Selected Shorts: Vayikra Rabbi Eliot Malomet March 20, 2021 7 Nisan 5781

or Jacob? Will my sacrifice – or I – be accepted ארקיו א :׳ א׳ ?by God like Abel’s, or rejected, like Cain’s (א) ַו ִיּ ְק ָ ֖רא ֶשֹׁמ־לֶא ה֑ יַו ֵבַּדְ ר֤ 'ה ָלֵא וי֔ ֹאֵמ לֶה֥ ֵﬠוֹמ ד֖ ֹמאֵל ׃רֽ ארקיו א :׳ ד׳ Leviticus 1:1 (ד) ְו ָס ַ ֣מ ָי ֔דוֹ ַ ֖ﬠל ֣רֹאשׁ ָה ֹע ָ ֑לה ְו ִנ ְר ָ ֥צה ֖לוֹ ְל ַכ ֵ֥פּר ָﬠ ָֽליו׃ The LORD called to Moses and spoke to him from Leviticus 1:4 the Tent of Meeting, saying. Recall that at the end (4) He shall lay his hand upon the head of the of Exodus the cloud filled the Tent of Meeting burnt offering, that it may be acceptable in his and Moses could not enter. This next phase behalf, in expiation for him. Some think that the begins with a kind of separation, distancing, and hand-leaning is to “transfer” sins to the animal, or also a ‘drawing near.’ This is possibly why the to “substitute” the animal for the person offering. tradition sees in the odd phrasing, “He A persuasive explanation: it is to “designate.” called…and spoke” as a kind of invitation. To the Transference suggests magic (a no-no) and if it this is with love and was a substitution the slaughter of the offering הז ךרד הבח ו ורז ז השמל ,rabbis encouragement to Moses. Not only is it an invi- would be the high point. However, the placing of tation to Moses, it is, quite interestingly, an blood on the altar is the climax of the sacrificial invitation also, to all of us. We notice the small rite. “In placing the hand on the animal's head, the א Vayikra. The rabbis claim offerer attests that this victim is his indeed, that ַו ִיּ ְק ָ ֖ר aleph in the word which means, “he the sacrifice which is about to be presented by the רקיו that Moses wanted to write just happened to” a reference to the way God priest is offered in his [the offerer's] name, and speaks to Bilam. Not wanting to equate Moses that the benefits accruing from it will return to him.” (DeVaux). The sanctuary is an island of ארקיו with Bilam, God instructs Moses to write but Moses writes it with a small aleph in humility. silence in a cacophony of sound. This is a silent .gesture of ownership, not a bellicose declaration ארקיו א :׳ ב׳ ארקיו ב :׳ י״ג ָדָא ם֗ ִרְקַי־יֽ ִכּ בי֥ ֶכִּמ ם֛ ָבְּרָק ן֖ 'הֽ ַל ן֖ ָבְּרָק ם֛ ֶכִּמ בי֥ ִרְקַי־יֽ ִכּ ם֗ ָדָא (יג) ְו ָכל־ ָק ְר ַ ֣בּן ִמ ְנ ָח ְת ֮ ַבּ ֶ ֣מּ ַלח ִתּ ְמ ָל ֒ח ְו ֣לֹא ַת ְשׁ ִ֗בּית ֚ ֶמ ַלח ְבִּ ֣רית Leviticus 1:2 ֶקֱא י֔ ַﬠֵמ ל֖ ֶתָחְנִמ ֑ ל֥ ַﬠ נָבְּרָק־לָכּ ְ֖ רְקַתּ ִ בי֥ ׃חַלֽ ֶמ )ס( …A human from you who will make an offering R. Friedman points out that the use of the word Leviticus 2:13 here links Leviticus to Genesis. Further, in (13) You shall season your every offering of meal םדא the next instance (2:7) the sacrificer is referred to with salt; you shall not omit from your meal and then in the third instance offering the salt of your covenant with God; with פנ ש by the word Creation and sacrifice are linked. all your offerings you must offer salt. What is it“ . שיא as (2:23) Creation produces life. Sacrifice takes life.” about salt? Salt is mineral, not organic. Salt has to be mined or “harvested”. Eat too much…you ארקיו א :׳ ג׳ die. Eat too little…you also die. Together with )ג( ע־םִ א לֹ ָ ה֤ רָק בְּ וֹנָ ֙ בַּה־ןִ מ ָקָ ר֔ כָ ז ָ ר֥ מָתּ ִ םי֖ קַ י רְ ביִ ֶ וּנּ֑ ֶפּ־לֶא ת֝ חַ חַ ת֝ ֶפּ־לֶא וּנּ֑ ֶ ביִ רְ קַ י םי֖ ִ מָתּ ר֥ ָ כָ ז ר֔ ָקָ בַּה־ןִ מ ֙ וֹנָ בְּ רָק ה֤ ָ לֹ ע־םִ א )ג( sugar and fat, “bliss.” Without it, blandness. You לֶה֤ ֹא וֹמ ֙דֵﬠ רְקַי ִ בי֣ וֹ֔תֹא נֹצְרִל וֹ֖ נְפִל ֵ י֥ ׃'ה Leviticus 1:3 kasher meat with salt. Babies were massaged with (3) If his offering is a burnt offering from the salt (in some ancient customs) at birth. Salt is herd, he shall make his offering a male without minerality, mystery and eternity. And we remind blemish. He shall bring it to the entrance of the ourselves of its “covenant-ality” every time with Tent of Meeting, for acceptance in his behalf say the motzi and sprinkle the bread with salt. before the LORD. The text compresses a human story. I am moved to bring a sacrifice, but what Some Interesting Quotes to Ponder on Vayikra shall I bring? A large animal or a small one? Bovine or bird? Animal or vegetable? To be Vayikra is an optimistic book. It assumes the completely burnt? Why a male? Where do I take world is a well-integrated ecosystem that comes it? Why do I take it there? Why can’t I make it in with a troubleshooting guide for when things go my own space, or in an open space like Abraham wrong. Vayikra doesn’t blame people for things going wrong, it offers a toolkit to restore the -Richard Elliot Friedman, Commentary ecosystem. -Dr. Tamara Eskenazi Leviticus, the name of the third book of the Pentateuch has nothing to do with the Levites. In Priest and Prophet Hellenistic times, the term “Levites” meant The Prophet is essentially a one-sided man. A priests, and this is what ‘Leviticus’ means…In certain moral idea fills his whole being, masters Exodus, the priestly texts describe the con- his every feeling and sensation, engrosses his struction of the cultic implements (Tabernacle whole attention. He can only see the world and priestly vestments). In Leviticus this static through the mirror of his idea… His whole life is picture is converted into scenes from the living spent in fighting for this ideal with all his cult. Numbers follows with the cultic laws of the strength; for its sake, he lays waste his powers, camp in motion…it is no accident that all of the unsparing of himself, regardless of the conditions cultic laws pertaining to the Levites are in of life and the demands of the general harmony. Numbers, and none are in Leviticus. He remains always a man apart, a narrow-minded -Jacob Milgrom – Anchor Bible extremist, zealous for his own ideal, and intolerant of every other… Values are what Leviticus is all about. It is otherwise with the Priest. He appears on the -Jacob Milgrom scene at a time when Prophecy has already succeeded in hewing out a path for its Idea. But Nevertheless, all these regulations are reflections the Priest has not the strength to fight continually of a pervasive spiritual seriousness grounded in a against necessity and actuality; his tendency is comprehensive, coherent conception of real- rather to bow to the one and come to terms with ity. This ritual implementation of the monothe- the other. Instead of clinging to the narrowness of istic vision was a battle against the inchoate. Holi- the Prophet, and demanding of reality what it ness could be achieved and had to be protected, cannot give, he broadens his outlook and takes a only by a constant confirmation of the hier- wider view of the relation between his Idea and archical distinction, by laying out reality in dis- the facts of life. Not what ought to be, but what tinct realms and categories separated by bar- can be, is what he seeks. ricades of prohibitions. -Ahad Ha'am, Priest and Prophet, 1893 -Rober Alter, Translation

Leviticus is usually put into a kind of glass Leviticus may seem strange, but it is the origin. It cabinet: it can be looked at, respected, and won- holds lessons…Leviticus is the classical text of dered at, but the real heart of the religion is what might be called hard-core Judaism. presumed to be found in other parts of the Bible, -Leon Wieseltier in Congregation especially Genesis, Exodus, and Deuteronomy, and the writings of the psalmists and prophets. “Meet the Cohens” The tradition does Leviticus wrong. A wag once observed that P is the only hypothetical -Mary Douglas, Leviticus as Literature. author of the Documentary Hypothesis whose last name we know for sure – Cohen. The problem, a How Israel was to realize the divine program is modern scholar might add, is that no one knows P’s the burden of the Book of Leviticus. first name. And why is that a problem? Because it is certainly possible that two texts, both demonstrating -Baruch Levine, JPS Commentary an interest in things priestly, could have been written by two completely different Cohens living in different Following the mighty acts of God in Exodus, times and having radically different views. This, in Leviticus is disproportionately the words of fact, turned out to be what most modern scholars have God...the entire book of Leviticus is set in one concluded about the various parts of Leviticus. place: at the foot of Mount Sinai. In Exodus, the -James Kugel, How to Read the Bible universe - the land, waters, and sky - is in disarray. Following that, Leviticus is concerned SHABBAT SHALOM! with orderliness, arrangement.