Oil Spill – A poem for Parsha Tzav

Moses took some of the anointing oil and some of the blood that was on the Altar and mixed them together. He dashed the mixture on Aaron, on his garments, on his sons, and on his sons’ garments… ~ Leviticus 8:30

I’ve never been to rabbinic school and only just learned
a few minutes ago that the terms rabbinic school and
rabbinical school are interchangeable.

I once asked a rabbi to give me s’micha and
he responded I don’t have any with me and anyway
you don’t want the responsibility.

So I don’t know for sure what’s involved
but I suspect things have changed since
this was all set up in the desert

and no longer does it involve the sprinkling
of blood and anointing oil on one’s person.
As I said I don’t know what’s involved so

it’s possible that these things still happen
and they just don’t put it on the brochure.
I’ll be the first one to tell you (unless someone

has already told you) a priest (the ancient Jewish kind)
is not the same thing as a rabbi, so that may be
how they get out of it.

We spent a lot of time in the desert setting
all this up and it went pretty well until we
got where we were going, where it continued

to go pretty well until the main building
got torn down, we had to flee the country,
invent the Yiddish language, and figure out

how to observe the festival holidays without sacrificing
the very best of our flock so the Holy One would be
satisfied and the priests would have something for dinner.

All this is to say if you accidentally spill some oil
on yourself in the kitchen, you may have inadvertently
anointed yourself. Take the responsibility seriously.

We’re not in the desert anymore and the rabbi may be
on sabbatical. You may have to lead the service and
all our ears will be yearning to hear what you have to say.

Rick Lupert, a poet, songleader and graphic designer, is the author of 28 books including “God Wrestler: A Poem for Every Torah Portion.” Visit him at www.JewishPoetry.net