Our
ten year old daughter is quite tech savvy.
She recently noticed that the I Pad had a new commercial. How do I know
this? In our home there is a direct correlation between new advertisements of things
my children want and their asking me to buy them these things. I have known for a while that she wants an I
Pad for her birthday. Then for several months, she has been quiet. Now since
the new commercial, she will ask, negotiate and strongly suggest the
educational advantages of buying her an I Pad.
I have noticed that as my children grow older, they are quite vulnerable
to the rampant consumerism of our society. I also know that when we buy our
children things, they take care of it and use it for a short period of time and
then they stop caring and stop using it. We are a nation of consumers. We look
for the “best deal”. We look for the “highest quality”. Some consumers like to
save as much money as possible when purchasing goods and services and some
consumers like to pay for quality or “trusted name brands”. Some consumers strike a balance between these
tensions and some consumers do not. In either case there is nothing we cannot
purchase and we can spend as much or as little as we want on an item. Religion
in Canada and the United States is no different. Religion is as much a consumer
item as purchasing a car. We like certain models; we like certain makes. We
want certain features and colors in the car that we buy. Certainly for the
amount of money spent on a car we expect it to be just the way we want it. Many
of us feel the same way about Judaism.
This
Shabbat we begin the third book of the Torah with the Parsha of the same name,
Vayikra otherwise known as Leviticus. Unlike Breishit and parts of Shmot which
were narratives or other parts of Shmot with were a series of legislative acts,
teaching us law after law; Vayikra is something very different. We are all able
to relate to narrative and to stories. We can even read the law that governed
biblical Jewish society and admire the laws’ humanity, admire the ethical
lessons the law tried to teach or even admire the people that the law tried to
protect. However when we begin Parshat Vayikra, we all have a problem
connecting to the concept of Korbonot,
the term used to describe animal sacrifices. We all have difficulty connecting
to the various types of Korbonot;
the animals permitted for an offering, and the technical aspects of the
offering. Do we really need to know how to check of the animal, and to slaughter
the animal? Do we need to read about sprinkling the blood of the animal;
roasting the animal, and finally eating the animal? Parsha Vayikra and in fact
the entire book of Leviticus truly challenges those of us living in modernity.
If for no other reason, we are challenged because we don’t have a Mishkan, we
don’t have a Holy Temple and we don’t make animal sacrifices.
Certainly
there was wide array of offerings. There was flexibility in what type of animal
could be brought: ox, sheep, lamb, dove etc. However the type of animal offered
was not a function of what we wanted to offer but rather what we could afford
to offer. Even more powerful is how Parsha defined afford. It is certainly very
different than how we define “afford”. Quite often we “moderns” define Korbonot as a sacrifice. This means
that our ancestors had to give something up to God. Understanding a Korbonot as
an animal sacrifice suggest that the more expensive or the more valuable the
offering; the more God would like it. However, the Prophets teach us that God
doesn’t need our sacrifices. The Prophets remind us that the Korbonot is not about the thing that we
give up: the ox, the sheep, the pigeon or the meal offering. Rather the Korbonot should be about our drawing
closer to God; Korbonot was a
process of drawing towards God in a relationship built upon thankfulness and
holiness. Therefore if the wealthy person brought a Korbonot consisting of an animal that did not mean very much to him,
then there was no point in bringing an offering. When a poor person brings an
offering that had value to him but did so with an attitude of rote activity or
with the hopes of public recognition; then there was no point in bringing an
offering. The point of the bringing the animal or the point of making any
offering is an expression of what we are willing to put into our relationship
with God.
How
much of ourselves are we willing to put in this relationship? Because as much
as we put into our relationship with God will be about as much as we get from
God. Yes, we are all consumers. We consume goods; we consume services. We know
people who consume relationships. Ironically such person puts very little of
him or herself into the relationship. Many of us want our Judaism the way we
want it, at our own individual convenience, at times that fit our schedule, on
days that we are not so busy, and at moments when we are in need. Sadly, I know
that after I buy my daughter or any of my kids something that they just can’t
live without, it falls into disuse and disrepair. However when they work for
things, or are rewarded for something; they are invested. They take better care
of the item. They stop being a consumer. The more we are willing to offer God,
the more richness and meaning we receive in return.
Peace,
Rav
Yitz
No comments:
Post a Comment