|
From the Rabbi:
Sell Your Chametz HERE
Deadline for Chametz sale is Thursday 5 pm
Parshat Tzav is one of the most obscure and difficult sections of the Torah, one which on the surface seems to have almost nothing to do with our way of life today. Centering on the Sacrifices and the Priestly role in the Temple, it can be very difficult to find something here which feels relevant and meaningful to our modern reality, and consequently it's easier than ever to tune out on the Parsha. Besides, it's not like we have anything else going on right now, right? No major overhaul of our homes and kitchens, no preparations for a major Holiday nor family get togethers. No beautiful spring weather to enjoy... So basically there's nothing going on except the Parsha, so we're all experts on Korbanot now, right?
Yet, with everything going on, and with the shadow of Pesach looming over this Shabbat, and with all the surface-level irrelevancy, Parshat Tzav still presents us with the very essence of Rabbinic Judaism which has become the cornerstone of the way we celebrate Pesach.
Last week we were introduced to the concept of animal sacrifice as the primary mode of service God commands. Yet, the prophetic books are full of the theme of God's distaste for insincere animal sacrifices. (Psalm 50:13) "What, do I drink goat's blood?" Or (I Samuel 15:22) "Does Hashem desire sacrifices or that you listen to the voice of Hashem?!" There are countless more examples of the futility of superficial and perfunctory service in scripture, and we all know from our own experience, that 'going through the motions' doesn't really make for fulfilling and satisfying religious experience for us either.
So Parshat Tzav introduces a new concept in each of the categories of offerings - the Torah of the offering. (6:2)"This is the Torah of the Olah". (6:7) "The Torah of the Mincha". We get a unique teaching for the sin, guilt and peace offerings too. See, offerings aren't meant to be just animals, grain or wine given on the altar. That's just stuff. There's also a whole conscious dimension - a meditation unique to each kind of offering. A burnt offering is entirely for Hashem - a consciousness of 'there is only Him'. A sin offering is partly consumed by the Priests since sins hurt people too - a relational repair through devotion. A peace offering is shared among God, Priests and the owner in order to increase the Peace. There's a thanksgiving offering (not a turkey). Each offering has both laws and a specific consciousness we need to cultivate and without that conscious dimension, the offering isn't what it's meant to be. Like us humans, the offering itself needs to have both matter and consciousness, and it's the bringing them together that makes the ritual spi-ritual.
Today we don't have the body dimension of the offerings accessible to us in the manner prescribed. I do strongly believe there is still an embodied dimension to our worship which parallels the offerings, but that is essentially part of The Torah of the offerings. The most iconic verse in our Parsha is (7:37) "This is the Torah for the burnt offering, the meal offering, the sin offering, the guilt offering, the offering of ordination, and the sacrifice of well-being". Rabbinic Judaism has taken this verse to mean that the Torah itself can serve as all those offerings in that we can still present the conscious dimension of the sacrifices through the Torah even if we cannot present the physical part of offerings in our current state of exile.
This sort of psycho-emotional proxying for animal sacrifice is not only a foundational tenet of Rabbinic Judaism, it's also at the core of what Pesach is really about. Even with a Temple. That we really CAN EXPERIENCE the essence of God's redemption every year, empowering us to stand up to both inner and outer tyranny. That's Freedom!! How? By telling the story - through the Torah of teh Pesach offering. By each seeing ourselves as if we ourselves ARE going out of Egypt each and every year, we experience the soul of Passover even without the paschal lamb. And yes, we also yearn for the complete redemption when we will be able to be whole with God in The Flesh as well. We WERE slaves in Egypt. NOW we're free. NEXT YEAR in Jerusalem!!
Shabbat Shalom and a kosher and joyous Pesach to all.
Shlomo, Meshullam and Netzach
♫Check out these Soundbites about each step in the Seder.♫
| 
