Well,
our 17 year old daughter passed her driver’s test. Certainly, I am proud of her
accomplishment, but I feel compelled to inform everyone that they should just
be wary when they take to the roads. Besides driving lessons, I thought
it was important for her to learn a few things that the driving instructor
would not teach her. Living in Toronto, I thought it was important for her to
learn how to handle a car going into a skid on ice and snow. So during the
winter, I took her to a parking lot where she did “doughnuts” and handled a skid on snow and ice. I
thought it is important that she can change a tire, so when the weather warms
up a bit, I will teach her how to change a flat tire. However the most
important thing to teach her about general
car maintenance is to putting gas in in the car. When I asked her if she knew how put gas
in the car she casually replied, “Yes, I tell you to fill it up the car with gas
like mommy tells you”. Needless to say, that wasn’t the answer I was looking
for. Like a car, Judaism also has a gas tank, actually Judaism has two gas
“tanks”. For Judaism to function, both tanks need to be filled. For most Jews in the non-orthodox world, the “ethical
tank” is the primary tank; but the “ritual” tanks is what needs filling. For most
Jews in the Orthodox world, the “ritual tank” is the primary tank; but
sometimes it’s the “ethical tank” that needs filling. For many of us, this is
an either/or proposition, as if Judaism separated these two tanks. The "ethical" and the "ritual" is not like milk and meat needing separation. To the contrary, for Judaism to work, the "ethical" and the "ritual" need to be integrated. This concept
of Judaism is by no means unheard of. In fact, a superficial reading of a
Talmudic Midrash from the Tractate Shabbat 31a supports this multi-tank theory.
A potential convert asks the great sage Shammai to teach him the entire Torah
while standing upon one leg. Shammai abruptly dismisses him. The potential
convert then seeks the great sage Hillel and makes the same request. Rather
than dismissing him, Hillel responds, “What is hateful to you, do not do to
your fellow man. This is the entire Torah, all of it; the rest is commentary.
Go and study it.” (Shabbat 31a). Certainly we could understand this Midrash as
a preference of the ethical to the ritual. However, the brevity of Hillel’s
statement implies that ethical and ritual are linked.
This
week’s Parsha is VaYikrah, the first Parsha of the Book of Leviticus, -Sefer VaYikrah.
Unlike the first book of the Torah, Bereishit (Genesis) and the first part of
Shmot (Exodus) which was written in a narrative form, and the second Part of
Shmot which listed laws as well as the instructions for building the Mishkan
(the Tabernacle); the Book of Leviticus focuses upon the Priestly class and
their responsibility within Jewish biblical society. VaYikrah does
not focus upon a story, nor laws that are geared towards B’nai Yisroel. Rather
the laws are aimed at the Leviim, their responsibilities, the precise manner in
which sacrificial offerings are made, the requirements for offerings, the
requirements for the Leviim as well as the requirements for B’nai Yisroel in
order to bring offerings. From Parsha VaYikrah and for that matter the entire
book, we derive numerous ethical teachings all of which is necessary for a
people and a society to achieve a sense of holiness. We derive the importance that Judaism cannot be just about the “letter
of the law” but there must be some ethical value behind the letters. After God
“calls” out to Moshe, we read the list and the details concerning Korbonot-sacrifices. Which animals should be sacrificed, how many, for which
reason, who is obligated, and how to do it. Again God reminds of the purpose of
“sacrifice”. The word Korbon (sacrifice)
connotes “approach”. This is based upon the three-lettered Hebrew root KaReiV, which
means approach. We make sacrifices as a means of approaching God.
After
reading this litany of detailed minutia, we might lose sight of the purpose of
sacrifice. Korbon (sacrifice) is not only a means of approaching God; it is a
means of approaching our fellow man. The
end of the Parshah reminds us of this. Nefesh
Ki Techeteh U’Ma’Alah M’Al B’Adonai V’Chichesh Ba’Amito “God spoke to Moses saying: If a person will
sin and commit treachery against God by lying to his comrade….” (Lev.5:21-25).
We draw closer to God via our fellow man. Unethical behavior towards our fellow
man affects our relationship to God. Unethical behavior renders us impure and
adds a blemish to our character and to our spirit. We know that God only
accepts blemish free offerings. If we are spiritually impure, because of
unethical behavior, how can we hope to approach God? Like the great sage Hillel
implied, the Parshah demonstrates that the Ethical and the Ritual are linked.
Both aspects form a symbiotic relationship with each other. Together they form
Torah. Separation of the Ethical and the Ritual leaves the individual and Torah
incomplete. However, struggling and, hopefully, integrating both allows the
individual to approach God as well as others through dignity and respect.
For
those only concerned with ritual, at the expense of the ethical, they are only
driving around on a half a tank of gas. For those only concerned with the
ethical at the expense of ritual, they are also driving around on a half a tank
of gas. A half a tank of gas is equivalent to observing only half the Torah and
behaving only partly Jewish. The object is to be Shalem, complete or whole. God called out to Moshe, and instructed
him to teach B’nai Yisroel that Ethical and Ritual behavior must be integrated
in order to form a Holy community. Thousands of years later, Parshah Vayikrah
teaches the same lesson. We continue in our struggle to integrate the Ethical
and the Ritual. Both are required in order to live life with a full tank, for a
warm and meaningful relationship to oneself, to our fellow man, and to God. As
our daughter takes to the road, hopefully she is prepared enough and aware enough
to make sure that when she drives my car, she won’t wait until the gas tank
light calls out to her in order to begin looking for a gas station and then
wonder how to fill it up. Hopefully she will be a complete safe driver for the
sake of my insurance and all those with whom she shares the road.
Peace,
Rav Yitz
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