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This week’s Parsha is Vayikra. It is the first parsha of the book of Leviticus (Vayikra). Fun fact about this parsha: Vayikra is the longest portion in the Torah in terms of word count! So, I’m not surprised that we don’t have a bar/bat mitzvah this week! However we do have a Torah service tomorrow morning at 10:30 am, please come. 

In addition to being long, Vayikra is also somewhat unpleasant and challenging to our modern sensibilities. The main topic of Vayikra is laws related to animal sacrifice. It’s been thousands of years since we had a Temple in Jerusalem, in which to perform sacrifices. Officially, as a people, we mourn the destruction of the Temple. We mark its destruction every year on our calendar on Tisha B’av, the saddest day of the year. We fast. We refrain from washing or wearing leather or engaging in marital relations. Unofficially, are we that sad about the loss of a Temple? To be perfectly honest, I’m not. There are Jews that want the Temple rebuilt. I oppose that for two main reasons. The first reason is that there’s currently a Dome of the Rock and an Al Aksa Mosque in that location, and I think it’s in the best interest of geopolitical stability to keep those beautiful structures right where they are. The second reason is that I absolutely do not want to reboot animal sacrifices as a part of my religion. 

We are taught that the answers to all questions are contained in the Torah. We believe that the Torah is eternally relevant. What do we, as Jews, do with a section of the Torah that goes into detail about the practice of sacrificing animals which is objectively irrelevant, since the Temple no longer exists?

We dig deeper, below the surface. We reframe the question. Instead of asking what animal sacrifice has to do with me, a modern enlightened individual, we can ask what the significance of sacrifice in terms of the relationship between humanity and G-d. is. If G-d is the creator, what benefit is there to G-d to command that his people sacrifice his own creations to him?

Why does G-d command sacrifices? 

Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi, the first Rebbe of Lubavitch offers an insight about the nature of humans that I would like to share with you. According to Rabbi Zalman and other mystics, we have two souls contained in each of us. We have an animal soul and the godly soul.  We are animals. We have animal needs. We need food, drink, and shelter. We are born, we live, we die. Our fate as a person is no different than any cow, dog, or mosquito. This is the domain of the animal soul. 

We are animals, and yet, we are more than animals. We have an inherent thirst for transcendence. We ask “why?” We are not governed by biology alone. We are both animal and not animal simultaneously. We have the animal soul and also the transcendent godly soul. When we talk about being made in God’s image, I believe we’re referring to this mysterious godly soul. 

So getting back to Sacrifice, The essence of sacrifice, said Rabbi Shneur Zalman, is that we offer of ourselves. We bring to God our faculties, our energies, our thoughts, and emotions. The physical form of sacrifice – an animal offered on the altar – is only an external manifestation of an inner act. The real sacrifice is “of you.” We give God something of ourselves.  Sacrifice is not about what is being lost to the individual, it's about what is being elevated to God. 

What we sacrifice to God is the animal soul within us. Just as the ash and smoke of the ancient burnt offerings were lifted to the heavens, through this holy act of sacrifice we elevate our animal soul to be physically and spiritually closer to God, to redirect our animal soul toward divine purpose and liberate ourselves from the slavery of nature survival. 

Without the Temple, we cannot sacrifice animals, but we must continue the holy act of sacrifice. We must continue to give of ourselves to people, institutions, and concepts, that lead us to the divine and continuing the work of creation. We sacrifice of ourselves by consciously overcoming our animal nature. In a way, a sacrifice is transforming something from the physical realm into something of the holy realm.

This Shabbat, I challenge all of us to think about ways that we can sacrifice of our animal nature to further our humanity. Perhaps it’s sacrificing some time, elevating a little of your time, to call someone who is sick or on the Mi Sheberach list, or maybe you know deep down you need to apologize to somebody for something. I urge you to transform your time, into transcendence. Take this opportunity to do what is right. And if you have questions about what is right, I invite you to join us for Torah study tomorrow morning at 9:30 am!
 
Which leads me to the reason we are here. One of the Torah Study regulars, our very own Jeff Schweid, is retiring from his role at Temple Israel after almost 4 years.    
Ta’amod Yitzhak ben Shlomo
Jeff,

I started working here in April of 2020. Early Pandemic. Temple was closed. Services were Zoom only from homes. It was only Jeff and I coming into the office. He came in to collect the mail and do the bookkeeping stuff. 

Jeff reminded me a lot of my parents. He listens to NPR, he is a man of culture, he cares about the planet. I can honestly say that I liked him immediately. He told me from the beginning that he didn’t really need the work and that if I wanted to find someone else, he would be fine with that. 

He was instrumental in helping me turn my vision into a reality. Our first project together was getting Temple onto the Shulcloud platform, which was an enormous task. It required a lot of tedious work, and careful data entry. Jeff was a partner when we parted ways with Kesef, an accounting firm in New Jersey, and returned to taking care of things in-house. 

Jeff has always been a dedicated member of the team. He was never shy about lending a hand or an opinion. 

On behalf of myself, the Temple Israel team, and our community, I want to thank you and present to you this humble token of appreciation. 

I’d like to share a few words from a couple of your former colleagues.

From Michelle:

"I will miss talking books, recycling and cars and anything else we used to chat about. 
Your kind and calm presence is missed around the office. 
You were always helping others with issues. Giving great advice on how to make our jobs easier.
You did your best to keep things green at Temple. Even as far as going through the trash looking for cans and other recyclables. I appreciated that about you. 
You were always willing to give car advice.  You changed out my blinker bulb and I should have taken notes since I’ll be doing it solo next time. 
Thank you for your patience in teaching me the accounting ropes. You were a great mentor and colleague and I wish you all the best on your retirement!"

From Ben Cohen,

"I am so thankful that I got to work with Jeff Schweid and can call him my friend. Jeff, you’ve given so much to the Temple Israel community and you were so kind and helpful to me as a young professional who was new to Omaha. 

Thanks for teaching me how to change my own oil, how to get better in Excel and tips for eating and staying healthy. I appreciated how much you cared for the environment and miss scrounging through the Temple Israel fridge with you at lunch. Mazal tov on retirement and we all know you of all people will live 'til you’re 120!"

And with that, I will return to my humble AV room, and ask the clergy to please commence with the blessing. 

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Watch the entirety of Friday’s service here. 

Watch just the Sermon portion here. 

You can also watch the service from Saturday, March 25. 

Temple Talk is a recap of sermons given from the Bimah for those who missed a Sermon or who wanted to revisit the words spoken at a previous sermon.