No individual is mentioned more often in the Torah than Moses. In fact, in the Books of Exodus, Leviticus, and Numbers, which deal with his life, Moses is mentioned in every portion except one, Tetzaveh.
A popular explanation presented in the name of the Vilna Gaon is that Moses’s name is omitted because this portion is usually read during the week marking Moses’s death.
The Zohar teaches instead that this portion occurs after the incident of the golden calf when Moses tells God, if You do not forgive the sin of the Jewish People, blot my name out of the Torah (Exodus 32:33; Zohar, Pinchas 246a).
AP Photo/Sebastian Scheiner/AP
A Torah scroll is read at the Western Wall, the holiest site where Jews can pray in the Old City of Jerusalem. Sebastian Scheiner/APHowever, Moses does play a role despite the absence of his name. The Torah tells us that Moses, who Ibn Ezra notes was the first priest, brings Aaron his brother “near” to become high priest (Exodus 28:1). Moreover, Moses speaks to the wisehearted men to make Aaron’s priestly garments (28:3). Additionally, Moses prepares the sacrificial service to be offered on the day Aaron assumes his post (29:1). Finally, Moses washes Aaron and his sons and actually dresses them in their priestly garments (29:4–9). But in every instance, without exception, Moses is mentioned through the use of a pronoun.
Perhaps omitting his name underscores that Moses was prepared to share leadership, to shine the spotlight on his brother, and that far from feeling jealous or cheated, he felt joyous. His joy is so great that he himself calls Aaron forward, he himself arranges for Aaron’s garments, he himself prepares the sacrificial service for Aaron, and he himself washes and dresses Aaron. In fact, Moses even washes and dresses Aaron’s sons, an action that perhaps could evoke great jealousy in him, as it reminds Moses that his own sons were unworthy to inherit his position of leadership.
Much as Aaron was happy to hear that Moses would be the leader of the Jewish People (4:14), Moses was joyous when Aaron and his sons were awarded the priesthood. Hence, Moses’s name is not mentioned because, even as he steps forward to facilitate every step of Aaron’s becoming the high priest, he does so graciously and remains absolutely self-effacing.
Moses, the leader of leaders, is true to the Torah’s description of him: “Now the man Moses was very humble, more than any human being on the face of the earth”(Numbers 12:3). Moses’s selfless actions emphasize the importance of stepping back and making space for others, with joyousness and with humility – traits critical to successful leadership.
Candle lighting:
Tetzaveh parsha
February 23 at 6:02 p.m.
