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Taming Passion: Vayikra 5770
Journey into the Soul of the Weekly Torah Portion
The Book of Leviticus: A 7 Part Journey
A life driven by unbridled passion alone
is like a runaway train without brakes.
A healthy life, like a healthy relationship,
needs to balance passion with purpose.
The Book of Leviticus teaches how to live holistically,
so that our intimate connections
and the pursuit of our life’s mission
are infused with both passion and meaning.
Course Synopsis
Vayikra: The Essential Virtue of Sacrifice Each of us has a different comfort level for every activity, so are you the type of person who is more comfortable doing mitzvot between man and G-d -- like praying, keeping kosher, putting on tefillin or lighting Shabbat candles –or do you find it easier to perform mitzvot between man and other people, like giving charity generously, volunteering your time to helping others, or speaking kindly to and about everyone? Unless you are a perfect saint, you’ll find that the degree of difficulty in performing any mitzvah is related to how much you feel that you have to sacrifice, in terms of money, or time or physical or emotional effort in order to perform that mitzvah. In this week’s Torah Studies class, we’ll be examining the impact and importance of sacrifice and sacrifices in general, both the literal sacrifices, the korbanot, that we were commanded to bring in the Mishkan and Beit HaMikdash, and the more subtle and hidden sacrifices of our time, money, comfort and physical pleasures that are required in order to develop and sustain every healthy relationship—whether with man or with HaShem.
Tzav: Lighting the Fires of True Love What actions does a person need to take in order to prove to you, or reassure you, that he or she loves you? Does he need to give you presents, or just remember that it’s your birthday? For you to believe that a person loves you, does she need to be there for you whenever you call on him or her for help—whenever you need material or spiritual assistance, or just to be there to listen to you? Must a person who loves you approve of everything that you do? Must he or she always forgive you for your faults? In other words, what are the conditions that a person must fulfill in order to demonstrate his or her love for you? And what conditions must you fulfill to demonstrate your love for another? And if there are always some conditions, then what does it mean to you that a person’s love for you, or your love for them, is unconditional? In other words, what is unconditional love, not just from the standpoint of the giver, but from the standpoint of the receiver as well? In today’s Torah Studies class we’ll be looking into these two very different kinds of love: Conditional Love and Unconditional Love. By examining the spiritual aspects of the perpetual fire that burned on the altar in the mishkan and the Beit HaMikdash, we’ll see that both conditional and unconditional love are absolutely necessary in order to have a fully satisfying relationship with HaShem and with our fellow man.
Shemini: Is Connection to G-d a Reward or a Gift? Everyone wants to be connected-- with who we are, in our relationships with others, and especially to G-d-- but what do we have to do in order to be connected? We’re taught from the earliest age that every good thing comes as a result of effort, but did you ever notice that some people seem to be connected with G-d and with the people in their lives, no matter what they do or don’t do, while others remain disconnected, dissatisfied and miserable no matter how hard they work on every aspect of their lives? What causes the connection between man and G-d? Is it the result of things that we do, or is it a gift that is given to some but not to others? According to Chassidus, the seemingly paradoxical answer is that both are true. The true happiness and contentment that can be experienced by our highest selves through our connection to HaShem is both the result of our efforts, as well as being a gift from above. In this week’s class we’ll be studying the inauguration of the Mishkan and the symbolism of two important numbers that appear here and throughout the Torah: Seven and Eight. We will see how these two numbers show us that while our connection to HaShem and to people far transcends our capabilities to earn those connections, connectedness nevertheless comes as a response to, and is thus dependent on, our actions and our efforts.
Tazria-Metzora: Transcendent Connectedness Every Jew has her and her own level of observance, but how many Jewish fathers do you know who have freely chosen not to have their Jewish sons circumcised when they easily could have done so? Is such a person not on a categorically different level of non-observance even than someone who doesn’t attend a Passover Seder or who eats pork on Yom Kippur? A Jew might be convicted of any crime and we’d do our best to understand him, but to not circumcise his son? It’s almost inconceivable, isn’t it? But why is that? Why does circumcision, Brit Milah, continue to be such an unassailable mitzvah, even for the most hyper-modern streams of Judaism? In this week’s Torah Studies class we’ll be studying the spiritual depths of Brit Milah, continuing the focus from last week’s class on the transcendent symbolism of the number eight. We will see why the eighth day in the life of a Jewish infant boy, the day when he enters into an indelible covenant with his G-d and his people in every generation, has remained the most important day in the life of every Jewish male, everywhere, and in every era.
Acharei-Kedoshim: Experiencing the Miracle of Yom Kippur Have you ever lost a really good relationship that you just wish you could get back, but you don’t know how to do it? At first there might seem to be no way to go back in time and repair the damage that was done to the relationship, but would you rely on a miracle to repair the breach? Of course not. Everybody knows that we don’t rely on miracles to repair relationships, we rely on hard work. Given a sincere enough level of regret, an honest request for forgiveness, and the making of amends wherever possible, almost any relationship can be repaired if not completely restored to what it once was. Nevertheless, on Yom Kippur the day that we need to fix our most important relationship, our relationship with HaShem, we are taught that there is a crucial miracle that we all need to rely on: That the day itself atones for sins in a way that is completely outside of the words, feelings and actions that are necessary for teshuva. Why is this miracle necessary? Why does the day have to have its own mystical power? In this week’s Torah Studies class we will examine this puzzle by presenting the unique revelation that occurred in the Mishkan and Beit HaMikdash onYom Kippur, when the Kohen Gadol entered the Holy of Holies. We’ll show how the essence of the Kohen Gadol’s experience in the Holy of Holies can in some small way be experienced by every one of us, on every Yom Kippur.
Emor: The Jewish Festivals-Each Just in Time What is your favorite festival on the Jewish calendar: Pesach, Sukkot or Shavuot? On which festival do you experience the most joy? Which holiday makes you feel the most spiritual? Each of us will have different answers to these questions, answers that may change over time. Some people will cite each of the three different festivals in response to these three questions, while some people will cite just one holiday. There are no right or wrong answers, but one thing that is understood is that each Jewish festival has its own special qualities, representing the certainty that time itself can become holy and enabling us to expresses our spirituality and experience HaShem’s providence in different ways. In today’s Torah Studies class we will take an in-depth look into the Jewish festivals. We’ll find that each festival is simultaneously unique, interconnected with every other festival, and meant to infuse its own special holiness into our thoughts, speech and behavior, every day of the year.
Behar-Bechukotai: The Reality of Rewards and Consequences Do you believe that you and your colleagues should be justly rewarded and recognized for your efforts at work? Would anyone suggest that police are a waste of human effort, and thieves and murderers should just be permitted to do their thing? Every group and society believes in the necessity for reward and punishment. Everyone knows that some acts, like giving charity or driving while intoxicated need to have unnatural consequences that are created by society, and that those consequences should either be pleasant consequences, like receiving a tax exemption for charity, which we call rewards; or unpleasant consequences, like losing your license for drunk driving, which we call punishments. So it’s only natural to conclude that the Torah in its aspect of being a society-shaping document will indicate the pleasant and unpleasant consequences of positive and negative behaviors, as it does at the beginning of this week’s Torah portion. But in this week’s Torah Studies class we’ll go much deeper, and see that even as HaShem has given us a set of laws governing man in earthly society, He has also provided the consequences for man living in eternity, in this world, as well as in the world-to-come. We’ll examine the nature of those consequences, and we’ll discuss why it is the earthly consequences, and not the eternal ones, that are cited in this week’s Torah portion.
