Parashat Vayikra Leviticus 1:1-5:26
Haftarah Isaiah 43:21-44:23
Dear TBE Community,
We have opened a new book in the cycle of Torah readings: the book of Leviticus, Vayikra in Hebrew – from the first word of the parasha, וַיִּקְרָא – and God called.
It is often written about how the sacrifices detailed in the first chapters are an attempt to come closer to God – to heed the calling of God, as it were, for connection. The Hebrew word for sacrifice is korban, and it stems from the root for drawing near, coming closer. The sacrifices of the Temple period were meant to draw the people closer to God – or closer to God’s favor.
Today, when we use the word sacrifice, we do so to describe situations when we want to express that we gave up something important for a worthy cause. We sacrifice time, and money. Making compromises, when we “sacrifice” our insistence on being right, on having it 100% our way, is often considered a sacrifice as well: We give up something important because we realize that the greater goal might be even more important. That’s how relationship building works, and the same is true for community building. In fact, effective leadership also depends on an ability to not insist on certain matters for the sake of larger, more basic and/or more comprehensive goals. Last week in Torah Study, for example, we discussed the term “Shalom Bayit” – Peace of the Home. For the sake of a sense of wholeness and/or for the sake of maintaining functionality, every member of a household community will have to subordinate their preferences and priorities to a certain degree, just like in an ideal democratic society.
Torah is often called the blueprint for an ideal society – and just as often, it has to bend toward practicality. Idealism is important, it draws us in, it draws us close, it inspires us to work toward something we believe in. But just as often, it also hinders the process of community building: If every single individual insists on their idealism, the blueprint for their goals, things may not move forward easily, if at all. It was easier when the Israelites had to give up what was important to their livelihood and sacrifice it in an attempt to reach God’ heart: A bull, a sheep, flour, or grain. Today, it is harder for us to determine what might be the right sacrifice. When do we curtail our dreams and aspirations, our feelings of righteousness and being right? When are we amenable to accepting different practices and opinions? How do we know what sacrifice to pick to draw closer to God but also to the people around us? And do our sacrifices and offerings need to be perfect, unblemished, straightforward? Or can we draw closer to God, to others, incrementally?
Leonard Cohen, in his 1992 song, Anthem, argues that there is no such thing like a perfect sacrifice:
Ring the bells that still can ring
Forget your perfect offering
There is a crack, a crack in everything
That’s how the light gets in.
So when we read about the precise instructions for what kind of offering to bring to God in detailed circumstances, it might baffle us to know that these first chapters of Vayikra are traditionally the first chapters that a child learns in their Jewish education journey. Why, one wonders, might a Jewish child’s Jewish education begin with the detailed descriptions of obsolete animal sacrifices?
I would like to suggest that children have a very clear idea of how things “ought to be” while they instinctively also know how to make peace, how to keep Shalom Bayit. And that’s a great mindset to be in if one strives to build community, to draw closer to God: Dreaming what feels impossible, accepting what is possible. Forgetting the perfect offering.
Shabbat Shalom!