Parshah Summary – P’sha
The parshah opens with God calling to Moses (וַיִּקְרָא vayikra) from the Ohel Mo’ed, the Tent of Meeting, and proceeding to instruct him in the laws of the korbanot, the animal and meal offerings. These include: the “Elevation Offering” (Olah) that is burned completely in fire atop the altar; the different types of “Meal Offering” (Minkhah) prepared with fine flour, olive oil and frankincense; the “Peace Offering” (Shlamim), whose meat was eaten by the one bringing it, after some parts are burned on the altar and others are given to the kohanim (priests); the different types of “Sin Offering” (Hatat) brought to atone for transgressions committed by the high priest, the entire community, the king or the ordinary community member; and the “Guilt Offering” (Asham) brought by one who has misappropriated property of the Mishkan, (the Sanctuary), who is in doubt as to whether they transgressed some prohibition, or who has committed a “betrayal” by swearing falsely to defraud a fellow human being.
Torah of Awakening
אִם־עֹלָ֤ה קׇרְבָּנוֹ֙ מִן־הַבָּקָ֔ר זָכָ֥ר תָּמִ֖ים יַקְרִיבֶ֑נּוּ אֶל־פֶּ֜תַח אֹ֤הֶל מוֹעֵד֙ יַקְרִ֣יב אֹת֔וֹ לִרְצֹנ֖וֹ לִפְנֵ֥י יי׃ If their offering is an Elevation Offering from the herd, an unblemished pure male they shall bring. To the entrance of the Tent of Meeting they shall bring it close, for favor before the Divine. - Vayikra (Leviticus) 1:3 Parshat Vayikra
Rabbi Hayyim Meir Yehiel, the grandson of the Maggid of Koznitz, told this story: “When I was a boy of eleven, my grandfather summoned me and said, ‘Come to me at dawn and I shall teach you Kabbalah.’ I did not do as he said, but from that time on, I studied alone at dawn and did my avodah alone, for I did not want anything I couldn’t get by my own efforts. After a time my grandfather again summoned me and said, ‘At first I thought you did not like getting up early. But now I have found that you are up early, but nevertheless you do not come to me.’
“But he grasped the fact that I wanted to study on my own, for he went on to say: ‘Well, just make a point of being there every morning when I pray, and I shall see to it that you receive holy illumination.’ But I did not even want to get any illumination without working for it myself, and so I came only to the beginning and end of his prayers. Time passed, and then one night I had a vision. My deceased teacher, the Rabbi of Apt, zikhrono livrakha, appeared to me and brought me tefillin from paradise. When I had bound the shel rosh to my forehead, illumination came to me…” While being of service is an indispensable cornerstone of the spiritual path, we must be aware of its shadow side: the tendency to project onto others what we think they need, so that we may feel as though we are helping, or be seen as helpers by others. For example, my friend Josh is blind. When he walks around in public, it is not uncommon for someone to grab his arm aggressively and say, “Here let me help you!” and try to force him in a certain direction. Their intentions may be good, but they are unaware of their own motivation, of their psychological need to help others. And consequently, their “help” is not really help – it is simply food for their self-image, for ego. It is like the old Sesame Street episode, where Grover is straining to carry a really heavy brick. The brick has the word “HELP” carved into it. As he moans and groans trying not to drop the brick, he keeps yelling, “Help! Help!” The great trickster Ernie walks up and says, “Oh, Grover, you need some help? I’ve got some help for you, hold on just a minute.” He bends down and picks up another big heavy brick, also with the word “HELP” carved into it, and piles it on top of the first brick, increasing Grover’s burden. “HELP! HELP!” Grover yells even louder. “Oh, you want even more help??” says Ernie. Ernie then picks up yet another big heavy “HELP” brick and piles it on top of the two that Grover is already holding. This goes on a few more times – Grover yelling “Help!” and Ernie just making it worse and worse by piling on more and more HELP bricks. Finally, Grover screams and falls backwards, all the bricks falling on top of him. Have you ever felt a strong desire in yourself be the helper, to be the one who “knows” or is “needed?” The presence of these kinds of strong feelings (or any strong feelings for that matter) are a sign that we need to be aware of ourselves, and ask ourselves: are we really seeing clearly what is needed, or are we unconsciously trying to satisfy our own need to play a certain role, or to be seen a certain way? The root of the problem, of course, is not the desire to be of service; it is identifying with what we are doing. It’s seeing our “self” as the “doer.” It is like a small child who wants to “help” you cook in the kitchen. You might let them “help” by holding your wrist while you stir something in a hot pan, or hold your arm while you lift something much too heavy and dangerous for them. They feel like they are helping, but they are not really the doer. That is actually our situation. We go through motions, thinking “I am doing such-and-such,” but actually the act is being done by Everything; we are only apparently doing it. When you turn on the car, it may seem like the key is turning it on. But is it the key? Is it the starter? Is it the spark plug? There is no single thing doing anything; everything is doing everything all the time. Yet we tend to think, “I am doing it.” In thinking of ourselves as doers, we take on the most profound burden of all. Like Grover, we strain and moan under the burden of life, yelling, “Help! Help!” But when it comes to the burden of being the doer, any “help” we get is ultimately like Ernie’s help. We don’t need that kind of help; what we really need to drop the burden. But, we can’t “try” to drop the burden; that is just more burden. The “me” that tries to drop the burden is itself the burden. So how do we drop the burden? אֶל־פֶּ֜תַח אֹ֤הֶל מוֹעֵד֙ יַקְרִ֣יב אֹת֔וֹ לִרְצֹנ֖וֹ לִפְנֵ֥י יי – To the entrance of the Tent of Meeting they shall bring it close, willingly, before the Divine… The word for “bring close” – יַקְרִ֣יב yakriv – is the same root as קָרבָּן korban, a sacrificial offering. So the meaning of a sacrificial offering is not “sacrifice,” but rather “drawing close,” or “becoming intimate.” אֶל־פֶּ֜תַח אֹ֤הֶל מוֹעֵד֙ – To the opening of the Tent of Meeting… The “Tent of Meeting” is the place we meet Reality. And where is that? It is always only where we already are! לִרְצֹנ֖וֹ לִפְנֵ֥י יי – willingly, before the Divine… But, just because we are always here now, doesn’t mean that we are close or intimate with the Here and Now, with Reality as It manifests Here and Now, that Divine Name which means “Being.” Rather, we need to want it; one needs to come לִרְצֹנוֹ litzono; to come willingly to this moment; this is meditation. אֶל־פֶּתַח – to the opening… Draw your attention willingly into the פֶּתַח petakh – into the openness of the present; that is the openness of consciousness within which this fullness of this moment is now arising. Don’t hold this moment as a burden that you need to change or control – offer yourself to it; that is the key. וְסָמַ֣ךְ יָד֔וֹ עַ֖ל רֹ֣אשׁ הָעֹלָ֑ה – They shall lean their hand on the head of the Elevation Offering… “Leaning” is the exact opposite of “carrying.” To carry a burden, you have to put your hands under it. Here it says they lean their hand on the korban – it implies a restfulness in the “drawing near,” a surrender and trust in “being supported,” which we can see in the word for “lean,” itself: סָמַךְ samakh, which comes from the root that means “support.” Thus we might retranslate: “Come close in openness and rest upon the Divine support, present now as the fullness of this moment…” This is “letting go.” But as long as we don’t let go, we will experience life as somewhat antagonistic; the message we get from life’s challenges will continue to be experienced as difficulty. This message will come to us in the forms of whatever situations arise, over and over again: וַיִּקְרָ֖א אֶל־מֹשֶׁ֑ה – Called to Moses… This opening verse doesn’t say who called to Moses, it just says “called.” The last letter of וַיִּקְרָ֖א Vayikra is א alef, which has the numerical value of one, and is a symbol of Divine Oneness. On a Torah scroll, this particular א alef is written smaller than all the other letters, hinting that the “Oneness” is hidden within everything, calling to us from everything, nudging us to see – it is not you who acts. When we can see that it is not the “me” who acts, but the Divine Oneness that is acting through Everything, we can let go of our burden. Then, the help we offer will also not be a burden; it won’t demand anything in return, or push anybody around. It becomes a true gift, a Divine gift, with no strings attached. There’s a story of Rabbi Baruch of Mezbizh, that once he was saying the blessing after his meal. When he got to the following passage, he repeated it three times with great fervor: וְנָא אַל־תַּצְרִיכֵֽנוּ יי אֱלֺהֵֽינוּ לֺא לִידֵי מַתְּ֒נַת בָּשָׂר וָדָם וְלֺא לִידֵי הַלְוָאָתָם כִּי אִם לְיָדְ֒ךָ הַמְּלֵאָה הַפְּ֒תוּחָה הַקְּ֒דוֹשָׁה וְהָרְ֒חָבָה... Please let us not need the gifts of flesh and blood, nor their loans, but only your full, open, holy and generous hand… When he finished, his daughter asked: “Abba, why did you pray so hard that you should not need the gifts of people? Your only support comes to you from the gifts that people bring you!” “My daughter,” he replied, “You must know that there are three ways of supporting the tzaddik. The first way is when a person thinks, ‘I’m a generous person, so I’ll bring a gift.’ This way is referred to by the words, ‘let us not need the gifts of flesh and blood.’ The second way is when a person thinks, ‘I’ll give something now, and then I’ll get some reward in the future.’ Those people want heaven to pay them interest; that’s the ‘loan.’ But there are some who know: ‘God has put this money in my hand to give, and I’m just the messenger.’ These are the ‘full, open, holy and generous hand...’” In this week of Shabbat Vayikra, The Sabbath of Calling, may we hear the Divine Call from all things, urging us to drop the burden of separateness and accept the סֶמֶך semekh, the Divine support acting through everything to allow us to be, in this moment…
Read past teachings on Vayikra HERE
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