spirit d
jews

in
the
torah portion

section name

The Unique And The Everyday

T

he Torah portion of Pinchas
concludes with a recounting
of the special additional sac-
rifices, the Musaf sacrifices, made
in the tabernacle and later in the
Temple in Jerusalem on the different
holidays of the year.
There is an interesting aspect to
the sacrifices made on the
holiday of Sukkot. On each
we do not praise God with
of the days of Sukkot, the
the same amount of praise
Musaf sacrifice was differ-
throughout the holiday.
ent as one less animal was
While the uniqueness of the
offered on the altar than on
day’s activity over Sukkot
the day before. This specific
gives us the incentive to
aspect of the holiday ritual
praise God more fully, the
has led to some interesting
Rabbi Robert
uniform nature of the sacri-
rabbinic commentaries.
Dobrusin
fices on Pesach are cause for
One of the reasons given
less praise.
as to why the Talmudic
One of the great oppor-
school of Shammai taught
tunities offered by studying
that we should light eight
rabbinic texts is the right
lights on the first day of
to respectfully disagree with a par-
Chanukah and then decrease the
ticular interpretation, and I will do
number each day was to reflect the
that here. While it is naturally easier
decreasing sacrifices of the holiday
to recognize differences from one
of Sukkot. In contrast, the school of
day to the next and allow those dif-
Hillel taught that we should light
ferences to inspire excitement and
one candle on the first day and
praise, we must not disregard the
increase by one each day so that we
similar miracles and wonders that
demonstrate that we should always
are around us each day when we
increase in holiness and light in our
seek a reason for praising God.
lives rather than decrease.
Daily experiences such as the
There is also an interesting idea
wonder of the sunrise and sunset,
raised about this tradition in com-
the presence of family and friends,
paring the holiday of Sukkot to the
and the miracle of our bodies and
holiday of Passover.
minds are also causes for praise; and
On Sukkot, we recite the Hallel
it should not take a startlingly new
service, the collection of psalms of
event to inspire our thanks to our
praise, in its entirety on each of the
Creator.
days of the holiday. On Pesach, we
We follow Hillel’s tradition of
only recite the full Hallel service at
lighting Chanukah lights, increasing
the beginning of the holiday and
omit two psalms for the last six days by one each day. May we find the
increased holiness and meaning in
of the festival.
each and every day of our lives.•
One rabbinic tradition explains
this difference by saying that the
Robert Dobrusin is rabbi of Beth Israel
different sacrifices offered each day
of Sukkot make each day truly differ- Congregation in Ann Arbor.
ent and, therefore, a cause for com-
CONVERSATION
plete, intense praise of God. On the
How can we train ourselves to rejoice
other hand, because the sacrifices
in the everyday experiences of life?
were identical each day of Pesach,

26

July 13 • 2017

jn

Parshat Pinchas:
Numbers 25:10-30:1;
Jeremiah 1:1-2:3.