This week's Torah reading, Va'yikra, both opens the book of Leviticus and marks a new beginning in the spiritual development of our people. After having been chosen to serve God, receiving the Torah and constructing the Tabernacle, the Jewish people now commence the actual service of God. This service originally took the form of sacrifices, and since the destruction of the Second Temple has been replaced by our institutionalized liturgy of prayers.

     At first glance, our modern prayers would seem to lack the element of giving something up which is implied by the term "sacrifice". However, the Hebrew term "korban" actually suggests not a relinquishing, but drawing near. This concept seems to be what motivated history's first recorded accepted sacrifice, and its apparent absence conversely made for the first rejected sacrifice. Near the dawn of creation, Cain and Abel both made their offerings to God. The Torah speaks not of God preferring one sacrifice over another, but of God's "paying heed" to Abel and not paying heed to Cain (Genesis 4). As means of drawing near to God, prayer and sacrifice possess one central common denominator: both require sincere intention. We acquire and strengthen this kind of intention primarily by way of the diligent study of God's Torah.

     Upon embarking on our journey through the book of Leviticus, we need to realize that our study of the service of God is really as important as the service itself. Rabbi Nathan Lopez Cardozo points out that the sacrifices being described as "a sweet savor" to God suggests that they serve as something of a foretaste of good things to come, comparable to the pleasant aroma of a tasty dish. Rabbi Cardozo goes on to state that whereas sacrifice is a concept that primarily falls into the realm of the relationship between God and man rather than man and his fellow, sacrifice has its repercussions for inter-human relationships as well. Namely, when an individual "draws nearer" God by way of dutifully performing His service, he ultimately will be all the more inclined to adhere to God's teaching to love his neighbor as he loves himself. Clearly, the Torah's concept of sacrifice involves not loss, but a spiritual investment.

Wishing you all a Shabbat Shalom!