By Camden Blockston
This week’s Torah portion is Tzav: Leviticus 6:1 — 8:36
This week’s Torah portion is Tzav, which discusses the role of the Kohanim. The Kohanim are the descendants of Aaron and a small part of the Levite tribe. The Kohanim were responsible for performing sacrifices. They brought the animals to the altar, said the special prayers and burned the sacrifices. It was a challenging role because it could be dirty, tiring work, and they had to be very careful to do everything correctly. But it could also feel good, because they were helping people and serving God. The Kohanim were chosen for this special way of serving God and the community because the Levites did not participate in building the golden calf while Moses was on Mount Sinai.
This week’s Haftorah also relates to serving God. This week is Shabbat HaGadol, the Shabbat before Passover. The Haftorah for Shabbat HaGadol comes from the Book of Malachi, and it talks about the promised coming of the Messiah. It ends with:
“Lo, I will send the prophet Elijah to you before the coming of the awesome, fearful day of God.” (Malachi 3:23)
Elijah was a prophet who stood up against idol worshipers, and he taught people to believe in God. Elijah was in a similar situation to the Levites because people around him were worshiping idols. Just like the Levites didn’t participate in the golden calf, Elijah also remained connected to God.
He was a leader like the Kohanim because both of them helped people worship God and not idols. He was a brave prophet who held a public sacrifice for everyone to prove that God is real, and the Canaanite gods are false. Elijah did this at great personal risk because the Israelite king and queen were worshiping idols and would kill people who didn’t.
Elijah, in rabbinic tradition, is expected to announce the coming of the Messiah. At the Passover seder, we remember Elijah with a special cup of wine and by opening the door for him. We invite Elijah to take a drink at our seder because Passover is a celebration of freedom from Egypt, and we believe Elijah will announce the next period of peace and freedom — the Messiah.
My Hebrew middle name is Elijah, or in Hebrew, Eliyahu, which means “the Lord is my God.” Elijah stood up to injustice because he trusted God and knew that He was the only real God. He was brave and didn’t follow the crowd, even when others prayed to idols.
I take from these stories the importance of being a leader and doing what is correct. Part of being a leader is helping people to do the right thing. Everybody can take on the role of being a leader by not just looking out for themselves, but also for others. It can be difficult to be a leader because some people might still do the wrong thing and not listen to you.
They might not agree with what you are trying to say or how you are trying to help them.
This can be frustrating because you are trying really hard to help someone, but they are just ignoring you. When this happens, you should just move on from that person and focus on leading the others who are willing to do the correct thing. This is what Elijah and the Kohanim did, and I want to do the same.
Camden Blockston is a seventh-grade student at Krieger Schechter Day School.
