Parshas Titzaveh: Rav Shimshon Pincus - The Sweet Smell At The End Of The Avodah
Parshas Titzaveh discusses the Bigdei Kehuna after Parshas Truma was all about the Mishkan and the Keilim. However the Mizbei'ach in side the Heichal for the Kitores is written all the way at the end of Parshas Titzaveh. Why?
Rav Shimshon Pincus explains that the main avodah in the Mishkan was the Mizbei'ach in the Chatzer. On it we sacrifice Korbanos all day long. This teaches us that life is about sacrifice. Torah is acquired by burning ourselves on hot coals with Yegias HaTorah. Inside the Mishkan we learn a lesson on the difficulty and restrictions on our food and parnasa from the Shulchan HaTahor. The Menorah teaches us that to achieve the ultimate wisdom we need to bring the purest of oil that costs money. Again more sacrifice.
Only after all the hard work and mesiras nefesh do we make a Mizbei'ach HaZahav, the golden alter. On it we burn some incense that is not hard work but gives off an incredibly beautiful aroma. The lesson we learn, says Rav Shimshon, is that to acquire Torah, the beginning of the road is paved with difficulty along every step of the way. But after we arrive, it is nothing but sheer enjoyment. It is like the avodah of the Kitores. Only after we've gone through all the other Avodah do we get to the sweet smelling Kitores. Then, inhale pleasure with every breath.
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