This sheet on Leviticus 6 was written by Tammy Jacobowitz for 929 and can also be found here
“Command Aaron and his sons saying, ‘this is the ritual of the burnt offering.’”And thus begins a dizzying array of prescriptions and instructions, directed at the priests who were responsible for the sacrifices. What to wear during the service, what to eat, what not to eat, where to place the blood. For non-priests in the Temple era, and for all readers since, the question of how to find one’s way into these verses is an urgent one. How to feel included? And if I find myself without a practical application, why bother to study Leviticus at all?
In the annals of ancient Midrash, these questions fueled a variety of strategies for regaining access to Leviticus. On our verse, “this is the ritual,” R. Hanina bar Pappa asks: what shall Israel do now that she cannot offer the sacrifices? What need is there for these verses? And in a stunning move, R. Hanina brings God’s voice in response, Since you will occupy yourselves (in study) with them, I will consider it to be as if you offered them. God, as it were, recognizes the struggle, giving permission for Leviticus readers to abandon the practical, and to embrace a new way of reading.
In a sense, this short midrash of R. Hanina captures a key element of the rabbis’ transformation of Jewish life in the centuries following the Temple’s destruction. As our collective gaze shifted from the Temple, the rabbis guided us towards the Torah as the focal point. Immersion in Torah study as a primary religious act -- indeed, as a very substitute for Temple worship -- redirected our spiritual longings into the endless pursuit of textual study. With a healthy dose of religious imagination, the reader of Leviticus can create pathways to the divine center.
Dr. Tammy Jacobowitz is the chair of the Tanakh department at the SAR High School in Riverdale, NY
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