Leviticus 1:1-5:26 – Deuteronomy 25:17-19 – 1 Samuel 15:2-34 – Luke 11:1-13

This week's edition of The Set Table contains:

Questions and Commentary on Vayyiqra
Chayyei Yeshua - A Devotional Commentary on the Besora Reading
In Summary
Looking Ahead

Questions & Commentary on Parashat Vayyiqra

1. What is the purpose of the various offerings described in Parashat Vayyiqra? What can be learned from these detailed instructions?

David Nichol

In our parasha, the focus is several kinds of offering. How does one offer a grain offering (mincha) or a burnt offering (ola)?  What must one do to atone for an unintentional sin (Leviticus 4)?

Our parasha describes the rules of various offerings. These include the voluntary ola (burnt) offering, mincha (grain) offering and shelamim (well-being/celebration) offering; as well as the reparative chattat (sin) and asham (guilt) offerings. The overriding concern in Leviticus (see Everett Fox, The Five Books of Moses) is maintaining the purity of the eda, the community of Israel. Thus, it can be read as instructions how to avoid things that cause impurity, whether they be rashes or ethical failings, and to restore purity when it is threatened.  

Of course, it is one thing to appreciate the value system of Parashat Vayyiqra, and quite another to read it successfully as devotional literature. What practical lessons can be brought forth from practices that only have little meaning to modern readers, but have not been practiced since the destruction of the Temple millennia ago?

To this end, it is profitable to note how the book begins. It does not introduce the concepts of purity and impurity, nor does it give a reasoned apologetic for why Israel should concern herself with such things. There is not even an explanation of how the mechanism of sacrifices (the topic of our parasha, which starts off the book) work to purify the impure or cover over sin. Rather, before jumping into the grisly details, it begins with only the barest of narratives: "And the LORD called out to Moses and spoke to him from the Tent of Meeting, saying, speak to the Israelites and say to them. . ." (Leviticus 1:1).  

After this brief narrative introduction, the text plows right into the minutiae of the ola. As 21st-century Western readers, this seems a bit jarring. No rationale, no conceptual framework! Does God expect us to just do these things? We are cheated out of the opportunity to do a cost/benefit analysis to decide exactly how meticulously we should observe these commandments.  

Perhaps some ancient readers felt similarly.  The economic burden of having an entire class of priests is problematic.  Couldn't these sacrifices be optional? Is all the detail so important? Why doesn't God just lower the bar a bit?  Seriously, a whole cow from the herd or goat from the flock? I need those cows!

Indeed, we know from the prophets that there were those among our ancestors who took this attitude. In our haftara for Parashat Vayyiqra (which we do not read this week, as there is a special haftara for Shabbat Zakhor) we read,

But you have not worshiped me, O Jacob,

That you should be weary of me, O Israel.

You have not brought me your sheep for burnt offerings,

Nor honored me with your sacrifices.

I have not burdened you with grain offerings,

Nor wearied you about frankincense.

You have not bought me fragrant reed with money,

Nor sated Me with the fat of your sacrifices.

Isaiah 43:22-24

Apparently the gulf between us and the ancients is not so vast. There is no place for us to offer sacrifices, so we are free of the literal obligations of these chapters. But lest we think ourselves beyond reproach, we must remember that these obligations are still upon us, albeit in modified form: tzedaqa (charity), avoda (prayer/worship), and gemilut chasadim (righteous acts). Further, the punctilious attention to the details of the sacrifices reminds us not to treat giving generously, regular prayer and good deeds as optional or as things that can be fit into our schedule haphazardly. Rather, we must be punctilious and intentional in doing them.  

As to the rationale behind these requirements, the apologetic for seemingly arbitrary laws, the text does not dignify such questions with a response. Rather we are given the stark choice between honoring the covenant and responding to God's love . . . or not.

2. Why does God require sacrifices? In the absence of the Temple, how can we fulfill God's commands to sacrifice?

Rabbi Jonathan Kaplan

The work of the priests at the Temple in Jerusalem has been compared to that of chefs at a barbeque. Literally, they slaughtered and roasted meat as well as prepared other food items to serve to the God of Israel. The writer of Pisqa 6 in Pesiqta deRav Kahana contends, however, that this sacrificial service was not performed in order to feed God, but had a deeper significance.

In asking for animal sacrifices, God does not make inordinate demands, for it is not to satisfy hunger that he asks for sacrifices. If God's angels require no food or drink, God certainly does not require them. If Moses required no food or drink on Sinai, certainly God does not require them. If not one of God's creations requires to be fed by what he creates, does God the Creator require to be fed by his creation? No. . . . Therefore, when God speaks to them of "food . . . presented to me for offerings" (Numbers 28:2), it is really fragrance of their obedience and good deeds that he truly requires and in which he delights.

This conception of sacrifice is deeply rooted in the message of the prophets in which Israel is exhorted to mercy as well as sacrificial service (e.g. Micah 6). The destruction and ongoing absence of the Temple also looms large in the thought world of this writer. How can Israel please God without the fragrance of the sacrifices wafting from the Temple? Pisqa 6 continues,

Now that the daily offering to God is no more, the study of the ordinances pertaining to the offering is considered the equivalent of the offering itself. Children, who are pure, are to study Leviticus, which has to do with the purity of things such as the daily offering.

Certain people continue to observe this practice by the daily recitation of the passages related to offerings in this week's parasha. This passage, also, highlights an important aspect of rabbinic piety: the study of sacred texts is a religious act that is pleasing to God. Like the daily sacrifices that were offered in the Tabernacle and in the Temple in Jerusalem, our daily study of God's word pleases God and cultivates our obedience to God and a life that manifests good deeds.

Another way in which rabbinic piety addresses the absence of the Temple is through daily prayer (b. Berakhot 26b). Jewish daily prayer (specifically the Amida) corresponds to the daily offerings offered long ago. Prayer combined with daily study orients our daily life around devotion to God. This perspective reorients the other parts of our day, the so-called secular aspects of our work, drawing them into a life lived for God. These two aspects of spiritual life are central to Messianic Jewish piety as they are modeled by our Messiah Yeshua who not only devoted himself to the study of God's word from an early age (Luke 2:46ff) but also continually offers our prayers to God in his role as our great High Priest (Hebrew 8:1ff).