Tzav - Happiness is...

B"H

Full source text here

Welcome back! I will try and focus on some relatively short midrashim for the next few weeks while catching up post-Pesach (with apologies to any Israeli readers for being even further behind). Hopefully, Shemini will be up motsei Shabbat, after which things will be back to normal.

Also, thanks to D.S. for his assistance with Hebrew grammar (although the blame is mine if I've still got anything wrong ;-)

Sources:

1) Midrash Tanchuma Tzav, Chapter 8

וידבר ה' אל משה קח את אהרן ואת בניו ואת הבגדים. זה שאמר הכתוב, אשרי תבחר ותקרב ישכן חצרך (תהל' סה ה). אשרי מי שבחרו הקדוש ברוך הוא, אף על פי שלא קרבו. ואשרי מי שקרבו, אף על פי שלא בחרו. ואיזהו שבחרו. זה אברהם, אבל לא קרבו, אבל הוא קרב את עצמו, שנאמר, אתה הוא ה' האלהים אשר בחרת באברם וגו' (נחמ' ט ז). יעקב בחרו הקדוש ברוך הוא, שנאמר, יעקב אשר בחרתיך (ישע' מא ח). וכן הוא אומר, כי יעקב בחר לו יה, ישראל לסגולתו (תהל' קלה ד), אבל לא קרבו. אבל הוא קרב את עצמו, שנאמר, ויעקב איש תם יושב אהלים (ברא' כה כז). משה בחרו, אבל לא קרבו, שנאמר, לולי משה בחירו עמד בפרץ (תהל' קכו כג). דוד בחרו, אבל לא קרבו, שנאמר, ויבחר בדוד עבדו (שם עח ע). והוא קרב את עצמו, שנאמר, חבר אני לכל אשר יראוך (שם קיט סג). אשריהם אלו שבחרן הקדוש ברוך הוא, אף על פי שלא קרבן. בא וראה, יתרו קרבו הקדוש ברוך הוא, ולא בחרו. רחב הזונה קרבה הקדוש ברוך הוא, אבל לא בחרה. אשרי אהרן בכפלים, שבחרו הקדוש ברוך הוא וקרבו. ומנין שבחרו, שנאמר, ויבא איש (ה) אלהים אל עלי ויאמר אליו כה אמר ה' הנגלה נגלית אל בית אביך, ובחר אותו מכל שבטי ישראל לכהן לי (ש"א ב כז-כח). ומנין שקרבו, שנאמר, ואתה הקרב אליך את אהרן אחיך (שמו' כח א). לכך דוד משבחו ואמר, אשרי תבחר ותקרב ישכון חצרך (תהלים סה ה: 

2) Shemot 28:1-2

א וְאַתָּה הַקְרֵב אֵלֶיךָ אֶת-אַהֲרֹן אָחִיךָ וְאֶת-בָּנָיו אִתּוֹ מִתּוֹךְ בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל לְכַהֲנוֹ-לִי  אַהֲרֹן נָדָב וַאֲבִיהוּא אֶלְעָזָר וְאִיתָמָר בְּנֵי אַהֲרֹן.  ב וְעָשִׂיתָ בִגְדֵי-קֹדֶשׁ לְאַהֲרֹן אָחִיךָ לְכָבוֹד וּלְתִפְאָרֶת.

"'Ashrei tivhar ut'karev yishkon ha'tzereicha....' Ashrei mi sheb'haru haKadosh Baruch Hu af al pi shelo kervo, v'ashrei mi shekervo af al pi shelo v'haru" 

"'Happy is he who you choose and draw near to dwell in your courts' (Tehillim 65:5). Happy is the one whom the Holy One, Blessed be He, chose even though He did not draw him near, and happy is he whom He drew near even though He did not choose him" (underlined from source 1 above).

At first glance, this week's midrash looks deceptively simple. Having taken as its premise the equality of being 'chosen' (niv'har)and being 'drawn near' (mekorav) by G-d, the midrash cites Avraham, Ya'akov/Yisrael, Moshe and David as examples of those who are 'chosen' while Yitro and Rachav are examples of those who are 'drawn near'. The midrash then goes on to demonstrate that Aharon as the Kohen Gadol was the most fortunate of all due to combining both traits of chosenness and closeness to G-d. 

However, if we look more closely there are several 'oddities' about this midrash which can help us understand it at a deeper level. In no particular order:

1) While the midrash may open with a pasuk from parshat Tzav, it is actually based on an earlier instance back in parshat Tetzaveh (source 2) above) of Moshe being instructed regarding Aharon, his sons, and the special b'gdei kehuna (priestly garb) referred to in the opening pasuk. This only becomes obvious at the end* - while the opening pasuk uses the term 'kach' to describe Moshe's assembling Aharon and his sons for their inauguration as kohanim, the pasuk from Tetzaveh at source 2 uses the term 'hak'rev' regarding Aharon et. al. As both p'sukim refer to Aharon in conjunction with the b'gdei kehuna, the pasuk from Tetzaveh therefore becomes both a proof-text for the midrash's assertion that Aharon was 'drawn near' by G-d and a thematic link back to the pasuk from Tzav.

2) While the midrash argues that Avraham, Ya'akov, Moshe and David were 'chosen' but not 'drawn near' by G-d, it also mentions concerning three out of these four that they nevertheless 'drew themselves near' to G-d. If, as the midrash asserts at the opening, those who are merely chosen are still considered fortunate, what does it add to mention that these three also 'drew themselves near' to G-d?**


3) The midrash fails to provide any proof-texts whatsoever for its argument that Yitro and Rachav were 'drawn near' to G-d without being chosen. Nor does it mention Yitro or Rachav making any efforts to 'choose' G-d (which one might expect as a parallel to Avraham, Ya'akov and David above).


The key to unpacking this midrash (and for me, what first caught my interest) is who these figures are in terms of their Jewish status. In fact, the midrash differentiates between being 'chosen' and 'drawn near' on the basis of who is considered part of the familial B'nei Israel (Avraham/Ya'akov/Moshe/David) and who is traditionally considered an 'outsider' coming into the Israelite fold through gerut (Yitro, frequently considered a ger in Rabbinic literature, and Rachav, the zonah who sheltered the spies in Yericho and whom is traditionally considered to have subsequently converted and married Yehoshua.)*** In the latter case, the above lack of any proof-texts may therefore be because the midrash assumes the reader is instantly familiar with these traditional identifications of Yitro and Rachav as gerim.


If we return to the second 'oddity' above regarding those who are 'chosen' only, we can see a two-way process going on. G-d is reaching out to Avraham et. al. by choosing them as ancestors/leaders of the Jewish people and distinguishing them from the other nations of the world. At the same time Avraham/Ya'akov/David also actively reach out to G-d by 'drawing themselves' close to him of their own accord through observance of the mitzvot/specific commands by G-d. However, while it may be tempting to say that those in the 'chosen' camp are therefore on a higher level by also 'drawing themselves near' to G-d, the midrash's opening lines are at pains to stress the equality of those who are 'chosen' and those who are 'drawn near'.

How can we square this? Well, just as Yitro and Rachav's status as gerim is left unstated, so too it may be considered an implicit part of Yitro and Rachav's becoming gerim that they were in their own way reaching out and 'choosing' G-d, thereby paralleling the two-way relationship between G-d and Avraham/Ya'akov/David.

What of Aharon, then? The answer, it seems,  lies partially in the true 'source' pasuk from Tetzaveh (source 2) and partially in the raison d'etre of the kohanim in terms of the korbanot (offerings) brought in the Mishkan and later in the Beit HaMikdash itself. According to the midrash, as kohanim Aharon and his sons are both 'chosen' from all of B'nei Israel to serve G-d in the Mishkan and 'drawn near' as per G-d's command to Moshe in Tetzaveh. As many commentators hold, the purpose of the korbanot is ultimately to draw oneself closer to G-d (as seen from the common root K-R-V on which 'korban' and 'mekorav' are based). Perhaps, by being both 'chosen by' and 'drawn near' to G-d to serve in the 'courts' of the Mishkan, Aharon and his descendants become the ideal instrument by which the 'chosen' B'nei Israel can follow the example of Avraham, Ya'akov and David and 'draw near' to G-d through the korbanot.


Shabbat shalom!


RPT

*While it is quite common for midrashim to start with a pasuk/idea that seems completely disconnected from the 'source' pasuk of the relevant parsha and then meander its way back to this source, this is the first time I have come across one which meanders back to a pasuk from another parsha altogether, from which the reader has to make the mental leap him/herself to the source pasuk...

** It is also worth asking why Moshe - the most significant Navi who was uniquely privileged to have G-d speak with him 'peh el peh' (mouth to mouth) - is the only person who is not mentioned here as 'drawing himself near' to G-d. It could be that the proof-text used to show Moshe's 'chosenness' in itself also points to his closeness to G-d, as it describes Moshe standing 'in the breach' between G-d and a rebellious Israel. However, I'm not entirely convinced...
***see earlier post on parshat Yitro for more on the connotations of ger as both 'stranger' and 'convert'.