Parashas Tzav

Our parasha deals with the practical details of the laws of the sacrificial service and the unique holiness of Aharon and his sons, the kohanim. However, the parasha opens with: Command Aharon and his sons, saying, This is the law of the olah, burnt offering: It is the olah.

Rabbeinu, the Maharal Tzintz, explains that when Klal Yisrael comes to offer korbanos to Hashem in the Beis HaMikdash, there is a concern that their hearts may become distressed. They may feel pained because they themselves did not merit to be granted the privilege of serving before Hashem, while only the kohanim perform the service of the korbanos. To prevent this grief, the pasuk opens with this introduction. 

The Torah commands Aharon and his sons, leimor, to say… that the kohanim are to say to the Jews who come to offer korbanos: Know that although you did not merit to offer the korban yourselves, you are able to engage in the Torah, and Torah is more beloved than anything else. This is the law (Zos Toras) of the olah – means one who engages in the Torah is as if he himself offered an olah. Thus, through the Torah, one can merit the mitzvah of offering just like the kohanim. 

The pasuk further teaches that one who studies Torah is not only considered like the kohanim but is on a higher level than them. For it is written, “It is the olah” הוא העולה in the masculine form, which refers to the korban, but it is read in the Torah as “It is the olah” ״היא העולה״ – in the feminine form, which refers to the holy Torah. This indicates that the Torah is the burnt offering. The level of offering before Hashem achieved through studying Torah is the most important olah. It is the olah,  with the definite article. The crown of Torah is greater than the crown of kehunah. 

And as with the opening, so too with the conclusion. Rabbeinu, the Maharal Tzintz, continues and shows that just as the Torah opens the laws of the sacrificial service with the greatness of the crown of Torah, it also concludes with the greatness of the Torah. Let us reflect and see that at the conclusion of the laws of the korbanos, after the Torah summarizes the virtue of the kohanim and the gifts of the kehunah, it is stated: This is the law for the olah, for the mincha, for the chatas, for the asham, for the miluim, and for the zevach ha’shelamim (Vayikra 7:37). Our Sages derived from this that anyone who engages in the Torah is as if he offered all the korbanos mentioned in that pasuk. 

Among the virtues of the Torah: There are three crowns: kehunah, kingship, and Torah. The crown of kehunah was merited by Aharon, the crown of kingship was merited by Dovid Hamelech, and the crown of Torah is available to anyone who wishes to take it. And it is the greatest of them all. For the Torah says of itself,  בי מלאכים ימלוכו – “Through me, kings rule,” the Torah is what crowns the other kings, and one who crowns is greater than the one who is crowned. The mitzvah of korbanos began only with the dedication of the Mishkan, whereas the offering through studying the Torah began already with the receiving of the Torah at Sinai.

The crown of Torah is greater than the crown of kehunah, and it is accessible to all who wish to acquire it.