WRJ Voices: T'tzaveh

This portion speaks to me in many ways. As women, we have long fought for a place in our homes, congregations, towns, states, nations, and world. The Torah portion T’tzaveh speaks to women on different levels, speaking about ritual traditions and instructions for specific ways of cooking and eating, and for clothing and ritual items. The following are a few of the instructions that speak to me personally.

1. A cord of blue. Every tallit is considered correctly made and Kosher if it has one blue cord in each tzitzit. It is considered priestly as the blue dye was hard to come by in Biblical days. As I tie the tzitzit on each tallit I make I am reminded that this is one of the traditions of our ancient past that is still carried on today - from the beginning and it still has meaning today.
2. The custom of placing stones on the headstones when visiting the cemetery. It is clear that the custom is a direct tie to the implication and hope that God will always be mindful and bring blessings. Blessing to whom? The ones who have passed? Us? Those to come? I see it as a remembrance of those that have gone before us and a commandment for those who will remember us. Should we feel sorry for those headstones that have no stone upon them?
3. Pomegranates which are very popular in some Jewish communities. They seem to show up regularly on Shabbat. Many today don’t understand that the Torah speaks of them in several ways…to adorn clothing with the symbol, dye yarn, all meaning the hope of fertility. I certainly understand that pomegranate juice is a fantastic natural dye. It is clearly a color which was rare and one has easily seen in the construction of cloth.

These are just a few of the instructions in this Torah portion. It would seem that many of us know that there are reasons for certain expectations and duties, but few of us take the time to search and read carefully or explore the reasons why “we have always done it this way!”

Those of us who have chosen Judaism cannot help our continued wonder at the rhyme and reason that makes so much sense in the world today. We, as women, should continue to explore the Torah and learn more about its lesser known and practiced rituals.

Meg Marhsak is a WRJ board member and a WRJ Mid-Atlantic Area Director. She is also currently serving as President of Beth Ahabah Women of Reform Judaism, Richmond, VA.