Events:

Later Zachor reading – top floor of Katamon Shteiblech at 10pm.

pre-Shacharit shiurim at 8am at Eretz Chemdah, ELC and Shir Chadash in Talbiya.

Afternoon shiurim at Ramban, Nitzanim and the ELC.

Daf Yomi – Hour before Shabbat at Katamon Shteiblech.

Motsei Shabbat – Rav Medan – shiur on Purim, top floor of Katamon Shteiblech at 8.30.

Parsha from Brendan Stern

Tetzaveh – Outside Influencers“You shall make an altar for bringing incense up in smoke; you shall make it out of acacia wood” (Shemot 30:1).All the vessels of the Temple were described in last week’s parsha, except for the Incense Altar which is described in Parshat Tetzaveh. How do we understand this anomaly?Additionally, why is the Outer Altar described as being kodesh kodashim – “holy of holies” (Ibid. 40:10); while the Inner Altar – which was the holier of the two, and was in the Tabernacle building – is described merely as “holy” (Ibid. 40:9)?Rav Moshe Feinstein explains that one who is considered “holy” in the company of his fellow brethren is considered to be a “holy of holies” by outsiders, in the sense that his behaviour is scrutinised carefully and critically. Therefore the Torah is alluding to the reality that when one finds himself in the “outside world” he must be extra scrupulous to live up to the standards of expectations in the eyes of the general populous and avoid making a chillul Hashem. Similarly, says Rav Moshe Feinstein, in between the description of the other Temple vessels and that of the incense is the depiction of the Kohen Gadol – the prototype of Jewish leadership. The Gemara (Yoma 39b) says that even though the incense was burned in a private enclosed area in the Temple, its aroma was so pungent that the use of perfume became unnecessary in Jerusalem, and that the smell was discernable even in the distant Jericho!Says Rav Moshe, by waiting to depict the Kohen Gadol before the incense, the Torah is highlighting that as Jews we cannot think of our actions as merely perfunctory, but rather we must be cognisant of the fact that the impact and influence of our actions are felt far beyond our immediate orbit!

Times

Shabbat: In at 5:05, out at 6:23.