Zerizus as giving Hashem priority

אין צו אלא זירוז מיד ולדורות א"ר שמעון ביותר צריך הכתוב לזרז במקום שיש חסרון כיס.

"Tzav" denotes nothing but urging (ziruz), at once and for the generations. Rabbi Shimon said: the Torah needs to urge especially where there is a loss of money (Rashi; Toras Kohanim; Kiddushin 29a).

The word "tzav" carries an extra charge of zerizus — a pressing exhortation that applies immediately and for all time, with Rabbi Shimon adding that such urging is most needed where the mitzvah involves financial loss.

דאיתא זריזין מקדימין למצות.

For it is brought: "the zealous hasten to mitzvos" (Pesachim 4a).

The principle of zerizus means rushing to fulfill a mitzvah at the earliest opportunity rather than delaying.

פי' להיות זריז ליתן הראשית אל הקב"ה כדילפינן מזריזותא דאברהם וישכם בבוקר.

The meaning is: to be zealous to give the "first" to the Holy One, blessed be He, as we learn from the zerizus of Avraham, "and he arose early in the morning" (Bereishis 22:3).

Zerizus is about offering Hashem the very first and best — Avraham rising at dawn for the Akeidah is the model of giving Hashem priority over everything else.

כדאיתא בס' הישר לר"ת.

As it is brought in Sefer HaYashar of Rabbeinu Tam.

The Sefas Emes cites Rabbeinu Tam's ethical work as the source for the following sign of true love.

סימן האוהב.

The sign of one who loves.

What follows is the mark by which genuine love is recognized.

להקדים דבר הנאהב לו לכל הדברים.

To place the beloved thing before all other things.

True love is shown by giving the beloved object first priority — putting it ahead of every other concern. Likewise, one who loves Hashem rushes to serve Him first.

וזאת מדת אברהם ואחריו אהרן כמ"ש ובער כו' בבוקר בבוקר.

And this was the trait of Avraham, and after him Aharon, as it is written, "and he shall kindle… every morning" (Vayikra 6:5).

Aharon inherited Avraham's middah of zerizus, expressed in his daily tending of the mizbe'ach "every morning" — serving Hashem first thing, at the start of each day.

וגם פי' מקדימין למצות לפניהם ממש להיות קדימה אצלי לעשות רצון הבורא מכל נפשו ומאודו.

And another meaning of "they hasten to mitzvos": literally before them — that doing the will of the Creator with all his soul and all his might takes precedence within him.

"Makdimin" can also mean precedence of priority: ratzon Hashem comes first in a person's inner order of values, served with all one's soul and resources before any personal interest.

והנה עיקר המצוה לעשות רצון המלך בלי השתתפות רצון עצמו.

Now the essence of a mitzvah is to do the will of the King without any admixture of one's own will.

The ideal mitzvah is pure service of ratzon Hashem, with no self-interest mixed in — total bittul of one's own desires before the King.

ולכן העולה שכולה כליל היא ראשונה לכל הקרבנות.

Therefore the olah, which is entirely consumed (kalil), is first among all the korbanos.

Because the olah is wholly given to Hashem with nothing kept back, it is placed first — it embodies pure, selfless service.

כי בכל הקרבנות יש חלק לבעלים וגם הוא לכפרה.

For in all the other korbanos there is a portion for the owners, and it is also for atonement.

Most korbanos involve some benefit to the person — a share to eat, or kapparah for sin — so they are not entirely "for Hashem."

אבל עולה כולה לגבוה.

But the olah is entirely for the One Above.

The olah is uniquely "kulah la'gavoah" — completely directed upward to Hashem with no personal portion.

והגם שמכפרת על עשה מקופיא מכפרת ולא מקיבעא כדאיתא בגמ'.

And although it atones for a positive commandment, it atones incidentally (mi'kufya) and not as its fixed purpose (mi'kvia), as it is brought in the Gemara (Zevachim 7b).

Even the atonement the olah provides for a neglected mitzvas asei is only a by-product, not its main intent. Its core function remains pure service, with kapparah following along.

והיינו כשהקביעות לשם שמים בלבד ממילא נמשך כפרה ג"כ.

That is, when the fixed intent is for the sake of Heaven alone, atonement is automatically drawn along as well.

When a person's central focus is purely l'shem Shomayim, kapparah comes of itself as a natural consequence — the by-product of selfless avodah.

אבל העיקר לגבוה.

But the main thing is for the One Above.

The Sefas Emes emphasizes again: the primary orientation must be entirely toward Hashem, not toward one's own benefit.

וכמו שהוא בתפלה מקודם ג' ראשונות סידור שבחו של מקום וכן בג' אחרונות ובינתים בקשת צרכי האדם.

And just as it is in tefillah: first, in the three opening berachos, the arrangement of the praise of the Omnipresent, and likewise in the three closing ones, and in between, the requests for a person's needs.

The structure of Shemoneh Esrei mirrors this principle: it opens and closes with pure praise of Hashem, framing the personal requests in the middle — Hashem first and last, self in between.

כן הי' בתמיד של שחר העולה ראשונה כנ"ל.

So it was with the morning tamid — the olah comes first, as above.

The day's avodah began with the olah of the morning tamid, placing pure, selfless service to Hashem at the very start.

וכמו כן בערב עלי' השלם.

And likewise in the evening, its completion.

The day also closed with an olah (the evening tamid), so that selfless service bracketed the day on both ends.

להיות הראשית ואחרית לגבוה.

So that the beginning and the end are for the One Above.

Both the first and the last of the day's avodah belong wholly to Hashem — He is given the reishis (first) and the acharis (last).

וזה ענין הזריזות.

And this is the matter of zerizus.

This framing — giving Hashem the first and the last — is the inner content of zerizus: not mere speed, but priority of devotion.

ולכן צו הוא זירוז כי מי שיש לו דביקות וחיבור אל השורש עד שאינו יכול לשכוח מזה שיודע שזה עיקר שנברא ע"ז לעשות רצון הבורא.

Therefore "tzav" denotes urging, for one who has deveikus and connection to the Root, to the point that he cannot forget it — for he knows that this is the essence, that he was created for this, to do the will of the Creator.

The command "tzav" speaks to a person attached to his Source. Such a one cannot forget Hashem, because he grasps that the whole purpose of his creation is to fulfill ratzon Hashem.

לכן מיד בקומו נזכר בעבודת ה'.

Therefore, immediately upon arising, he remembers the service of Hashem.

Because that connection is so central, the very first thought on waking is avodas Hashem — the day opens with Him.

וכפי הזריזות בשחר כך נמשך כל היום.

And according to the zerizus in the morning, so is it drawn out through the whole day.

The quality of one's early-morning devotion sets the tone and is carried through the entire day's avodah.

וכמו כן לדורות כאשר אבותינו עשו בזריזות רצון הבורא ית"ש נשאר כן לדורות כמ"ש זירוז מיד ולדורות.

And likewise for the generations: just as our forefathers did the will of the Creator, may He be blessed, with zerizus, so it remains for the generations, as it says, "urging at once and for the generations."

The zerizus of the Avos was not a one-time act but planted a lasting power; their eager service "for the generations" continues to flow to us as an inheritance.

ומ"ש ר"ש במקום שיש חסרון כיס י"ל כפשוטו גם כן בדורות הללו שכלה פרוטה מן הכיס.

And what Rabbi Shimon said, "where there is a loss of money," one may explain according to its plain sense as well, also in these generations, when "the coin has run out of the purse" (cf. Sotah 49b).

Rabbi Shimon's point about financial loss applies plainly to our own poverty-stricken generations, when livelihood is scarce — these are precisely the times that call for extra urging.

שעניות מעביר על דעת קונו לכן צריכין לזרז ביותר לזכור כי נברא לעשות רצונו ית' ולא יהי' נטרד מעבודת הבורא ע"י צער גופו ופרנסתו:

For poverty causes a person to lose awareness of his Maker (Eruvin 41b); therefore one needs extra urging to remember that he was created to do His will, and that he not be driven away from the service of the Creator through the distress of his body and his livelihood.

Since poverty can drive a person to forget Hashem, the "tzav" of extra zerizus is precisely what is needed in hard times — to hold onto the awareness of one's purpose and not let bodily hardship or parnasah worries pull him away from avodas Hashem.

Summary: The word "tzav" denotes zerizus — not mere speed but the devotion of giving Hashem the first and the best, the sign of true love taught by Rabbeinu Tam and modeled by Avraham and Aharon. The wholly-consumed olah, offered first and last each day, embodies pure service of ratzon Hashem without self-interest, just as tefillah frames personal needs within praise. This zerizus flows from deveikus to one's Root and was bequeathed by the Avos for all generations — and it is needed most in times of poverty, when financial distress threatens to make a person forget that he was created to do Hashem's will.