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Parshat Vayikra (Rosh Chodesh):
Leviticus 1:1-5:26, Numbers 28:9-15,
Exodus 12:1-20; Ezekiel 45:16-46:18.
T
his Shabbat we will begin read-
ing a new book in our Torah—
Leviticus. Leviticus is certainly
not the most compelling of our five books
of Torah. Genesis and Exodus are easy to
appreciate with their dramatic tales of our
ancestors developing relationships with
God. But Leviticus is an acquired taste,
a book with very little action. In fact,
the entire book of Leviticus
occurs in one month, taking
place around Mount Sinai.
However slow moving
it maybe, it is in Leviticus
that the Israelites are given
detailed instructions about
how to strive toward holi-
ness and closeness to God.
Leviticus proposes a blueprint
for human beings to reach
toward wholeness as they
develop a relationship with
God.
For our biblical ancestors,
the primary way they con-
nected with God was by offering animal
sacrifices. They offered sacrifices to
express gratitude for health, wealth and
well-being; they offered sacrifices to ask
for forgiveness; and they offered sacrifices
to make up for doing wrong.
Leviticus describes in detail all of
these different types of sacrifices that the
Israelites bring to God.
For us, today, sacrifices are long a thing
of the past, and it is often difficult for us
to even comprehend what purpose they
served. Offering animal sacrifices on
an altar sounds irrational, bizarre, even
unpleasant.
But for the ancient Israelites, this ritual
was dramatic and awesome; and it was
incredibly powerful in drawing them
nearer to God. The Hebrew word for
sacrifice, korban, comes from the same
root as the verb "to come close:' The goal
of these ancient sacrifices, a goal we still
find worthy and holy, was to bring the
Israelites near to God.
Even if we can't understand the power
of ritual sacrifice, we can understand and
value the goal of wanting to be closer
to God. How do we draw nearer to God
today? Prayer has replaced animal sacri-
fices as a way to worship God.
Our ancient rabbis taught "prayer is
greater than all the sacrifices:' Perhaps
they understood that "drawing near" may
mean creating and sustaining communi-
ties that are strengthened by prayer. In
Judaism, worship is often a communal
experience. By coming together in com-
munities of prayer, we come near to God
even as we "draw near" to one
another.
Much of the power and
meaning of ancient sacrifice
lay in the ritual attached to it.
We are lucky. As Jews today,
we have many, many rituals
that have taken the place of
ancient sacrifice. Nearly every
milestone in our lives, every
life-cycle moment, every holi-
day and season is marked by
a ritual.
Though our prayer and our
rituals provide opportuni-
ties for us to draw nearer to
God, sometimes it seems as if God is so
remote we will never find our way to
God. Leviticus teaches us that we have a
responsibility to reach out to God, to seek
out God — through prayer, through ritu-
al, through learning, through community.
The opening words of the book we
begin this Shabbat are Vayikra, "And God
called:' God calls to us over and over from
the pages of the Torah. With each call,
God challenges us to draw near, to seek
out God as we find holiness and meaning
in our lives.
On this Shabbat, perhaps, we can come
just a bit closer toward answering God's
call.
❑
Rabbi Arianna Gordon is the director of
education and lifelong learning at Temple
Israel in West Bloomfield.
Conversations:
• What are some ways prayer and
other Jewish rituals have replaced
animal sacrifices?
• How has God called to you?
• In what ways do you draw nearer
to God?
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March 19 • 2015
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