Allow me first a moment to publicly thank those who helped coordinate and lead parts of Shabbat services last week in my absence while we were celebrating the simcha of a close family friend in Chicago. Thank you to Seth Lipschitz and Joe Herrmann for coordinating and leading services over Shabbat. Thank you to Charlie Sokol for delivering the d’var Torah. And thank you as well to Ellen Lipschitz for chanting Haftarah. Todah Rabah to those who had honors and helped make services as special as they are week to week.
This week we mark the transition in our Torah reading from one book to another, from Sefer Shemot (the book of Exodus) to Sefer Vayikra (the book of Leviticus). The change in the reading is apparent in the first sedra, where we note the differences from the narrative we had read throughout most of Exodus to the instructions in what is known as Torat haKohanim (the instructions and laws of the priests). The focus on sacrifices had great importance during biblical times. Sacrifices were brought by the Israelites as gifts of thanksgiving, forgiveness, or as ritual firsts to God. The role of the sacrifices continued to play prominently during the times of the Temple. Animals and fruits are brought to the priests who prepared the sacrifices in specific ways. The instructions were laid out in this book of the Torah.
Almost half of the mitzvot in the Torah come from the book of Leviticus. Yet today we cannot observe the rituals of sacrifices as demonstrated and practiced during the times of the Bible. I am often asked what role, other than perhaps historically, do these instructions play in our lives today. The Temple has been destroyed not once, but twice, most recently in 70CE (I know how crazy is sounds to say “recent history” and “70 CE” in the same sentence!). Sacrifices in biblical times were not only about animals and offerings to God. God instructs the Israelites: “When you sacrifice from yourself” (Leviticus 1:2), meaning not just the physical sacrifice, but something that you must give up. Sacrifices were gifts to God, but more importantly they represented something that had to be given from ourselves. The Israelites literally had to sacrifice something that they owned or treasured. If we continue to read the verse as such and continue to understand sacrifice as something that we must give up, we can find truth and grasp a deeper and more personal meaning of the Torah.
It is these sacrifices that I hope to be able to continue to discuss with you at services this Shabbat morning.
I hope you will join us this Shabbat at services. We have a great program on Friday night where we will honor our Jewish Girl Scouts, Brownies and Daisies. And then we can learn together on Shabbat morning.
Shabbat Shalom!
