[Avodah] first mention in the Torah

[Silverman, Philip B]

I wrote:

>"We have a tradition that if we wish to discover a concept's meaning,
we
should look at the first time it is mentioned in the Torah."

> I found the above statement at a fine yeshivah's website. I've heard
it
several times, and have seen some interesting examples, but can
someone tell me the source of the tradition, or of a scholarly treatment
of the subject?
>>>

So far, the consensus among my rabbi-friends is that this concept is
written about by R. Tzadok Hacohen mi-Lublin (sefer and page number,
anyone?), though they weren't able at the time to tell me whether it
goes back any further. 

Phil


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