27/02/2026
The Inner Secret of Parashat Tetzaveh โ A Message for Our Lives
Why is Moshe Rabbeinuโs name missing from Parashat Tetzaveh?
In many Torah portions the pattern is clear:
โAnd G-d spoke to Moses, sayingโฆโ
Moses is commanded to transmit G-dโs word to the Jewish people.
But in Parashat Tetzaveh, his name does not appear even once.
Instead, the parsha opens with the words:
โAnd you shall command the Children of Israelโฆโ
Why โAnd youโ? Is Moses the one commanding?
The Deeper Explanation
After the sin of the Golden Calf, Moshe Rabbeinu stood in total self-sacrifice for the Jewish people and said:
โAnd if not, erase me now from Your book which You have written.โ
G-d forgave the people.
However, the words of a tzaddik have impact.
Therefore, in one parsha of the Torah โ Tetzaveh โ Mosheโs name is indeed absent.
The Chassidic Insight
In Chassidut it is explained:
A name relates to revelation โ how something is expressed outwardly.
โYouโ (โVeโatahโ) refers to essence.
When the Torah says:
โAnd you shall commandโฆโ
it is not a deficiency โ it is a higher revelation.
Externally, Mosheโs name is missing.
Internally, his very essence is present.
The name disappears.
The essence is revealed.
What Does โTetzavehโ Mean?
โTetzavehโ shares a root with tzavta โ connection and bonding.
Through Mosheโs self-sacrifice at the Golden Calf, he was granted a unique power:
Not only to transmit commandments,
but to connect the Jewish people to the very Essence of the Infinite One.
He does not merely command โ
he binds souls to Atzmut.
The Lesson for Our Generation
The last maamar we merited to hear from the Rebbe,
ืืจืื ืืืืืืืืืืืฉ,
was on Parashat Tetzaveh โ on the words โVeโatah Tetzaveh.โ
Perhaps the message is this:
Just as in the parsha Mosheโs name is not mentioned, yet his essence is fully present โ
so too in our time.
We may not see with physical eyes.
But the โVeโatahโ remains.
The connection to essence continues.
The bond has not ceased.
The influence is alive and active.
The Message for Our Lives
Sometimes it feels as if the โnameโ is gone.
As if revelation is hidden.
As if the light is not visible.
But precisely then โ
the โYouโ is revealed.
The essence.
The deep connection that does not depend on what is seen.
May we merit the full revelation,
the true and complete Redemption,
immediately and now.
Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Alon Hazi
Chabad House โ Sydney Travelers
