THE PERFECT SACRIFICE

Parashat Chukkat

Tammuz 9, 5781 / June 18-19, 2021
Torah: Numbers 19:1 - 22:1
Haftarah: Judges 11:1-33

This d'var torah is offered in honor of all those who made the Rabbi Flom Gala happen this past Sunday - organizers, volunteers, donors, attendees, staff - I am eternally grateful to all of you!

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IMPORTANT INFORMATION FOR IN-PERSON ATTENDANCE AT SERVICES AND PROGRAMS
 
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More info about our services and programs follows below this d'var torah. And even more info about our community is available at our website: 
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Please feel free to pass this on, and please cite the source.
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PERFECT SACRIFICE

And the Lord spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying, "This is the chok of the Torah which the Lord has commanded, saying, ‘Speak to the Children of Israel, that they bring you a red heifer without spot, which has no blemish, and upon which there has never been a yoke.'" Numbers 19:1-2

The Rabbis teach that a "chok" is a law in the Torah for which there is no rational explanation. And yet, Jews have struggled for millennia to make sense of this chok especially, for we might read this verse as, "this is THE VERY ULTIMATE chok of the Torah".

How could the offering of a perfect red heifer, and the scattering of its ashes on someone who is ritually impure, make that person ritually pure? How does the ritual of the red heifer actually function? And, what does it mean for us today?

I have read many attempts at rationalizing this ritual, and I am not about to try to formulate my own explanation. Rabbi Harold Kushner, in Chumash Etz Hayim, suggests the following, from a modern commentator whom he does not name. He says that the ritual serves a vital psychological purpose. For one who is burdened by a sense of wrongdoing, who feels spiritually impure, we offer up to God a perfect animal, as if to say that perfection has no place in this world - it cannot exist in this world.

What a relief! Let's expand on that. We know intuitively that we are not perfect, and that we cannot become so. (And we have all sorts of not nice ways to describe someone who thinks they are perfect!) But we also know that very often we try or are pressured to achieve perfection. When we fall short of that goal, when we feel impure and guilty, we can offer up, we can sacrifice the very idea that we can be perfect. We can destroy that notion, take up the ashes and scatter them, and re-establish our sense of wellbeing.

It is true that we are instructed to emulate God, by feeding the hungry, and clothing the naked, and by trying to perfect (better I should say "improve") the world. Though we cannot be perfect, we have the ability and the obligation to strive to be better, to be the best that we can be.

Shabbat Shalom! And Happy Father's Day!

Rabbi Richard A. Flom
Temple B'nai Hayim/Congregation Beth Meier
Blogging at:  http://rav-rich.blogspot.com/ 
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הַלּוֹמֵד מִכָּל אָדָם ?אֵיזֶהוּ חָכָם
Who is wise? The one who learns from every person.
Ben Zoma - Pirkei Avot 4:1
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Candle lighting: 7:48 PM

Kabbalat Shabbat Evening Service  - Religious School Culmination and Celebration of Dads, with Reb Jason and Rabbi Flom this Friday at 6:30 PM via Zoom and Facebook ONLY. NO Shabbat Evening services in the sanctuary until further notice.
 
Shabbat Morning Service with Reb Jason and Rabbi Flom this Saturday at 9:30 AM
IN THE SANCTUARY and via Zoom and Facebook. ***See important note above***
 
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David Silon’s on-going class on Israel meets Sunday at 11:00 AM.
 
Join us every Tuesday at 12:30 PM for Lunch and Learn, a 60-90 minute study session. We're learning Hasidic and classic teachings on the weekly parashah. 

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