34 | MARCH 25 • 2021 

SPIRIT

Cherishing Creation
T

he intricacies of Temple 
sacrifice, as described 
in Parshat Tzav, may 
seem otherworldly to us. Priests 
place on the altar particular 
items determined by a specific 
sacrifice. Then, over a 
wood fire, the items are 
cooked — or burnt. A 
portion is consumed 
by the priest and a 
portion, through the 
fire itself, is consumed 
by God.
For the past 2,000 
years or so, ever 
since the Temple was 
destroyed, this sacrifi-
cial tradition has been 
replaced by liturgical 
prayer. And with this 
change, something core 
to Judaism has been forgotten, 
or neglected: the belief that all 
of creation is God’s, and that it 
is our sacred service as humans 
to tend it.
If we consider the painstaking 
labor that went into ancient 
Israelites cultivating and rais-
ing the goods they would later 
sacrifice — growing grain for 
wheat, tending olive trees for 
oil, planting herbs and flowers, 
raising bulls, rams and birds — 
we may begin to understand the 
value these things must have 
represented for that person. 
For that person to be com-
manded to bring those precious 
items to the Temple, only to 
know they will soon go up in 
smoke must have been heart 
wrenching.
Except, perhaps, there was 
something deeper happening. 
To give of oneself in this way 
was to remind oneself — and 
to be reminded — that those 
items that you raised, grew and 
cultivated weren’t ever really 

yours. As we learn in the cre-
ation story, those living beings 
are the manifestation of Divine 
impulse. Or, as the psalmist 
(24.1) says: “The earth and 
everything within it is God’s.
”
The sacrifice then, is 
not giving a gift to God 
as much as it is reuniting 
with God what is already 
Divine. A chance to let go 
of our very narrow concept 
of human ownership and 
embrace the expansive 
nature-based sanctity of 
holy stewardship. For every-
thing that is offered upon 
the altar comes from the 
earth or was once living. 
All the raw materials are 
aspects of God’s unfurling 
creation.
“Sacrifice” in Hebrew is kor-
ban, built from the linguistic 
root that conveys closeness and 
intimacy. So while the sacrificial 
process may at first seem dis-
tancing — giving up that which 
is most precious to us — in fact, 
it is affirming our role as sacred 
stewards of Earth and honoring 
our interconnectedness with 
God, and the more-than-human 
world can be an act of profound 
closeness. From that place of 
humility and inspiration, we act 
to ensure that God’s creation 
remains cherished.

Today, taking sustainable 
action may no longer look like 
animal sacrifices and altars, but 
each of us doing our part for a 
“greener” planet. 
To take your next step, visit 
hazon.org/brithazon, join the 
Brit Hazon and commit to 
change! 

Rabbi Nate Degroot is the Hazon 

Detroit associate director and spiritual 

and program director. 

TORAH PORTION

Rabbi Nate 
Degroot

Parshat Tzav: 

Leviticus 

6:1-8:36; 

Malachi 3:4-

24. (Shabbat 

HaGadol)

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