Living Parashat Tetzaveh

A Reflection on Light, Garments, and the Inner Sanctuary of a Jewish Woman

Rebbetzin Hannah Miryam Bejarano Gutierrez

Parashat Tetzaveh (שמות כז:כ – ל:י) opens not with Moshe Rabbeinu’s name, but with a command directed to him: “וְאַתָּה תְּצַוֶּה” — “And you shall command.” The word תְּצַוֶּה (tetzaveh) comes from the root צוה, meaning “to command,” yet it is related to צוותא (tzavta) — connection, bonding. From the outset, the Torah teaches that true leadership and true avodat Hashem are not about control, but about connection.

From a Sephardic perspective, drawing upon the teachings of Rabbi Yosef Karo, the Shulchan Aruch, and later sages such as Chaim Yosef David Azulai (the Chid”a) and Ovadia Yosef, mitzvot are not merely obligations; they are sacred channels that attach the Jewish soul to its source. Tetzaveh is therefore not simply about the garments of the Kohen Gadol. It is about the garments of the soul.

For Jewish women—keepers of the home, transmitters of mesorah, builders of kedushah—this parashah speaks with particular depth.

-The Oil of Illumination: שמן זית זך

The parashah begins with the command to bring “שֶׁמֶן זַיִת זָךְ כָּתִית לַמָּאוֹר” — “pure olive oil, crushed for illumination” (Shemot 27:20).

* ( shemen ) שמן - oil; symbol of wisdom and inner depth.

* ( zayit ) זית – olive; something that yields its light only through pressure.

* ( zach ) זך – pure, refined.

* (katit) כתית – crushed, pressed.

* (ma’or) מאור – luminary, source of light (not merely light itself).

The oil was pressed, not ground. Chazal explains that the first drop—the purest—was reserved for the Menorah. The message is profound: illumination comes from refinement, not from destruction.

Sephardic tradition, especially in the teachings of the Chid”a, often emphasizes that suffering refines the neshamah when accepted with emunah. Many Sephardic women—whether from lands of exile such as Morocco, Iraq, Syria, Spain, or from communities rebuilt in Eretz Yisrael and the Americas—carry stories of displacement, rebuilding, and resilience. Like the olive, they were pressed, yet they illuminated generations.

The Menorah burned constantly. The light in the Mikdash was not dependent on mood, nor convenience. So too, the light of a Jewish woman—her modesty, her tefillah, her Shabbat candles—must be steady. The halachah codified in the Shulchan Aruch (Orach Chaim 263) establishes the central role of women in lighting Shabbat candles. The Sephardic custom, as ruled by Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, is that one blessing is recited for the household, emphasizing unity. The woman becomes the ma’or of her home.

Her light is not loud. It is constant.

-The Kehunah and Sacred Clothing: בגדי קודש

Much of Parashat Tetzaveh describes the בִּגְדֵי קֹדֶשׁ (bigdei kodesh) — sacred garments of the Kohen Gadol.

The Torah says they are made “לְכָבוֹד וּלְתִפְאָרֶת” — for honor and for beauty (Shemot 28:2).

* (kavod) כבוד – dignity, weightiness, inner value.

* (tiferet) תפארת – splendor, harmonious beauty.

The Sephardic approach to modesty (tzniut) has always balanced dignity with beauty. Modesty is not erasure. It is refined presence. The Rambam, whose rulings profoundly shape Sephardic halachah, writes in Hilchot De’ot that one’s clothing should be clean and dignified, neither ostentatious nor degrading. Beauty is not rejected; it is sanctified.

The Kohen Gadol wore:

* (choshen) חשן – breastplate, containing the stones of the tribes.

* ( ephod ) אפוד – apron-like garment.

* ( me’il ) מעיל – robe with pomegranates and bells.

* ( tzitz ) ציץ – golden forehead plate inscribed “קדש לה׳”.

Each garment atoned for a particular failing (Zevachim 88b). Clothing, in Torah thought, is transformative. It shapes behavior.

For women, clothing too carries spiritual resonance. In Sephardic halachah, married women cover their hair as an expression of sanctity (Even HaEzer 21). Whether with tichel, hat, or other covering according to community custom, the act is not social control but spiritual coronation. The home becomes a Mikdash Me’at, and the woman is its living ark.

The word מעיל (me’il) shares a root with מעל (ma’al) — trespass. The robe atones for misuse of speech (Arachin 16a). Its bells made sound with every step. This reminds us: what we “wear” publicly should create a holy sound. The tone of a mother’s voice, the atmosphere she sets at her Shabbat table, the way she speaks about others—these are her bells.

- The Missing Name of Moshe

Strikingly, Moshe Rabbeinu’s name does not appear in this parashah. The Ba’alei HaMesorah connects this to his plea after the sin of the Golden Calf: “Erase me from Your book” (Shemot 32:32). A tzaddik’s words leave an impact.

Yet from a Sephardic derashah perspective, we may say something deeper: sometimes the greatest leadership is hidden. Moshe is present, but unnamed.

So too, many women lead without titles. They teach without pulpits. They preserve halachah not through public rulings, but through lived example. In Sephardic homes across generations, it was the mother who ensured kashrut standards according to the rulings of Rabbi Yosef Karo, who maintained minhagim from Aleppo, Fez, Izmir, or Baghdad, who guarded the pronunciation of tefillah.

Invisible does not mean insignificant.

-The Eternal Flame: תמיד

The Torah emphasizes that the lamp shall burn “תמיד” (tamid) — continually.

Tamid means constant, regular, faithful.

Judaism for Sephardic communities has historically been about continuity—unbroken mesorah from Spain to North Africa to the Middle East to Eretz Yisrael and the Americas. The halachic rulings of Rabbi Yosef Karo, embraced by Sephardic Jewry, created unity across lands. The tamid of Sephardic women is their fierce loyalty to minhag avot.

Every time a woman prepares food carefully for Pesach according to her community’s stringencies, every time she reviews the halachot of taharat hamishpachah, every time she whispers Tehillim for her children—she fuels the tamid.

Consistency builds sanctity.

- The Incense: קטורת

At the end of the parashah, we read about the קְטֹרֶת (ketoret) — incense offering.

The root קטר implies bonding and rising smoke. The Zohar teaches that ketoret unifies realms. It included diverse spices—some fragrant, some less so. Together they created holiness.

A Jewish woman’s home is like ketoret. Personalities differ. Children differ. Challenges differ. Yet she blends them with patience and rachamim.

The Rambam (Hilchot Klei HaMikdash) details the precise formula of ketoret, teaching that precision in avodah matters. Sephardic halachah has always valued careful adherence to psak, but with warmth. Rabbi Ovadia Yosef often ruled with compassion, emphasizing the principle “כח דהיתרא עדיף”—the strength of permissible rulings when grounded in halachic truth.

Women, too, balance fidelity and kindness.

- An Inspirational Reflection for Jewish Women

Parashat Tetzaveh is not about distant priesthood alone. It is about inner priesthood.

* You are commanded — and connected.

* You are oil — refined through life’s pressures.

* You are garments — dignified, radiant in kavod and tiferet.

* You are tamid — steady, loyal to mesorah.

* You are ketoret — blending complexities into harmony.

The Sephardic path has always been one of regal simplicity. Our mothers did not seek spectacle. They sought kedushah. They guarded halachah with humility. They infused homes with song, with Judeo-Spanish piyutim, with whispered Tehillim at dawn.

Like the Kohen Gadol entering the Kodesh, a Jewish woman enters her day clothed not only in fabric but in Yirat Shamayim.

* May we merit to be זך — refined.

* May our homes shine as מאור — sources of light.

* May our actions be לכבוד ולתפארת — dignified and beautiful.

* And may the Ribbono Shel Olam see in the quiet avodah of Jewish women the continuation of the eternal flame.

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