When we consider the Jewish transformation of the sacrificial system, the question of gender, power, spirituality, and leadership can emerge in a more nuanced light.Īnthropologist Mary Douglas, who has been called “the mother of ritual studies,” shows that Leviticus has a specific way to approach the subject of spirituality and the body in relation to sacrifices.Ĭhristianity transformed sacrifices by bringing sacrifices’ symbolism right into the heart of its worship service. We can ask also how this ritual of sacrifice was transformed in Christianity and in Judaism. To do justice to the sacrificial system, we need to contextualize Israelite sacrifice with the help of anthropology, sociology, comparative religion, and even neurobiology.
As we learn about ritual as a human phenomenon, we come to understand it as a language of its own, uniquely meaningful. Over the years Adler, Eisen, and many others have come to appreciate the power of the rituals described in this parsha. If the rituals of sacrifice in the sanctuary (Leviticus 6:1-7:48) seem to be of little interest, the elaborate rites for ordaining priests (Leviticus 8:136) appear to be both archaic and problematic in their exclusion of women from spiritual leadership. Reform theologian Rachel Adler reports that when she was growing up she never heard the word “ritual” without it being prefaced by the word “meaningless.” Likewise, Arnold Eisen, a scholar of contemporary Judaism, for many years kept his sights on so-called higher things (like faith and covenant) in lieu of studying the sacrificial system ( Taking Hold of Torah, 1997, p. Many contemporary Jews find this portion among those that make their eyes glaze over. We can draw an arc from Elizabeth Ehrlich’s kitchen back to the Torah portion before us. She wanted to “infuse the minutiae of everyday life with something more.” She recognized that someone would have to make this a “priority mission,” and that that someone would be her. As the year passed, Ehrlich grew increasingly interested in becoming a ritual specialist in her home.
Miriam’s Kitchen: A Memoir (1997) is Ehrlich’s report on a year spent learning from her mother-in-law, Miriam, a Polish Holocaust survivor, the details of domestic religion-the laws and the lore. Commentary on Parashat Tzav, Leviticus 6:1 - 8:36Įlizabeth Ehrlich was once a comfortable “cultural Jew.” The practice of Jewish religion held little attraction for her.
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