Vayikra: Spiritual Technology for Connection

Every year when we arrive at the book of Leviticus, my little vegetarian heart thinks: “Oh no, this again?” This week’s Torah portion describes for us the system of sacrifices the Israelites were commanded to use. Describes it in graphic, gory, meaty detail. And I’m sure even the non-vegetarians among us may find ourselves asking why we spend so much time reading about a sacrificial system we can no longer use (no Temple, no sacrifices), indeed, a system that we may not have understood to begin with.

The key, for me, is in the Hebrew for the word sacrifice: korban. The root of the word korban, kuf – resh – vav, is the Hebrew root that means: closeness; nearness; to bring close or draw near. The sacrifices, as strange as they may seem to our 21st century eyes, were a spiritual technology for closeness; closeness with God, and closeness within community.

Imagine: you are in the Israelite community and have lived among the Egyptians in slavery for all this time. All you’ve seen and known of the human relationship to the divine is determined by Egyptian cultural norms. And within that society, at that time, Gods were ever-present and physically manifest, in the form of idols, temples, and animal forms. And all of a sudden, thrust from that environment into the desert landscape of freedom, you’re being asked to trust in a divine force, the divine force, that has no physical features, that cannot be witnessed with the naked eye. How are you supposed to feel close to a God like that?

The answer, it seems, is in the sacrifices, these ways of drawing closer. By creating ritual that links us to the sacred at life’s most important moments, the sacrificial system brings God nearer to humanity. And the sacrifices can never be done by one singular person – they require community, the witness of those around us, and the work of the spiritual leadership in the form of the priests.

Though we’re no longer wandering in the desert (although don’t ask me to give you directions…even though Phoenix is a grid, I’m still directionally challenged), I think we are living in a time when the spiritual technology for closeness is needed now more than ever. It is so easy to feel isolated and alone, in both our private individual struggles, and in the desire for Jewish community and deep Jewish identity. Part of the work of the Women’s Leadership Institute, is in equipping our leaders with the spiritual technology to forge connection in an age of loneliness, both with one another in the cohort, with our larger alumnae community, and in the Greater Phoenix Jewish community we serve.

We already have the experience of figuring this out. Cohort 6 of WLI was the first cohort coming out of the Covid-19 pandemic. Originally postponed a year because of the danger of meeting in person, this special cohort began online and met six feet apart with masks on. But they still found ways to connect to each other, to contribute to community. And in the year when we were all sheltering at home, the WLI alumnae community came together to run a special slate of online programming that everyone, including the incoming Cohort 6 mentees, were invited to. Even when the technology changes, the spiritual goal of connection remains, guiding every aspect of our work.

This Shabbat, may you find meaning in creating your own systems of connection: whether it’s reaching out to family and friends from afar, reaching in to bring new people closer to you, or making the sacrifice of your time, energy, and resources to weave connection into our broader community.

If you’re inspired by WLI’s story so far, we hope you’ll save the date to join us on May 14th as we celebrate a new generation of graduates and a decade of advancing women’s leadership, connection, and empowerment in our community. We promise there will be no animal sacrifices – only joy and celebration 😉

Shabbat Shalom and happy Women’s History Month from all of us at WLI.