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Orchard of Delights
Abraham, the father of the Jewish people, also patterned his life
on these three stages. Throughout his life Abraham submitted to
God’s will, consistently following God’s directives in order to pursue
and deepen his relationship with Him. The sacrifices He made for
God reached their climax when he submitted and bound Isaac to
the altar, separating his personal feelings from what he understood
to be his Divine duty. Furthermore, Abraham led a life of giving,
offering hospitality to all passersby, in his constant efforts to educate
humanity to the truth of monotheism. His tent was open on all four
sides and according to Kabbalah he was one of God’s “chariots,”
a pure conduit of loving-kindness. This type of giving draws down
upon its practitioners and the world, in general, the deepest level
of sweetening and peace. In as much as “the actions of the fathers
are a sign to the children” (Sotah 34a), Abraham paved the way of
spiritual service for the children of Israel. The qualities he displayed
had a profound effect on how a Jew relates to God and approaches
Him. Parenthetically, the idea of sacrifice as epitomized by the
binding of Isaac had a lasting effect not only on the Jewish people
but also on Christianity and Islam, as both of these religions also
look to Abraham as their spiritual father.
While throughout this section, we have argued for the profound
psychological, symbolic, and spiritually rewarding role the Temple
sacrifices played, ultimately, these are only present when the
sacrifices are offered in the correct way with the proper motivations.
Thus, for instance, God made absolutely clear to Abraham after
testing his loyalty and faith at the binding of Isaac that He did
not desire human sacrifice. Subsequently, the Torah railed against
the Canaanite practice of child sacrifice numerous times. More
significantly, the prophets decried the shallowness and superficiality
to which the Temple service had fallen. When the inner meanings of
the sacrifices were lost and only the hollow shell of ritual remained,
the prophets (Jeremiah 6:20; Isaiah 1:11, 66:3; Hosea 8:13) spoke out
in God’s name decrying the meaningless offering of sacrifices. With
the destruction of the Second Temple, the Sages instituted private
and communal prayer and the individual Jew, in effect, became the
cohen, directly responsible for sacrificing “the offerings [literally,
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Vayikra
In response, God told the moon to make itself smaller (Chullin 60b).
Every Rosh Chodesh during the Temple period a goat was brought
as a sin offering. The Torah refers to this sacrifice as “a sin offering
for God” (Numbers 28:15). This phrase is somewhat surprising, as
presumably all the sacrifices brought in the Temple were “an offering
for God.” The Talmud explains that in remorse for making the moon
smaller, God Himself, in a manner of speaking, brings a sin offering
every Rosh Chodesh (Chullin 60b). Rosh Hashanah is also a New
Moon, though we make virtually no reference to this in our prayers,
so on Rosh Hashanah as well, God, as it were, brings a sin offering.
(Notably, the psalmist does allude to Rosh Hashanah as the day
of the new moon, when he writes, “Blow the shofar at the moon’s
renewal, on the day of veiling of the moon, for our feast day” [Psalms
81:3].)
Rabbi Natan explains that on Rosh Hashanah, when we approach
the King, the Holy Judge, with awe and fear, we find that God takes
the advice given in Pirkei Avot (2:5) : “Do not judge your fellow
man until you have been in his position.” God, as it were, declares,
“I understand your predicament. I am also humbly bringing a sin
offering today; please let us draw near to each other again.” God
can judge us and empathize with us because He is also, so to speak,
in our position. This teaching leads us to make the following general
observation about teshuvah and the Temple service. Only people –
be they rebbes, friends, or loved ones – who empathize with us and
truly relate to our pain and confusion can help us rectify ourselves.
When God calls us to perform the Tabernacle service, He is inviting
us to have a personal relationship with Him. Indeed, He contracts
Himself and makes room for us to enter.
The importance of empathy also explains, at least on a superficial
level, why Aaron had to undergo the humiliating experience of being
partly responsible for the Golden Calf. While the commentaries
explain that the reason he participated was to try and stop the
people or at least minimize the gravity of their sin, in retrospect
his participation can be understood on a far more profound level.
Aaron, who was to be the High Priest, needed to experience this
sense of sin to some degree, so that he would be able to relate to
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