on each person, and they can [try to] perfect themselves, they are able to offer before ha-Shem oath-offerings and voluntary-offerings, sin-offerings and guilt-offerings, daily-offerings and additional-offerings, to make atonement for themselves. For when a person sins, they understand and know that they can make atonement for themselves, and know that they will be clean, and will be super cautious not to dirty themselves up with sin. And if they didn't know that they could make atonement for themselves, they would sin today, and then tomorrow reason that, "look, I'm so filthy with sins already, why should I worry myself about sinning again."

The sages said the same thing, that when a person sins and repents, it's as if their action had been a permitted one. Therefore the K"BH established sacrifices for Israel, to atone for them, and [15 types of?] pardon and forgiveness, that they should not become accustomed to sins. It's analogous to a person who has bright, clean, and shiny white clothing. As long as the clothes are shiny white, that person is really careful to keep them away from mud and filth. But once they get all dirty, then the person isn't careful with them. Therefore the K"BH ordained the service and the sacrifices, and concerning this King Solomon wrote (Ecc 9:8), "Let your clothes always be freshly washed [white]."