D'var Torah - Monday morning

This week is about many new things. I am under the impression that for many people here it is the first time that you have taken on such a large physical challenge. In order to accomplish this 220 mile tour of Israel by bike over the course of 5 full days, I believe that a lot of firsts lead up to this moment: the first feelings of what its like to sit on a bicycle seat for multiple hours at a time, the first time you've arrived at the Dead Sea not having traveled by car or bus, the first sore muscles, and the first surge of adrenalin that will ultimately last until we arrive in Haifa on Thursday morning and push you through the difficult moments when your body is tired. For some, this is the first time you are fundraising in conjunction with such a great physical challenge or even fundraising at all and for others, this may be a familiar place and activity, but with opportunities to meet someone for the first time that after spending this time together may become a lifelong friend and partner in supporting Progressive Judaism here in Eretz Yisrael.

It's a time of firsts in the Torah as well, as this week we read the first portion from the book of Leviticus and how appropriate that this first parsha, Vayikrah, is about sacrifice. The Israelite people are still living in transition, but now that they have constructed a Mishkan this becomes the central location for Jewish ritual to take place. Vayikrah discusses both individual and communal sacrifice, the types of sacrifices that are to be made and the procedures for which they are offered up, plus when a person and/or community is obligated to make a sacrifice and when it is optional. The ritual of sacrifice is explicitly defined and outlined in this week's parsha and remained at the center of Jewish worship until the destruction of the 2nd Temple in 70 CE. After the destruction of the 2nd temple and the end of sacrifical worship we see Jewish communities in every generation redefine what it means to give an offering to God and how the spirit of sacrifice and its affirmation of commitment manifests itself in our daily lives.

Today, how do we look at these laws of sacrifice, given to the Israelite people while they were still wandering the desert and find any parallel to our lives in the 21st century. Well, for one, the phrase that repeats itself more times than any other phrase in this week's parsha and I believe is most relevant to the journey we are on this week discusses this mandatory criteria for which an offering is to be presented to God. It must be:


ליהוה ניחוח-ריח אשה עולה (Oh-la ee-sheh ray-ach nee-cho-ach l'adonai): "an offering of pleasing odor to Adonai." In fact, this phrase can be found repeated almost word for word in 8 different places of this week's parsha. We no longer engage in the type of sacrifice outlined in this week's Torah portion but just as the concept of עבודה changed from sacrificial worship to that of prayer-filled worship after the destruction of the Temple, so too does the concept of what it means to offer up a sacrifice. Now, it's early and I am willing to bet that many of you have showered since yesterday's ride and dip in the Dead Sea and perhaps right about now you are feeling pretty fresh. I'd like to offer that each of you are making an incredible sacrifice this week and though you may smell fresh and have lathered on an extra layer of deodorant this morning, I am willing to bet that by the time we reach our resting place tonight each of you will embody your own ריח (rey-ach) or odor that matched up with the incredible cause you ride for this week, must surely be pleasing in the eyes of God.
Sacrifice can mean that of a religious offering, but its Latin derivative literally defines sacrifice as sacer facere, which means "to make sacred", a term that is also used metaphorically to describe selfless good deeds done for others. In Hebrew, קרנן, the root, ק,ר,נ, means "to come close", and עלה means "elevation". These are two words we use to define sacrifice in the Torah. As you ponder the day ahead, consider the change that will be affected here in Israel by the sacer facere, corban and olah, you are making this week and by the fundraising that you have done in your communities for the Israel Movement for Progressive Judaism.

You have come from near and far to be part of a community that will wander throughout Eretz Yisrael this week, similar to the wandering of the Israelite people when they received the laws of sacrifice from God and the instructions for how they were to offer such sacrifices in a manner that would be pleasing to God. Together you will journey through this beautiful land of our ancestors, all the while knowing that the personal sacrifices and the challenges that you have risen to in order to accomplish this awesome week help to ensure that our Jewish homeland in the 21 st century has a strong presence of Progressive Judaism as part of its fabric.

As we travel throughout this week, take the time to appreciate the many years that our tradition spans and how the spirit of change breathes within the Progressive Judaism we live today. We are together, as one kehillah , constantly in movement, and we continue to find Torah relevant to our lives and ways in which we connect ourselves to our people l'dor v'dor..from generation to generation. We each make our own personal and communal sacrifice as an affirmation of our faith in Adonai and commitment to Judaism and Israel. As you take in the beautiful scenery of Eretz Yisrael and the added sacredness of the work we do together this week, even at its most challenging moments, keep in the forefront of your mind that at the end of each day, you will feel it in your heart, and in your legs, and in your seats and you will surely offer yourself up as an offering of pleasing odor to God,.



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Jessica Y. Gross
Rabbinic Student