Monday, March 24, 2008

Parsha Shemini (Eighth) continued...

Aaron and his sons bring forward the animals required for sacrifice.

Jewish Study Bible (JSB ) notes: "The he-goat for a sin offering was to purify the Tabernacle. The burnt offering was the first gift of the priests. It is a sublime act of devotion and serves also as an act of attraction, invoking the deity's presence. v.3 The people too are to offer a purification offering, confirming that all are responsible for eradicting impurties from the divine abode; see chapter 4."

Leviticus is not just for the priests. From the opening lines of this book it is clear that all the people are to be addressed. And from Exodus 19:6 we know that the entire people is to be a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. There's a reason that Leviticus stands at the center of Torah. It is our calling (as the Hebrew name, vayikra, implies) to holiness.

JSB: v 4 One of the few occasions on w hich a well-being offering (peace) is made by the public (23:19). Since all will be present for the manifestation of the divine Presence shortly to occur, all will celebrate the joyous event in the appropriate manner, partaking of a sacred repast in God's presence.

What is the point of all this ritual? "And Moses said: 'This is what the Lord has commanded that you do, that the Presence of the Lord may appear to you.' " (Lev 9:6) The Presence of the Lord is identified in later Jewish writings as the Shekinah.*

When we follow God's commands, God's Presence abides with us. Where is God? Wherever you let Him in.

*While God is consistently referred to throughout the Bible in the male gender, the word used to describe God's Presence is a feminine noun.

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