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.

When a leader sins

Vayikra

Lev. 1:1 - 5:26

Précis: The title of the Third Book of the Torah, Vayikra (“And He called”) is usually translated as “Leviticus” in English, from its Septuagint (Greek) name, which in turn is based on the fact that much of the Book concerns ritual sacrifices performed under the auspices of the Levites. Many traditional commentators note that the Book is found in the center of the first Five Books and intuit from its positioning the “centrality” of its teachings to Jewish tradition. 

            The introduction to this Book in Etz Hayim reminds us that the “central concern” of the ancient Israelites was “how they were to express their loyalty” to Adonai. The answer from Vayikra: they were “to be holy, for I Adonai Your God, am holy.”   Etz Hayim also reminds us of the importance of ritual: “…[S]omething in the human soul responds to ritual, whether it be the formality of a traditional wedding or the rituals of a sporting event…There is something comforting about the familiar, the recognizable, the predictable. There is something deeply moving about performing a rite that is older than we are, one that goes back beyond the time of our parents or grandparents…There is power in the knowledge that we are doing what generations of people before us have done in similar situations.”

            Yet, as noted in the introduction to this Book in the Plaut Commentary, much of this “holiness” is expressed in terms of rituals which ceased to exist with the destruction of the Second Temple. The word generally used in English for the ritual offerings in the Temple is “sacrifice,” but there is a deeper meaning to be found in the Hebrew word, korban, from a root meaning “to draw closer.” The system of “sacrifices” (“korbanot”) was designed to allow the Israelites to “draw closer” to the Ineffable.

            With the end of the sacrificial system, the instructions of Vayikra for centuries remained an important area of study because of the belief that a restoration of the sacrificial system would occur. As the synagogue became the center of Jewish religious life, prayers were inserted seeking the restoration of sacrifices at the Temple. These remain in traditional liturgy today, as a daily reminder of our ancient ritual life and its core intent of drawing closer to God.

Lev. 4:22 “When a chieftain incurs guilt by doing unwittingly any of the things which by the commandment of Adonai his God ought not to be done, and he realizes his guilt…he shall bring as his offering a male goat without blemish.”

            The wording of this verse is highly unusual. In other cases, the text usually states, “If an individual sins.” Here, the text assumes that a leader will sin.

            One response, offered by the Italian commentator the Sforno, is that leaders are more likely to be observed sinning, and therefore must be more careful about their conduct. Another interpretation is that a leader is more likely to sin because of the temptation leadership offers.

            The verse includes a two-step process: a sin by the leader followed by recognition by the leader that he has sinned. Traditions tells us that admissions of wrongdoing are to be praised.  It is difficult to admit to ourselves our own errors, let alone admit them to others. A failure to recognize one’s errors is today called narcissism. Symptoms include an excessive need for admiration, disregard for others’ feelings, an inability to handle any criticism, and a sense of entitlement. The term originated from Greek mythology, where the young Narcissus fell in love with his own image reflected in a pool of water. Narcissists hate criticism, and consider it “toxic," because criticism implies they are not perfect and that they need to change.

            Whether the narcissistic leader is in the United States, Israel, Iran, China, or anywhere else in our world, it is precisely the oppose of what our tradition demands.