How to Secure Holiness

Parsha [Passage of Scripture] Nugget [Precious Idea] Vayikra – Leviticus 1:1-5:26

A member of our community, Father Christopher Allen wrote:

“I’d be very interested in commentary on Lev. 5:1-6. I have always found it fascinating that the requirement to make the hattat offering (which is so often, confusingly I think, translated "sin offering") encompasses infractions which we as moderns would label clearly "moral" violations--the swearing of oaths, refusing to bear witness--as well as "ritual" contamination: contact with unclean animal carcasses, etc.

I've often told my congregations that we have now a more limited understanding of what holiness is than what was true for Israel. Orthodox Christianity retains some of the more ancient understanding and has practices related to it, but modern Orthodox Christians are unaware of why we have certain observances and practices.”

Excerpts of Parshas Vayikra that Father Allen asks about are:

“And a person sins, in that he accepts on an oath, and he is a witness or sees or knows (a matter) but he will not tell it, he will bear his transgression. Or a person that touches on anything spiritually impure . . . and he is guilty. Or that he will touch on the spiritual impurity of a human . . . and he will be guilty. . . . And he will bring his guilt offering to G-d . . . and for a sin offering . . .” (Vayikra/Leviticus 5:1-6).

This Sabbath’s parsha begins the third book of the Torah by the same name. Its other name, Leviticus, refers to its detailing the duties of the Kohanim or Priests, who are part of the tribe of Levi. The parsha gives the rules for bringing offerings on the altar. Notice in verse 2:13 they must be salted, hence why on the Sabbath bread is dipped in salt.

Father Allen correctly connects holiness to the guilt and sin offerings. Let’s examine it.

From an historical perspective, the Almighty takes the Israelites out of the merciless society of Egypt and leads them to Canaan, a land of depraved peoples. The Almighty makes it clear He wants his Chosen People to behave differently. They must be Holy. The Israelites can achieve this by rejecting the behavior of those around them and doing what G-d asks. By being distinct and separate they embrace an essential aspects of holiness.

We take for granted honesty as a societal value. But it took centuries, even millennia to reach this ideal. Nor is the American view universal. In some countries familial responsibility trumps truthfulness to outsiders.

Likewise, we are comfortable with the idea of physical impurity. We understand the results of poor hygiene in food preparation and medical procedures. On some level we comprehend mental impurity. Zig Ziglar’s adage, “Positive thinking won’t let you do anything but it will let you do everything better than negative thinking will” expresses the idea that we are better off filling our minds with empowering messages.

Rarely do we confront the concept of spiritual impurity, a better translation of the Hebrew tumah. G-d decreed Canaanite practices such as defecation to a deity, child sacrifice, and eating blood tumei. As such, they impede getting close to Him. By requiring the Israelites to be distinct and separate from the Canaanites, the Creator encouraged their holiness.

Today distinctiveness is sought because it may lead to celebrity. The avenues to distinctiveness are as likely to be indecent as meritorious. As the French say, la plus ca change, la plus c’est la meme chose – the more things change the more they remain the same.

We cannot cleanse the spiritual contamination that comes from adopting the immoral practices around us by bringing an offering. But the path to holiness still comes from being separate and distinct by focusing our lives on how G-d wants us to behave rather than adopting the societal practices that violate His way.

Chris, thanks for a wonderful question!

Father Allen leads the Sts. Joachim and Anna Orthodox Church in San Antonio, Texas. Like me, he is a navy reserve chaplain, currently with 4^th Marine Reconnaissance Battalion.

What is the hardest part of rejecting mainstream behavior? Please comment below.

Every year beginning on Simchas Torah, the cycle of reading the Torah, the first five books of the Bible, ends and begins again. Each Sabbath a portion known as a sedra or parsha is read. It is named after the first significant word or two with which this weekly reading begins.

What verse in the Old Testament would you like to know more about? Ask here and I will answer it in a future Parsha Nugget!