Vayikra: Mystery (a+bi)

Most of the parsha, Vayikra, is a catalogue  of details concerning the sacrificial rites that were performed on the alters that were in, or associated with, the Tabernacle.  These became the Temple  service, when the Temple was built, centuries later. Now that there has not  been a Temple for millenia,we recall the service.  

These details  about  which animals are to be used for which offerings,  and how to deal with their blood and innards, are a continuation the repetitive detail that ends the book of Shemoth.  Shemoth ended with a  description and accounting of the structure of the tabernacle and the priestly vestments.  Now we get a depiction of the activities these elegantly attired priests performed  in the glittering structure. 

Why do we preserve these details?  Even when the Tabernacle functioned, why should there be a public reading of the minutiae of the inner workings? This material is esoteric, useful to a  very small number of people.  Yet, it has been preserved and announced on a regular basis for millenia .  There is a rational component to this diligence: transparency.  The public knowledge of the activities involved in the sacrificial rite removes the possibility of the occult.  It removes the magic, it prevents idolatry.

But there is an astonishing aspect to this process. How can this clearly depicted activity, killing an animal and burning parts of it, expiate? How does this work to preserve the order of the world?  That part remains a mystery, and as such, a reminder of our limited understanding of the world. Even in mathematics, there is an implicit understanding that every number has a potential otherworldly part (i). 

I do not imagine that the supplicant walked away from the animal sacrifice experience feeling totally cleansed, but it did offer some relief.  The component of error that is hidden from ordinary view, the damage that a transgression inflicts on the hidden web of the fourth and higher dimensions, is handled, to an extent. 

Often, I do not know how it works, I just follow the instructions