Vayikra
Shabbat HaChodesh
Leviticus 1:1-5:26
Numbers 28:9-15 & Exodus 20:1-20
Ezekiel 45:16-46:18
Should we offer sacrifices again?
Maimonides, the greatest Jewish philosopher, argued that sacrifices were the first step away from primitive, image-based religion to sophisticated monotheism. He says, “The general mode of worship in which the Israelites were brought up consisted of sacrificing animals in temples containing images … It was in accordance with the wisdom and plan of God, as displayed in the whole of Creation, that He did not command us to give up … all these modes of worship, for to obey such a commandment would have been contrary to the nature of man, who generally clings to that which he is used.”
In other words, God commanded us to sacrifice animals because the ancient Israelites needed that. They would have been unable to understand a system of worship lacking both sacrifices and idols, so God eliminated only idols. If Maimonides had the option to re-establish the sacrificial system, I presume he would argue we are now sophisticated enough to understand worship based on prayer and mediation. Sacrifices would be a step backward.
According to Vayikra Rabbah, a midrashic collection about the book of Leviticus compiled some time in the fifth century, the sacrifices gave a sense of eating at God’s table. Most sacrifices, including the Paschal offering, were almost entirely eaten by the one making the offering. A family offering a Paschal lamb would feast on that lamb and offer up only a small portion for God. It was as if God were one of the invited guests.
Further, throughout both Vayikra and Tzav, the first two portions of Leviticus, the word “holy” appears again and again. Holiness can be felt in the world through offering a sacrifice. The sacrifices are designed to help the Jew feel holy. This occurred spiritually, emotionally, and sensually.
Sensually, because the experience of an offering, with the dashing of the blood and slaughter of the animal, was overpowering to the senses. The sacrifices were a primitive blood ritual –– they were incredibly powerful. Today we like to think of ourselves as sophisticated and intellectual, but we are not so different from our primitive ancestors. Blood ritual continues to reach us in a profound manner that transcends intellect, as we see in the power of a circumcision ceremony.
Emotionally, because the offering was often in direct response to some action or celebration that was deeply personal. If I had sinned, I would bring an offering to atone. If I wanted to celebrate a communal or personal holiday, I could similarly bring an offering. In each case, a sacrifice is all about who I am and where I am emotionally.
Spiritually, because a sacrifice invites God to manifest. We are plagued by a sense of God’s distance. A sacrifice demands God’s presence in a way that meditation and prayer never can. It is specific primitive ritual that invokes God in a purely physical manner. It then becomes the basis for a more meditative relationship with God at other times.
I do not think we have changed so much from Temple days. Even if Maimonides is right and sacrifices were intended as a temporary crutch, I worry that we still need the crutch. Often, we bemoan the loss of an emotional and spiritual core to Judaism. That’s what the offerings were all about. We lack rituals that reach that primitive core of our identity. This is why the rabbis teach that an iron curtain descended between God and the world with the destruction of the Temple.
In an era without the Temple and sacrifices, Leviticus reminds us that we abandon blood and guts at our peril. We must have practices and rituals that engage all of the self in direct unmediated fashion or we will remain untouched by our experiences in synagogues, at seder tables, and elsewhere. We need ritual practice that lets us see past our filters and judgments and enter into our truest core self. A brit milah surely does that. Community singing of great intensity can also have such moments of moving beyond the self.
May God grant us the strength and practices to lift away that iron curtain and experience our innate connection to the One who spoke and created all.
Rabbi David Booth is the spiritual leader at Congregation Kol Emeth in Palo Alto. He can be reached at [email protected].