Kedoshim | More on the Sacrificial Service

Note: This week's lesson was originally intended to serve as the continuation to that of Sefer Vayikra, but other pressing personal responsibilities did not allow me to present it at that time.  To ensure continuity and coherence, I have therefore attempted to provide a synopsis of part one at the outset of this week's lesson. 

 

Introduction 

Last lesson, at the opening to Sefer Vayikra, we began to examine the view of the Rambam with respect to the topic of sacrifice.  Having read quite a few of the parshiyot of Sefer Vayikra in the interim, it should now be readily apparent that the sacrificial service is indeed at the core of this Biblical Book, the so-called "Priestly Code".  For over a thousand years, the sacrificial service was practiced in ancient Israel as the loftiest expression of man's attempt to approach the Transcendent God. To be true to our heritage as well as to our intellect therefore demands of us that we not fall prey to a perfunctory and disdainful dismissal of sacrifice as being primitive and irrelevant. Rather, we must conduct a careful and systematic study of its tenets in order to arrive at a more profound appreciation of its message.  It is true that ritual, ceremony, and extensive detail characterize this service and it is quite possible to overlook the broader and more comprehensive underlying themes by becoming bogged down in the minutiae.  It is therefore especially important to consider the words of the Rambam, whose self-stated goal is to provide a far-reaching and sweeping explanation for the sacrificial service as a whole. 

 

Recalcitrant Human Nature and the Divine Directive to Transcend It

 

Recall that Rambam's starting point was a penetrating insight into human nature.  He surmised that the Torah recognizes that human nature tends towards a state of stasis and equilibrium and has difficulty adapting to changes, especially when these are both extensive as well as abrupt.  For true, meaningful, and long-lasting change to take place, it must occur incrementally over time.  The Primary Purpose of the Torah is to foster our relationship with God and to assist us in establishing a cohesive and profound relationship with the Deity; worship and devotion are obviously important parts of that process.  Since the universal form of serving the gods among all peoples in ancient times was sacrifice, this was the service with which the ancient Israelites were well familiar.  Wanting to draw the people away from idolatry but in a manner that recognized the frailties of human nature and the difficulties involved in remolding it, God allowed the people to continue a form of sacrifice, but in a much more limited fashion and subject to strict controls. 

 

At the same time, Rambam posits that the essence of the human personality is freedom of choice and the autonomy to exercise a moral will.  That being the case, God Himself 'must' exercise a self-imposed limitation not to intervene in human nature in a manner that undermines or jeopardizes that freedom.  Thus, although capable of inspiring us to adopt the purer and more refined methods of service, God does not do; instead, He provides us with the direction to achieve that goal as a function of our own moral independence.  We are therefore left in the somewhat uncomfortable situation of following a set of commands that seemingly are devoid of intrinsic value and are only a means to an end.  Rambam appears unperturbed by that fact, and goes on to provide the Biblical precedent of the Exodus to buttress his thesis.  There as well, God took the people of Israel out of Egypt and guided them towards the Land by the more indirect route of the wilderness rather than by the more immediate 'way of the sea'.  He knew that the former slaves, stripped of self-worth and dehumanized by centuries of state-sponsored oppression, would not take well to the probability of conflict with the coastal peoples.  They would immediately turn around and re-embrace the bondage of Egypt.  In this case as well, the seemingly more indirect route in the end turned out to be the more immediate and straightforward. 

 

Sacrifice Versus Prayer

 

Rambam detects support for his idea by examining the differences that exist between the sacrificial service as it is sanctioned in the Torah, and the service of prayer.  Both are expressions of attempting to commune with God and both ideally assert our desire to become closer with the Creator (Note that the Biblical word for sacrifice is KoRBan, deriving from the root KRV that means closeness or proximity).  Nevertheless, the service of sacrifice operates according to strict and demanding controls, while the service of prayer is unfettered by any restrictions.  Thus, "even though the sacrifices are now to be offered only for the sake of God, they are no longer to be performed as they were at the outset (according to the idolatrous system).  It is no longer permissible to sacrifice at any place and at any time, to construct a temple according to one's fancy, and to allow anyone who so desires to officiate and to offer up.  All this became forbidden.  Rather, a single shrine was designated and to offer outside of it was henceforward to constitute a transgression.  The priests were to be only the descendents of a certain lineage.  The purpose of all of this was to lessen and to limit this form of worship, and to confine it only to those modes which God's wisdom did not decree be abandoned completely" (Guide to the Perplexed, Section 3, Chapter 32). 

 

In other words, Rambam explains, the very details that strike us as unwieldy and incomprehensible, actually are the vehicles for elevating the service of sacrifice. They constitute the means of limiting this form of worship and imposing the controls upon it that allow for the possibility of moving it away from idolatry and redirecting it towards the service of God.  Conversely, it is precisely because the sacrificial service is associated with idolatrous practices that these controls are necessary in the first place, for sacrifice according to the Rambam is not an intrinsic goal in itself but only a means to an end, and a somewhat indirect means at that.

 

In contrast, prayer can be performed "at any place and by anyone" because this more refined form of worship is by its very nature closer to the purpose of drawing one nearer to God.  Sacrifice, says Rambam, was only sanctioned in the first place because the ancient Israelites could scarcely imagine a world without it.  Not being intrinsically valuable or ideal, it's sole redeeming feature was that it could serve as the means of slowly but surely deflecting the people away from idolatry towards God.  Prayer, on the other hand, is much closer to the "Primary Purpose, and necessary for its achievement".  One can reach God without sacrifice, says the Rambam, but one cannot reach God without prayer.  Therefore, prayer is not limited to the confines of the Temple or to the service of the Cohanim.  

 

The Source of Rambam's Approach 

It is important to point out that the sources of Rambam's revolutionary approach are to be found in the Torah itself, in this week's Parasha. "God spoke to Moshe saying: Speak to Aharon and to his children and to all of Bnei Yisrael and say to them that God has commanded the following.  If any person from the House of Yisrael slaughters an ox, sheep or goat in the camp or outside of it, and does not bring it to the entrance of the Tent of Meeting to offer it as a sacrifice to God, that person will be considered as a shedder of blood and will be cut off from among his people.  This is in order that Bnei Yisrael should bring their sacrifices, that they now offer in the open field, to God at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting to the Cohen, so that they may be offered instead as peace offerings to God. The Cohen shall throw the blood upon the altar of God at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting and offer the fat as a sweet savor to God.  THE PEOPLE SHALL NO LONGER OFFER THEIR SACRIFICES TO THE DEMONS, AFTER WHICH THEY STRAY.  This shall be an everlasting decree for all generations" (Vayikra 17:1-8).

 

Thus, the Torah here indicates that the people of Israel were wont to offer sacrifices to other gods, and this had in fact been their practice in Egypt as well (see also the commentary of Ramban on verse 7).  God desired to draw the people away from their service of idolatry, and therefore decreed that sacrifice be to be brought only at the Mishkan.  The text stresses that the offering be brought 'to God' four times, that it be presented at the 'entrance of the Tent of Meeting' three times, and that the Cohen be the officiator twice.  This makes Rambam's claim of the Torah seeking to limit and to restrict the sacrificial service, in response to its idolatrous underpinnings, quite compelling but not absolute.  This is because the Torah does not state that the sanction for sacrifices was solely to extirpate idolatry and that the sacrificial service had no intrinsic value, but only that Bnei Yisrael had a predilection for offering sacrifices to the demons that had to be redirected to God.  

 

The Rabbinic Parable

 

Significantly, though, a Rabbinic source adduced by later commentaries in support of the Rambam, appears to provide the necessary evidence.  "Rabbi Pinchas said in the name of Rabbi Levi: the matter can be compared to a King's son who had coarse tastes and was habituated to eating the flesh of carrion and improperly slaughtered meat.  The King said: let this son eat at my table at all times, and this will curtail his habit.  Similarly, the people of Israel were addicted to idolatry in Egypt and would offer their sacrifices to the demons, as the verse states 'that the people shall no longer offer their sacrifices to the demons'…they would also offer their sacrifices on the high places in violation, and would suffer punishment.  Therefore, God said: let them instead offer their sacrifices at all times at the Tent of Meeting and they will THEREBY BE SEPARATED FROM IDOLATRY AND SAVED…" (Vayikra Rabba, 22:8). 

 

This Midrashic source provides clear evidence at least according to this opinion that the Divine motivation for sanctioning sacrifice was as a means of drawing the people of Israel away from idolatry.  The addicted prince (Israel) whose coarse nature (spiritual immaturity) desired unsavory foods (sacrifice to idols) is to be 'cured' of his habit (ingrained practices) not through a severe decree of the King (God) forbidding his son to consume any meat (any sacrificial service) at all, but rather by providing the son with an open invitation to eat at the King's table (the Tent of Meeting) at all times.  This approach constitutes a calculated redirecting of the son's habit towards acceptable conduct and serves as the means of strengthening the bond between the King and his wayward child. 

 

The Sacrificial Service in the Eyes of the Prophets

 

Finally, Rambam utilizes his approach to explain the heated polemic against the sacrificial service found in the words of the Prophets.  These individuals, who were active throughout Biblical history, expended much of their efforts criticizing immorality, egocentricism, self-worship, and insincerity.  Their pointed critique of the sacrificial service is to be found in the words of Shemuel/Samuel even before the inception of the Temple rites, and continues unabated until the time of Yirmiyahu/Jeremiah who witnessed its destruction some five hundred years later.  The following sources, comprehensive but not exhaustive, provides a fair indication of the depth of their indignation at what they saw as a service that was full of pomp, ritual and ceremony, but bereft of content, meaning or sincere devotion: Samuel I:15:22; Hosea 6:6; Isaiah 1:10-18; Amos 5:21-25; Micah 6:6-8; Jeremiah 7:3-15, 21-28.

 

In particular, Rambam singles out a statement of Yirmiyahu, which at first glance seems incomprehensible.  "Thus says the God of Hosts, the Lord of Israel: add your burnt offerings to your other sacrifices and eat the flesh.  For I did not speak to your ancestors nor command them concerning burnt offerings or sacrifices on the day that I took them out of Egypt.  Rather, this is what I commanded them saying: 'hearken to My voice so that I will be your God and you will be My people.  Follow in the way that I commanded you in order that it might be good for you.'" (Yirmiyahu 7:21-23).

 

As Rambam remarks "how can Yirmiyahu say in God's name that He did not command us concerning burnt offerings or sacrifices, seeing that so many mitzvot of the Torah concern precisely these matters?  Rather, the Prophet was telling the people that the Primary Purpose was for them to serve God and not other beings, so that  'I will be your God and you will be My people'.  The commands concerning sacrifice and the approach to God's house were only for the sake of achieving this goal.  It was for this very reason that these forms of worship were transferred towards God, precisely for the sake of wiping out idolatry and to strengthen the foundation of God's Oneness.  Yirmiyahu tells the people that they have abrogated this purpose by doubting God's existence and serving idols, while maintaining the sacrificial service of the Temple!  The Primary Purpose had thus been forgotten by the people as they continued to pursue a sacrificial service that was never meant to be an end in itself!"

 

For the Rambam, the very fact that the sacrificial service was not an end in itself constituted the source of its undoing.  It was not possible for the Prophets to countenance its ceremonial fulfillment by the people while overlooking their rampant nullification of its purpose.  As we continue to pray for the Temple's rebuilding, we would do well to keep Rambam's explanation in mind.  A 'service' of God that is devoid of a desire to come close to His presence and to follow His laws, is a tragic disregard of the Primary Purpose that must constitute the core of our relationship with Him.

 

Shabbat Shalom