Mishkan<\/em>, and continued to be offered in the Holy Temple of Jerusalem (with some disruptions) for many centuries.<\/p>\nMany people find themselves perplexed by these upcoming readings. For one thing, they find the very notion of animal sacrifices disturbing. They associate such sacrifices with primitive societies and consider them totally alien to modern sensitivities. They even have difficulties with the fact that we include pleas for the imminent restoration of such sacrifices in our daily prayers and even more so in our prayers during the Sabbath and Festivals.<\/p>\n
Some of those of us who are troubled by sacrificial rites are aware of Maimonides\u2019s suggestion that these rites <\/p>\n
Others, less concerned with animal sacrifices per se, ask this question: \u201cThe Torah is meant to be a guide to our ethical behavior and soulful spirituality. How does this week\u2019s parsha<\/em>, and the next several parshiyot<\/em>, guide us ethically or inspire us spiritually?\u201d<\/p>\nOur commentaries throughout the ages have taken these concerns seriously and have addressed them in ways that were consistent with the cultural backgrounds of their audiences. This week, and for the next several weekly Torah portions, I will attempt to present approaches to this topic, some classic and some quite recent.<\/p>\n
To begin with a truly classic commentator, I\u2019ll share Rashi\u2019s concern with one word in the opening verses of our parsha<\/em>. The verses read:<\/p>\n\u201cThe Lord called to Moshe. From the Tent of Meeting, He spoke to him and said, \u2018Speak to the Israelites. Say: When one of you [adam mikem<\/em>] brings an animal offering to the Lord, you may bring it either from the herd [cattle] or from the flock [sheep or goats].\u2019\u201d<\/p>\nRashi quickly picks up on the extraordinary use of the word adam <\/em>instead of \u201cone of you\u201d or \u201cman\u201d or \u201cperson\u201d. After all, adam <\/em>is the name of one specific man, namely Adam, the first man created. Rashi answers:<\/p>\n\u201cJust as Adam did not bring an offering from a stolen animal, for\u2014as the only human then alive\u2014everything was his, so too should none of you offer a stolen animal.”Rabbi Avigdor HaLevi Nebenzahl, the Chief Rabbi of the Old City of Jerusalem, used this comment of Rashi in an informal lecture to his students. He was particularly disturbed by the assumption that everything on earth \u201cbelonged\u201d to Adam in that primeval setting. After all, the Lord is described as the Koneh HaKol<\/em>, the owner of everything, including Adam himself. Did Adam indeed \u201cown\u201d every living creature, every plant and tree, mountain and river? Of course not.<\/p>\nRabbi Nebenzahl proceeds to analyze the nature of the prohibition of offering sacrifices from stolen animals.<\/p>\n
One of his helpful insights is the distinction he makes between two purposes for the prohibition. One is a social purpose: Positive relationships among the component members of society require trust and interdependence. Without rules and regulations, life in a society would be unbearable.<\/p>\n
The second is a spiritual purpose: The cultivation of spirit and soul in this mundane world requires rules governing monetary matters. Only with such rules can the soul advance from \u201cearth to heaven.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rabbi Nebenzahl is astonished by the brazenness of a person who steals an animal and offers it to God! What can he be thinking? Can a Divine Being be duped or bribed? Or can God be so needy that He would ignore the egregious sin of theft just to, so to speak, satisfy his needs? Has the good Lord no compassion for the poor victim of the theft?<\/p>\n
One who offers stolen animals is either blasphemous, or has a self-centered motivation so consuming that he develops a perverse theology, or is just plain stupid.<\/p>\n
The use of the term adam <\/em>provides Rashi with the opportunity to demonstrate the most fundamental aspects of an authentic theology, namely that worship and blatant sin cannot go hand in hand. The Lord despises theft, just as He despises all human behaviors that harm other humans. Legitimate acts of worship must be free of wrongdoing. This is a concept that Talmudic sages formulated long ago\u2014nothing is a mitzvah<\/em> if it comes about through an averah<\/em>.<\/p>\nHow apt are the following prophetic teachings of Micah, and how useful are his words as a framework for gaining perspective on the entire concept of sacrificial ritual as we soon confront the entire Chumash<\/em> Vayikra<\/em>:<\/p>\n\u201cWhat then can I offer the Lord when I bow low to the God Most High? Should I come before Him with burnt offerings, with year-old calves? Would the Lord want a thousand rams, untold rivulets of oil? Should I offer my firstborn as payment for my crimes, the fruit of my womb for the sins of my being? Man, God has told you what is good and what the Lord seeks from you: only to do justice, love goodness, and walk modestly with your God.\u201d (Micah 6:6-8)<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/Weinreb_Tzvi.jpg\")