DRASH – VAYIKRA

Rabbi Jeffrey Kamins OAM

Emanuel Synagogue

The Offerings of Vayikra: Approaching God Today

With Vayikra we come to the third book of our Torah and move beyond many of the Torah’s captivating and foundational narratives. Genesis and Exodus take us from the creation of the universe and humanity to the stories of our ancestors who heard God’s promise of nation and homeland; the stories include the descent of our people into slavery in Egypt, followed by the redemption recalled at Pesach; the revelation of Torah as remembered at Shavuot, and ultimately the building of the Tabernacle where we could commune with God.  Many commentators have noted the way the books of Genesis and Exodus express a beautiful symmetry, from God’s creating the world for humanity to our ancestors creating a home for God.

By comparison, the third book of the Torah, Vayikra (and God called) or Leviticus, seems rather dry and detailed as it focuses primarily on the animal offerings brought by the priests to the Tabernacle (and later the Temple) – rituals that no longer apply since the destruction of the Second Temple nearly 2,000 years ago.  To this day our messianists pray and work for the rebuilding of the Third Temple and the restoration of the priestly-led sacrificial cult. But long ago the tradition substituted prayer as our way of coming close to God, recognising that the word “korban” generally translated as “sacrifice” actually means to draw near, to draw near to God.  While many of us still find prayer a meaningful way for us to draw near to God, many others have difficulties praying to an entity not fully understood.  Instead of looking at these teachings of Leviticus as ancient traditions and that are no longer relevant in our time we probe these teachings of Torah for their insight it means to be human and draw near to God.

While we no longer offer sacrifices, the reasons for their offering remains relevant to this day and is expressed in our prayers.  There are two general types of offerings those for wrong doing and those for well-being.  We get a sense of “dis-ease” when we have wronged another person; the procedures established in Vayikra are for when we have done so negligently or recklessly, but not intentionally (for that the Torah establishes other consequences as well).    It is imperative for the psyche to have a way of moving beyond these wrongs – not just in making amends to the person hurt, but also in feeling at ease again with self and the universe.  Prayer and meditation guide us toward that healing, primarily as inspiration for action known as teshuvah.

The same holds true for the other form of offerings discussed in this parashah  those for well-being and thanksgiving.  While prayer again substitutes for these ancient animal offerings, it is meant to lead to “duties of the heart”, action inspired by thought and emotion. These duties of the heart reflect the essential principle of Judaism, about which Rabbi Kaiserblueth and I recently spoke in conversation with Rabbi Shai Held, concerning his latest book, “Judaism is About Love”. Rabbi Held teaches that as we understand that our life is the ultimate gift from the source of life itself, we should be filled with gratitude.  We express that gratitude through the performance of positive mitzvot, particularly deeds of lovingkindness (chesed) and righteous giving (tzedakah), contemporary ways of making offerings of wholeness and thanksgiving to others with whom we share this gift of life.   It is a matter of sharing bounty widely, coming close to God, the source of life, in all its manifestations.

While prayer is the inspiration that may guide us to action, so to study and reflection.  As we reflect on the Torah of Vayikra, we hear God’s call to approach, to come close. To connect to God, the source of life, we must recognise that our lives do not exist in isolation but rather in connection and relation to others to their own place of wholeness and gratitude as well.  We may no longer offer animal sacrifices as our means of connecting to that which exists beyond us, and one trusts we never will again.  While prayer may substitute for the ancient way of drawing near to God, some now find it distancing.  The study of Torah always beckons, inviting us to look beyond the literal to the conceptual.  Vayikra teaches us about ways of coming near to God, both when we are broken and when we are whole.  When broken we heal with teshuvah; when whole, we express gratitude through chesed and tzedakah. We draw near to God when we draw near to our fellow creatures, for this each of us is called.