The eighth weekly biblical portion, Tetzavveh (Exodus 27:20-30:10), deals primarily with the sanctuary, later called temple and still later synagogue, and priests who functioned in the first two types of buildings that no longer exist. Priests are not prominent in synagogues today but are given honors and functions. While the sanctuary and temples no longer exist and priests have a considerably reduced role in synagogues, we can learn much from these ancient items that are relevant today. I will give examples from a non-Orthodox Jewish thinker.
Dennis Prager
Maimonides wrote that the truth is the truth no matter what its source. Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook, the first Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi of British Mandatory Palestine (1865-1935), wrote similarly that we can learn much even from atheists.
Dennis Prager (born 1948), an American conservative radio talk show host and writer, is a good example. He was trained in his youth as an Orthodox Jew but abandoned Orthodoxy. He states he maintains many traditional Jewish practices and is religious.
He wrote many books, including a series called “The Rational Bible.” I find much in them interesting, but I differ from him because he takes Bible stories literally and is usually convinced that the events really happened. I see many events as parables and read many statements as metaphors, hyperbole, and poetry.
I disagree, for example, with the following: He asks, “Who was the most tragic figure in the Bible?” He answers, “God, because of God’s disappointment in humans.” He feels that God has emotions. I do not think that God has emotions.
True, the Torah mentions that God becomes angry at times. But this is not done to reveal a fact about God but to frighten people who find it hard, if not impossible, to reason into thinking they will be punished if they misbehave with fierce divine anger and be prompted to act appropriately. The pagan Plato calls this a “Noble Lie.” The Jew Maimonides named it “Essential Truths.” The Muslim ibn Tofayl wrote about it in his philosophical novel “Hay ibn Yakdan.” It is one of my favorite books. Everyone should read it.
Another example of Prager’s statements that I disagree with is his reply to the question: Why did God kill animals in the flood? He wrote animals were created for human use, and since only one family remained after the flood, there was no need for so many animals.
I agree with Maimonides in his Guide for the Perplexed 2:48 that the Torah ascribes natural events to God not because God performed the acts that were natural and caused by the forces of nature but because God is the ultimate cause since He created or formed the laws of nature.
I also agree with Maimonides, who wrote that animals have feelings, so why would God hurt innocent animals? I see the flood as a natural event; most likely, not all animals died, and fish weren’t killed. It is even possible that the flood only struck a small area.
Having said this, I still think Prager has much to offer. He raises good questions, and many of his explanations are good.
The following are his ideas about the buildings constructed for God and the priests who functioned in them.
He gives four reasons why it is wrong to say the Torah is filled with immorality because, among other of its teachings, animal sacrifices are immoral. First, Maimonides taught that God did not desire animal sacrifices. The ancient Israelites accepted the primitive notion of their pagan neighbors that God needed sacrifices, and the sacrifices of animals showed their love for God. The ancients even sacrificed their children.
Maimonides stressed that the Torah dislikes sacrifices and allows them only as concessions. Since the ancient Israelites felt so strongly that sacrifices were necessary, had the Torah prohibited them, they would have rejected the entire Torah.
Prager wisely adds that sacrificing children has not changed. We still send young men and women to war and on suicide missions.
Second, the majority of humanity that eats animal flesh has no legitimate or even logical reason to oppose animal sacrifices on moral grounds. They are eating animals without any consideration of the living being killed to satisfy their lusts and stomachs.
While being forced to allow the killings, the Torah took the murders and eating exceptionally seriously. The animals sacrificed were not subjected to the cruelties existing in modern slaughtering and the brutalities of how the animals are farmed.
Third, sacrifices were imbued with sanctity and given noble goals, such as atoning for destructive past behaviors and bringing people closer to God. The Hebrew word for sacrifice is korban, which literally means bringing one close (to God).
Fourth, sacrifice teaches that nothing worthwhile comes without sacrifice. Parents sacrifice a great deal for their children, spouses sacrifice for their marriage, friends sacrifice to maintain the friendship, and people desiring to improve their lives sacrifice years of fun and leisure to learn and improve their skills.
Prager addresses the traditional Jewish view that priests were males. Although others disagree, he contends that the Torah’s depiction of women was often remarkably egalitarian. He could have added, as he did above, speaking about sacrifices, that the Torah could not tell the somewhat primitive Israelites when it was given that women were equal to men, but he did not.
Instead, he notes that the first woman, Eve, is described as “a helper equal to Adam.” The matriarchs play a decisive role in determining the Israelite destiny. Rebecca, not her husband Isaac, guaranteed Jacob to become the third patriarch. A woman saved Moses when Pharaoh ordered all male children to be killed. Women also served as prophets.
Prager then explains that the Torah needed to give the priestly role to men and mandated that the priests wear modest clothing to de-sexualize religion. Female priests and their sexual activity in their temples were significant features of many primitive religions. The Torah stresses family, a world-changing role that benefited women and men, Jews and non-Jews.
Behaviors have changed, but not enough. People still focus on sex and other personal desires. I think it is tragic that people still haven’t realized the benefits of a proper marriage. If they love their spouses and treat each other with mutual trust, their actions will train them to behave with others similarly and inaugurate a messianic era. It is terrible to hear that sociologists have found that fifty percent of marriages end in divorce, and a third of married spouses hide their income and spending from each other. The total of just these two behaviors shows that eighty-three percent of marriages do not function properly today.
I like Dennis Prager, and I agree with you (and him) that sacrifices teach the important lesson that nothing worthwhile comes without sacrifice. For example, in hunter-gathering societies, the hunter sacrificed a portion of his meal for his family and fellow cave dwellers. However, I still feel that animal sacrifices are primitive and immoral. I think if God is good, and if God created a world that Genesis calls “very good,” God would not want people to kill what He created. Rather, we can teach the same lesson by sacrificing a portion of our income by giving it to the poor.
I get Prager’s point that those who eat meat shouldn’t complain, but in most cases, the consumer did not kill the animal themselves. Most people would not want to kill an animal. I agree that modern slaughterhouses are terrible and should be reformed. Ideally, I would prefer everyone to be vegetarian. I also think that the Torah prefers a vegetarian diet, but that’s besides the point.
We again, my friend Turk.
Behaviors have changed, but not enough. People still focus on sex and other personal desires. I think it is tragic that people still haven’t realized the benefits of a proper marriage. If they love their spouses and treat each other with mutual trust, their actions will train them to behave with others similarly and inaugurate a messianic era. It is terrible to hear that sociologists have found that fifty percent of marriages end in divorce, and a third of married spouses hide their income and spending from each other. The total of just these two behaviors shows that eighty-three percent of marriages do not function properly today.
Was marriage better in the past?
people in the past didn’t have high divorce rates.
I think marriages in the past were far worse than they are today becaucause men mistreated women. True, the divorce rate was lower but this was due to the general feeling of the time that divorce was wrong.
Did we force women to be in rape-marraiges?
Where they are forced to be raped or in a marriage they do not consent to?
I admit I have problems with this law, a law, like sacrifices and salvery, that does not exist today.
The best answer I have at this time is that we are dealing with primitive Israelites who were unable to give up their primitive ideas, such a slavery and the inferiority of woman whom they mistreated. If forced to give up the primitive behaviors the foolish Israelites woud have rjected the Torah.
Faced witht he problem of a raped wokan whom many men of the ancient time would not want to marry, and the problem that at that time that a lone woman could not supprt herslf, and the problem how to control rapists,the Torah was forced to compel rapists to marry the woman they assaulted to stop them from raping women. It is likely that the Torah relied on the general rule stated elsewhere in the Bille that a husband must treat a wife that he hated properly, with sex, clothing, food, etc. Thus, while it needed to solve the problems by forcing rapists to marry women they assaulted, the Torah protected the assaulted woman from further abuse.
He gives four reasons why it is wrong to say the Torah is filled with immorality because, among other of its teachings, animal sacrifices are immoral. First, Maimonides taught that God did not desire animal sacrifices. The ancient Israelites accepted the primitive notion of their pagan neighbors that God needed sacrifices, and the sacrifices of animals showed their love for God. The ancients even sacrificed their children.
So the influence of our neighbors are great rabbi.
Hi Stephen, I am extremely cynical & pessimistic. Why? Because God was thrown out of the United States decades ago. Now, we are seeing the daily results! But I pray daily that your hopes and wishes come true for society.
I concur that Maimonides felt that God neither needs nor wants sacrifices, and only allowed it because the ancient people felt they had to do sacrifices to show love of God. It is a concession to human needs.
The Torah’s wisdom in assigning the priestly role to men and mandating modest clothing for priests was indeed a way of de-sexualizing religion, as you pointed out, dear Rabbi Israel Drazin !
By doing so, it elevated the spiritual and moral aspects of human nature, and provided a model for relationships that are based on mutual respect, trust, and love, rather than mere physical desire.
It seems that despite the passage of centuries, humanity still struggles with the same fundamental flaws. The statistics you cited regarding divorce and financial secrecy in marriage are a tragic testament to the fact that many people have not yet learned to prioritize the values of trust, cooperation, and selflessness in their relationships.
And yet, I remain optimistic. For I believe that the messianic era you spoke of is not just a distant dream, but a potential reality that can be actualized through the cultivation of proper relationships, beginning with the marriage bond. The whole of ethics is contained in the words of the Torah… ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.'” If people can learn to love and respect each other in this way, then perhaps we can create a more just and harmonious world, one that is worthy of the divine image in which we are created.
Best: stephen
I am also optimistic. We agree entirely again.