Tsav 5762, Leviticus 6:1-8:36

Shabbat Shalom-

In light of recent Israeli events which do not make most American headlines, I thought I would use a verse in this week's portion as a springboard to a relevant issue.  To see one of the press releases of the Masorti/Conservative movement see the following links:

Conversion and Democracy, a Masorti statement
A Supreme Court Decision, now being circumvented

"As the sin-offering as the guilt-offering, one method-teaching for them." (Lev 7:7)

The verse in its context teaches us that both these types of offerings much be offered in the same way, the same Torah (method).  The verse, though not readily relevant, echoes other calls for unity in ritual practice then and now.  To what extent must our practice be uniform for us to be a united people?  Are we to be a melting pot or a salad bowl, of plurality or conformity?  Our portion calls for us to offer our offerings in a uniform manner, any deviation from which might suffer one's offering to not be accepted (7:19), to consider oneself sinner (7:19), or even excision from the people (7:20-21).

It is clear from not only Rabbinic but even Biblical sources that this unity of worship was the ideal rather than the reality.  For every call to unity of worship there was a condemnation of deviant forms.  For every majority opinion quoted there is necessarily a minority. And yet, the Israeli religious system insists on condoning only the official form of Judaism recognized by the official state rabbis or any party with enough political power.  Are they justified by calls for unity of practice or are the liberal movements justified by their calls for unity as a ubiquitous democratic right?

It is true that as a religious community under God, our public practice is under more scrutiny than our private, i.e. my decisions on where I eat out do not affect others whereas my kashrut practices at home do affect my guests.  However, that is no justification for constantly searching for the strictest opinion that satisfies all by accommodating the strict and causing the lenient to conform.  Why conform when we can compromise?  Why must we constantly build on the letter of the law and ignore the spirit?  Why must we rely on our emotions and ignore the letter?*  The questions get at the very center of the debate at what it means to be a Jew today.

As far as I'm concerned, since forcing people into a certain practice will limit the meaningfulness of their practice and generally alienate them for the coercer, the current practice of requiring marriages and conversions in Israel to be ministered by Orthodox rabbis in order to be registered is a disgrace to a state that calls itself democratic.  Not all dilemmas in the state today are external. A state that denies basic religious freedom is not a democracy even if we add to 'democratic state' the adjective, 'Jewish'.

So, when the text calls for the two offerings to be offered under the same Torah-method, I do not understand the text to require all people to bring them uniformly in practice.  I must understand the text to say that whichever offering we bring, in whatever way we approach our relationship with our people, what makes our approach Jewish is not our technique, but our dealing with the method and language of our people.  To deny another person the right to his worldview is equivalent to claiming a hold on the truth-- something I am not so arrogant to do.

"Have we not one Father to us all? Has not one God wrought us?  Wherefore do we betray a man his fellow, profaning the covenant of our fathers?"  Betrayed has Judah and abomination has been done in Israel and in Jerusalem, for Judah profaned what is holy to YHWH, what he loves, and espoused a daughter of a foreign god.  YHWH should cut off the man that does this-- his children (?), whether from the tents of Jacob, or from the presenter of a gift to YHWH of Hosts." (Malachi 2:10-12, based on NJPS 1985)

Have a caring week!
Benjamin Fleischer 

*These are somewhat technical generalizations relating to the conversion "Who is a Jew" debate I shall not go into here.

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