Mindful Torah...and more

This week's torah portion is Tzav ( Vayikra /Leviticus 6:1 - 8:36). In it the detailed descriptions of the various sacrifices to be offered continues. I would like to focus on one particular sacrifice and what we might learn from it today. The final sacrifice mentioned in the parashah is the zevakh shelamim . This is usually translated as the "peace offering" or "good-will offering.” The word shelamim comes from the same root as shalom /peace and shalem /whole. One contemporary understanding of this sacrifice is as an offering of greeting. According to Baruch Levine and other scholars, it was a meal shared between the priests, the people who brought the offering and God. In other words, through sharing a sacred meal there was a connection being made between the people, the priests and the Divine. Not only was this a meal of greeting, but the sharing of the sacrificial animal could also bring a sense of peace and wholeness that was a direct result

Vayikra means “and he (God) called.”  It is easy for us to hear the call of the Divine when reading about the journeys of the patriarchs and matriarchs or the ordeals of the slaves and their exodus from Egypt.  But to hear God’s call in the description of sacrifices is not an easy task! And yet Vayikra is about more than just sacrifices and laws. At the core of Vayikra is the sacrificial system that is meant to connect the people with the Divine. In the first third of this parashah, which is what is read in many congregations this Shabbat, we read first of the Olah , the burnt offering, or literally “that which rises up.”  These were sacrifices in which the entire animal, after being ritually slaughtered was burned on the altar. This differed from other sacrifices where part of the animal was saved as a sacred meal for the priests and the worshipers.   Most communal sacrifices were olot – burnt offerings.  The community would give the priests beasts and birds that belong

This week's  parashah Ki Tissa ( Shemot /Exodus 30:11-34:35) includes the all-too-familar narrative of the Golden Calf. One image in the that has intrigued me, yet is less familiar and oft forgetten,  is that of Moses grinding the calf into powder, mixing it with water and forcing the people to drink it as expiation for their sin. This ingestion of the remnants of their sin holds powerful meaning within it. This is one interpretation of that moment and what it might mean. Shabbat Shalom, Steven the truth of gold gold before me now gleaming brightly holy tabernacle god's glory glowing everpresent neverseen alwaysfelt gold then molten hot burning the calf idol searing image into my mind people crying wailing this is your god israel who brought you out of gypt how could we believe how could we not he was gone we felt fear needed certainty where there was none we all gave gold melted melded merging we created the calf from our g