The Talmudic sage Rabbi Chiya lived in Israel during the difficult period following the destruction of the Second Holy Temple. At the time most Jewish towns could not afford to provide a basic Jewish education for their children and the future of Torah scholarship nationwide was in danger of extinction.
Here is what Rabbi Chiya did to single handedly reverse this frightening course. He planted flax, spun nets to hunt deer which he slaughtered, donated their meat to the poor and prepared parchment from the hides to write five separate books of the Torah. He then traveled to a remote town, gave the five scrolls to five separate children, taught each one how to read and understand them and taught six children the six orders of the Mishna. He instructed each one to share their knowledge with the rest of the children in town and thus provided educational opportunities for thousands and ensured the legacy of Judaism survived that terrible era.
Did the venerable sage need to personally plant the flax, spin the nets, hunt the deer and produce the parchment all by himself? Could he not have contracted out all the “dirty work” to others and get involved specifically where his expertise as a world class scholar were needed? In this week’s parsha we learn of the first service performed in the Holy Temple every day. All night sacrifices burned on the altar and each morning a Kohen was tasked with ascending the altar and shoveling off a ceremonial shovel of ashes. When the pile of ashes became very large they removed it to the outskirts of the city. Regarding this, the Torah states “He shall then take off his garments and put on other garments, and he shall take out the ashes to a clean place outside the camp.” So there were two distinct services done with the ashes. The daily early morning removal of a small amount which was done in full ceremonial regalia, and then the periodic full scale removal of the entire pile which was done in an older, less impressive looking uniform. The rationale for changing clothing while removing the whole pile of ashes is to not soil the officiating garments. After all, a royal butler would not wear the same uniform when serving the king and cooking dinner in the kitchen. However, one can argue that the same person doesn’t need to do both the task of cooking dinner and serving the king in the royal ballroom. Why did the same Kohen perform both the early morning ceremonial shovel full removal as well as the more labor intensive full scale ash removal? Because when it comes to serving G-d, every aspect of divine service is special and one should not prioritize the fancy looking ceremonial elements over the simpler tougher chores that need to get done. Rabbi Chiya valued the tough labor necessary to prepare the scrolls as much as he valued the high-quality study time he had with the children, and that’s how he saved Judaism. Don’t just show up to the Shabbos table when it’s time to light the candles or recite the kiddush. Cherish the nitty-gritty preparations necessary to make it all happen. Because in our relationship with G-d, “cleaning the dishes” is as valuable as “presenting the bouquet of roses.”