Vayikra: Regret and Expiation

 

 

This parsha begins the description of the sacrificial rite, the rituals that slaughter cattle, sheep, goats, pigeons and doves; or offer flour, baked goods, wine, oil and frankincense. Thes are ceremonies that make use, primarily , of the large altar in the courtyard of the temple. Sacraments are performed by the priests, Aaron and his sons.

These practices are so distant they seem to belong to some other, more primitive, religion. Jews wouldn’t do such wasteful things. The animals have monetary value. They have the value of being animate; they share so many characteristics with humans.  Taking the life of an animal is a significant act, bordering on the forbidden; doing it for a ritual that does not produce a tangible benefit is despicable, certainly not Jewish as we understand it now. But the book of Vayikra ( Leviticus) is canon. It is part of the annual cycle of review of the text that is the shared core of our heritage.  What does it mean now?

The Talmud is the distinctively Jewish tradition. It defines the permitted and the forbidden in practicable detail.  Although it was  compiled in the fourth and fifth centuries of the common era, hundreds of years after Jews stopped doing the sacrificial rite, one sixth is dedicated to the specifics  of the sacrificial practice ( the section Kodshim) and one sixth explicates the  details of ritual purity ( Teharoth) required for the Temple rituals. The memories of altar practices are carried forward.

 

The parsha starts with the directions; not really enough detail to know how to perform the ritual ( the Talmud provides that), but an outline,  including the animal species and the special role of blood and omental fat. It is only at the end of the parsha that motivations are addressed. Does this arrangement mean that the reason for these activities is unimportant? Perhaps the motivation is obvious.

 

One approach to these rites is that they are instructions for how to please Gd. No further incentive is necessary. Abraham’s binding of Isaac as a (near) burnt offering is the paradigm.  These things are done because they are commanded.  The fewer questions, the better. Adherence to the instructions is the value. The supplicant is gifting an entity that can not be understood but  it can be pleased  by these unusual activities. They do not need to make sense.

The first sacrifices of Abel and Cain were instinctive modes of interaction with the Gd of creation. When the flock increased, when the crop flourished, it was only right to offer a portion to the force that made this happen.  When Abel did it  properly, Gd showed pleasure; when Cain skimped on the offering, he suffered the pain of rejection. From the first, Cain was told that all he need do was improve his performance. Taking out the competition seemed a better alternative at the time.

The end of the parsha describes some specific types of offerings, the variable offering and the guilt offering, but introduces them with the reasons that they are given.  Failure to testify, contamination by death or disease, or violating an oath  prompt an offering of some kind. It may be a sheep or a goat for the well off, birds for the crafty, wheat flour for the poor. This variable sacrifice requires sacramental action, but the details are not as important.  It is not a fixed fine.

 

One common thread to these sins that motivate a variable sacrifice is a lack of residual evidence.  When the rite is performed, there is no physical object to attest to the offense. This ritual is an expression of regret and an act of expiation.

 

  Unauthorized  use or theft from the sacred requires a very specific animal, a ram, and it must be valued at 2 shekel. This expiation requires the payment of a fixed fine. This sacrificial ram ( the species that replaced Isaac)  is brought in addition to the restitution, which, in turn, is supplemented by a 25% surcharge payable to the Kohen. This asham offering is clearly a penalty for violating the unexplained instruction, and the ram is a reminder of the value of following those instructions exactly.

 

The parsha ends with the  asham that is to be brought for fraud or theft from another person. The penalty is identical to that exacted from one who misappropriated the sacred. The restitution and 25% surcharge is, of course, paid to the wronged individual. The ram is again the sacrifice. The interactions among people are also Gd’s business.  Cheating another person is a violation of Gd’s rules, and Gd deserves an apology. Make sure it is all done according to specifications!