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Couuer• $2.50 per Couple
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Special to The Jewish News
his week's Torah por-
tion, Tzav, deals pri-
marily with the role of
the kohayn, the priest, in the
performance of the sacrifices.
Clearly, the verses indicate
that the kohayn is indispen-
sable in the offering of the
sacrifices, both voluntary and
obligatory.
This concept of reliance on
another human being in our
relationship to the Almighty
seems somewhat foreign to
most of us. For, after all, we
are used to the "Jewish ideal"
of each persori standing
before his maker responsible
and answering only for
himself. We have been
brought up to believe that we
personally relate directly to
God.
Certainly in practice, this
necessity of and reliance on
others doesn't seem to exist at
all. There is no practice in
Judaism now that requires
the services of a rabbi or
anyone else if the individual
himself is knowledgeable and
able. Yet, it seems with the
sacrifices, and if they are seen
as the model, then, in
general, that the authentical-
ly Jewish concept of a rela-
tionship with God requires
more than the individual
himself.
Actually, this idea of ab-
solute self-reliance and "each
Jew for himself' before God is
a misconception. To fulfill our
obligations as Jews, we not
only need other Jews — we
need all other Jews. The
Mishna (Tractate Rosh
Hashanah, at the end of
chapter three) declares: "This
is the general rule: all who
are not obligated in a mitzvah
(commandment) cannot per-
form it on behalf of the com-
munity." Specifically, the
Mishna is discussing the Baal
Tikea, the one who blows the
shofar on behalf of the con-
gregation. If the one blowing
the shofar has no obligation,
for example, if he is a non-
Jew, then he may not blow the
shofar for the congregation to
enable them to fulfill their
obligation to hear the sound
of the shofar on Rosh
Hashanah.
The enabler must be
obligated or the others cannot
fulfill their obligation. As the
Mishna indicates, "This is the
general rule." It applies, as
well, to other obligations
Eliezer Cohen is rabbi at
Young Israel of Oak-Woods.
48
FRIDAY, MARCH 20, 1992
besides shofar. There are
other mitzvot that one may
perform for others. For exam-
ple, one can recite a brocha, a
blessing, and another may
fulfill his obligation by hear-
ing the brocha, and respon-
ding amen. In evey case, the
one performing the act must
be obligated in the mitzvah.
But what happens if the
one performing the mitzvah
had his own obligation but
has already fulfilled it? If he
has already blown or heard
the shofar previously; if he
has already recited the bless-
ing, technically speaking, he
is no longer obligated. He has
Shabbat Tzav
Leviticus 6:1-8:36.
Jeremiah 7:21-8:3,
9:22-23.
finished his mitzvah. The
Talmud commenting on our
Mislins (Rosh Hashanah 29A)
declares in the name of
Ahava the son of Rav Zeira:
"In all blessings, even one
that has already fulfilled his
obligation may enable
another . . ." Thus, a Jew who
was obligated to perform the
act may enable another even
though he has completed his
obligation, while a non-Jew
who has no obligation may
not . . . Why not? What's the
difference?
The answer is very simple
— but revolutionary. Even
though the Jew has already
performed his mitzvah and
ostensibly is no longer
obligated, he may still enable
others because his mitzvah is
not complete. There is a
mutual responsibility of one
Jew for another Jew, and, in
fact, one Jew for all Jews. If
there exists another Jew
anywhere who has not per-
formed his own mitzvah, the
fulfillment of the mitzvah by
any and all other Jews re-
mains incomplete. Thus the
enabler is still "obligated."
This mututality applies
across the board, in every
obligation and mitzvah that
Jews have.
When I put on tefillin
(phylacteries), or daven (pray),
eat matzah or keep Shabbat,
if there is a fellow Jew who
neglects these mitzvot, my
mitzvah is incomplete; I'm
still obligated.
No Jew can stand before
God alone. We are all inex-
tricably and mutually bound
together in our relationship
to the Almighty.