Parashat Acharei Mot 5768

I believe this week's Torah portion Parashat Acharei Mot may reveal a deeply entrenched argument that the Torah has lovingly preserved for us. The argument, according to Leviticus scholar Mary Douglas, focuses on the role of meat in human life. (And, I know many of you have meat on the brain these days, as you begin searching the TBS Sisterhood Cookbook for the perfect brisket recipe to use for your Passover seder.)

The Torah's ancient "meat argument" revolves around a central question: Can meat be slaughtered and consumed if it is not being offered as a sacrifice to God?Before I get to the two answers, let me give a word of background. In the Torah, the most common kind of sacrifice was a well-being sacrifice. This sacrifice was "shared" by three parties: part was offered up to God as smoke on the altar, part was eaten by the priests, and part was eaten by the Israelites who brought the animal. And so, the question is, could an animal be slaughtered and eaten if it wasn't first brought to the Tabernacle and offered up to God?

1. "Yes," answers Deuteronomy (and the Jewish laws derived from it). An Israelite could slaughter an animal, cook it, and eat it, without any sort of special ceremony, as long as it was slaughtered in a kosher manner.
   
2. "No," answers Leviticus.Douglas explains: "Leviticus...[allows] no profane slaughter, the only shedding of animal blood it permits is in the consecrated killing of sacrifice" (Douglas 68). While many scholars do not agree with Douglas' reading of Leviticus, I found her interpretation quite compelling as I read this week's Torah portion. Leviticus 17:3-4 exclaims, "If anyone of the house of Israel slaughters an ox or sheep or goat in the camp, or does so outside the camp, and does not bring it to the entrance of the Tent of Meeting to present it as an offering to Adonai, before the Tabernacle of Adonai, bloodguilt shall be imputed to that man: he has shed blood; that man shall be cut off from among his people."

The ancient commentator Rashi explains that if a person were to kill an animal outside of the prescribed system, he would incur bloodguilt "just as if he had killed a human." According to Acharei Mot, all creatures on earth "belong" to God and, therefore, need to be treated in a consecrated manner.

While Leviticus' understanding of sacrifice does not translate into Jewish law, it does have an enduring value for us today. This week's Torah portion teaches us to be concerned about holiness in all aspects of our life, from what we eat to how we relate to others. And, while we may reinterpret some of these mitzvot, their underlying concern is simple: we can search for the holy in everything we do, whether we are preparing a meal, beginning a conversation, searching the internet, or talking with our children.

My blessing for us all this Shabbat is that we embody some of what Leviticus pushes us to consider: No aspect of our life is profane. Everything we do has the potential to be sacred, if we only choose to define it as such.