Vayikra 5785: Say a Little Prayer for You

GOOD MORNING!  This past week I was invited to speak at a board meeting of a once prominent synagogue. The previously bustling synagogue had fallen on hard times with a membership drop off of over 90% from its heyday. The board wanted my advice on how they could possibly revive this once proud institution.

In listening to the board members and their ideas for revitalization (for example: hosting high profile speakers for community events, building up their day school and charging more per child, making the in-house caterer bear more of the cost burden, etc.) I was a little surprised that no one discussed what I feel to be the cornerstone of any synagogue: building community by providing meaningful Jewish prayer services and inspiring classes. Beyond this being the foundation of a synagogue, it could attract a wider audience, grow membership, and save the so moribund institution.

I challenged them, “What is the point of a synagogue without a community of congregants?”

There is a fundamental misunderstanding to the value of prayers in building community – a subject I’ve previously covered in depth. But we all must take some responsibility, and I will begin: In my opinion, a big part of that failure can be blamed on our Jewish day schools. I should know; I run a series of fairly large schools and I am as responsible for this failure as anyone else.

Our schools are generally excellent when it comes to conveying the ins and outs of how to observe the mitzvot – commandments, but they are terribly lacking in properly explaining the whys of the mitzvot. A classic example of this is how davening – prayers – are taught.

Jewish schools teach about the obligations of prayers, but very few students understand what praying is all about or why they are doing it – not to mention that they often don’t even understand the words they are saying. This has led to entire generations of Jews who pray by rote without any deep connection to what they are doing or saying. It reminds me of this (slightly modified) aphorism about prayer. What’s the difference between prayers in a synagogue and prayers in a casino? In a casino, they really mean it.

In other words, for most people the only time they really concentrate on what they are saying is when they are in a difficult situation and they want something from the Almighty. This is akin to the woman who said that her boss told her that he expects to be treated like a god; “So now I only talk to him when I need something.”

Communal prayers, with set times to congregate, date back to the times of the Holy Temple. There were a few specific times during the day when certain sacrifices were offered, and the Talmud records that during those times many would enter their local synagogues to sync their prayers with the sacrifices. The word in Hebrew for sacrifice is korban – the significance of which I will explain below.

As we no longer have a Holy Temple today, our prayers are organized to replace the daily sacrifices that were brought in the times of the Holy Temple. The idea that prayer can serve as a substitute for sacrifices is found in several biblical and rabbinic sources.

The prophet Hoshea states: “Take with you words and return to the Lord; say to Him: Forgive all iniquity and accept what is good; instead of bulls (sacrifices), we will offer the words of our lips” (Hoshea 14:3). This verse is interpreted as a direct indication that verbal prayer replaces physical offerings. Similarly, we find, “As long as the Temple stood, sacrifices atoned for Israel, but now a person’s prayers atone for them” (Midrash Tanchuma Tzav 14).

The Talmud (Berachot 26b) reinforces this concept and the sages debate the origins of daily prayers. Were the sacrifices in the Temple established to the set times instituted by our forefathers (Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob) or did our forefathers institute the times for prayer based on the times of the sacrifices? Either way, the daily prayers are inextricably tied to the bringing of sacrifices, though today we solely maintain the prayers.

This week we begin the third book of the Five Books of Moses and this week’s Torah reading introduces the concept of communal and personal offerings to the Almighty. In Jewish tradition, this third book of the Pentateuch is known as Torat Cohanim – the laws of the priestly caste – because much of this book deals with the different offerings that were brought in the Tabernacle – or Mishkan – and the laws of purity and personal holiness that the priestly caste had to maintain. (The name Leviticus is a Greek mistranslation of the Hebrew; though Cohanim are Levites, the majority of Levites were not Cohanim.)

Thus, this book introduces the concept of a “korban – offering.” Until this time, the only word the Torah used was “zevach – sacrifice.” This is a very important distinction; it was only following the building of the Tabernacle, which served as a home for the presence of the Almighty, that we had a daily relationship with Him. We see this from the etymological source of the word “korban.”

The root of the word korban is “kiruv – closeness.” God is informing us that the service in the Tabernacle isn’t simply to pay homage to Hashem, rather it is to build a closer relationship with Him, which is what He desires. This element of the relationship between the Almighty and the Jewish people is what “Megillat Shir Hashirim – Song of Songs” is all about. I will elaborate further on this point in a few weeks, because Shir Hashirim is read in the synagogue on the Shabbat of Passover.

One of the most important aspects of being in love is that it is particularly empowering. Just knowing that someone loves you for who you are, means that you are worthy of another person’s love. The other person often sees in you things that you can’t see or even value, and that helps build your self-esteem and self-worth. This is also one of the main reasons that a breakup, and loss of that love, is so devastating; it’s not merely the loss of a relationship, it’s a loss of that affirmation of who you are and of being worthy of love. It can shatter one’s sense of self.

This is why this concept of closeness with the Almighty is particularly important to internalize. God knows who we truly are and He loves us unconditionally. Being in a relationship with the Almighty allows us the opportunity to focus on what it is that He loves about us, and thereby commit ourselves to being worthy of His love, and thus we learn to love ourselves. In our service to the Almighty, we internalize His love for each and every one of us, and we begin to appreciate who we are and, perhaps more importantly, who He knows we can become.

Next week we will cover many aspects of the upcoming holiday of Passover – a time of year when we eliminate the leavened (both physical and spiritual) from our lives. But even before going into detail, I’d like to remind everyone that it is very important that all Jews make arrangements to sell whatever leavened products they own to a non-Jew (who is permitted to own leavened products on Passover) for the duration of the Passover holiday.

This is generally handled by one’s local rabbi. If, for whatever reason, you need assistance or you wish to take care of this quickly you can also arrange to sell your chometz (leavened products) online. There is no charge for this service (though you can choose to make a small donation). Please click here if you wish to sell your chometz.

Vayikra, Leviticus 1:1 – 5:26

The book of Vayikra (Leviticus) primarily deals with what are commonly called “sacrifices” or “offerings.” According to Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch: a “sacrifice” implies giving up something that is of value to oneself for the benefit of another. An “offering” implies a gift, which satisfies the receiver. The Almighty does not need our gifts. He has no needs or desires. The Hebrew word is korban, which is best translated as a means of bringing oneself into a closer relationship with the Almighty. The offering of korbanot was only for our benefit to come close to the Almighty.

Ramban, one of the essential commentaries on Torah, explains that through the vicarious experience of what happened to the animal korbanot, the transgressor realized the seriousness of his transgression. This aided him in the process of teshuva – correcting his erring ways.

This week’s portion includes the details of various types of korbanot: burnt offering, flour offering (proof that one does not need to offer “blood” to gain atonement), the first grain offering, peace offering, unintentional sin offering (private and communal), guilt (for an intentional sin) offerings – varied upon one’s ability to pay, and an offering for personal use of something designated or belonging to the Tabernacle or the Temple.

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