Dvar 4/2/04
Lauren Levrant

This week, we read Tsav, which includes the instructions given to Aaron and his sons, on how to perform 5 kinds of ritual sacrifice. We read similar instructions last week, in the Parashat Vayikra which discusses what to do when a person brings an offering to God. This week, the language is more serious and demanding. These are the laws of sacrifice as God tells Moses to command Aaron and his sons. Here the language is more specific, the demands are higher. The sacrifices are discussed in terms of kodesh kadashim, the holiest of the holy, and they are listed in order of their degree of holiness.

The first of these offerings (or korbanot) is the “whole burnt offering” or torat ha-olah. It is important to note at this time that the word korban, offering, or sacrifice, comes from the same Hebrew root as l’hakriv, which means, to draw near. These ritualized sacrifices were the peoples way to draw nearer to God.

Words are important here. The word used when Abraham was told to go to Moriah to offer his beloved son Isaac was olah, or sacrifice.

On Moriah, God’s messenger stopped Abraham, from killing his son as a sacrifice to God.At the last minute a substitution was made, and a ram was offered in place of a child. After that one incident, other korbanot were prescribed. Rams, oxen, doves, grain, and oil, to name a few. The practices became more and more ritualized, and were finally formalized here in the Book of Leviticus.

Never in all of the instructions regarding offerings to God are the people asked to sacrifice their children. Nowhere does God ever ask that humans ever be sacrificed in his name.

As a matter of fact, in Deuteronomy, chapter 12, where we once again are given instructions for offerings, we are warned against copying the rites of the nations who were in the land before us. It states, “You shall not do so to your God, for everything that is an abomination of God, that He hates, have they done to their gods: for even their sons and their sons and their daughters have they burned in the fire for their gods.” It seems pretty clear here that human sacrifice is not what God wants.

In Jeremiah 32 we are told that the Israelites were once again drawn to the sacrificial practices of those around them, and built alters to give their sons and daughters to Molech. While that may sound attractive to those of us with teenagers, our God did not command it , and considers it an abomination, worthy of punishment. God has given his instructions on sacrifice, and he does not want our children.

Again and again, in the writings of the Prophets, we are warned about the punishments God will mete out if children are sacrificed in his name.

Let’s fast forward to 2004. Today on Palestinian Authority TV, a popular music video, broadcast during a show called “The Childrens’ Hour” states, “How sweet is the fragrance of the shahids, how sweet is the scent of the earth, its thirst quenched by the gush of blood, flowing from the youthful body.” Shahida, is the Arabic word for “death for Allah.” Millennia after Abraham is told not to sacrifice his child, his descendants are doing exactly that.

Once again, people who consider themselves “children of God” are worshiping at the alter of human sacrifice. Mothers, like Reem Reyashi, who’s goals to kill and be killed, are greater than their obligations to, and love for their children. Parents, who’s belief in a deity who thirsts for human blood, out weighs their desire to protect their offspring, Fathers who rejoice in the deaths of their children who blow themselves up in the hopes of taking a few Jews with them. Mothers who cry upon hearing of their childs death, not because they have lost a child, but because the shahid is to be envied, because they believe that angels in heaven are ushering the martyr to his wedding.

Religious and political leaders in Palestine are teaching their followers that they are born for the very purpose of dying for Allah, and the people are buying this message. A message that specifically contradicts the wishes of God.

In a day and age where human sacrifice is deplored by all civilized peoples, children, and adults alike are being called by their leaders to kill themselves in the name of the God.

Remember, korban is the word for sacrifice. It is derived from the word for “draw near”. We can be drawn nearer to God by worshipping in many ways. We are given instructions to do so in this week’s portion, and in many other places in the Torah. But, nowhere, does God ask us to give up our lives, or the lives of our loved ones for his sake.

And let us say, Amen.

Milton Ehre 
April 25, 1998

Shemini (Leviticus 9:1-11:47)What goes around comes around. Fourteen years ago my daughter Julieanne, preparing for her Bat-Mitzvah, was stuck with this passage, and now by some strange twist of fate it's my turn. Leviticus 10 tells of the destruction of Aaron's sons, Nadab and Abihu. It bothered us then and still does, though I feel comforted to learn that it has troubled the rabbis for some two thousand years.

Today's passage refers back to a promise in Exodus 29.

"For there I will meet with you, and there I will speak with you, and there I will meet with the Israelites, and it shall be sanctified by my Presence. I will sanctify the Tent of Meeting and the altar and I will consecrate Aaron and his sons to serve Me as priests I will abide among the Israelites, and I will be their God. And they shall know that I the Lord am their God, who brought them out from the land of Egypt that I might abide among them, I the Lord their God." (43-46)

The King is coming and you want to get your house in order.. Not only clean of dust but of sinful behavior or thought. Your home and soul should be as holy as his presence.

At first Aaron gets it right.

"Aaron lifted his hands toward the people and blessed them; and he stepped down after offering the sin offering, the burnt offering, and the offering of well-being . . . and the presence of the Lord appeared to all the people. Fire came forth from before the Lord and consumed the burnt offering and the fat parts on the altar, and all the people saw and shouted and fell on their faces." (Leviticus 9: 22-24)

But then his sons put in the wrong fire and they get whacked. "And fire came forth from the Lord and consumed them" (!0:2) His fire outdoes their fire. In trying to make sense of this to my trusting daughter, we fixed on the phrase "alien fire, which He had not enjoined upon them." The young fellows had not merely made a mistake but they had disobeyed God. They were in rebellion. Julieanne and I talked about the importance of obedience-to parents, teachers, God-she went off to write her Bat-Mitzvah speech and I went back to my Bears' game.

But it grated on me. Capital punishment for messing up a fire . . . Ground them for two weeks! No television for a month! Throw out the Nintendo! But burn them to death? It seemed like too much, even to the rabbis. I don't know how old Aaron's sons are, though they are old enough to have been consecrated as priests (Ex 28:21). But people make mistakes, the young especially like to try things their own way. Fire is fire. Why the fuss?

Obviously for our ancestors, fire was not just fire. There were strict procedures to separate the holy from the profane, and the consequences of mixing the two were catastrophic. For the many of us who delight in moo-shoo-pork or lobster tails, the story of Aaron's sons may be difficult to digest. Yet Julieanne and I came to an agreement that obedience means something-that we ought to honor our elders and revere God. We also were aware that blind obedience could be the most dangerous of traits.

What does it then mean to obey God as Abraham and Job do, and now Aaron does-he not only remains silent when God destroys his sons but later takes a measure of responsibility, He refuses to eat the sin offering on the ground that he is not in a blameless state: "See this day they brought their sin offering and their burnt offering before the Lord, and such things have befallen me! Had I eaten sin offering today, would the Lord have approved?" (Lev. 10:21)

To obey God is obviously to obey his commandments but it cannot be only that. We know people who don't believe in God and are yet ethical human beings. On the other hand, few are more terrifying than religious fanatics.

For one, if our final allegiance is to God, we cannot put unquestioning faith in human beings and their institutions and governments. These are fallible or worse. We cannot worship the golden calves of wealth and power.

Ultimately to submit to God is too accept that life is strange and mysterious. Our knowledge and control are only partial, life is not fully in our hands, we must all die. I wish God had given Aaron's sons more time to learn that lesson. I'm still learning it.

Kris Littman 1997

This week's portion is begun with a reiteration of the different types of sacrifices and the laws that are to be followed in offering sacrifice. In Vayikra, we read the instructions that Moses is commanded to tell to the people of Israel regarding sacrifice. In the first chapter of Tzav, Moses is commanded to direct the instructions on the laws of sacrifice to Aaron and his sons. By the end of chapter seven, we are reading about who gets to eat what and how it is to be cooked and where it can and carlnot be consumed. Finally, after all of this extraordinary detail, we come to a story about the ordination of Aaron and his sons as the High Priests.

The first question that came to my mind when I read this was "Why did we need priests when back in Exodus 19:6 we are told that all of Israel shall be a "kingdom of priests and a holy nation"? What was the functiorl ofa special priestly group within this nation of priests' Was this really a high and exalted position commaned by G-d? Or, was this a case ofMoses conferring a nice title and a few perks to some out of work family member who was no longer needed as a spokesperson or miracle performer? Perhaps this was, as an insider at Oak Park Temple revealed, the beginnings ofa family political machine. Rampant nepotism. Moses' brother, Moses' nephews ... This is an intriguing idea, but it would be hard to make a case for this being a great politicaljob. When we go back and look at what was actually involved, we see that the priests had to slaughter beasts, dash blood on the alter, burn the sacrifices and clean out the ashes. They also had to make sure the rules about fat, body parts, cleanliness and uncleanliness were followed. It wasn't really a bad job and you did get a nice public ceremony, a pretty cool uniform, and all of the food was free.

However, being a priest back in those days did have its downside. You knew you'd never have that nice piece of lakefront property and the dwelling that you did have would have to be shared with a very large group of people, not to mention the occasional appearance of the Divine Presence. The penalty for breaking the rules was quite severe. In the next chapter we read that Aaron's two oldest sons, Nadab and Abihu, took the wrong kind of fire, an alien fire, before Adonai. They paid a big price for this error when fire came out of the sky and consumed them. Perhaps this was, as Judith Antonelli said in her feminist commentary on Torah, a mixture of punishment of Aaron for the whole Golden Calf scandal and reward for all of Aaron's previous good work. He was rewarded in that he occupied a place of possible prestige, but he and his sons also had to do the cooking and cleaning for G-d and the congregation - the first sensitive, new age guys.

This brings me to a question about modern Reform Jews, the laws of sacrifice and the duties of the priesthood. What connection do we have with the story in this weeks Parsha? Well, we no longer have an official priesthood or sacrifice as it is outlined in Tzav. We do however still need people to look after the Temple and make sure some rules are followed. For example, to follow the law of what is clean or unclean to eat in the Temple, we have people to remind us "no shellfish in the Temple Market Day orders!" and "No red wine on the beige carpet in the community hail!"

For the laws regarding the guilt offering we may ask ourselves "have I ordered enough grocery coupons so that I can run into the coupon team captain and not feel guilty?" In regards to the sin offering - well, I'11 leave that to the Yom Kippur appeal.

Some scholars say that the sacrifices in biblical times are now carried out by our words, deeds, and study of Torah. This is where our board of directors, adult education students, and committee members come in. As volunteers, their words and deeds on behalf of the Temple congregation are truly sacrifices. Again, some would see these positions as having some prestige and power, others would see these positions as being tiresome and requiring too much time for too little reward. I think there is some mixture of both of these views inherent in volunteering for work at the Temple. I am sure that our president does not expect to find the right thigh of an ox on his doorstep in return for the many hours he puts in at board meetings. Nor do I think that people loose much sleep over the possibility of fire coming out of the sky and toasting them within their clothes. I do think that people often overlook the fact that the true reward for volunteering at the Temple is not power or prestige. The real reward is community and the friendship that comes from working together toward the common good.

As a congregation, we often wring our hands over how much work needs to be done and ask who is going to do it. We have so many wonderful people with great talent in many different areas. We can assure any individual that volunteer positions carry great reward.

We can tell people "you have this amazing skill and we need you! These are opportunities to meet the other great people in the congregation, so you won't have to do it alone" As a congregant who receives a request for time as a committee member or to work on a special project please remind yourself of the fact that this will be a wonderful opportunity the one in which you feel connected to the community and make a difference in the lives of the people who use the Temple.

As a final note, I confess that I fall down on the job of offering my sacrifice of words of thanksgiving quite often. When I run in the Temple on Sunday morning after dropping the kids off in their religious school classes, I often find myself complaining about where those bagels are and aren't they out yet? I have to get to Torah Study. This is just one example of coming to feel entitled to something. It is so easy to overlook the hard work people have done and complain about the results or lack of results. The reason I am so eager for that bagel is that it is one of my favorite parts of the week. Bagel and Torah study with people I really enjoy and respect. I can enjoy this because people take time out of their Sunday mornings to prepare this. I am also reminded of the recent work of the cantorial search committee. Again, it is easy to wonder why it takes so long, or what is so difficult about this decision. This is another instance where people spent a lot of valuable time working together for the good of the Temple. But, before we take soaked meal cakes or the protuberance of a liver to the many people who carry out the tasks of keeping the Temple functioning let's make the sacrifice of saying thank you. We needed you and you did a great job.