Parshat Tzav tells the story of God’s instructions for the Kohanim, or priests, at the Tabernacle for various sacrifices. God is very precise in his instructions to Moses, as always. This parsha feels strictly instructional, and not always useful for someone who isn’t a priest. A key topic of this parsha is the fire offerings brought to God to please him. 

Priests shall bring in various kosher animals, slaughter them as a sacrifice, dissect parts of their bodies as part of the offering, and burn them on the fire. God is specific about when the offerings shall be burnt, when the offerings are allowed to be eaten, who is allowed to partake, and, very importantly, that the fire on the altar shall burn eternally. One thing God doesn’t specify at all is where this fire comes from.

It is probably not a mistake that we don’t learn about the origin of the fire until next week’s parsha, Shemini, where the fire literally comes before God. But why?

This could be chalked up to the fact that one, the Torah does not tell stories linearly, and two, last week’s parsha, Vayikra, and this week’s parsha are instructions, while Shemini tells the actual story of the commencement of the Tabernacle. 

More than that, God is very careful to give a framework of avodah before we set out to actually do the work. We aren’t taught to think that once God sends fire, or any other resource, then we will do the work. No, we have to be prepared to do work before God sends it our way. 

I often find instructional parshiyot to be boring or a chore to read, but that’s not the point. It might feel like sometimes there isn’t anything for me to learn from a sequence of instructions meant for high priests when so much of the Torah is filled with fantastical, moving stories from ancient times. 

That’s the beauty of the Torah: God is extremely intentional with every word. There’s always a lesson to be learned, always a new outlook on Torah. If we don’t have instructions, how should we be prepared for the work God wants us to do?