74 | MARCH 28 • 2024 
J
N

An Ethic of Gratitude 
T

his week’s Torah portion 
deals with sacrifices 
that were offered in the 
Mishkan (the Tabernacle) and 
later in the holy Temple. Animal 
sacrifice was such a key part of 
Jewish ritual in the Temple era 
that prayer services 
were instituted to par-
allel sacrificial service. 
The traditional Musaf 
service is all about the 
aspiration to reinstate 
animal sacrifice.
However, many 
Jewish communities 
today are troubled by 
the idea of reinstating 
animal sacrifice and 
have either removed 
references to them 
from their liturgy or 
keep these references 
in past tense, indicating 
that while sacrifices used to be 
an integral part of Jewish ritual 
service, we no longer strive to 
reinstate them in the future.
However, there are sources 
dating back well over 1,000 
years that claim that animal 
sacrifice will never be reinstated 
as a Jewish ritual. One source 
(Vayikra Rabbah 9) claims that 
all animal sacrifices have for-
ever ceased, with one notable 
exception: the Korban Todah, or 
Thanksgiving Sacrifice, which is 
described in this week’s portion 
(Leviticus 7:12-15).
Question: If animal sacrifices 
are outdated, then shouldn’t the 
Thanksgiving Sacrifice be as 
well? And if there is still value to 
bringing sacrifices, why only the 
Thanksgiving?
Dr. Nechama Leibowitz, 
Bible scholar of the 20th centu-
ry, quotes a Talmudic passage 
which discusses the situations 
in which a person would bring 
a Thanksgiving Sacrifice. “Four 

[categories of people] need to 
offer thanks to God: seafarers, 
those that travel through the 
desert, one who was ill and 
recovered, and one who was 
imprisoned and got out.
”
This passage uses a particular-
ly curious turn of phrase. It 
says that these people “need 
to” (tzerikhin) offer thanks to 
God, not that they “are obli-
gated” (hayyavin). This may 
seem a superficial distinc-
tion, but it’s a deviation from 
the usual legalistic terminol-
ogy used in the Talmud.
Leibowitz says that this 
“need” reflects the fact that 
offering thanks, more than 
simply being a traditional 
obligation, is an existential 
need. When a person is the 
beneficiary of some kind-
ness, they feel something 
is lacking until they are able 
to express gratitude to the one 
who bestowed kindness on 
them. This, argues Leibowitz, 
is why we can conceive of an 
elimination of all animal sac-
rifices, while still retaining the 
Thanksgiving Sacrifice.
It’s no coincidence then that 
studies have found a correlation 
between expressions of gratitude 
and lower levels of anxiety and 
depression analysis. I don’t mean 
to suggest that someone experi-
encing depression should simply 
remember that other people 
have it worse and be thankful 
for what they have. However, 
cultivating an ethic of gratitude 
trains us to fill the existential 
need that’s created when some-
one does something kind for us, 
leaving us emotionally and spiri-
tually fulfilled. 

Rabbi Michael Langer is a Jewish 

Studies instructor at Frankel Jewish 

Academy in West Bloomfield.

SPIRIT
TORAH PORTION

Rabbi 
Michael 
Langer

Parshat Tzav: 

Leviticus 

6:1-8:30; 

Numbers 

19:1-22; 

Ezekiel 3 

6:16-38.

shalomhartman.org

Donniel Hartman

Lior Zisser-Yogev

Register: 
shalomhartman.org/lookingaheadDetroit

Berman Center for Performing Arts
JCC of Metro Detroit
6600 West Maple Road, West Bloomfield

Wednesday, April 3
7:00 pm

Presented in partnership with

Join Shalom Hartman 

Institute president 

Donniel Hartman 

for a conversation with 

Detroit community shlicha 

Lior Zisser-Yogev about 

the critical questions of this 

moment and the obligations 

of Jewish peoplehood.

Looking 
Ahead: 
The Future of 
Israel and the 
Jewish People