This is the first Shabbat in the month of Nisan, the month of Spring and renewal. This is also the first Torah portion in the Book of Leviticus, also known as “Torat Kohanim”, i.e. the manual for priests. We are between the merriment and extremity of Purim and the celebration of freedom that we invite all to join in: “come, have boiled fish croquets with horseradish, shredded apple salad and crackers”. Yes, we celebrate no longer being slaves on Passover, but we’re not selling it very well on one level. For those who have never taken part in Seder it seems illogical that we don’t “just tell the story and then eat” but we enjoy recounting the many aspects of having been slaves and having been set free. It takes time to tell a good story, and when you add 4 cups of wine it takes even longer.
The book of Leviticus discusses in part how to relate to slaves, but not how we are to feel about the institution of slavery. It goes into great detail about how, what and when to sacrifice, but it is the individual who has to determine if s/he needs to bring a sacrifice of well-being, or of thanksgiving, that is not for the priest to decide. Tremendous amounts of text in Leviticus detail what we can no longer physically do. The central fact of Israelite existence in the Land was the Temple in Jerusalem. Its loss and our resultant exile eventually led to our evolution as People of the Book, not the Temple. Our focus now as Jews is the synagogue, we offer up prayer rather than sacrifice and yet, we still have not addressed how to approach that internally. The framework is clear, we infuse it with meaning as individuals.
We don’t have all the answers, but that too is a characteristic of the Jewish community: to keep on searching for meaning. This Shabbat we will gather at TBD to pray, each in their own way, and we add to our prayers tonight a layer of intention. Tonight we remind ourselves that our comfort, our safe homes, our shelter is not always wide enough for others to take refuge there. We turn our attention to those who have been exiled, who have lost their center. We say to them, ‘we see you, we too have been where you are now; you are not alone’, but really, we say this to ourselves.
There is not always a clear opportunity for a new beginning; this Shabbat we have not one, but three! Join us for the beginning of the third book of Torah, the third day of Nissan and Refugee Shabbat with musical enrichment from Elyse Krantz and Chris Sheehan. Together we are better.
Shabbat Shalom and Hodesh Tov Rabbi Leah Benamy
