Drash on Vayikra 2025

Rabbi Gary J Robuck

ACT Jewish Community

This Shabbat we begin reading from Sefer Vaykirah, also known as Torat Kohanim – the priestly guidebook.  The Priests are told how to remain tahor (pure) and even how to dress for work.  They are advised which sacrifices they are to offer on behalf of the nation of Israel.  Both concerns of the text may sound to us today as nothing more than gobbledygook is in fact a prescription for the holy life, kedushah.

In just our first several chapters we are introduced to:

• The Burnt Offering (olah) which could be either from a herd, flock or birds; a bull, sheep or goat and is totally consumed or burnt.  Known also as an offering of ascent, it “arises” from a person’s intent to grow in goodness.
• The Meal Offering (minchah) was made of finely ground wheat flour, oil and frankincense.  It was a simple offering and inexpensive to offer;
• The Sin Offering (chatat) – the “chatat” was required for persons needing to atone for sin committed mistakenly, because of carelessness, while the Guilt Offering or (asham) was like the sin offering but for those who are not certain whether he sinned or not.

There was also an offering called the zevach sh’lamim – the sacrifice of well-being.  It is a bit different than the others. For one thing, it wasn’t about one’s guilt or faults, but a way of expressing gratitude for the sense of wholeness in one’s life and for the feeling of peace we sometimes enjoy. And while it was an individual offering, it was apparently, shared with the community during the daytime so that the good vibes could be divided among as many as possible.

These sections of Torah, of no practical relevance to us, were also uncomfortable for our great commentators.  The Rambam, Maimonides, believed that “God did not prefer this way  of worshipping God.  He feared that people might assume that they were feeding God – who would go hungry without their gifts.  Sacrifices he reasoned, were instead a concession to Israel – unnecessary for God, but important for the people.  In this way, they could feel closer to God. Our prophets railed against sacrifices whenever they were done proforma.

For me, I’m tempted to say of these Torah portions: “This too is Torah, I must learn it.”  Torah is not always simple and not always plain, but it is our inheritance and as such, and even though it may require a bit more wrestling, we are obliged to do it, that is, to respect our “family history” and our ancestors desire to be holy before God.

If, while in synagogue this Shabbat or sitting around the Shabbat table, you find yourself less enamored of the Torah portion, perhaps you may wish to look at this week’s selection from the Haftarah.  This week’s haftarah is taken from the Book of Isaiah, easily the largest and most important Prophetic work.  It is a message addressed to the Babylonian exiles and comes in the wake of the edict issued by King Cyrus of Persia sometime after 538 BCE permitting the Judeans to return to Eretz Yisrael. Isaiah is exhorting the people to return; to return to Israel and to return to God.  History, incidentally, indicates that only about 20% of them did.

Isaiah begins by criticizing the people for their spiritual infidelity- they have failed to present timely offerings, they have worshipped idols, sinned, and God has had a gut full.  But we can quickly detect a change in tone from the Prophet who says that God will, “Pour God’s spirit on the people and bless them with posterity; they shall sprout like grass, like willows by watercourses and again, proudly adopt once again, the name of “Israel”.

By the end of chapter 44, the rebuke of Israel has given way to grace, and to redemption as it says in the very final verse:

Ki ga’al Adonai Yaakov, uv’Yisrael yit’pa’ar.  “The Lord has redeemed Jacob and been glorified through Israel.”

The haftarah here, as in most cases, ends with uplift for the people of Israel, and for us, a gentle reminder that the intensity of our pain and hardship – whatever it may entail, will ease in time and the darkness of the spirit, can find its way back to light again.