MARCH 26 • 2020 | 37
Spirit
torah portion
I
t is not easy to relate to the
Book of Leviticus, which we
recently began.
It primarily focuses on sacri-
ficial laws and the rules of the
priests (thus the name Leviticus,
which literally means: the laws
of the Levites). These laws feel
foreign to our Jewish practices
that do not involve Temple
worship.
That being said, hidden
within the words of the text
are profound lessons about the
relationship between human-
ity and God. For example,
the opening verse of
Leviticus, a seemingly
inconsequential intro-
duction, contains such a
lesson. The verse appears
to simply set the stage for
the laws that follow: “The
Lord called to Moses
and spoke to him from
the Tent of Meeting.
”
Nonetheless, Rashi, the
great French medieval
commentator, points out
that this verse contains
a wealth of information
regarding how God com-
municated with Moses.
Rashi observes, “God
spoke to him from the Tent of
Meeting. This teaches that the
voice would stop and would not
continue outside of the tent.
”
According to Rashi, only
Moses could hear God speak.
This was not because God
spoke quietly, but because the
sound would not travel beyond.
This is hardly intuitive or in
line with the laws of physics.
After all, the barrier between
the Holy of Holies, where
Moses stood, and the area
beyond was nothing more
than a simple curtain. Rashi’
s
statement teaches something
fundamental about God. Our
relationship with the Divine is
dependent on us, not on God.
God’
s voice does not travel to
us; it is we who move toward
God’
s voice. Only Moses, who
ventured within the Tent of
Meeting, was privy to hear
God’
s direction. Everyone else
who remained on the outside,
though they may have been
very close, heard nothing.
Rabbi Menachem Mendel of
Kotzk, a 19th-century Chassidic
rabbi often referred to as the
Kotzker, is known primarily for
his pithy and terse sayings. A
story is told about the Kotzker
concerning a student who
approached him with a serious
theological question: “Where
is God located? Do we believe
that God resides some-
where in the heavens, on
Earth or somewhere else
entirely?” After a pause
to think, the Kotzker
replied very simply, “God
is found wherever we let
Him in.
”
If we live our religious
lives expecting God to
bend to meet us, we will
be unsuccessful. It is
only when we work to let
God into our lives do we
experience the Divine.
This perhaps is the
message of the beginning of the
Book of Leviticus. Before delv-
ing into the minutiae of sacrifi-
cial law in the rest of the book,
the Torah teaches an important
message about our relationship
with God. Ultimately, if we
want to grow spiritually, it takes
work on our part. Sometimes,
it requires a physical act, like a
trip to the synagogue. But other
times (and this is especially
true now, when many of us are
socially distanced), it is about
being emotionally open, being
willing to look for God and to
let God into our lives.
Whatever the right course
may be for us, may we not wait
for God to come to us, but may
we proactively seek Him out.
Rabbi Jared Anstandig is rabbi of the
Orthodox Community at the Michigan
Hillel and the rabbi of the Ann Arbor
Orthodox Minyan.
Parshat
Vayikra:
Leviticus
1:1-5:26;
Isaiah 43:21-
44:23.
Rabbi Jared
Anstandig
Actively Seek The Divine
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