In a few days, on Passover, we will read in the Haggadah the words that are recited when offering the first fruits of the land on the festival of Shavuot. The verbal formula is introduced by and concludes with directions for the choreography of the offering. It is found in this passage from Deuteronomy: (Deut 26:4-10; NRSV)
Introduction: When the priest takes the basket from your hand and sets it down before the altar of the Lord your God, you shall make this response before the Lord your God:
Offeror’s Recitation: “A wandering Aramean was my ancestor; he went down into Egypt and lived there as an alien, few in number, and there he became a great nation, mighty and populous. When the Egyptians treated us harshly and afflicted us, by imposing hard labor on us, we cried to the Lord, the God of our ancestors; the Lord heard our voice and saw our affliction, our toil, and our oppression. The Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm, with a terrifying display of power, and with signs and wonders; and he brought us into this place and gave us this land, a land flowing with milk and honey. So now I bring the first of the fruit of the ground that you, O Lord, have given me.”
Conclusion: You shall set it down before the Lord your God and bow down before the Lord your God.
This is a ritual structure that is very familiar to us. We are accustomed to ceremonies or rituals that have both physical and oral elements. Weddings, graduations, investitures, retirements, awards of all sorts; all typically include spoken acknowledgements of the nature of the event. “With this ring I thee wed.” “In honor of your 35 years of exemplary service.” “To the winner of the 100-meter breaststroke.” We would find it odd to attend a silent civil ceremony.
We are accustomed to oral formulas in religious rituals as well. A priest consecrating the communion wafers and wine recites a verbal formula of consecration and then another one when offering the substances to worshippers. A baptism, a bris, an ordination, the last rites, the formal entry into religious communities, all include the recitation of verbal formulas, which in some cases are required to effectively complete the ritual. That is, the recitation is an essential, not an ancillary, element of the ritual, as is the case in the first fruits offering.
Parashat Tzav deals with two principal subjects: the completion of the sacrificial rituals that are introduced in Parashat Vayikra and the ordination of Aaron and his sons as priests. It is interesting that these subjects are treated in two parts. The long last section of the Book of Exodus is largely devoted to the building and equipping of the desert sanctuary. There we find very detailed specifications for the design and fabrication of the enclosure, the altars, the utensils, the priest’s vestments and so forth. Then all of those details are essentially repeated when we are told that the work was done. There is a similar two-part structure of the specification of sacrifices.
In Parashat Vayikra, last week’s Torah portion, we find specifications for various types of sacrifice: what is to be brought for a burnt offering from the herd or flock – a male without blemish – for example. That portion tells us how the animal is to be slaughtered and what the priests are to do with the meat and the blood. But it is in Parashat Tzav that we learn what happens after the sacrifice. That is, the burnt offering is left on the altar all night, the priest removes the ashes in the morning and takes them outside the camp to a clean place. Interestingly he first puts the ashes down beside the altar and changes his clothing and only then picks up the ashes and carries them away. The priestly vestments whose specifications are given in Exodus are not to be worn for mundane purposes.
The accounts of the other sacrifices follow this basic pattern i.e. actions required to select, prepare and offer the sacrifices are detailed first, then we find later the instructions on how to dispose of the remaining material. In some cases, all that remains are the ashes of the offering, in others there is edible meat or meal or cakes and we learn how those are to be allocated.
It is in Exodus Chapter 40 that God gives Moses instructions regarding the anointing of Aaron and his sons as priests. And God says: “This their anointing shall serve them for everlasting priesthood throughout the ages’. (Ex 40:15b) But the anointing itself is done in Tzav, at Leviticus 8:12 “He poured some of the anointing oil on Aaron’s head and anointed him to consecrate him.”
Our commentators take great pains to explain why we find these two-part accounts of the sanctuary and the sacrifices and the ordination of priests. Some of the explanations are beautiful and moving, some are technical, and some seem forced or even fanciful. But all seek meaning in the words of the text. If we focus too closely on the words, though, or even on the literary structure or on potential sources of the texts, we risk overlooking an issue that is raised by contrast to the first fruits offering.
Neither the consecration of the sanctuary, nor the specified sacrifices of Leviticus, nor the ordination of Aaron and his sons has a verbal element. These are all silent rituals.
When the sanctuary was consecrated and Moses saw that all had been done as God had instructed, he blessed the people (Ex 39:43). We are not told what he said, but it is clear that the blessing was not a requirement for the consecration of the mishkan. The people had performed well, and Moses was pleased.
When an animal is slaughtered for sacrifice, or when its flesh is placed on the fire, the priest does not recite a formula indicating what is being sacrificed and why and asking for God’s acknowledgment and favor. In all the detailed specifications of the various sacrifices we find no requirement that is not physical. Action is commanded. Ways and means of performance are specified. But no words are required.
When Moses anoints Aaron, the only words spoken are Moses’ instructions in Lev 8:31-35, which are essentially stage direction: boil the flesh…you shall not go outside…your ordination will require seven days, etc. In this case an element of time is added to the required action for the ritual’s effect to be complete. But the action is silent action and the time is silent time – that is, no verbal formula is given to accompany the passage of the seven days. It is simply their passing that is required.
There are other rituals in the Torah that specifically include oral components. In the law of the sotah, for example, the wife suspected of adultery. In that case the woman is brought before a priest who ‘shall administer the oath of adjuration to the woman’. He says ‘May the Lord make you a curse and an imprecation among your people, etc.’ To which she must say ‘Amen, amen.’
Human beings are oral creatures. The development of language has been as important in our evolution as the development of an upright stance or opposable thumbs. The teaching of God is transmitted to Moses and through him to the people orally. The society of the desert times was largely an oral one. And yet in the cases of the consecration of the sanctuary, the offering of required sacrifices and the anointing of priests we find no oral element in the biblical text. No verbal declaration of intent, no demonstrable sincerity, no praises or thanksgiving or protestations of remorse can compensate for incorrect action. Their actions had to speak for the people and their leaders.
In these crucial elements of the establishment of Israel’s relationship with God, silence is the stage on which the actions of man are to be performed.
How powerful it must have been to witness such actions, such incredibly consequential actions, in the haunting silence of the desert.
© Charles R Lightner