This Shabbat, Jews throughout the world read Vayikra, the first chapters in the Book of Leviticus. Beginning with verbose descriptions of sacrificial offerings, followed by descriptions of daily life for priests, then the measures undertaken by the community to achieve holiness, and finally a series of laws designed to govern life in the community, Leviticus can easily seem impenetrable to the modern reader. After all, the entire first half of the book addresses ritual sacrifice, which is no longer part of Jewish practice (and thankfully so!).
Nevertheless, our ancestors’ now-outdated method for communicating with God imparts a pivotal lesson that often seems missing from modern religious dialogue. In order to cultivate a relationship with the Divine, we must give up something precious. We must sacrifice. For our ancestors, these sacrifices came from their prized herds and flocks. For the modern Jew, these sacrifices come from our most precious resource of all—time. We cannot reap the benefits of a Jewish lifestyle without investing the time necessary to create one.
Furthermore, from the goodwill offering to the thanksgiving offering to the guilt offering and more, our ancestors developed different rituals to realize different outcomes. So, too, must we determine how to best spend our time to achieve our different Jewish goals—from love and family, to community, to character, to fulfillment.
As we read Leviticus this week and beyond, our tradition asks us to consider: How will we devote our most valuable resource—time—to fashion the life and the relationships we seek?
— Rabbi Josh Knobel