Parashat: Vayikra
Torah Reading: Leviticus 1:1–5:26
“But if one’s means do not suffice for a sheep, that person shall bring to יהוה, as the penalty for that of which one is guilty, two turtledoves or two pigeons—one for a sin offering and the other for a burnt offering.”
—Leviticus 5:7
For the past five weeks we’ve talked about planning, plotting, and project managing from the heart as we came to the end of Exodus. Now, in starting Leviticus with detailed sacrificial rites, this line calls out, suggesting that sacrifices too, are meant to be a means to an end and a gift from the heart.
What happens if you’re meant to bring a sacrifice to God, but you simply don’t have the means to do so? The Torah suggests that we’re not expected to go above and beyond to suffer additional penalties in order to sacrifice. Our sacrifices are/were meant to bring us closer to God, something that is difficult to accomplish if we’re constantly hiding in shame or dwelling below the poverty line in order to achieve it. Instead, the Torah instructs us that we’re able to provide a sacrifice that might more realistically meet our budgetary constrictions, and that this sacrifice is equal to the task, as long as one’s heart is sufficiently in it.
—Rabbi Amanda K. Weiss
