Having gotten into the Book of Leviticus, it can be hard to relate to the Torah. We enter a period of discussing sacrifices, and in this particular weekly section (Leviticus 6:1-8:36), that’s pretty much our entire focus. Guilt offerings, peace offerings, sin offerings (yes, those are different), all can make it difficult to think that the Bible has anything to do with modern life. But once we look under the hood, we can find a few things to focus on and maybe learn a couple of lessons in the process.
Towards the beginning of the weekly selection, we see a considerable discussion of ashes. In 6:3-5, the priest is commanded to take some ashes and put them next to the altar. Afterwards, the ashes are taken outside of the camp. They do this every day, and only with some of the ashes, so clearly there is a significance to the ritual beyond simple cleanliness or ritual impurity.
Rabbi Amnon Bazak points out that this commandment is linked to the daily sacrifice, which is a burnt offering. All of the sacrifice is to be destroyed; unlike other sacrifices, where the priests get to eat some of the meat, the priests get nothing at all. So instead, the priests are given the opportunity to partake in the sacrifice in some way- to remove the ashes, and do something holy with them. It is a chance to be involved, despite the inability to be directly involved.
This sentiment is one that we often face, particularly as we come up towards Pesach, Passover, next week. This Shabbat, in fact, is known as “Shabbat HaGadol,” the Great Sabbath, because it precedes Passover. And Passover is in some way the ultimately holiday of involvement- and disinvolvement. We put together the Seder, the ritual meal, but every family ends up with their own customs. While some families have one person lead, many have everyone participate, in order to involve them in the Seder. We are commanded to think of ourselves as if we had gone out of Egypt. And yet clearly we don’t actually experience redemption from slavery; instead, we ritualize it, trying to link ourselves to it, despite being far removed.
In the days of the Temple (as well as in the wilderness, in the Bible), a similar attempt at involvement occurred. In theory, everyone was supposed to partake in the Korban Pesach, the Sacrifice of Passover. Men, women, and children would all have the opportunity to eat from the family lamb. But this, in turn, brought about a great problem: what about the people who were impure and couldn’t partake? In fact, this problem is brought to Moses, who responds with a Pesach Sheni- a month later, those who were impure the first time can celebrate Passover. It obviously wasn’t the same as partaking with everyone else, but it nevertheless allowed everyone to at least get a taste (literally) of the ritual.
For Passover, we do, at least in theory, offer the same opportunity to everyone. We ritually say that all who are hungry should come and eat and partake in the Seder. It’s never the same to be at another’s Seder; the family rituals are different, the songs are different, Grandpa or Great-Aunt’s stories are different, but nevertheless, it is involvement. It is involvement that drives Jews to participate in Seders- studies have shown that over 70% of American Jews will have some sort of Seder, even those who do not do any rituals on a regular basis. It is far more common to participate in a Seder than it is to go to synagogue on the High Holy Days (let alone to fast on Yom Kippur). It is a time when we can all be involved, and where if we know someone who is not, we should invite them- and allow them to gain whatever connection they can, hopefully more than just ashes.
The special Haftorah for the week, Malachi 3:4-24, emphasizes this point. God informs the people that he will send a messenger, and ends with the admonition that:
“I will send you Elijah the Prophet before the coming of the great and terrible day of the Lord. And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the land with utter destruction.” (we then repeat the first sentence, so as not to end on a bad note)
Clearly, inclusion, and reconciliation, is something that is required- it is what the Bible, Passover, and the special portion the Rabbis all selected demand of us.
Shabbat Shalom