Listen to the Call and Come Close

The times they are a changing...

Springtime is just around the corner.

COVID risks are abating.

Soon we will be returning and gathering indoors and outdoors.

And we are about to enter a new book of Torah. Vayikra. Leviticus.

This book, on first glance, is the most inscrutable of all five books. Some might call it boring. Some might be disturbed by the focus on animal sacrifice.

This week I discovered an entirely new way of seeing this book.

What, after all, is the purpose of the sacrificial offerings? The Israelites probably related to them as we do to community Shabbat dinners. Biblical offerings, after all, provided food for those who served in the mishkan, the kohanim (priests), and levi’im (Levites), and often for the entire community, as with the Pesach offering. They were a time to gather and be close to each other, and to God.

Community meals give us more than the nourishment and enjoyment from food. They provide opportunities for intimate conversation, for shared laughter and song, for deep discussion. Community meals bring into our synagogue space to be close. Food is simply one vehicle.

When we finished Shemot (the book of Exodus) last week, the people completed the mishkan. It is ready for use and the divine presence settles within it.

Vayikra is named for the first word in the book, meaning “called.” That word informs the entire book. God is calling Moses, and calling the Israelites, and calling us, to come close. The word for offering in Hebrew is korban—from the same root as “to come near.” In this book, the Israelites begin a new spiritual life that revolves around the mishkan. Vayikra is not about sacrifices. Vayikra is mishkan-centric.

I’d like to share a midrash describing this moment in the life of the People of Israel with implications for our own holy community. The Israelites are told to build the mishkan so that the Divine Presence may dwell within; however, as long as the presence dwells there, no one may enter. It is at this moment, beginning a new book of Torah, that God calls.

The midrash compares this to a ruler whose people build a palace in the ruler’s honor. On every item that the people built, they inscribe the ruler’s name. On every wall, beam, and column, they imprint the name of the ruler. Finally, the ruler enters the palace and sees that every surface reflects back their own name. Feeling both honored and humble, the ruler laments, "You made all this for me, but, alas, I am now inside and you are outside..." So the ruler calls to the people to gather within.

We have been mainly outside of our sanctuary since March 9, 2020. In the past two years we have created a vital zoom space that will continue to connect many to community going forward. But now we are called to come close physically once again. As we meet, and as many of us remove our masks, we will reenter the mishkan, the holy sanctuary that we have built and have been longing to return to. Listen to the call! Come close!