Thoughts on Parashat Tzav 5786
Rabbi Menachem Mirski
We have Shabbat HaGadol this week. This Great Shabbat stands just days before Pesach, our festival of liberation. Parashat Tzav begins with one strong word: Tzav – “Command!” God says to Moshe: “Command Aaron and his sons…” (Vayikra 6:2). This command focuses on the daily duties of the priests: clearing the ashes, arranging the wood, ensuring the offerings continue with precision and zeal. As Rashi explains, “tzav” carries a sense of urgency.
In the ancient Temple, the kohanim lived within a system of clear obligation. For European Jews in 2026 – whether in Poland, France, Germany, or elsewhere on this continent – the reality is different. We live in free, democratic societies where Judaism is largely a matter of personal choice. No one compels us to attend synagogue, observe holidays, support Jewish institutions, or pass on our heritage. Many of us navigate Judaism voluntarily, balancing it with modern European life.
Coercion has no place in true Jewish observance. Forced religion does not endure. We must honor the freedom we have gained after centuries of restrictions. Yet the realities of our time are speaking to us with new urgency. Across Europe, antisemitism has risen sharply since October 7, 2023. Reports from the European Union and national monitoring groups show increased incidents: hostility in public spaces, antisemitic graffiti, online hate, and threats that make many Jews think twice before wearing a kippah, Magen David, or openly identifying as Jewish. In Poland and other countries, we have seen disruptions of Jewish events, vandalism, and a lingering atmosphere in which Jewish visibility can feel risky. Even in places where the Jewish population is small, the sense of unease has grown. Many of us know families who have lowered their profile or hesitated to participate in communal life.
In these challenging times, the idea of “religious obligation” is not coercive. It is motivating. The difficulties we face are reminding us why we need to show up – not out of fear alone, but out of a deep awareness that our Jewish life is essential for our own strength and for the continuity of our people.
This brings us to the powerful image in Tzav: “A perpetual fire shall be kept burning on the altar; it shall not go out” (Vayikra 6:6). The priests had to tend this fire every day – removing ashes, adding wood – even in the desert, even when the work felt routine or exhausting. That fire represented light, warmth, and the continuous presence of God and the Jewish people.
The fire is resilience. It is the light we refuse to let darkness extinguish.
We read this parasha on Shabbat HaGadol, right before Pesach. Pesach is not only about freedom from slavery in Egypt. It is about freedom for a covenantal life of responsibility. The Israelites left Egypt, but their liberation reached its purpose at Sinai, when they accepted the Torah and its commandments. Our covenant with God is not mainly about individual feelings or self-fulfillment. At its heart, it is about responsibility to our people: to Jews living today in Europe who face new uncertainties, to our ancestors who kept the flame alive through pogroms, expulsions, the Shoah, and the hardships of the communist era in Poland and Eastern Europe, and to future generations who deserve to inherit a living, vibrant Judaism on this continent.
Choosing to embrace the “tzav” – the call to tend the fire – is not surrendering freedom. It is using our freedom to bind ourselves to something eternal. In an era of choice, we choose responsibility: to stand together as a community, to support our synagogues and cultural institutions (even the small ones that struggle to survive), to teach our children and grandchildren the story of our people, and to keep Jewish life visible and strong in Europe.
What does this look like in practice?
It means choosing to participate consistently – in Shabbat services, communal seders, educational programs, and efforts to combat antisemitism.
It means supporting Jewish schools, summer camps, and cultural initiatives so the light is passed on despite small numbers.
It means living our Judaism with quiet pride and courage, even when it requires effort – lighting candles, saying blessings, learning Torah, and standing with Israel and one another.
It means small, daily acts of tending the fire so it does not go out.
The priests changed shifts. The work was sometimes difficult. But the fire never extinguished. That is our model of resilience – the same resilience that allowed Jewish life to return to Poland and Europe after the Shoah.
This Pesach, as we retell the Exodus at our seders – often in small, intimate groups – let us remember that the departure from Egypt was completed only when the freed slaves accepted sacred obligations. In the same way, our choice to be Jewish becomes truly liberating when we move from optional practice to covenantal responsibility.
This Shabbat HaGadol and the coming Pesach, may we renew our motivation to embrace our obligations with joy and determination. Let us keep the perpetual fire of Jewish life burning brightly – not because we are forced, but because we choose to, for the sake of Jews today in Europe, for the memory of our ancestors, and for the generations yet to come who will continue our story on this ancient soil.
Shabbat Shalom and Chag Pesach Kasher v’Sameach.
Rabbi Mirski
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