Student Divrei Torah

The following student Divrei Torah were written for and delivered in our Years 8 -11 Minyanim, respectively. Rabbi Siegel

Georgia Kahane – Year 8

Today we continue reading the third book of the Torah, Vayikra, as this week’s parashah is Tsav.

In Tsav we learn about the different sacrifices that God told Moses, Aron and his sons to make. These sacrifices were to thank God and to apologise for wrong doing.

The teachings from the Book of Vayikra, such as those in this week’s parashah, concerning ritual sacrifice, seem less relevant today for multiple reasons, such as the lack of a Temple and because sacrificing animals seems really cruel.

But sacrifices in the Mishkan, and later in the Temple are part of our heritage. In the period of time that we are talking about, sacrificial gifts were a primary way to express thanks to God.

I know at first glance; animal sacrifice may seem like a ‘stone age’ practice. But, it can also be seen as representative of a world view in which animals were considered precious, eaten rarely, and with respect.

Everyone has probably loved an animal at some point in his/her lives, whether it be a pet or that one dog in the window of the pet shop that looks really sad. But today, animal species becoming extinct, while sad, isn’t rare. We frown upon our ancestors killing of animals as described in the Torah, but are we any better?

We have driven so many animals to extinction because we hunt them ceaselessly. Animals are driven to extinction, such as lions, rhinos, elephants, and more, because of trophy hunting and profit. There are only about 20,000 lions left in Africa, and every nine and a half hours a rhino is shot and killed for its horns and every hour five elephants are killed for their tusks.

We kill sheep, cows and chickens for food and we kill tigers, elephants and sharks for profit or decoration. I think we need to think about our practices, and not simply frown upon the ancient ones.

But there are still ways we can help. We can help stop animal cruelty in our lives and treat animals with the respect that they deserve by giving money or time to organisations like Voiceless: The Animal Protection Institute. Voiceless speaks out for animals and makes their cause known to Australians.

Let us all treat each other and the animals around us with respect, and don’t frown upon the ancient traditions of animal sacrifice without taking a closer look at our own practices.

Georgie Kahane

Rachel Turtledove – Year 10

Lara Rutstein – Year 10

What rituals do you follow or have in your own life?

This week’s parashah is Tsav, meaning Command! It is a long one, describing the various sacrifices offered in the Mishkan; the Tabernacle (and later in the Temple) which God instructs Moshe to command Aharon to institute. “Sacrificing” is a major ritual that occurs and is described multiple times in the Torah.

We will summarise the content of the different aliyot in this Torah portion.

The first aliyah involves God telling Moshe to command Aharon to remove ashes from the altar, daily. This is the first order of the day in the Temple service. This is necessary as Aharon is commanded to keep the fire burning and never let it die out.

The sacrifices are purification rituals for the individual as well as the community. So, for the first offering, the burnt offering, the kohen gadol, the high priest, gets dressed in his fine linen and gathers the ashes that would have been burning in the fire and places them next to the altar. Then he changes his clothes and takes the ashes to a place far from the camp and the general area, all while ensuring that the fire doesn’t die out.

The second aliyah speaks about the priestly meal offering which is brought by the kohen gadol, twice a day. This is unlike the common kohen, who brings his offering only on the day of his inauguration. This aliyah also describes the laws of the sin offering and the guilt offering. The sin offering involves an animal being slaughtered and eaten, however, it must be eaten in a holy place. Anything or anyone that touches this offering is considered holy. The guilt offering, likewise, involves an animal being slaughtered, and the priest making sure the fat from the meat smokes as a fire offering to God.

Then, the third aliyah includes additional laws of the peace offering but, in addition to this, explains the portions of the offering that have to be shared with the kohanim (the priests).

The remainder of the aliyot describe the first seven days of the inaugural process for Aharon and his four sons. Moshe officiated the entire inaugural process. Aharon and his sons were not allowed to leave the Mishkan the entire time and had to do things such as bathe and dress there. Moshe sanctified them, making them the holiest of holy priests.

The idea of practising rituals, and their need to be meaningful, is evident and prominent in this week’s parashah. But first, what is a ritual?

Well, according to Google, a ritual is “a religious or solemn ceremony consisting of a series of actions performed according to a prescribed order”. However, a ritual can also refer to a consistent series of actions or behaviours that can be followed by someone.

So, in this parashah, if the high priests were only told to “sacrifice the animal,” it would not be as much of a meaningful ritual compared to how they were told to prepare the animal and do everything before sacrificing it. The small, detailed things they were told to do before sacrificing the animal made the ritual more meaningful and important, as well as ensuring that it was established as a ritual, instead of it just being something that some people do.

Everyday, we have rituals that we follow, whether we see them that way or not. Footy night with our families, games night, holiday meals and just sitting around the dining room table every night with one another. These are all rituals.

As well as this, there are marriage rituals and rite of passage, like Bar or Bat Mitzvah ceremonies. In life, we all need rituals, they are a way to create memories that you can cherish for a lifetime and truly add to the overall experience. If we did not have rituals in our daily lives, we would be lacking in some of the most powerful tools for expressing our identity. Rituals provide another way of giving focus to our desires and needs in life.

So we ask again, what rituals do you already have in your own life? And, which upon thinking, do you now recognise you have been practising without realising it? There may be many more than you know. Either way, which rituals do you want to begin in your life and which do you want to abandon?

Rachel Turtledove and Lara Rutstein