Parashat Tzavפָּרָשַׁת צַו

In Tzav (“Command”), God tells Moses about the sacrifices offered in the Mishkan (Tabernacle), including a meal offering brought by the high priest, guilt offerings, and offerings of thanks. Moses initiates Aaron and Aaron’s sons for priestly service in the Mishkan. Where the prior portion told the people what to bring, Tzav turns to the priests and details how each offering is actually carried out: the burnt, meal, sin, guilt, and peace offerings, including the daily meal offering of the high priest and the thanksgiving (todah) offering. A recurring motif is the perpetual fire on the altar, which the priests must keep continually burning and never let go out, along with the daily, ritualized removal of ashes. The parashah then shifts from sacrificial law to sacred biography, narrating the seven-day ordination of Aaron and his sons, when Moses washes, dresses, and anoints them and the Tabernacle. Taken together, the portion elevates the sacrificial order from theory into disciplined practice, stressing holiness, exact obedience, gratitude, and the consecration of those who serve God on the community's behalf.

The regular haftarah for Tzav is from Jeremiah (commonly Jeremiah 7:21-8:3 together with 9:22-23, though some communities mark the span slightly differently), read in both Ashkenazi and Sephardi rites. It forms a prophetic counterpoint to the portion's intricate sacrificial laws: Jeremiah declares that at the Exodus God did not primarily command burnt offerings but obedience to His voice, insisting that ritual without ethical conduct is hollow, and closing with the famous call to boast not in wisdom, strength, or wealth but in knowing God. In most years, however, Tzav falls on Shabbat HaGadol (the Shabbat before Passover), and the regular reading is replaced by the special haftarah from Malachi (3:4-24), which looks ahead to redemption and ends with the promise of Elijah's return before the great Day of the Lord.

Tzav is best known for the command to keep a perpetual fire continually burning on the altar that must never go out (Leviticus 6:6), a verse often quoted symbolically. It also describes the dramatic ordination ritual in which sacrificial blood is placed on the right ear, right thumb, and right big toe of Aaron and his sons (Leviticus 8:23-24). The laws of the thanksgiving (todah) offering are frequently cited as a precursor to later communal expressions of gratitude. Tzav very often coincides with Shabbat HaGadol, the "Great Sabbath" before Passover, giving it special status in most years. By traditional count the parashah has 97 verses, and it is the 25th weekly portion overall and the second in the Book of Leviticus.