Vayikrah 5768

Not many rabbis look forward to a Dvar Torah on Vayikrah. Sacrifices, as central as they were in the past, are far removed from our daily experience.

Nonetheless, I believe it is possible to find meaning and relevance in some of the motifs and ideas linked to the korbanot, the animal and flour offerings.

Sacrifices were established to give expression to the most basic human feelings: appreciation, need for forgiveness, fear and anxiety. In other words, when we distill sacrifices (and the same, by the way, is true about prayers), we find that they are tangible ways to say "thank you," "please," and "I am sorry."

The book Orchot Tzadikim¹, one of the masterpieces of Jewish ethical literature (Sifrut Hamusar), explains that while humility is the mother of all virtues, arrogance is the mother of all vices.

Indeed, we see that true prayer cannot come from the heart of the arrogant, since the words "thank you," "please," and "I am sorry" -when you mean them- can only be uttered by the humble.

Among the three expressions - "thank you," "please," and "I am sorry" - the most difficult one to articulate is the last one. To utter and internalize the words "I am sorry," you first need to recognize that you were wrong and it is never easy to recognize our shortcomings.

Our Torah portion envisions different possible scenarios in which either the average individual (Leviticus 4:2), or the High Priest, (Leviticus 4:3), or the High Court, the Sanhedrin, sin.

These scenarios -according to the Torah- could happen, or not.

And so we read: "If a person sins unintentionally" (Leviticus 4:2), or "If the anointed kohen sins..." (Leviticus 4:3), or "If the entire community of Israel errs..."

"If" is the key word here.

However, regarding the leader of Israel (Leviticus 4:22), the possible scenario stops being only possible, and becomes certain.

"When a leader sins..." (Leviticus 4:22). It is no longer "if". The leader is going to sin, the leader is going to get it wrong, the leader is going to err...

It comes with the territory and is going to happen. The Torah is not advising what to do to prevent a leader from making a mistake, because it is something impossible to prevent. When you are a leader, sooner or later, you are going to make mistakes.

When you are a leader, sooner or later, you are going to build a golden calf, or you are going to hit the rock with your staff, or you are going to talk poorly about your dear brother.

Whoever is in a leadership position is going to underestimate the consequences of a particular challenging situation, at least once if not more, in his or her leadership career, or is going to overreact to a non-threatening one.

When you are a religious leader you are inevitably going to let God down, or your congregants, or at least some of them.

Even if I am a caring person, I am going to hurt someone, sooner or later. It is unavoidable. Even if I don’t mean it, it is going to happen.

And when it does happen, like the biblical leader, I should be prompt to bring my korban chatat.

I should be ready, without delay, to slaughter my false pride, my arrogance, and to offer those difficult words that my mother taught me to say when I was a child, "I am sorry. I hurt you, I let you down. I wish I didn’t do it, but I did it. Please forgive me!"

How to build a more meaningful, a more cohesive congregation?

Let’s start by more often using the words "thank you," "please," and "I am sorry," and by fixing what can be fixed.

Then we shall have the moral authority to move on with our personal and congregational lives!

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¹ Orchot Tzadilim was first published in Hebrew in 1581. There is a bilingual edition prepared by Rabbi Gavriel Zaloshinsky and published by Feldheim in 1995.

Dear Friends of Hillcrest Jewish Center,

The rabbis teach in the Mishnah (Rosh Hashanah 1:1):

The four new years are: On the first of Nisan, the New Year for the kings and for the festivals; on the first of Elul, the New Year for the tithing of animals. Rabbi Eliezer and Rabbi Shimon say, in the first of Tishrei. On the first of Tishrei, the New Year for years, for the Sabbatical years and for the Jubilee years and for the planting and for the vegetables. On the first of Shevat, the New Year for the trees, these are the words of the House of Shammai; the House of Hillel says, on the fifteenth thereof.

We in America are familiar with multiple new years. We have a Jewish New Year, a Chinese New Year, a "calendar" New Year. We also have a school year, and we have a "Shul" year.

A Shul year usually goes from September 1 to August 31. It starts with the High Holy days, it continues with the other Tishrei holidays, it is loaded with activities from November to June (including all the other Jewish holidays, Hebrew School schedule, adult education classes, etc.), and by the end of June the year is wrapped up, evaluated, and planning begins for the next one.

With the exception of the camp, the months of July and August are somehow slower months at Hillcrest Jewish Center, but these slower months are extremely important for all of us. For the Klei Koddesh, the professionals and the staff, it is a time for recharging batteries. The process of recharging batteries and renewing energies shouldn’t be viewed as a necessary inconvenience, or sacrifice, but as an integral part of the life of a shul.

For all of you, the members of our shul, the months of July and August should be months of anticipation and planning. Now is a good time for you to plan your year ahead and to allocate within your busy schedule, time for Torah study, for chesed, and for volunteering.

In the summer I will be recharging my batteries. I hope you do the same. We will all have a busy year ahead!

Shabbat Shalom!