Parashat Vayikra
„Worship of God through sacrifices is a worship acceptable to the coarse popular imagination, and precisely in this lies its point of loftiness.”From Shemonah Kevatzim, II 20
The book of Leviticus opens with a gentle call, with a small aleph, as a symbol of the humility required upon entering the sacred service. Immediately afterward appears the sacrificial service, which in our eyes sometimes seems remote and crude. But precisely the sacrifice expresses a deep human need: to draw near not only in emotion and thought, but also in deed. To give something tangible. Rav Kook explains that the sacrificial service speaks to the popular imagination, to the part of a person that understands closeness through action. Not because it is low, but because it touches truth. The bond with the Holy One asks for all the forces of life, and is not content with the abstract. This is the point of loftiness of the sacrifice.
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The “Mishpetei HaRav Kook” video in honor of the festival:
From the community archive of Mishpetei HaRav Kook — studying Rav Kook's teachings since 2011.