Torah Study | Tzav & Shmini

We hope you will join our Celebration of the Universe and Torah Study on Saturday, April 6th with Rabbi Cat Zavis and Musical Director Ami Goodman. We will begin our Shabbat service with meaningful prayers, balancing the awe of being alive with the call in our tradition for radical transformation of our world.

Then we will turn to our Torah study. We are in the book of Leviticus with its focus on sacrifices by the people themselves, the elaborate vestments that the priests are to wear, the anointing of the priests, and the role the priests play in protecting the community by offering sacrifices to help mend breaks in the community. Last week’s parsha, Tzav, addresses the particular sacrifices offered by the priests. The priests have to relinquish their regular means of earning money––they rely on the offerings of the community to ensure that their sustenance needs are met. In other words, there is a class of people whose sole job is to protect and serve the people to help ensure their individual and collective psycho/spiritual well-being and they are not paid for this job. Imagine a community or government-run in this way! Where the job of a certain group of people is to prioritize the well-being of the community and to trust that they will have their needs met by the community. Quite the opposite of the system of bribery that we see in the United States. 

This week’s parsha, Shmini, continues with descriptions and discussions of the sacrifices but then it takes a strange turn. Aaron’s sons offer up a strange fire as a sacrifice and they are consumed in the fire. And Aaron remains silent. What happened to his sons? Is there a way in which certain energies and forces get unleashed and it becomes difficult to contain and control them? Is the only recourse for the Divine to consume some of those energies? And what happens when we remain silent in the face of such tragedies? 

We’ll explore these questions and concepts together on Shabbat and see if there is something we can glean from these teachings for us today. 

Please register here (for FREE) to receive the Zoom link. We’d love to have you join us!

9:30 am Pacific Time (12:30 pm Eastern Time)
Shabbat morning prayers and celebration of the universe

10:30 am Pacific Time (1:30 pm Eastern Time)
Torah Study | Leviticus 9:1-11:47; Exodus 12:1-20

12:00 pm Pacific Time (3:00 pm Eastern Time)
Kaddish, Kiddush, and schmoozing

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