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all those who would come to the Tabernacle to do teshuvah. This level. The atmosphere in the Temple was by all accounts elevated
is what the Talmud means when it declares that Aaron, along with and inspiring; thus, taking such a mundane activity and sanctifying
the entire generation of the desert, and King David, when he sinned it by making it a part of the Temple service is the highest level of
with Bathsheba, really should not have committed the sins they did. introducing spirituality into this world. In commemoration of this,
The Talmud asserts that on a deep level these sins ultimately came even the tables we dine on today are treated as altars and we are
about to demonstrate to individuals, in the case of David, and the encouraged to relate to eating, especially on Shabbat and holidays, as
multitude in the case of Aaron and the generation of the desert, how a holy and spiritual act. Thus, not only does the sacrificial act possess
teshuvah could take place (Avodah Zarah 4b-5a). In this way the call profound symbolic and psychological properties, as argued above,
to service which introduces the book of Vayikra is a constant call to offering the sacrifice and consuming it also turns the mundane act of
humble one’s self like the small alef in order to make teshuvah an eating into an uplifting experience.
ongoing possibility. (All the above insights on the small alef were Some have argued that the sacrificial offerings were primitive
discussed in Seeds and Sparks, pp. 166-176.) because they were mere attempts to bribe a deity. The very word in
Hebrew for sacrifice (korban) disproves this argument as it is derived
from the verb meaning “to bring close.” The sacrifices were not an
attempt to appease or bribe God but rather an exercise in submission
££God’s Calling:
£God’s Calling: God’s Calling: and in publicly recognizing God; on a psychological level, the person
bringing the sacrifice drew closer to the Divine by actually offering
The Small Silent VoiceThe Small Silent Voice
The Small Silent Voice or giving of him or herself to God.
Significantly, the three characteristics of submission, sacrifice, and
offering found in the sacrificial process reflect the Ba’al Shem Tov’s
In analyzing the nature and quality of God’s call to Moses, Rashi, insight that every process, whether material or spiritual, contains
through the prism of classic rabbinic commentary, discusses how only three stages: submission, separation, and sweetening. In the case of
Moses heard this call and how in fact every communication from God the Temple sacrifices, submission involves an individual’s acceptance
to Moses was preceded by such a call. He then addresses the question of his or her existential relationship with the Creator and submission
of whether Moses only heard such a call before receiving the larger to the Torah’s guidelines on how to approach and come closer to God.
sections present in a traditional Torah scroll, but not before receiving The separation stage comes in the form of the expenditure of time,
the smaller subsections. He concludes that only the larger sections money, and effort involved in bringing a sacrifice. The sweetening
were preceded by a call, not the subsections and subdivisions. Why stage manifests itself in the spiritual sweetness experienced when one
then, he asks, was the Torah divided into so many subsections? freely desires to please God by giving of him or herself.
His answer imparts a crucial lesson: the Torah was subdivided into
subsections so that Moses would have time to meditate and reflect As we have seen before, the same dynamic occurs in contemporary
between receiving one section and another, between one subject and prayer. A great amount of submission is required of an individual to
another. As Rashi concludes, if Moses needed time to meditate on commit to praying three times a day on an ongoing basis. Time and
God’s words before commencing a new topic, how much more so does effort must be sacrificed and enormous self-discipline expended to
an ordinary person! follow through on such a commitment. In submitting and making
these sacrifices, life is sweetened by giving one’s self over to prayer.

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