And He Called
CARLSBAD, California — This week we begin the third of the Five Books of Moses, titled VaYikra / And He Called. Many know it by its Latin name, Leviticus. It is called Leviticus because the majority of this book of the Torah deals with the sacrificial service that was carried out primarily by the Levites and Cohanim (Priestly class). That is why it is also called Torat Cohanim / The Laws of the Priestly Class, in Hebrew.
Animal sacrifice was one of the primary modes of service until the destruction of the Second Temple two thousand years ago. Many people do not understand the effectiveness of animal sacrifice. It was not the idea that a person sinned so he/she could have an animal slaughtered in his/her place. An animal sacrifice that was not accompanied by genuine contrition and deep Kavanah/intent, was utterly without value. No, the physical sacrifice represented the necessity of an internal sacrifice made by the individual who offered it.
With the destruction of the Second Temple, and the dispersal of the Jewish people as a consequence of it, a new mode of divine service had to be initiated. The Rabbis of those times decreed that prayer would take the place of the sacrifices. Until that point a centralized place of worship was the order of the day. After that point the home became the focal point of the divine service. As time went on the synagogue came into existence; reestablishing a local place where people could gather and engage in communal prayer albeit on a much smaller scale than during Temple times.
Forgive me, but with today’s special circumstances it seems that we are again reverting to a time (may it be VERY short!) where we have been moved out of the central location, the synagogue, and back into our homes.
What message can we find in our present reality?
The Diaspora, while extremely painful, also accomplished something that the Temple was not able to fulfill. When our people was dispersed among the nations we took with us our belief in the One, True G-d. Our influence spread to the four corners of the world. Additionally the Torah’s ethics of valuing the individual human life, blind justice, fair wages for workers, charity for the poor, accurate weights and measures, and hundreds of other revolutionary ideas were brought to the wider, human community.
Perhaps we now have a further opportunity (read ‘mandate’) for additional spreading forth of G-d’s message. Often times, people are at their best when under pressure. Right now the world is under pressure. In a way it is heartening to see the creativity bursting forth via social media. Just the memes on Facebook compare favorably with the funniest Superbowl ads of all time! On a more serious note, in my community we are offering more than three times the number of classes that we used to offer and our online attendance is many times larger than previously.
I am particularly proud that the Chabad Centers located throughout the county will be offering a Day of Learning this Sunday, from 10am through 6pm. Nineteen different Rabbis will be presenting live-streamed, coordinated content, and it will be available to everyone. All anyone has to do to participate is follow this link: www.ChabadSD4U.com/live. A vast variety of timely and meaningful lectures will be offered. Your truly will be talking about how to make your home Seder (because everyone will be doing a home Seder this year) family friendly.
While it is hard for me to understand WHY G-d would want this circumstance I have no trouble understanding WHAT He wants us to do while we are in it! It is an opportunity, literally like never before, to connect with each other spiritually! Just like in the days of yore an animal sacrifice was needed to achieve optimal closeness with the Almighty, so too now an (inner) animal sacrifice is indicated to achieve optimal closeness with the Almighty. This time, we need to be much more self-reliant in finding the strength to keep moving forward.
G-d willing, this will be the final test, and with the help of G-d we will all pass this test with flying colors, and that, my friends, will lead to the immediate arrival of our Righteous Moshiach!
Wishing you a peaceful and healthy Shabbos!
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Rabbi Yeruchem Eilfort is Director of Coastal Chabads and Chabad at La Costa. Rabbi Eilfort welcomes readers’ comments and questions and may be reached at RabbiE@ChabadatLaCosta.com.