Tzav, צַו  Command!   Vayikra (Leviticus) 6:1-8:36 

The Command and Purim

Poetic Notes on the parashah of Tzav in the week of Purim 5782*

Once and forever upon a time,

in time and beyond time,

the sound of God’s word

echoed forward and echoed backward,

warning about

the most deadly poison of the soul,

the poisonous knowledge of how to

mix good and evil

It was embedded in the DNA of a certain tree

Warning against this genetic knowledge, 

the word of God echoed back and forth

On the day you eat of it you are going to die!

Yet the warning held a secret

On the day that the enemies of the Jews

looked forward to ruling over them 

it was reversed:

The Jews would rule over their enemies

And so that the Adam 

would not be an orphan

The LORD God,

the God who anointed Israel,

gave Adam a commandment,

a universal commandment,

that would attach Adam 

to that Torah Israel that God had always had in mind,

even from before the foundation of the universe

For Adam was an orphan of the earth

They were fashioned from dust and ashes,

having neither mother nor father

So, the LORD God, 

HaShem Elohim, by reference to his name,

commanded the Adam,

and when he did,

Adam’s existential loneliness began to abate

HaShem Elohim commanded them

to eat of their own freewill

of the DNA of the trees of righteousness and life,

to be festive in the garden of lovingkindness,

which HaShem Elohim planted for them,

with all personal care and attention

It was something 

that HaShem should command the Adam

It was something, indeed!

Through this, Adam would be adopted

The Adam made from the lowest elements

would have a family from the highest realms

Being given an imperative

would have the deepest meaning for Adam,

meaning, as from a mother,

and certainty, as from a father

The LORD God

wanted the commandment given to Adam

to embrace the Adam most intimately,

to nurture them and raise them

and make them worthy of a divine marriage 

Therefore, the LORD God

"commanded the Adam, saying…"

The commandment

was not just the imperative to obey

The commandment was saying more,

speaking mysteries of love and righteous mercy,

speaking wisdom to be learned,

and being learned to be faithfully thought

and also spoken

The LORD God imperatively instructed 

the Adam to obey,

to freely sustain themselves 

with what their God provided,

saying something as wide as all the worlds,

by making this an imperative,

saying something for all Adam to hear,

something that they would have to think about,

something that would require them to have faith,

something that would require them

to be faithful in understanding,

something that would engage them,

embrace them, raise and elevate them,

something that would give them freedom

to chose to obey,

to be faithful in heart and mind

and in always learning to do better

The animals could eat whatever they found,

whatever they liked,

But Adam would need to eat

what they were commanded to eat

Obey and eat freely of the trees of the Garden

which was planted for you

as you were commanded to do

More than the food will feed you

Your commandment will feed you

And the commandment will be to you a mother

and will be to you a father

And you will not be an orphan

You will not be alone

You will not be half of yourself

Through the imperative of the commandment

you will double 

And the commandment,

as your mother and father,

will say to you:

Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth,

fill the earth with your children,

and fill the earth with your freedom and obedience

Subdue all that is corruptible in the earth

and lead with wisdom all the animals

you named with understanding

Teach them to learn from you

your obedience to the commandment

the commandment of the LORD your God

And the commandment shall become

a house and a home to you

and a dwelling place

for the LORD your God in the earth

But as soon as the commandment

was given to Adam,

it went in one ear and out the other

And Adam was lost

When the Adam was lost,

the Adam was stolen

from the commandment of the LORD God

And like a mother with a fierce love,

the commandment pursued her child into exile

Like a father with a ferocious

righteous jealousy

the commandment of God determined 

to rescue his child from rebellion and death 

Then Adam looked at the stars and thought,

God must live somewhere beyond the stars

Then Adam thought about God's commandment

and all they could see

was a double edged sword

In truth,

HaShem’s Transcendence and Immanence 

are not opposites or even close to it

God is transcendent in all qualities

including immanence

His home is in his compassionate love 

and in his commandment,

which is not far from you

It is in your mouth and on your tongue

to separate what is good, 

the way of life

from what is evil,

the way of death,

This is the path that leads to loving HaShem your God 

with all you are

How can we walk in the path

of friendship and mercy towards others,

the path of returning to the knowledge of HaShem?

Only by walking according to his commandment

The commandment to trust in his covenant of Israel,

waiting for its promised fulfillment 

This is the eternal path of life, 

a path to be walked step of faith by step of faith,

one obedient step following another

There is no other way to walk

on the path of friendship and mercy towards others

than to walk in repentant obedience

to the universal commandment

This alone is the final Purim miracle

For the commandment shall say unto them

"Hear, oh Israel,

The LORD your God

the LORD is one"

Adam shall hear and live

Adam, who was cut down 

and left for dead like a fallen tree

on the day they ate the corrupting seed,

shall hear and live

On the day that the enemies of the Jews

looked forward to ruling over them, 

on that day it was reversed

On that same day

the Jews would rule over their enemies

Then the commandment shall become 

a commandment of celebration and joy,

a commandment of friendship and celebration

And the table of the Torah

shall be set for a thousand years