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This week’s Torah portion, Vayikra, is all about offerings and sacrifices, and its intricate rules make for a bizarrely fascinating read, if you are the kind of person who doesn’t mind getting into the nitty-gritty and knows your way around a pasture. I, for one, had never seen much relevance in these rules until, years ago, I came across a commentary by the amazing Rabbi Shoshana Gelfand in The Women’s Torah Commentary: New Insights from Women Rabbis on the 54 Weekly Torah Portions (Jewish Lights, 2000), and I wanted to share some of her writing with you…

While it is undeniable that Vayikra places a heavy emphasis on rules and “technical information,” Gelfand suggests that “we should also ask the deeper question of the purpose of these sacrifices.” In answer to that question, she writes: “The whole concept of sacrifice, in fact, points to the desire for relationship. The word for “sacrifice,” korban, comes from the root k-r-b, which means “to draw near.” A sacrifice, therefore, is the means by which we draw near to God, and God draws near and is drawn near to us.” In Vayikra, this is not something that one can do in a vacuum. The priest must facilitate the offering and sometimes share parts of the sacrifice with his family. So, all in, the person seeking to atone for actions or fulfill a vow eventually needs to establish a connection with God, a priest,and potentially the priest’s household. 

Later in the commentary, Rabbi Gelfand pivots to the nature of connection, using the opening words of the parsha (“The Eternal One called to Moses”) as a springboard: “In order to truly communicate with another being, whether a person or God, it is necessary to engage in what the mystics called tzimtzum (a drawing in or contracting of oneself), in order to make room for the other partner in the conversation. Were God to simply speakto Moses, then God would be dictating and Moses would be receiving the dictation. By first calling to Moses, God creates a situation whereby God’s Presence has withdrawn inward to create room for Moses in the conversation. Moses can now be a partner, rather than a passive recipient. Thus, it becomes clear from the very first word that the content of this book is about relationships. God structures the relationship with Moses so that it is a partnership, one that can have true intimacy.”

We are living at a time of difficult conversations. With increased contrast in political and social polarities, it has become nearly impossible at times to be heard, and listening to the words that sometimes spew from others can make us feel downright ill. In personal relationships, one man’s ceiling is all too often another man’s floor, and truly understanding another person’s perspective can seem a gargantuan task. Amid all of this cacophony, is there any point in seeking deep relationships with others? Is God calling out to us? Are we trying to draw nearer to God? To each other? Do we have things that we need to atone for or vows that need to be fulfilled before we can truly feel connected?

In those situations where we are calling out or feel that others are calling to us, perhaps a little tzimtzum can go a long way…

Shabbat Shalom!

Rebecca Abbate