Spiritualize Reality (leviticus: vayikra) 

21/03/2024 14 min Episodio 112
Spiritualize Reality (leviticus: vayikra) 

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𝕊𝕡𝕚𝕣𝕚𝕥𝕦𝕒𝕝𝕚𝕫𝕖 ℝ𝕖𝕒𝕝𝕚𝕥𝕪 - This week we read: “When one among you offers a sacrifice to G-d…”. Immediately, we ask, what sort of sacrifice? Why? and how? King David writes in Psalms, “For You [G-d] do not desire sacrifices; else I would give it: You do not delight in burnt offering. The sacrifice of God is a broken spirit. A broken & contrite heart, O God, You will not despise.”  Animal sacrifices were a way for ancient Jews to elevate themselves spiritually, but the sacrifices would have been meaningless if they weren’t done with true intention & a full heart to heal oneself & the harms one has done. King David writes that God will not despise a “broken spirit”, because true remorse makes a person feel broken, & true repentance comes from the desire to be connected to Hashem again, in order to be whole. In order to achieve this level of return/teshuva, we were commanded to bring a sacrifice in the time of the Temple, just as we are now commanded to pray, in the absence it. The Hebrew word for sacrifice is korban which comes from the word karov or lekarev meaning “close” or “to bring closer”. It’s written in the pasuk, מִכֶּם, which means yourself, implying the one who is offering the korban, is sacrificing themself. I love how Rabbi Sacks puts it: It’s about being human, sinning, falling short, always conscious of our fragile hold on life, yet seeking to come close to God & – what is sometimes harder – allowing Him to come close to us. The sacrifices were a beautiful & spiritual ritual – picture the elements surrounding the sacrifice, with the presence of the kohanim accompanied by the chanting of the Levites. The Zohar teaches that the service of the kohanim was in silence, with the devotion of the heart, signifying drawing forth, from Above, while the service of the Levites was with music, signifying sublimation; elevating from below upwards.  This is mirrored in how we tend to the sanctuaries within our own souls, the inner acts of sacrifice we practice each day, the desire we have to bring holiness down from above, & the artfulness we use to draw our spirits & surroundings upward.  Dive deeper in my ‘𝐋𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐈𝐧𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐞’ book, “𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚂𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍 𝚘𝚏 𝙸𝚕𝚕𝚞𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗.”  Get your copy on Amazon (https://amzn.to/3uvdfxw) or read it online @ https://lightofinfinite.com/spiritualize-reality/ Story Time: Spiritualize Reality https://youtu.be/ZiUQyHE29V8Purim *Sameach*, & Shabbat *Shalom*!Love y'all!- @ErezSafar