We read now the detailed laws regarding sacrifices. With this, we begin the Book of Leviticus, which is like a manual for priestly behavior. We read of the meal offering, the offering of well-being as well as the sin and guilt offerings. We are introduced to the institution of animal sacrifice the means of worship, carried out through the Levitical priesthood. This stood through the first century of the Common Era when, after the destruction by the Romans of the Temple, prayer took the place of sacrifices. As the tradition teaches us, the word for sacrifice, korbon, is from the three letter Hebrew root that carries with it the meaning of “to draw near, or close”. Thus, when we offered these sacrifices, we drew nearer to God.
This word is very meaningful for us. I have no doubt that many of you in your Torah study this Shabbat or other sessions, will discuss the impact of what it means to sacrifice in our modern age. Indeed, many do it, with acts of kindness, giving of time, restructuring lives around a cause. Many of you give of your time and life experience to benefit others. But I want to look at another aspect of the word.
As we have written, I believe that at this stage in our lives, the relationships we have become ever more precious. I believe in what I refer to as a “theology of relationships”, which teaches the power and importance of relationships in our life. In those relationships we “draw near” or “draw close” to others. These are the relationships with family and, more often, friends. These are the relationships that we turn to in our moments of crises, concern, doubt as well as joy and blessing.
I believe they are as close as we can get to Buber’s I-Thou concept. These are relationships that are based on trust, faith, honesty and, in many ways, love. They are the relationships that, when together, may not even need words and often, given our age, they are relationships decades old.
In Torah, these sacrifices are to allow us to draw close to God. Often rabbis have noted that prayer is a means of doing that. So many of us may not pray or practice the rituals of a service, but, have known times when, in a life situation, we feel drawn to the sacred. This is our search for a relationship with something greater than our own self. As with our close human relationships, we seek meaning and a sense that our life counts for something with someone.
Passover is drawing close. It is a time when we will gather and often, I hope, remember those who are present in spirit of not in body. This is also a reminder of the preciousness of these relationships as well as their fragility. So, let this Shabbat and this portion serve as a reminder of our need to draw near to others and to celebrate those meaningful relationships that help give our lives meaning, definition and texture.
Shabbat shalom,
Rabbi Richard F Address
Rabbi Richard F. Address, D.Min, is the Founder and Director of www.jewishsacredaging.com. Rabbi Address served for over three decades on staff of the Union for Reform Judaism; first as a Regional Director and then, beginning in 1997, as Founder and Director of the URJ’s Department of Jewish Family Concerns and served as a specialist and consultant for the North American Reform Movement in the areas of family related programming. Rabbi Address was ordained from Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in 1972 and began his rabbinic career in Los Angeles congregations. He also served as a part time rabbi for Beth Hillel in Carmel, NJ while regional director and, after his URJ tenure, served as senior rabbi of Congregation M’kor Shalom in Cherry Hill, NJ from 2011-2014.
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