Vayikra
Leviticus 1 – 5:26
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This week’s Torah for =
Today
is dedicated to the memory of Mark Palmer
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T=
his
week, we begin the book of Leviticus. This third book of the Torah is filled
with rules and regulations concerning sacrifices and the ole o the priestho=
od.
Although it is the beginning of a new book, there were no divisions in the
Torah. Therefore immediately after the glory of God was revealed in the
Tabernacle, God calls to Moses (hence the name “=
Vayikra”
and he called) from the Tent of
Meeting. Moses could not enter the tent of meeting because the glory of the
Lord was dwelling in the Tent of Meeting. At this point, not even Moses cou=
ld
enter the place where the glory of the Lord was inhabit=
ing.
This idea that the Lord had to call to Moses from the Tent of Meeting remin=
ds
us how unusual Moses’ experience at Mt. Sinai
had been. There, Moses was in the presence of God and his face was glowing =
as
he came down the mountain. Here in the Tabernacle, Moses no longer had that
privilege.
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T=
he
beginning of Leviticus is the description of sacrifices that the people cou=
ld
bring at various times and for various purposes. These instructions have not
been literally followed for 2000 years.&nb=
sp;
Following the destruction of the Temple,
the Sages devised a system of tradition that kept the memory and applicatio=
n of
the sacrificial system alive in the lives of Jewish people scattered around=
the
known world. Primarily, the d=
aily
reading of the biblical texts pertaining to sacrifices served as a reminder=
of
the sacrifices. The daily services serve as substitutes for the offering of
sacrifices. In fact the name of the daily morning service, “Shacharit”, is a derivative of “shachar” which comes from the Talmud referring =
to the
morning offering “tamid shel
shachar” (ber.
26b). The name of the daily
afternoon service, “mincha” is the =
name
for the grain offering. By using the names for the daily sacrifices for the
names of the weekday services, people are reminded that the daily prayer ti=
mes
are substituting for the sacrifices. =
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F=
ollowing
the destruction of the Temple, there was a
desire to keep the Temple
offerings and the laws of purity relevant. This was done in order to mainta=
in a
sense of the holiness of Israel.
One way that we participate in keeping the holiness of the priesthood is a
tradition on Passover. One of the well known features of Passover is that w=
e do
not own or eat leaven bread at Passover. The main reason is found in Exodus=
12
where we read that our ancestors had to leave Egypt in a hurry and they did=
not
have time to take bread so they took unleavened bread. However, in our torah
portion for this week we find that no leaven was to be used for the grain
offering. Leviticus 2:11 'No g=
rain
offering, which you bring to the LORD, shall be made with leaven, for you s=
hall
not offer up in smoke any leaven or any honey as an offering by fire to the
LORD. In the ancient world le=
aven
was considered a symbol of fermentation, deterioration and death. In the
Talmud, leaven is viewed as a symbol of the evil in man’s heart. In t=
he
New Covenant, leaven is identified with malice and wickedness. In order to =
keep
the holiness of the Temple alive, for the =
week
of Passover, we live the life of the priesthood of Israel refraining from the
consumption of leaven bread. Rabbi Bradley Shavit Artson speaks of this issue in his book The Bedside Torah. He says, Once a year for slightly more than a w=
eek,
we elevate our homes to reflect the same level of purity and holiness that
characterized the Temple in Jerusalem. Without claiming to know the
definitive justification, we fall back on the bedrock values of obedience,
loyalty and identity…Each year, our table becomes an
alter, and our homes become centers of sanctity where God’s
presence can dwell. By removing hametz (leaven)=
from
our homes, we restore the center-our homes- to that which is central, our
heritage, our people and our God.”
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style=3D'mso-spacerun:yes'> In the New Covenant, we read that we are to clea=
n out
the old leaven and become what we really are- unleavened. In order to clean=
out
the old leaven we must allow God to search our hearts and homes and allow H=
im
to clean us up.
Sometimes that can be a painful process but the end result is the unlea=
vened
bread of sincerity and truth. May this Passover be a time of renewal and thanksgiving.
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