R. Avital Hochstein on Parashat Tzav: On Offerings, Wholeness, and Peace

Welcome to Tashma, the podcast where you get to listen in on Hadar's Beat Meadrash. This year, every week, we will hear a divartura on the parasha from Rabbi Avital Haksdin, President of Hadar in Israel. Let's listen. Meadrash Baikrada offers an extensive harmony under Shlamim, peace offering, based on the linguistic affinity between the Hebrew words "shlamim", "shle mut", which means "holness" and "shalom", which means "peace". By examining both the technical details of how the offering was brought and the linguistic potential inherent in its name, the Meadrash transforms a discussion of ancient ritual into an exploration of the very nature of peace. When summarizing the sacrificial taxonomy, the Torah places the Shlamim sacrifice at the end, and the verse says as follows. This is the law of the burnt offering, the meal offering, the sin offering, the guilt offering, the consecration offering, and the sacrifice of the peace offering, the Shlamim. The Meadrash in Baikrada wonders why this should be the case. Rabishimon said, "The grammita, which is a dessert of fruit and nuts, is only served at the very end of the meal. Why? Because it contains many different kinds of ingredients. So too, why does the Shlamim appear last? Because it contains many different kinds, the blood and the inner fats are given to the falter, the breast and the thighs are given to the priests, and the hide and the meat are given to the owners." The Meadrash compares the placement of the Shlamim at the end of the list to a kind of dessert like a fruit salad, something made of different parts that is distributed to multiple people. Similarly, the Shlamim contains many different kinds. It is a composite offering, comprised of many elements, takes place across different domains and benefits a diverse range of participants. The Meadrash implies that it is precisely this multiplicity that makes the offering complete Shalim. Indeed, the Meadrash links the Shlamim to the concept of wholeness, Shleemut, in the sense that its components are varied and diverse, because different parts of the sacrifice are consumed by the altar, others are given to the priests, and still others are kept by the owners, the various components converge to create something that can truly be called complete. The Meadrash goes on to link the Shlamim to life and death to deficiency. Abishimun says, "When his whole Shalim brings Shlamim, but an unan, a person in the first stage of bereavement does not bring Shlamim." This statement proposes a profound relationship between the whole person, the peace offering Shlamim, and the encounter with death. The Meadrash defines what it means to be whole by pointing to its opposite, the Onen. An Onen is a person whose deceased relative lies before them, one whose loved one has passed away but has not yet been buried. This is a person consumed by the immediate demands of burial and the raw impact of loss. According to our Meadrash, such a person cannot bring a Shlamim. There is then a profound gap between the preoccupation with death and the essence of the Shlamim. The Shlamim by its very nature demands wholeness, and wholeness is intrinsically linked to life rather than death. This Meadrash reflects a world view in which life is the ultimate expression of the whole, or perhaps that life is defined by its capacity for wholeness. Dealing with death connects us to fragmentation and deficiency, creating a temporary boundary for our service of God. And simply cannot bring an offering of wholeness while standing in the presence of death. The Meadrash continues by strengthening the bond not only between Shlamim and wholeness, Shlamut, but between Shlamim and peace, Shalom. Rabbi Manny of Sheva, Rabbi Yoshua of Sichnin, in the name of Rabbi Levy said the following, "Great is peace, Shalom. For all the blessings, good tidings, and consolations that the Holy One blessed be He brings upon Israel conclude with peace." In the Shma, he spreads a shelter of peace. In the Amidab prayer, he makes peace, and in the priestly blessing it ends with and grant you peace. The Meadrash demonstrates that peace is great by pointing to the fact that in Jewish tradition, so many of our essential prayers and blessings are sealed with the word Shalom. For example, the evening Shma service on Shabbat concludes with the blessing who spreads a shelter of peace upon us. The Meadrash then poses a deeper question. I only know this is true regarding blessings. How do I know it is true regarding the sacrifices? As it says, "This is the law of the burnt offering, Ola, the meal offering, Mincha, the sin offering, Khatat, the guilt offering, Asham, the consecration offering, and the sacrifice of the peace offering." Shlamim. As proof that the sacrificial system is also sealed with peace, the Meadrash cites the summary verse that concludes the entire description of the offerings. This is an underlying assumption that requires no further proof. The Shlamim is the embodiment of peace. The Meadrash explains that the seal of peace applies not only to individual offerings, but also to the communal offerings brought by the entire congregation on festivals. In the language of the Meadrash, Shlamim and Shalom merge and become interchangeable. This becomes even more evident in the next stage of the Meadrash. The Meadrash shifts seamlessly from the technical world of sacrifices to the cosmic state of the entire universe, without feeling any need to explain the transition. In the eyes of the Meadrash, this is not a change of subject, but a deepening focus on the theme that great is peace. The Meadrash concludes, "I only know this regarding this world. How do I know it applies to the world to come?" As it says, "Behold, I will extend peace to her like a river." The concluding Meadrash of this section in Weikaraba expands the seal of peace beyond human rituals to the entire arc of history. The rabbi said, "Great is peace, for when the king Messiah comes, he will open with peace." As it is said, "How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of the messenger of good tidings who announces peace." A careful reading reveals a fascinating shift here. Unlike the previous sequences of homilies that focused on peace as a seal or conclusion, this Meadrash ends by highlighting peace as an opening. He will open with peace. Peace is great not only because it is a fitting final chord or a proper bottom line, but because it is the very first word of redemption. This Meadrash describes the greatness of peace by returning to and expanding upon the concept of wholeness. Shle-mut. Peace is great because it is all encompassing. It is both the opening and the closing. It creates a hole by enveloping life from beginning to end. In this Meadrash move, the peace offering Shle-mim, the whole Shalim and peace Shalom merge into three unified entities interchangeable and perhaps even identical. What then is the blueprint that Shle-mim provide for bringing peace? What does the sacrifice teach us about how peace is actually achieved? We must seal our actions with peace, but we must also strive to open with it, or at the very least build towards a world where peace is at starting point. We must foster a reality where wholeness is understood as something complex, composed of different diverse and distinct parts that together build a complete whole. And finally, we must dedicate ourselves as much as possible to the realm of life and growth rather than to the realm of death and deficiency. Shabbat Shalom. Our producers for this episode are Khanak Kupets and Jeremy Tabeck. Thank you to Nadav Ramesh for editing this episode. I'm your host, Rabbi Avi Killepp. It's been a pleasure to learn with you.