House of Parvah

10 Nissan 5782

“And he shall immerse his flesh in a holy place and don his garments.” (Vayikra 16:24)

Where was the holy place in which the Kohen Gadol was to immerse himself when changing garments on Yom Kippur? “On the roof of the House of Parvah” says Rashi. What was the House of Parvah one may ask? It “was a building on the grounds of the Beis HaMikdash. The Talmud (Yoma 35a) explains that Parvah was a ‘magus,’ a Persian sorcerer … According to Rabbeinu Chananel, Parvah so desired to observe the Kohen Gadol perform the Yom Kippur service that he tunneled under and into the Beis HaMikdash. When the Kohanim discovered Parvah in the tunnel, they killed him for having trespassed the Temple. Nevertheless, in recognition of his misplaced devotion, they named one of the chambers after him.” (See ArtScroll Sapirstein Edition Rashi, Vayikra 16:24, note 4)

“One must, however, constantly bear in mind what is the beginning of [divine] service as well as its core and root. This means: Although fear is the root of ’turn away from evil’ and love [is the root of] ‘do good,’ nevertheless, it is not sufficient to awaken the love alone to ‘do good,’ but at the very least, one must first arouse the innate fear which lies hidden in the heart of every Jew not to rebel against the supreme King of kings, the Holy One, blessed be He.” (Lessons in Tanya, Likutei Amarim, beginning of Chapter 41)

How can we channel our devotion and ensure that we live to see the fruits which the service inspired by it bears? By performing all our deeds of love with fear of G‑d at their “core and root.” Otherwise, it may very well be that our misplaced devotion, even though it stems from holiness, leads us in the wrong direction and costs us our lives, figuratively or literally.

Furthermore, it is not prudent to rely only on being inspired and instinctively knowing the right way forward. That may very well be the case most of the time, but for the moments of doubt and uncertainty another force must also always be present. Therefore, it is necessary to always build on a sturdy foundation of fear of Hashem and clear knowledge of what He actually wants from us as recorded in Halacha.

“Cast your burden upon the L‑rd, and He will sustain you; He will never let the righteous man falter.” (Tehillim 55:23)

A person who accepts the yoke of Heaven and acts in accordance with Halacha, even at times in which he feels no reward from it, is guaranteed to never falter, even in his darkest hours. Such a person can safely cast his burden on Hashem, and rely on Him always. In contrast, one who is sometimes with Hashem, when he feels inspired to do so, and then abandons Him when he feels uninspired, cannot be assured that Hashem won’t behave in kind, measure for measure, to seemingly abandon him at will also.