Vaykra 5773

By Rabbi Daniela Szuster

B´nei Israel Congregation, Costa Rica

Expressing Deepest Emotions through Rituals

This Shabbat, we start reading the third book of the Torah, the book of Va-yikra, also called “Torat Cohanim”, Torah, laws of the Cohanim.  This name is due to the fact that most of the book deals with guidelines for the priests concerning sacrifices, the different types of impurities and ways of purification, as well as the works in the Mishkan.

In our parashah, also called Va-yikra, we specifically find a description of different types of offerings that were done facing different situations, such as giving thanks, asking forgiveness, atoning for wrongdoings, or to praise God.

Nowadays, all the ritual described in the Torah seems far removed from our reality, something without meaning and even ridiculous, the fact of needing to sacrifice an animal in order to approach God, before different situations in life.  We are far removed from such practices, and within our modern Jewish frameworks, there are no intentions or desires to resume those rituals, even if that would be possible.  Therefore, all these descriptions often seem tiresome and boring.

None the less, we could think that we actually share something essential, beyond the mere form, with the people who practiced sacrifices in those times.  Something that characterizes us as human beings: the deepest emotions and feelings that arise from our innermost self, those archaic affections that have not changed with the passing of the years.

Both the people in the wilderness and us today, children, young people and adults, we all have something that emerges from inside, with no way to prevent it: fear, quilt, hate, anger, uncertainty, admiration, surprise, praise, and thankfulness.

Those feelings or states that are born at our core, at our deepest, and which we cannot prevent; we need to channel them somehow, in order to survive and not be beaten by them.  In that sense, rituals provide us with a framework that enables us to express them, experience them, guide them, and restrict them.  They allow us to harmonize our body and support us among our peers.

In those days, when our ancestors felt unbearably guilty for something they had done, they found certain relief in sacrifices.  Likewise, by bringing an offering as a sign of atonement or to ask forgiveness.  Knowing that the uneasiness would be resolved through a specific action was something worth knowing.  Also, when they wanted to express an enormous joy for something that had happened to them.

Today, we achieve the same goals not through offerings but through other means: prayers, community meetings, rites of passage such as Simchat Bat or Brith Milah, Bat or Bar Mitzvah, Chupah, mourning customs, festivities, etc.

We can express and experience the uncertainty and fear we feel for what awaits us after each stage of life, through the different rites of passage; just as we can face feelings of deep sadness for the loss of a loved one, or the absolute joy for having a new baby in our arms.  All these fill us with strong emotions, difficult to cope with without the performance of rituals.

Rituals allow us to feel all these emotions and feelings, experiencing them, sharing them and channeling them in a more harmonious and communal way.

In the words of Evan Imber-Black on his book “Rituals in Family and Family Therapy” (Evan Imber-Black et al, 1988:40), “Ritual can constitute a means through which people find support and containment for strong emotions” […] “There’s safety in knowing that you can experience the deepest feelings, within certain specific boundaries and supported by the group” (free translation)-

In this sense, Parashat Va-yikra is very important, thinking of the important place held by rituals for human beings, wherever and however they are.  Thus, we can better understand one of the meanings of sacrifices and understand, at the same time, the importance of expressing our emotions by means of rituals.

Shabbat Shalom!