34 March 21 • 2019
jn
I
n the classic movie History of the
World, Mel Brooks plays King Louis
of France during the 18th-century
French Revolution. Exemplifying the
excesses of the pre-statehood French
monarchy, Brooks finishes many a
scene with the now-famous expression,
“It’
s good to be the king.
”
The irony, of course, is that
it was good to be the king
until the French Revolution
took place and the king lost
his head.
I can’
t help but think of the
French Revolution as we come
to this week’
s Torah portion.
Tzav informs us that, calling
forward Aaron and his sons,
Moses himself bathed these
soon-to-be kohanim: priests of
the Jewish people. He dressed
them, armed them with the
appropriate ritual tools and
anointed them formally.
They were not kings, but
perhaps even more important. The
priests’
job was to maintain the prac-
tice of sacrifices: the system by which
our people connected to God. Their
honor and that of all the priests who
followed derived from their lineage.
If Aaron’
s descendants continued to
have children, the priesthood of Israel
would continue. Indeed, it was good to
be the Kohen.
Yet, like France of the late 19th cen-
tury, the kohanim were also victims of
a revolution. With the destruction of
the Holy Temple, the sacrificial service
came to an end. In an act of renais-
sance and transformation, the rabbis
replaced sacrifices with prayer, and the
value of learning replaced the impor-
tance of lineage.
The rabbis, to keep Judaism follow-
ing the destruction, essentially behead-
ed the priesthood (though not priests).
No longer were the leaders of the
Jewish people simply born; now they
had to be made. Since then, Jewish
leaders earn their positions based on
knowledge, skills and their commit-
ment to Jewish values.
Because of the rabbinic revolution,
the roll of kohanim has changed dra-
matically. Today, they primarily per-
form ritualistic functions. In fact, the
Conservative rabbinate has lifted some
of the ancient prohibitions on
kohanim, and the Reform move-
ment has disbanded with the
priestly caste system altogether.
Indeed, the role of the modern
kohen bears little resemblance to
that of his ancestors.
But it also means that there
is no inherent system for the
transition of leadership from one
generation to the next. Rather, in
each generation, our community
turns to passionate, commit-
ted and learned individuals to
assume the mantle of leadership.
This is true for our people,
especially within our communal
agencies and synagogues. Having
shifted focus millennia ago from lin-
eage to learning, we can no longer
assume there will always be people to
fulfill leadership roles. Each of us must
do his/her part so that Judaism may
continue to shape our lives and that of
our children so that we might continue
to serve as a light to the other nations.
May God bless each of us that we
might step forward to serve our people
and our community with wisdom, pas-
sion and compassion. The priesthood
is gone. It’
s up to us, now. ■
Rabbi Aaron Starr is spiritual leader of
Congregation Shaarey Zedek in Southfield.
CONVERSATIONS
• What can you do to strengthen
Judaism and the Jewish people?
• To what leadership role might you
aspire within your favorite agency or
synagogue?
• What aspects of leadership must
we look for in today’
s Jewish lead-
ers?
Rabbi
Aaron Starr
Parshat Tzav:
Leviticus
6:1-8:36;
Jeremiah
7:21-8:3,
9:22-23.
spirit
torah portion
Jewish
Leadership
Evolves
JEWISH FAMILY SERVICE
Spot
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ght
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AN EVENING WITH LIZA LONG,
MENTAL HEALTH ADVOCATE
AND AUTHOR
The Price of Silence
L ng
A Mom’
s Perspective
on Mental Illness
The Price
of Silence
Liza Long
Foreword by
Harold S. Koplewicz, MD
A Mom’
s Perspective
on Mental Illness
“A courageous, determined, radical book.”
—ANDREW SOLOMON, PhD, author of
The Noonday Demon and Far from the Tree
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2019
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After the 2012 Newtown school
shooting, Liza wondered if her son,
who has bipolar disorder, was capable
of committing a similar act in her blog
post, “I Am Adam Lanza’s Mother.”
Don’t miss Long’s moving story of
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SHINING A LIGHT ON MENTAL HEALTH IN OUR COMMUNITY
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