Rabbi Wendy Pein loves this time of year. As a child, she remembers the days becoming longer and filled with promise. She fondly remembers her annual family ritual of cleaning out the pantry with her mother, in preparation for Passover.
The Torah readings are also designed to prepare the community for Passover, by including additional passages to be read during the weeks leading up to Passover. The additional passage for this week can be called the “Sabbath of the Red Heifer.” Found in the book of Numbers, Moses tells Aaron to:
Instruct the Israelite people to bring you a red cow without blemish, in which there is no defect and on which no yoke has been laid. (Numbers 19:2)
Then Moses details that the red heifer will be slaughtered, its blood sprinkled toward the Tent of Meeting, the carcass completely burned, and the ashes reserved and used for purification by the community. The people involved in the process of reducing the red heifer to ash, which is then made available to the community, are not themselves automatically purified; they must wash their bodies and clothing, and will become pure again in the evening.
This story about a red calf being the vehicle by which purification of the community is maintained is in sharp contrast to the story of the golden calf found in the book of Exodus. In Exodus, the golden calf is symbolic of Israelite fickleness and doubt.
Rabbi Pein has been the director of the Temple Israel of Northern Westchester Center for Jewish Learning (TINW–CJL) since 2017. She has worked with many of our bat/bat mitzvah students during that time, and she has heard the groans of distress from the students who have to figure out a sermon based on this arcane ritual. The students are not alone in this thought! The ancient rabbis imagined that even the wise King Solomon was stumped by the ritual of the red heifer (Numbers Rabbah 19:3). But Rabbi Pein reminds the students that, when it comes to the Torah portion for their bar/bat mitzvah, “You get what you get, and you don’t get upset.” Then she helps guide the students to find something that is meaningful and applicable to our modern lives.
The Torah portion for this week is from the book of Leviticus. Leviticus is largely concerned with ritual, legal and moral obligations. Detailed steps for proper sacrifice at the Temple are enumerated and, according to the writer, careful adherence to these concerns will allow the community to draw closer to God.
When we think of the word “sacrifice” today, we think of something we are obligated to give up. In ancient times, ritual sacrifice was a joyful way to get closer to God. The wealthy might be required to sacrifice valuable livestock—even a bull. The sacrifice was required to be completely eaten up, which is not something a family could do alone. The sacrifice was shared among all the people of the community. The poor were encouraged to bring whatever meal offering they could afford: every offering was of value, allowing every member of the community to participate in this ritual to draw close to God.
While the community was drawing closer to God, God was also drawing closer to the community. In Exodus 25, God instructs Moses to have the people “make Me a sanctuary that I may dwell among them” (Exodus 25:8). God does not ask for a sanctuary that he can dwell in, apart from the community; God requests a place of sacrifice so that God will dwell among the people.
When we read these passages, we understand that this is what the biblical Israelites did to draw close to God. But what does this mean for us today? We no longer practice the ancient Israelite religion which included animal sacrifice in the Temple in Jerusalem. But ritual also has the function of drawing people close to each other. Even
Today we might express our gratitude through sacrifice of money, by way of donations or other forms of philanthropy. Or we may sacrifice our time, through volunteer activities or other forms of tikkun olam (repairing the world).
The ancient prophet Micah (c. 740-670 BCE) understood that animal sacrifice was not the only way to get close to God:
Would God be pleased with thousands of rams,
With myriads of streams of oil?
Shall I give my first-born for my transgression,
The fruit of my body for my sins?
You have been told, O mortal, what is good,
And what God requires of you:
Only to do justice
And to love goodness,
And to walk modestly with your God… (Micah 6:7–8)
The blog is Tara Keiter’s interpretation of the Temple Israel of Northern Westchester Torah Study session. Misquotes or misunderstandings in what Rabbi Pein taught are the responsibility of Tara Keiter.