Vayikra: and He Called-Details

Vayikra is a sacrifice how-to manual. It details numerous offerings, what they should entail, how they should be offered, and what they should be offered for. Some are feast offerings, some are sin offerings.  Great attention is given to the manner of slaughter and preparation of the carcass. Multiple options are given-if one can't afford a sheep, for instance, one is permitted to bring two turtledoves instead. Even a handful of flour (finely ground) can be used if nothing else is affordable.

Let's be honest, this is a pretty graphic parshah. If you're a vegetarian or animal lover I don't suggest reading it. And even if detailed instructions on where the bull's head or the sheep's innards should go don't make you queasy, nothing in the parshah relates to current life. We don't offer sacrifices anymore, so why would we need to know which sacrifices were brought for which sins, and how exactly the animal should be slaughtered, and so forth? What on earth can we learn, today, from Vayikra?

Several things stand out to me. The first is responsibility. The parshah details what sacrifices should be offered if an individual errs, if a ruler errs, and if the entire nation of Israel errs. All are given equal screen time, which says something interesting to me. When it comes to making mistakes and atoning for them, a king is no different from a beggar. Each must make the wrong right and each must bring a sacrifice. And not only are individuals held responsible for their deeds, but the nation as a whole as well. A group of people can do wrong, just as an individual can, and that group must make the wrong right-there is no shirking responsibility.

Another is the humanity in the offerings. Each wrongdoer must bring a sacrifice that is proportionate not just to his wrongdoing, but to his status in life. An offering meant to glorify God, or an offering meant to atone for a sin should be the best that a man can bring. And for some, that means an unblemished young bull; for some it might be a pair of birds; and for some, no more than a handful of flour. But each is given the same weight, because each is the best its bringer can do. The sacrifice is accepted with equal love and favor. We are each held to our own individual standard, not to each others.

The last thing is that the level of attention paid to the details tells us just how important these sacrifices were. It was not a matter of just slaughtering a bunch of animals and having a BBQ. There was meaning and purpose in each step, a right and wrong way to do it. The painstaking details tell us that there was no room for carelessness, no excuse for it. As complex and nonsensical as it might seem to us, there was a reason for the rules and it was important to follow them exactly. When your boss lingers on the details of a project and stresses the process, you understand that this is a very important project and you must not screw it up. When God spends an entire parshah intimately detailing the rules of sacrifice, we must have the same understanding.

Parashat Beshalach: The Jews Leave Egypt-and complain a lot

Parashat Beshalach has some of the most incredible, miraculous, and well known events of the entire Torah-and the Jews are absolutely intolerable throughout.

Pharaoh has sent the Jews out of Egypt. The journey to Israel should take three days, but the route goes by the land of the Philistines and Hashem knows that if they go that way, there will be a war. The people are not prepared for war-they are newly freed, still slaves in mindset, not trained, not united. So Hashem leads them in a roundabout way which brings them back to the sea. Here Pharaoh-having suffered severe amnesia apparently-leads his entire army against the Jews. Understandably, the Jews freak out. If they were just going to be slaughtered, they could have stayed in Egypt, they wail. Their fear is understandable, but these are the people who just witnessed Hashem sending ten plagues against all of Egypt on their behalf-at this point it would make more sense for them to assume that Hashem has something more up his sleeve.

And He does. He places himself (in the form of a pillar of fire) between the Jews and the Egyptians and instructs Moshe to stretch his staff over the waters. Overnight a strong wind blows and in the morning the sea is dry and the Jews walk right through the sea. When the Egyptians try to follow, the sea collapses back on them, drowning them. The very laws of nature have gone back on themselves to save the Jews and defeat the Egyptians once and for all. This is some pretty amazing stuff.

And the Jews get it. They celebrate, dancing and singing praises to Hashem. The verses they sing are glorious and we still include them in our prayers today. But this is the most gratitude you're going to see from the people for the rest of the parshah.

They travel on to a place they call Marah, for the water is too bitter to drink. And they complain. Bitterly. And Moshe prays to Hashem who shows him how to fix the water and make it sweet. And the people drink.

And they travel on and their provisions must be running out because again the Children of Israel complain to Moshe, claiming they should have stayed in Egypt rather than starve to death in the wilderness. Apparently they've already forgotten what hundreds of years of slavery was like. And Hashem comes through with more miracles, raining heavenly manna down from the skies. The rules are specific-each person is to collect only as much as they need for that day. They may not keep any overnight, for there will be fresh manna in the morning. To save food overnight would indicate a lack of faith that Hashem would provide the food again the next day.

But of course some people don't have faith and they save the manna overnight and in the morning it stinks and is full of maggots. And Moshe is getting pissed. Can't these people follow instructions?

Friday is the one day the people are commanded to collect twice as much as they need, since no manna will fall on Shabbat. This time the manna saved overnight does not go bad. But still, some people go out to the fields anyway, looking for manna, having not believed the food would not spoil. And now Hashem is getting pissed. Will these people ever listen to Him?

They journey on an at their new campsite there is no water. And by now you would really expect them to have picked up on the pattern. "Hey Moshe," they could have said, "looks like there's no water here, would you mind terribly asking Hashem to provide some for us since He obviously cares about us and doesn't want us to die?" But no, they complain AGAIN, asking why Moshe took them out of Egypt only to have them thirst to death. At this point, Moshe is probably wishing he could send them back to Egypt. He cries out to Hashem, "What shall I do for these people? A bit more and they will stone me!" (this is a direct quote!). And Hashem shows him how to perform yet another miracle, bringing water from a rock. WATER FROM A ROCK. Miracles are just a dime a dozen at this point, and the Children of Israel are still not overly impressed.

The parshah closes with the Children of Israel being attacked by the armies of Amalek, who swoop down unprovoked. The Jews fight their first battle as a people, led by Moshe's student Joshua. Moshe watches from a hill, holding his hands up in prayer to Hashem. As long as his hands are up, the Jews prevail. But when his arms get tired and his hands fall, Amalek prevails. Aaron and Hur stand on either side of him, supporting his arms, and eventually Israel defeats Amalek.

Amalek is really bad news, truly evil. But I still can't help feeling Hashem let Amalek attack just so the Jews would stop complaining and start acting. Maybe it took a battle to get a little peace and quiet.

Parashat Bo: Come!-Pharaoh's Heart

The first seven plagues have come and gone, and Pharaoh still refuses to free the Jews. Hashem tells Moses to come to Pharaoh again, "for I have made his heart….stubborn." Whenever the horrors of the plagues would soften Pharaoh's heart and cause him to relent, Hashem would harden it again, to ensure that the next plague would play out.

This raises a rather concerning and contradictory question about free will. Judaism believes strongly in free will-if we did not have the ability to choose our actions, we would receive no credit for doing good, nor be responsible for what we had done wrong. But it seems here that Hashem is not allowing Pharaoh any free will. He is in essence forcing Pharaoh to suffer the plagues even though left to his own devices, Pharaoh would have let the Jews go already.

Hashem is not being unnecessarily cruel. Another powerful tenant of Judaim is justice. The concept of an eye for an eye-rather than being about vengeance, as so many mistakenly believe-emphasizes the importance of appropriate and proportional punishment. The Torah spends an inordinate amount of time outlining and detailing the punishments for various infractions. Each punishment matches the crime-it is no more and yet no less than what is deserved. And very often, a fine is levied as well. For example, if a man attacks another man and injures him to the point where the victim cannot work, the perpetrator will not only suffer a physical punishment, but will have to make reparations related to how much livelihood they have now denied their victim.

Most rational men, when faced with the prospect of punishment, will back down, apologize, repent, and do what they can to avoid suffering. But this does not absolve them of their crimes, nor negate the need for appropriate punishment. It is the job of the justice system, of the police, judge, jury, warden, etc, to make sure that justice is carried out.

In the case of Pharaoh, Hashem is judge, jury, warden, and executioner. The punishment of the ten plagues is appropriate for all the cruelties and injustices committed during the enslavement of the Jews. Pharaoh must be made to suffer his punishment, in the name of justice. All ten plagues must be carried out.

And so the locusts come, and the darkness, and finally the death of the firstborn. And now, finally, Pharaoh is permitted to set the Jews free, running desperately to Moshe, begging him to take the Jews and leave. But justice has one last piece. The punishment of the plagues is all well and good for punishing the Egyptians. But what of the victims? What reparations do they receive for 210 years of enslavement, of having their children killed, of family life disrupted, of hardship beyond belief? Freedom is precious, but slaves with slaves' resources aren't going to get very far in their newfound freedom.

God orders the Jews to ask their Egyptian neighbors for wealth. They ask for gold and silver and the Egyptians oblige. This also seems like a troubling passage-the Jews taking the wealth from the plague-beleagured Egyptians. But within the context of justice and reparation, it very much makes sense.

And so the Jews prepare to leave Egypt, unleavened bread on their backs, shoes on their feet, staffs in hand. 70 Hebrews entered Egypt with Jacob; 600,000 men, accompanied by their women, children, and flocks follow Moshe out, on their way to becoming a nation.