7 Adar II, 5784 – Leviticus begins

on March 17, 2024

Tyler’s Torah Thoughts for 7 Adar II, 5784
Parsha Ya-Yikra’ – “And He affectionately called”: (Leviticus 1:1 – 5:26)
First Portion: Leviticus 1:1 – 1:13

Good morning! I am super excited to start a NEW book of the Torah. I wrote this two years ago, and feel like it is VERY apropos:

Today we start Leviticus. I know what you are thinking; ugh. A set of rules and obligations – no fun! All these “thou shall nots.”

I’ve been reflecting on the idea of obligation and may have shared this previously. When in any relationship OF COURSE we choose to do things to support our friends that we wouldn’t do under normal circumstances. Why? Because we care for them, and we have a desire to help them and connect with them. That’s the idea of friendship.

Yet NO ONE wants someone to be a friend or partner out of a sense of obligation. We want to feel wanted. We want to feel desired.

And there is Hashem; he feels the same way (we are after all created in Hashem’s image and we have the Neshama which is a piece of God in us). Hashem does not desire us to do mitzvahs out of obligation- thought the act of a mitzvah in obligation is still a mitzvah and a way to connect with Him; but the idea is we are doing mitzvahs because we WANT to; we desire a connection.

Imagine we have new found freedom, and we meet a new lover. And imagine our new lover said “hey, I know myself REALLY well. Here’s a guide to speak to my heart.” How would we respond? Would we read the guide out of a sense of obligation? Or would we dig into the guide with our entire heart? Would we see these as sacrifices we need to make to avoid misery? Or would we see these sacrifices as ways to deepen our connection? THIS is the FREE CHOICE we have in the wild-ness of the Wilderness! THIS is the heart we need to approach Leviticus.

Leviticus means – “He affectionately called.” AFFECTION. This isn’t a call to judgment. It’s a call to CURIOSTY!

“God is calling to you intimately to connect with Him, to achieve harmony and balance in your life. He wants to free you from your distractions and ensure that your life flows with His unbounded love.”

Let’s dig in!

1And He called to Moses, and the Lord spoke to him from the Tent of Meeting, saying,

The word literally means – and He AFFECTIONATELY called to Moses.

2Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: When a man from [among] you brings a sacrifice to the Lord; from animals, from cattle or from the flock you shall bring your sacrifice.

3If his sacrifice is a burnt offering from cattle, an unblemished male he shall bring it. He shall bring it willingly to the entrance of the Tent of Meeting, before the Lord.

Why unblemished? Why is this important?

Imagine your new lover gave you their guidebook to their heart.

You read – “If you want to speak to my heart, talk about Batman with me.”

You also read at some other point in the book “If you want to speak to my heart? Make me pickle pizza.”

And you literally know NOTHING about Batman. You know EVERYTHING about Spiderman though.

You are ALSO an expert chef. You know how to perfect pickle pizza!

What do you do?

You have a few options:

Over the next year, you engage in multiple conversations about Spiderman over pickle pizza – close enough, right? You don’t mention Batman other than to ask about Batman and immediately turn the conversation back to Spiderman. All over pickle pizza.
You avoid the topic – you don’t want to navigate your lack of knowledge. You focus on making pickle pizza and never talk about superheroes
You research Batman. Maybe you watch an episode or two and discuss it with your new lover over take out. You listen to WHY they like Batman. You seek to UNDERSTAND them.

Which of those options is LOVING? Which are you MOTIVATED to do? Why?

Does researching Batman feel like an obligation?

This is a simple story -but it illustrates a point. Hashem has given us the guide to his heart. We may not like it. He may desire things we don’t desire. And we are FREE not to do those things.

And maybe discussing spiderman is a good effort, but it still does not center around your new lover. It’s a good attempt, but not full in the depths of love.

This is why Hashem desires an UNBLEMISHED sacrifice. Let’s keep going:

4And he shall lean his hand [forcefully] upon the head of the burnt offering, and it will be accepted for him to atone for him.

5And he shall slaughter the young bull before the Lord. And Aaron’s descendants, the kohanim, shall bring the blood, and dash the blood upon the altar, around [the altar] which is at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting.

6And he shall skin the burnt offering, and cut it into its [prescribed] sections.

7And the descendants of Aaron the kohen shall place fire on the altar, and arrange wood on the fire.

8And Aaron’s descendants, the kohanim, shall then arrange the pieces, the head and the fat, on top of the wood which is on the fire that is on the altar.

9And its innards and its legs, he shall wash with water. Then, the kohen shall cause to [go up in] smoke all [of the animal] on the altar, as a burnt offering, a fire offering, [with] a pleasing fragrance to the Lord.

10And if his offering is [brought] from the flock from sheep or from goats as a burnt offering he shall sacrifice it an unblemished male.

11And he shall slaughter it on the northern side of the altar, before the Lord. And Aaron’s descendants, the kohanim, shall dash its blood upon the altar, around.

12And he shall cut it into its [prescribed] sections, with its head and its fat, and the kohen shall arrange them on top of the wood which is on the fire that is on the altar.

13And the innards and the legs, he shall wash with water. Then, the kohen shall offer up all [of the animal], and cause it to [go up in] smoke on the altar. It is a burnt offering, a fire offering [with] a pleasing fragrance to the Lord.

Interesting. Now – we are given more guidance to Hashem’s heart. How do we atone?

So imagine this. Our new lover, in the guide to their heart, writes this:

“If you make a mistake and hurt my feelings unintentionally, the way to reconcile is to do three things:

- Listen to my hurt heart without feeling defensive and allow me the space to have my feelings without you needing to fix them
- Give me snuggles and cuddles as I unpack my hurt heart with you and I discover the feelings I have are not about you as much as they are about past painful learning from previous trauma
- Take me for a walk when I am done”

Do we do those out of OBLIGATION? Do we IGNORE this guidance? Or do we think to ourselves when we make a mistake with our new lover:

OPTION 1:

Here we go AGAIN with the feelings. I messed up, do they need to keep digging into how MUCH I messed up? Why are they droning on?
I know they like cuddles and snuggles, let me give them some – that could lead to sex- YESSSS!!!!!
My cuddles and snuggles seem to annoy them – she doesn’t want me to fix this – they are so annoying. Maybe I just need to push harder!
YESSSS they gave me an orgasm! Sex achieved. We feel better.
I am tired – let’s sleep. We can go for a walk tomorrow.

OPTION 2:

We are EXCITED about our new lover, and we are EXCITED to know the way to their heart and instead open up and do the following:

I can see how my actions really impacted them. They seem to be reacting significantly to something I see as small. I am curious to know what is behind the feelings to better understand their heart!
Wow – I didn’t know there was all of this inside of them. This is really deep hurt they are experiencing. How can I support them? Oh! That’s right. Snuggles and Cuddles.
Maybe I should ask? “Hey, I know you like cuddles and snuggles, this is tough stuff, can I offer you some physical touch?”
Yes! We are snuggling. I love feeling them close to me! I really want sex! But now isn’t the time, because this is about their hurt, and not my desires. I can SACRIFICE my desires for their heart.
They are seemingly feeling better! I still want sex, but I also know getting outside for a walk will help them here.
Maybe I should ask? “Hey, it seems like you are feeling a little better. Would you like to go for a walk with me? I just want you to know I will walk with you through all of this tough stuff!”
Yes! We are going for a walk – they are smiling again!

Which option feels best to us?

BTW – Dudes? Pay attention to what I just wrote. It will deepen your connection.

To bring this BACK to Hashem, the book of Leviticus is about AFFECTION. Do we want Hashem’s Affection? Do we want to relate to Hashem with AFFECTION? Or is this a legal contract we have with Him?

We are FREE to decide. This is what we are to do with our new found freedom!

What are your thoughts?

Here are my thoughts from the past two years:

Tyler’s Torah Thoughts for 26 Adar, 5783

Today we start a new book of the Torah; Leviticus. And our Parsha is Va-Yikra. “He affectionately called.”

Who in our lives affectionately call us? What are we willing to sacrifice for them? And is that meaningful to them?

And is it a sacrifice out of obligation, or is it out of compassion, empathy, kindness? These are the things running around inside my heart and head.

The study of the sacrifices Hashem has called us to us quite fascinating. I’m just reflecting on this idea.

And one thing I come back to (especially over the past year) is the sacrifice of vulnerability. To expose our hearts to one another. To show each other who we really are.

That’s what Hashem desires of us (I think).

What do you think?

Tyler’s Torah Thoughts for 3 Adar II, 5782

A new week, the beginning of a new month, a new Parsha, and a NEW book of the Torah!

Today we start Leviticus. I know what you are thinking; ugh. A set of rules and obligations – no fun! All these “thou shall nots.”

Yet NO ONE wants someone to be a friend or partner out of a sense of obligation. We want to feel wanted. We want to feel desired.

And there is Hashem; he feels the same way (we are after all created in Hashem’s image and we have the Neshama which is a piece of God in us). Hashem does not desire us to do mitzvahs out of obligation- though the act of a mitzvah in obligation is still a mitzvah and a way to connect with Him; but the idea is we are doing mitzvahs because we WANT to; we desire a connection.

I think that is a frame of mind going into Leviticus that will be crucial.

And with that, let’s dig in;

This weeks Parsha is Va-Yikra which means “He affectionately called.”

I swear I didn’t plan this.

He desires affection because He communicated affection towards us. In the chumash I’m reading here is the headline quote of the Parsha;

Now that’s a foundation!

A key component of the Parsha is about sacrifice. From the Chumash I’m reading; “The Hebrew word “Korban” means “draw near.” Bringing a sacrifice draws a person closer to God. Today, prayer is used instead to strengthen our natural connection to God.”

Something else I’m thinking about. Sacrificing does draw us near to Hashem (and others) but that sacrifice should be something that speaks to Hashem (or another). Just because I sacrifice something, if that something doesn’t land with the person I’m sacrificing for, it’s not going to draw us near.

As an example; if Hashem asks us to sacrifice a cow, and instead I sacrifice a pig; that sacrifice is a sacrifice on my part, but that does not draw me closer to Hashem because it’s not a sacrifice He desires.

Likewise with a friend; if I sacrifice my money to purchase a gift for a friend, when really what they want is a sacrifice of my time or emotional vulnerability – our sacrifice isn’t as impactful.

So what lies ahead is Hashem clearly communicating what is meaningful to HIM. If only we could communicate with one another what sacrifices would speak to us (instead of guessing and trying to figure it out on our own).

Ok. Now let’s dig in!

We start with the voluntary offerings. Hashem calls to Moses (affectionately) and tells Moses from inside the tent of meeting to speak to Israel.

A lot has been written about the first letter (an Alef) in Leviticus;

Rabbi Isaac Ben Judah ha Levi writes:

“Why is the word va-yikra’ (“He called”) written scribally with a small letter Alef? Because even though Moses spoke directly with God regularly, he remained humble in his own eyes in the presence of God, and in the presence of the people”

Rabbi Ephraim of Luntshits adds:

“The small alef is an allusion to the custom that small children traditionally begin their studies with the Book of Leviticus. As the Midrash states, “Why do we initiate small children with the Torah portion which speaks of sacrifices? Because just as the sacrifices are pure, so too, the children are pure”

Rabbi Schneerson writes;

“Being the first of the twenty-two letters of the Hebrew alphabet, alef is the “head” or “leader” of all the letters. This is also hinted to by the fact that alef is an etymological derivative of the word alluf which means “leader” or “chief”

So a small alef is a contradiction in terms: Why is a letter which represents leadership and greatness written small? If the Torah wished to allude to Moses’ humility, surely this could have been done by rendering another letter small, and not the alef?

The point here is that greatness and humility should not be two disjointed entities. Some people are generally contrite, but when it comes to their field of expertise their feelings of humility are suspended. The Torah is teaching us here that your humility (represented by smallness) should be in the very same area as your greatness (represented by the alef). Your unique talents as special qualities themselves should lead you to feel humble, when you contemplate the fact that if another person had been given the same capabilities as you, that person would probably have surpassed our achievements.”

Ok; back to the portion:

When someone brings a voluntary offering, that offering should come from domesticated animals – from cattle that hasn’t been worshiped as an idol or flocks that have not been set aside for pagan worship, and from those which have not killed people.

So even a voluntary sacrifice has some components we need to keep in mind.

Again more has been written about this passage:

Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Lyadi writes:

The verse can be read, “When a man brings an offering to God, from you.” A sacrifice is not merely the offering of a physical animal, but an offering of yourself – “from you” – dedicating your being to God”

Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra writes:

“Heaven forefend to say that God actually needs animals to be burned! Rather, the significance here is a mystical one.”

Nachmanides adds:

“Sinning involves thought, speech and action. Therefore, God decreed that atonement for sin should also be threefold: First you place your hands on the animal, an action of atonement. Then, you confess verbally. And finally, the animal’s innards, symbolizing physical desire, are burned. Corresponding to the thoughts and desires that led you to sin. The animal’s blood is also spilled out; hinting that, really your own life should have been taken away because of the sin, but that God, in His mercy has accepted the life of the animal as a substitute.

The sacrifices also have great mystical significance. That is why when listing the laws of the sacrifices the Torah uses God’s most exalted name, the Tetragrammaton.”

Rabbi Judah Halevi writes:

“Sacrifices cause the Divine Presence to dwell among the Jewish people, like food which causes the soul to continue dwelling in the body. Just as you cannot understand why the soul which is spiritual, requires physical food to keep it attached to the body, you cannot fathom why the Divine Presence requires the physical “food” of animals on the altar, in order to remain attached to the Jewish people.

Finally, Rabbi Bahya ben Asher writes:

“The sacrifice represents unification with God. Thus the word korban (“sacrifice”) is etymologically related to the word kirur (coming close), indicating that by offering a sacrifice you bring the attributes of your soul closer to God.”

Some great thoughts and we are only on the second verse of Leviticus! Ok let’s keep going;

The next passages talk about the Burnt offering specifically from cattle. We won’t get into all the specifics, but there were certain things that were important to Hashem. The sacrifice needed to be brought willingly as an example.

A crucial piece of the process is where Hashem tells Moses that descendants of Aaron the priest, should place fire on the altar and arrange wood on the fire.

The Talmud alludes to two fires here; a fire would come down from heaven to consume the sacrifices but the priest was also supposed to maintain a natural fire.

This is really interesting as Rabbi Ephraim of Luntshits writes;

“When a person sins, he should, in principle, be judged by both the heavenly court and the earthly court. By combining these two fires, the leavenly and the earthly, we bring atonement to spare him judgment from both courts.”

Let’s keep going.

As we conclude the part that talks about the burnt offerings from cattle, verse 1:9 says “Then the priest should make all of the animals parts go up in smoke on the altar, with specific intent that it is a burnt offering which was slaughtered specifically as a fire offering, a pleasant aroma for God.”

This idea of a “pleasant aroma for God” is something really critical to reflect on.

Rabbi Schneerson writes this;

“God says: “It brings Me a spirit of contentment that I spoke and My will was carried out” (from Rashi)

With his comment, “It brings Me a spirit of contentment that I spoke and My will was carried out,” Rashi teaches us that there simply is no reason why God demanded the slaughter and burning of an animal, other than for the sake of fulfilling the Divine will.

This represents the unique quality of sacrifices, why they cause God pleasure, so to speak, more than the other commandments of the Torah: They are done simply to carry out God’s will. God derives particular satisfaction, as these offerings are, by their religious definition, totally devoid of secondary motives.

Although we find many other commandments of the Torah which defy logic (hukkim), the general notion of suprarational commands does have a logic behind it. As Maimonides writes, the observance of hukkim is for our benefit, since the blind observance of laws, even when they do not appear to make sense, cultivates fear (awe) and subservience to God.

But in the case of sacrifices, even this reason is absent. The act of burning an animal is not carried out to promote the character traits of fear and subservience, but simply because–as Rashi states here- “I spoke and My will was carried out.” This dehumanizes the commandment, stressing God’s involvement, and ignoring man’s participation. Although bringing sacrifices will inevitably refine the character of the person offering them, the commandment was not given to us with this purpose in mind. The sacrifices are unique in that they are intended exclusively for God.

Therefore, Rashi stresses that God’s pleasure here is the only priority. All that matters is that “It brings Me a spirit of contentment that I spoke and My will was carried out.” (End quote)

This gets back to my original point; making a sacrifice is more about the person you are sacrificing for than it is about the sacrifice you are making. Saying “well I sacrificed for you” isn’t the same as considering that person and what they want/desire/need and then sacrificing purely for THEIR pleasure. This is a much different frame of reference than I think we are used to. A sacrifice isn’t about “look at me!” It’s about “look at you!”

So; something else to consider as we continue our study in Leviticus. The Talmud says; “Whoever studies the laws of bringing a burnt-offering is considered to have brought a burnt-offering.”

Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Lyndy writes; “Therefore, you should study the laws of all the sacrifices in their entirety, and the laws concerning the Temple and all its apparatus, as they are explained clearly in the Code of Maimonides, in the Book of Temple Service and the Book of Offerings.”

So as we study Leviticus – those who join me on this journey, Hashem sees it as a burnt offering sacrifice for us to STUDY the sacrifices! Hopefully that is as encouraging to you as it is to me!

Ok; todays portion closes with looking at the Burnt Offerings from Sheep and Goats.

There seem to be less requirements here; but more specific requirements. As an example, sheep and goats are supposed to be slaughtered in the northern side of the Alter. No side was listed when talking about cattle.

Interesting stuff! Excited for the week ahead as we look at Leviticus!

Any thoughts from you?

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