The real meaning of sacrifices

Tzav

Lev. 6:1-8:36

Précis: The parasha begins with Adonai ordering Moses to command (“tzav”) Aaron and his sons concerning offerings. Requirements for the daily offerings, directions for the meal offerings, instructions for guilt-offerings and thanksgiving offerings are described. The parasha then describes the initial offerings of the Tabernacle made by Aaron and his sons following their consecration to priestly service by Moses. 

Lev. 6:1-6 “This is the Torah of the burnt-offering... The fire on the altar shall be kept burning, not to go out: the priest shall burn wood upon it each morning… perpetual fire shall be kept burning on the altar, not to go out."

            Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, writing in Covenant and Conversation (4/5/17) observes that we have seen civilizations die: the Mayans, the Roman Empire and others. They ended because the problems they faced became too complicated for them to handle.

            Sacks suggests that this makes Jews and our faith so unusual. After two centuries of Roman rule, the Jews were factionalized and seeking a way to transform their experience and find a new path ahead. What was needed was a substitute for the sacrifices which could no longer be offered at the Temple. The leaders sought substitutes for the sacrifices we read in this week’s parasha. They focused on “gemillat chassadim,” (acts of kindness). They focused on Torah study. They focused on prayer. They also focused on “teshuvah” (repentance).

            Looking back, what is remarkable was the extent to which the leaders of the people looked forward, and did not cling obsessively to the past. The Sages recognized that the sacrifices we read about were themselves what Sacks calls “symbolic enactments of processes of mind, heart and deed that could be expressed in other ways as well.”

            Of course, the Jews did not disregard the past, and our liturgy and Torah readings still include the details of the long-gone sacrificial system. But the Sages created new institutions like the synagogue and houses of study which were portable and enabled the Jewish People to survive and thrive everywhere.

            This seems to suggest a lesson for all of today: remember our past but plan for the future, and consider what we would do “if...”       

            While our minds are now focused on our social distancing and enforced isolation, we may actually have some time to consider what we want the future of the Jewish People to look like, and how we can prepare for any and all eventualities. It is in this light that we should be considering how to celebrate Passover together.