by Rabbi Jeremy Rosen
The Book of Leviticus * is concerned with difference. Different people, and different roles. Different standards of behavior, states of mind and states of health. Different places, different seasons, and different sets of obligations.
Recognizing difference is not in itself a bad thing as some people seem to think nowadays. It is discrimination that should worry us not being different. Indeed, the idea of difference as positive, is ingrained in the narrative of creation. In the opening chapters of Genesis * it talks, at almost every stage, about Havdalah, division. In space, day and night, humans, and animals, male and female, good and not so good, physical, and spiritual.
Much of Leviticus is concerned with the role of the priesthood, in its ceremonial function in the tabernacle and its sacrificial system. But also, the specific role of priests in the community. Priesthood was universal within most societies then, fewer now. In the same way that sacrifices were the currency of all religions then too. Not so much now! All of this had a purpose.
This week we return to the roles of the priests and their privileges, special rituals and functions and standards that do not necessarily make them better or worse, just different from other people. An example is their special relationship to death, that was different to that of the rest of the community. At the same time their social role was to take care of the mass of people socially, educationally, and medically, where they were forced to leave their sanctuary and come into contact with the reality of ordinary life and its challenges.
This dichotomy between priest and ordinary Israelite might be seen within the sanctuary. But in the sphere of individual rituals and customs they are the same. The Torah goes on to lists Shabbat and the festivals. They two contain two elements. That of celebration in public and observation at home and in private. In the area of private, home and family observance, we are all equal with the same obligations. Festivals and special days are the hallmark of our religion centered on joy, celebration in private, as much as the public arena. It is this that gives us our unique and distinguishing characteristic.
The sanctuary may be important for the public expression of religion, but it is the home and personal life that turns theory into practice. Special days, festivals and other occasions require personal input and coming together, as families and friends, rich and poor, pious, and less so. For too many people religion is taken out occasionally, in church or temple but neglected much else of the time. The regular occurrence of special days is a way of keeping us together and emphasizing peoplehood and identity. Otherwise, individuals can feel isolated and alienated.
The reference towards the end of the reading this week is the Menorah. The candelabrum, constantly burning in the Tabernacle which symbolized keeping the flame alive. Which we now preserve in the idea of the eternal light in our synagogues.
The sad final episode in Chapter 24:10 concerns someone feeling under-valued because of his mixed parenthood. Alienation turning him into a rebel and antagonistic. This continues nowadays in the way some Jews feel excluded from Judaism and the Jewish community. And they may turn their backs on their people. We have tended to make religion divisive instead of inclusive, and we lose too many this way.
One might have wished that the Torah would have ended this week not with exclusion but rather with the section of the Menorah, a symbol of hope, reconciliation, and unity.
Shabbat Shalom
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Jeremy Rosen was born in Manchester, England, the eldest son of Rabbi Kopul Rosen and Bella Rosen. Rosen's thinking was strongly influenced by his father, who rejected fundamentalist and obscurantist approaches in favour of being open to the best the secular world has to offer while remaining committed to religious life. He was first educated at Carmel College, the school his father had founded based on this philosophical orientation. At his father's direction, Rosen also studied at Be'er Yaakov Yeshiva in Israel (1957–1958 and 1960). He then went on to Merkaz Harav Kook (1961), and Mir Yeshiva (1965–1968) in Jerusalem, where he received semicha from Rabbi Chaim Leib Shmuelevitz in addition to Rabbi Dovid Povarsky of Ponevezh and Rabbi Moshe Shmuel Shapiro of Yeshivat Be'er Ya'akov. In between Rosen attended Cambridge University (1962–1965), graduating with a degree in Moral Sciences.
* The Hebrew word for Leviticus is Vayikra and the Hebrew word for Genesis is Bereshit (Bereshite)