Good Citizenship Requires Individual Participation

Shanah Tovah everyone! Happy Second Day of 5773!

Today we look at Va-Yikra, Leviticus 1:1 - 5:26 - the first reading of Leviticus.

Leviticus opens with a lot of talk of offerings - the different kinds of things we must offer up on an altar in ancient Israelite religious practices.

We no longer do these, so what can they teach us?

Community rules count - when we miss the mark and hurt someone, we have probably violated an ethical code of our community as well. So we apologize to the person we've hurt, make amends, and then pay a penalty to the community for disrespecting the civics of our society as well.

We are all connected, and our actions have repercussions beyond the individual.

During these Days of Awe we are called upon to confess publicly for exactly this reason - as individual members of a community we need to repair our standards together.

Dress for Spiritual Success, Judge Not

Today for our daily Elul thought we look at T'tzaveh, Exodus 27:20 - 30:10 - more details about things for the Mishkan, or portable Temple, the special garb for the priesthood, offering ceremonies for the ordaining of priests and their regular duties, and the description of the altar.

We could sum it all up by saying notes on interior decorating and fashion.

We don't like to think that we get judged on our spaces and our garb. Often we unfairly judge others based on their appearances.

Perhaps the Elul thought of the day on this is: let our work on our spaces and appearances be ours alone, and let us avoid judging what others do for themselves.

Dressing because we want to look good for the Universe seems OK, allowing ourselves to be judgmental about other people's choices in this, less so.

Make the Present by Remembering the Past

Today we look at Bo, Exodus 10:1 - 13:16 - the conclusion of the plagues leading to the Israelites leaving Egypt and servitude.

The main theme of this parashah culminates in the practices of Passover, a holiday of remembrance. We remember in large part through dietary restrictions:

Exodus 13:6 For seven days you are to eat matzot [unleavened bread], and on the seventh day (there is): a pilgrimage-festival to Adonai.
7 Matzot are to be eaten for the seven days, nothing fermented is to be seen with you, no leaven is to be seen with you, throughout all your territory.
8 And you are to tell your child on that day, saying: It is because of what Adonai did for me, when I went out of Egypt.

This reminder of our identities as the descendants of the oppressed gets reinforced every year through a week-long change in what we eat.

Elul and the High Holy Days also ask us to remember - to remember our own actions and their impacts, to remember our obligations to ourselves and others, and to remember those who are no longer with us.

We may not always have a vivid physical reminder of the past, so we must find ways to have the past and its meaning live on through the changes we make in ourselves.