Parashat Tetzaveh is unique from all of the other Torah portions from the beginning of Exodus to the end of Numbers in an unusual way. How so? The name of Moses is curiously missing from the text. In every other portion we hear his name mentioned at least once, if not multiple times. This week, however, the Torah is silent when it comes to actually naming Moses. Why is this the case?
This week’s Torah portion begins with a request from Hashem for materials to use in the construction of the Mishkan, the Holy Tabernacle. It continues with detailed instructions for how the Tabernacle and its furnishings should be made. One of these furnishings was central to the Tabernacle. It was the Aron, the Holy Ark, about which Hashem instructed Moses, “You shall put into the ark the testimony that I shall give you” (Exodus 25:16). He gave Moses specific instructions for making the Ark, saying:
Both the Gospels of Matthew and Mark record Yeshua’s encounter with a Gentile woman who had come to him begging that he exorcise a demon from her daughter. With our modern, egalitarian perception of Yeshua we would think that he would immediately have compassion on this unfortunate girl and agree to help. However, the Gospels record for us what may be the Master’s most shocking response to our Western ears. He told the woman, “It is not right to take the children’s bread and toss it to the dogs” (Matthew 15:26).
Is this week’s Torah portion we learn about the reunion of Joseph and his family. How appropriate for the name of the portion to be called Vayigash, which means, “and he came near.” After a long period of being apart from his family, Joseph was able to come near his family. Not only did Joseph reveal himself to his brothers after the long wait for his plan to succeed, but he was also reunited with his father who had given up hope of Joseph’s survival years beforehand.
This week’s Torah portion begins with one of the most mysterious and little-understood events recorded in the Torah. When Jacob spent the night in what he later calls Beit-El he had a curious dream charged with spiritual import:
