The Ashes

Tzav 5784 - Do we have space for the grit and the holiness?

Seder Avodah by Yishai Ribo

One of the nice things about this project this year is that I can look back on the Torah I shared last year. Where was I? Where were we? What did we need at that time? Last year I wrote about a particular ritual in the beginning of Parashat Tzav where the priest removes the ashes from the altar at the beginning of each day. Rabbi Samson Rafael Hirsch taught that this was a way to try to begin each day anew, as if it was the first time. But there is something else interesting happening here in this verse. The priest isn’t actually completely removing the ashes. The Torah says: 

 והרים את־הדשן אשר תאכל האש את־העלה על־המזבח ושמו אצל המזבח

“and the priest shall take up the ashes that remain from the fire of the burnt offering on the altar and place them beside the altar (Lev. 6:2).”

The Chassidic masters don’t take anything literally, especially when it comes to the book of Vayikra with the laws of the sacrifices and priestly behavior. Everything relates to a human being and our thoughts and actions. So according to the Sefat Emet (Yehudah Aryeh Leib Alter (1847–1905, Poland), this particular instruction to remove the ashes from the alter each day and place them beside the altar, is “to show that alien thoughts also have a place after the burning, after they've been reduced to dust.”

In her commentary on the Sefat Emet, Rabbi Dr. Erin Leib Smokler writes, “Our portion instructs the kohen (priest) every single morning, first thing in the morning, to move the scorched ashes of those burned up animals to the side of the altar--gently, carefully, ritually. The remnants of the overnight fires on the holy altar had to be retained right next to the altar. And there they would remain until they built up overwhelmingly, at which point the priest would move them to a pure place ("makom tahor") outside of the camp. This repetitive, ritualized act, known as terumat ha-deshen, would be a central priestly responsibility, one that anchored the priest's daily practice. Shoveling that grit from the altar to the side of the altar was his first act of service as he began each day of devotion.”

Maybe we can’t do this every day like the priests, but perhaps we can engage in this ritual every week. Shabbat offers us the opportunity to place the ashes to the side. You don’t need to rid yourself of every “non-shabbosdic” thought! But just try to hold them on the side, eitzel hamizbe’ach, just for one day. How do we hold onto two truths at the same time? The grit and the holy, right next to each other. Both are real, and both are important.

And even though we’re so far away from the High Holidays, since we’re talking about the work of the priest I was immediately brought back to this gorgeous piece by Yishai Ribo. May we find space for our grit and our holiness this Shabbat, and bring them both with us.

Shabbat Shalom,

Josh