Monday, March 16, 2015

Shabbat HaHodesh; Vayikra

Leviticus 1:1−5:26; Maftir: Exodus 12:1-20

By Rabbi Matthew Berkowitz | Director of Israel Programs, The Rabbinical School, JTS

Finding The Universal In The Particular: An Unexpected Offering From Va-yikra


With the opening of the book of Leviticus and its keen focus on sacrifices this coming Shabbat, many laypeople and clergy alike begin an exegetical struggle for connection and relevance. Chancellor Arnold Eisen describes the annual crisis well, commenting that

Leviticus is not terribly popular among American Jews . . . Take on the task of assigning members of a prayer or study group to lead discussions on upcoming portions of Torah, and you will have no difficulty finding volunteers for most sections of Genesis or Exodus. Turn the pages of the calendar to the winter months, however, arrive at the blood and gore of sacrifice and the details upon details of purity and pollution, and you will find that interest in the weekly portion has withered. (Taking Hold of Torah, 71)

Though Eisen acknowledges this difficulty, he rightly encourages us to dig deeper in the text and in ourselves as “Leviticus aims to heighten and sanctify ordinary experience” (ibid., 71). Where may we find a vivid example in Parashat Va-yikra to “sanctify ordinary experience” in the modern world?

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