Parshat Vayikra
27.03.20
This Shabbat we begin a new book of the Torah - Vayikra. The Mishkan (Tabernacle) has been built, and now the presence of God can dwell amid the people. This week’s portion describes the 5 different korbanot(sacrifices) that must be offered to God in order to maintain and restore the relationship between us. Since the desert wanderings of the Children of Israel are over, and the Temple in Jerusalem has been destroyed, we are no longer able to bring these offerings of animals and grain. How then may these words of Torah be relevant to our life in Italy today?
The Hebrew word for sacrifices is korbanot. The root is karav, to draw near or come close. For our ancestors, this was their way to connect with their God, to express their desire to be in a positive relationship. After the debacle of the Golden Calf, God realized that we humans have a great need for a physical sense of connection, through our senses. Thus God appeared to the Israelites as a pillar of smoke during the day, and a pillar of fire by night, leading them through the desert. God designed the Mishkan as a place where God’s presence could rest among the people. And the ceremony of the sacrifices – the sounds and smells of the animals being slaughtered, the priests tasting their portions, the feel of the grain in one’s hands – made it all so very real. The people were communicating with God, through sin offerings, guilt offerings and peace offerings.
We have no Mishkan here, and cannot follow the instructions as originally intended. Neither is there a Temple any more. However, after the destruction, our leaders taught us that we can still connect with God, we can still come close. Rather than bringing our offerings to the priests so they can follow the very detailed instructions, we can speak to God directly, ourselves, through our prayers.
The prayerbook tells us what to say in our prayers. But that is just when we go to the synagogue. It is also possible to speak during our everyday lives. In this time when we are all more physically distant, we are lucky that technology can help us maintain social connections. At the same time, having been locked down for so long is making us all more anxious and tense. There is real danger out there and we are afraid of its touch. Our instinct is to withdraw, to protect ourselves. But if our fear makes us abandon our most important relationships, as we see with the Children of Israel at the foot of Mount Sinai, we can lose our way completely. Of course we must stay safe. But we can also stay in touch.
Perhaps the 5 korbanot listed in our portion might correspond to 5 words and phrases that are part of everyone’s daily life. Saying please, or thank you, I’m sorry, I love you; or just hello. It’s not easy to talk to God, especially when you may not be sure if God actually exists, or if God is listening. So let us practice by starting conversations with each other. Please would you share your challah recipe? Thank you for sending that Zoom tutorial! I’m sorry I sounded grumpy. I just called to say I love you. I just called to say hello. The Torah is telling us that we must find ways to come close to each other. Our korbanot are deeds that connect us to each other. As we experience how we are present in each other’s lives, we may begin to notice the signs that God is also in our midst, waiting to hear from us.
Shabbat shalom.
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