Tetzaveh – Jews and Oil

This week’s פרשה starts off with a command to Moshe to command the Jewish people to take for themselves (lit. אליך, to yourselves) pure olive oil, with which to light the menorah nightly. The מדרש is curious about this word אליך, why are they taking the oil “to themselves”? The מדרש explains that this is correspondent with a פסוק in ספר ירמיה where the נביא compares the Jewish people to olives, but he does so in a unique way. He says זית רענן יפה פרי תואר קרא יהוה שמך, that Hashem “named” us a leafy olive tree. The problem with this is that our nation is compared to many fruits throughout תנ”ך, pomegranates, walnuts, figs, dates, and grapes are just a few, but none of those comparative Pesukim say that Hashem named us in accordance with that fruit, it usually just draws a parallel. The מדרש goes on to explain a concept which I think runs throughout the פרשה of all the בגדי כהונה and which is very uplifting.

The מדרש says 3 things which are all linked:

1- On most trees, the fruit blossoms, ripens, and is ready to be picked and usually eaten and/or squeezed almost immediately. Olive trees, however, have a much more complicated process, the degree of ripeness must be monitored extremely carefully, and when the desired ripeness is reached, the tree is shaken to and fro to shake the olives off. You then gather the fallen olives to the press, where they are squeezed for their oil, then they are ground to further extract oil, then cloths are used to soak up any missed oil, and then stones are laid to press on the residue of olive skins to make sure that every single drop has been obtained. This process is much more tedious and violent to the fruit than typical, but what is left at the end of the process is delicious olive oil, and it is in this detail that our nation is compared uniquely to olives. Throughout the generations, many nations have come and “shaken” the tree and flung Jews all around the globe, they have tied us up with ropes and cloths, ground us down by torture, and put the pressure of huge stones on us. But amazingly, after all that, the result is beautiful individuals who make up an incredible nation.

2- Most liquids mix homogeneously so you can’t see two distinct liquids after they are mixed. However, oil can be mixed for as long as you like, but immediately after the mixing stops the oil will separate from the other liquid in the mixture. The Jewish people have been mixed with nearly every other nation on the planet over the past 2,000 years but the mixture never lasts. The Jews always separate from any other nation that they mix with.

3- When oil separates from other liquids, it always rises to the top. So too, the Jewish people when they are doing the will of Hashem they will always rise above any other nation that they had been mixed with.

It is for these three reasons that Hashem told Moshe that the Jews should take olive oil “to themselves”, for they would be assuming these characteristics of oil in their future journeys.

What does it mean to us that every drop of oil is so incredibly valuable? Not only is the perfect ripeness necessary, but even after the olive is ground and squeezed, there are cloths wrapped around the olive to soak up even further. And when you think there can’t possibly be anything left, stones are placed to compress the olive skins and remove any saturated oil. If we are the olives in the mashul, how many times do we feel squeezed and crushed by the challenges of life? Like we have nothing left to give, we are completely empty. But we should take this message of אליך that, first, we have way more to give that we can possibly imagine and secondly, that Hashem values every single drop of our life infinitely more than we can imagine.

Another connection to the message of the olives, throughout the פרשה we hear about the בגדי כהונה, and it seems like each piece of clothing is there to atone for or “carry” the sins of the nation. אהרן הכהן is walking around carrying the sins of טומאה in the מקדש, עריות, lashon hara, and many more. It reminds me of how I used to look at the fish in the pond after תשליך, each with suitcases of עבירות on their backs. Why is Aharon carrying all our sins during his most holy service? I think that the message of the olive can explain this. The olive in it’s raw state is bitter and inedible. But the tree and farmer will hold those bitter fruits since they know the potential hidden inside the little oval fruits. Hashem knows each of our potentials, and so do our leaders, and so Aharon had no problem walking with the weight of the nation’s sins on his shoulders since to him, behind each sin was a beautiful Jew with infinite potential.

The last thing we hear in the פרשה is about the מזבח הקטורת. The קטרת was the medium used to enter the קדש הקדשים on יום כיפור to meet Hashem. Yet, it included something called the חלבנה (galbanum) which is a foul-smelling plant. This plant was able to meld into the קטרת and add to the general smell of the mixture. This spice was כנגד the פושעי ישראל, represented by the foul odor, and we learn from here that even the worst of Jews have their place in the holiest mixture used in front of Hashem. Again, the message of the olive, bitter on the outside with limitless and delicious potential on the inside.