(20) You shall further instruct the Israelites to bring you clear oil of beaten olives for lighting, for kindling lamps regularly.

(1) The LORD spoke to Moses, saying: (2) Tell the Israelite people to bring Me gifts; you shall accept gifts for Me from every person whose heart so moves him. (3) And these are the gifts that you shall accept from them: gold, silver, and copper;

You shall command the B’nei Yisrael. This is the only parshah in the Torah since Moshe first appears in which he is not mentioned (outside of the book of Devarim in which he is the narrator). This is in fulfillment of the curse that he proclaimed against himself, “[And if not,] blot me out from Your book” (Shemos 32:32). Although this curse was conditional upon God’s refusal to forgive the people for the sin of the Calf, the curse of a scholar is fulfilled in some way, even when made conditionally. The expression “command” is used in connection with both the oil and the daily sacrifice (Bamidbar 28:2) because both entail a daily expense and therefore need reinforcement.

ואתה תצוה, “and you are to issue instructions, etc.” Moses has not been mentioned by name in this portion, seeing that he had said to G’d that He should erase his name from His Book. (Exodus 32,32) Although Moses had said this conditionally, i.e. if G’d were to kill the Jewish people as punishment for the sin of the golden calf, we have a rule that a curse of a sage, even if uttered only as something conditionally, is taken by G’d at face value. (Zohar Chadash, 60) Other commentators explain the absence of the mention of Moses’ name here as due to the subject matter following being the priestly garments of Aaron, the High Priest. Originally, Moses himself had been slated to be the High Priest. The fact that this honour was now being given to Aaron, might have produced a certain amount of regret on Moses’ part if he had heard his name mentioned as being part of transferring this rank to his brother. To forestall as much as possible any feelings of sorrow on Moses’ part, the Torah referred to him anonymously. After the Torah had completed its instructions about the building of the Tabernacle, it gave directives concerning the illumination that was to be part of the daily service in the Sanctuary. The reason that the Torah mentions the priesthood of Aaron at this juncture, is because he was the one who would attend to lighting the menorah on a regular basis. Seeing that the Torah had already revealed the status of Aaron as the High Priest, it continued by describing the special garments to be worn by the High Priest when he was not inside the Sanctuary. This is also the logical place when the details of the golden altar, the altar on which the incense was offered are described another task performed by Aaron both in the morning and in the afternoon of every day. It was important to inform us that the golden altar did not serve the purpose of sprinkling the blood of sacrificial animals upon it.

ואתה תצוה, "And you shall command, etc." We need to explore why the Torah had to write the words "and you," seeing G'd had been speaking to Moses continuously; He had not spoken to anyone since He commenced chapter 25. Moreover, why did the Torah write תצוה instead of merely צו (as in Leviticus 6,2). Why did G'd employ an imperative altogether? Our sages in Torat Kohanim at the end of Parshat Emor have written a number of commentaries about this, such as that the word צו is employed when performance of the commandment involves a financial outlay by the person who is to fulfil the commandment.

Furthermore, seeing that when G'd had commanded all matters concerning construction of the Tabernacle He had always used direct speech, i.e. He told Moses: "you shall do, etc.," and had thereby involved Moses personally in every aspect of the building of the Tabernacle, the switch to indirect speech, i.e. "and they shall take" may indicate that G'd told Moses that the only way in which he was superior to the rest of the people was that it was he who would command the people to do their part. This is why G'd said: ואתה, "and you." The letter ו preceding the word אתה was a reminder that there were others beside him involved in performance of the directive. G'd may have had something similar in mind when He said תצוה instead of צו.

ואתה תצוה, If, prior to this admonition, the Torah introduced its instructions with the words ועשית, “you will do, etc.,” the meaning had been that Moses was not to do this personally, but that he was to delegate the tasks in question. The formulation ואתה, however, means: “and you personally.” He, personally, was to issue instructions to the Israelites concerning providing the oil for the Menorah. He, personally, was to assemble Aaron and his sons and to address all the חכמי לב, “wise-hearted people.” (28,1 and 28,3)

And thou shalt command means that there is an eternal command upon the congregation to continually provide olive oil to kindle a perpetual light. Do not be troubled by the oil which the princes brought. It was anointing oil. The congregation, on the other hand, was obligated to bring oil for the light. There is a practice in countries where olives grow to choose pure olives, that is, olives that do not have any rot on them or olives that have not been partially eaten. These olives are then used to make oil for the king’s food. This is the reason that Scripture mentions pure before beaten.

Perhaps the expression תצוה in our verse alludes to a thought expressed in the Zohar, section one page 83 that we find a spark of Moses' soul within the soul of every Torah scholar. This is why we have an instance in Sukkah 39 where the scholars called each other "Moses." This was because Moses personified the soul that is immersed in Torah-study. When the Torah uses the expression ואתה תצוה this may also be parallel to Psalms 91,11 in which the Psalmist speaks of כי מלאכיו יצוה לו, where the word יצוה may also refer to צוותא, a company of like-minded people. The Psalmist describes G'd as despatching His angels to keep company with deserving Jews as they are of equal status. There is no worthier pursuit than the study of Torah which supplies all enlightenment for the world. Compare the next verse.

(32) Now, if You will forgive their sin [well and good]; but if not, erase me from the record which You have written!”