(Lev: 6:1-9:26)
“And Hashem spoke to Moshe saying: Command Aaron and his sons as follows – this is the law of the Olah, the Elevation Offering, on the altar pyre, all night until morning, and the fire of the altar should be lit [at all times].” (Lev: 6:1-2)
“The language employed here, “Tzav” which means “command,” implies alacrity - now and for all generations.” (Rashi on v.1)
Last week's parsha dealt with the Sacrificial Offerings from the perspective of the celebrant, as the verse states: “Any person among you who wishes to bring an offering...” This week's parsha discusses the same offerings, but from the perspective of the Cohanim (priests), instructing them on the specifics of how these sacrifices shall be offered. (Ramban)
Rashi suggests that the Cohanim had to be reminded to act with alacrity in performing the sacrificial service; as if, without the warning, they might not have done so. And, Rashi adds, now and for all generations to follow.
Many of the mitzvot (commandments) that are taught in the Book of Leviticus are not for the Cohanim alone; they apply to us all. After all, we Jews are Mamlechet Cohanim v'Goy Kadosh, a Kingdom of Priests and a Holy Nation. And we have been given a Code of 613 Commandments, mitzvot, (from the word root Tzav).
Sometimes, we lapse into a lackluster performance of the mitzvot. We're tired, we're hungry, we're preoccupied with our own headaches and worries; and our Service to G-d becomes rote, suffering both in quality and quantity.
Encoded in the word mitzvah is Rashi's lesson: it's not enough to merely do the mitzvot; we must do them with passion, with excitement, with energy and with zeal. Anything less is a flaw in our Worship of G-d.
I remember being eleven, going off to sleep away camp for the first time. A whole month away from home! The night before camp started I was so excited I couldn't fall asleep. And when the alarm rang, I flew out of bed, overflowing with energy and enthusiasm.
Doesn't our mitzvah performance deserve the same attitude of excitement?
To paraphrase our verse: “Light a fire under it.”
Shabbat Shalom.
Thursday, March 22, 2018
Thursday, March 15, 2018
Stealing from Gcd - Reflections on Parshat VaYikra 5778
(Leviticus 1:1- 5:26)
We learn this week of the transgression of Me'ilah, of expropriating for personal use that which has been sanctified to Hashem (Gcd). If, for example, one were to drink from a goblet used in the Temple service, one would be guilty of Me'liah; if the act was done inadvertently, one would bring an Asham (Guilt) offering, the subject of our parsha.
Me'ilah is a very grave offense, and is taken very seriously by the Sages of the Talmud; to the extent that it is forbidden to even take enjoyment from the shade cast by the Holy Temple!! You can't use the wall of the Temple for personal benefit – yep, even the shade it throws off on a hot day - because it has been sanctified to Hashem.
The verse goes on to state:
Wait a minute – we just defined Me'ilah as expropriating for personal use that which has been sanctified to Hashem. What does Me'ilah have to do with lying, cheating and stealing from your fellow (pernicious as those acts may be)?
The Ba'al HaTurim comments on this verse:
Nowadays the spin doctors advise all miscreants to “Deny! Deny! Deny!”
That might be an expedient strategy to salvage a political or celebrity career in jeopardy, but the Torah is teaching us that such expedients are a grave affront to Hashem.
Because if a “victimless” crime like merely sitting in the shade of the Temple wall is considered stealing from Hashem, how much more so is cheating and stealing from the helpless?
Shabbat Shalom.
We learn this week of the transgression of Me'ilah, of expropriating for personal use that which has been sanctified to Hashem (Gcd). If, for example, one were to drink from a goblet used in the Temple service, one would be guilty of Me'liah; if the act was done inadvertently, one would bring an Asham (Guilt) offering, the subject of our parsha.
Me'ilah is a very grave offense, and is taken very seriously by the Sages of the Talmud; to the extent that it is forbidden to even take enjoyment from the shade cast by the Holy Temple!! You can't use the wall of the Temple for personal benefit – yep, even the shade it throws off on a hot day - because it has been sanctified to Hashem.
The verse goes on to state:
Any soul that sins by committing an act of Me'ilah against Hashem, and tells a lie against his fellow regarding a pledge, or a loan, or a robbery or by cheating his fellow; or he denies finding a lost object... (Lev. 5:21)
Wait a minute – we just defined Me'ilah as expropriating for personal use that which has been sanctified to Hashem. What does Me'ilah have to do with lying, cheating and stealing from your fellow (pernicious as those acts may be)?
The Ba'al HaTurim comments on this verse:
The Hebrew word 'and he lies' is interposed between the words 'against Hashem' and 'against his fellow', because in denying the act and taking a false oath, he lies both to Hashem and his fellow, i.e., he lies in a matter that is known only to Hashem and the victim.In all these cases no witnesses were present, such as cases where an agreement was struck in private and brazenly denied in public.
Nowadays the spin doctors advise all miscreants to “Deny! Deny! Deny!”
That might be an expedient strategy to salvage a political or celebrity career in jeopardy, but the Torah is teaching us that such expedients are a grave affront to Hashem.
Because if a “victimless” crime like merely sitting in the shade of the Temple wall is considered stealing from Hashem, how much more so is cheating and stealing from the helpless?
Shabbat Shalom.
Thursday, March 8, 2018
Seeing the Invisible - Reflections on Parshat Parah 5778
This week we read the third of the four special Torah readings in the advent of Passover: Parshat Parah, the portion of the Red Heifer.
This reading was selected by our Holy Sages as a wake-up call to the entire Jewish People, as if to say: “Reb Yid! You are soon to embark on your pilgrimage to Jerusalem. Be certain that you have removed the death Tumah from yourself before you enter the Temple precincts!”
The concepts of Tumah & Taharah are very esoteric, and don't lend themselves to simple translations in English. (For a deeper treatment of this subject, click HERE.) Furthermore, Tumah & Taharah are super-sensual: they cannot be seen, smelled, tasted or palpated. And yet, we Jews are extremely careful regarding these laws (to the extent that we can be in the absence of the Holy Temple and the purifying ashes of the Red Heifer.)
The humbling lesson of Tumah & Taharah is that things exist in the universe – real things – which are beyond our ability to perceive. The fact that we cannot see or hear them makes them no less real.
Science, which, at its core, is a sophisticated form of observation, should declare: “That which we cannot perceive, we cannot comment upon,” but in its arrogance declares,”That which we cannot see does not exist.”
And yet “unseen” things are now known to exist that a mere one or two hundred years ago were not observable: bacteria, viruses, atoms, sub-atomic particles, distant stars, etc. In fact, Rav Shimon Shwab z”l suggested that the “mazikin” described in the Talmud were probably bacteria.
By carefully observing the mitzvot (commandments) of Tumah & Taharah we are affirming the existence of an unseen world beyond our reach, of Truth beyond our grasp. We have the humility to admit to the limitations of our senses and intellectual integrity to concede that there are things which defy observation, things which our limited senses can perhaps never know. There are limits to the human ability to know, and we are okay with that.
As I have often said, Judaism is the original counter-culture. We adamantly reject the position of post-modern, Rational Man that says, “If I can't see it or touch it it doesn't exist.” News flash, Modern Man: It's not all about YOU.
May we all merit to bring the Korban Pesach (Pascal Lamb) in a state of Taharah and Kedushah, in the rebuilt Temple, speedily and in our days, Amen!
- Shabbat Shalom
This reading was selected by our Holy Sages as a wake-up call to the entire Jewish People, as if to say: “Reb Yid! You are soon to embark on your pilgrimage to Jerusalem. Be certain that you have removed the death Tumah from yourself before you enter the Temple precincts!”
The concepts of Tumah & Taharah are very esoteric, and don't lend themselves to simple translations in English. (For a deeper treatment of this subject, click HERE.) Furthermore, Tumah & Taharah are super-sensual: they cannot be seen, smelled, tasted or palpated. And yet, we Jews are extremely careful regarding these laws (to the extent that we can be in the absence of the Holy Temple and the purifying ashes of the Red Heifer.)
The humbling lesson of Tumah & Taharah is that things exist in the universe – real things – which are beyond our ability to perceive. The fact that we cannot see or hear them makes them no less real.
Science, which, at its core, is a sophisticated form of observation, should declare: “That which we cannot perceive, we cannot comment upon,” but in its arrogance declares,”That which we cannot see does not exist.”
And yet “unseen” things are now known to exist that a mere one or two hundred years ago were not observable: bacteria, viruses, atoms, sub-atomic particles, distant stars, etc. In fact, Rav Shimon Shwab z”l suggested that the “mazikin” described in the Talmud were probably bacteria.
By carefully observing the mitzvot (commandments) of Tumah & Taharah we are affirming the existence of an unseen world beyond our reach, of Truth beyond our grasp. We have the humility to admit to the limitations of our senses and intellectual integrity to concede that there are things which defy observation, things which our limited senses can perhaps never know. There are limits to the human ability to know, and we are okay with that.
As I have often said, Judaism is the original counter-culture. We adamantly reject the position of post-modern, Rational Man that says, “If I can't see it or touch it it doesn't exist.” News flash, Modern Man: It's not all about YOU.
May we all merit to bring the Korban Pesach (Pascal Lamb) in a state of Taharah and Kedushah, in the rebuilt Temple, speedily and in our days, Amen!
- Shabbat Shalom
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