QUESTIONS FOR THE SHABBOS TABLE PARSHAS ,VAYIKRA, 1:1- 5:26, PART II

QUESTIONS FOR THE SHABBOS TABLE

PARSHAS ,VAYIKRA, 1:1- 5:26, PART II

                                            

 

In the Parsha there is a specific commandment, 2:13, that the grain offering (the Minchah) requires salt. This is followed by a general statement that all sacrifices require salt, hence the custom to have salt at our Shabbos table where table is symbolic of the Altar on which sacrifices were placed.

וְכָל-קָרְבַּן מִנְחָתְךָ, בַּמֶּלַח תִּמְלָח, וְלֹא תַשְׁבִּית מֶלַח בְּרִית אֱלֹהֶיךָ, מֵעַל מִנְחָתֶךָ; עַל כָּל-קָרְבָּנְךָ, תַּקְרִיב מֶלחַ
“And every meal-offering of yours you shall season with salt; neither shall you omit the salt covenant of your God to be lacking from your meal-offerings; with all your offerings you shall offer salt”.

A question: What is the salt covenant?

Offerings must not lack salt. This is a commandment and as such does not need to be understood. (That does not mean that we should not try to understand the commandment.) The commandment is part of a covenant, the “salt covenant”. Apparently the commandment a legally binding agreement that Hashem has imposed upon us. And Hashem’s obligations under the covenant, if any, are not stated.

Another question: What is it about salt that makes it so important to Hashem?

Try these facts to come up with your answer.  Oceans are salty.  They are comprised by about 35% salt.  98% of all the water on our planet is salty.  Lakes, rivers and underground water comprise only 2% of the Earth’s water.  All original life stemmed from sea water.  Layers of salt, “rock salt”, are only the remains of ocean water that has evaporated.

My answer: There is a fundamental connection, evidenced by salt,  between the creation of life and life’s Creator. 

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In Parsha Vayikra we are instructed about the variety of offerings that are to be made to Hashem. The first offering that is discussed is known as the עולה, which is not shared with the public or the priests (except for the hides), but is entirely dedicated to Hashem.

עולה has in its narrow meaning something that is raised up. It is no coincidence that an immigrant Israeli is also referred to as an עולה. Native born Israelis, sabras as they are called, are great in their own right, but the עולה has special meaning to Hashem and for Israel. Be proud. Walk tall.

An עולה (Oleh) who in English-speaker is called an Anglo. An Anglo עולה is commonly depicted by native born Israelis as cowboys whether or not they hail from the USA, as they are often Canadians, Brits, Australians, South African and the like.

A few years ago, Anglo’s living in Nahariya, Israel, dressed as cowboys marched in the city’s Purim parade.  Here’s what we looked like:

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This Wednesday night we celebrate the festival of Rosh Chodesh, the first day of the New Moon, the new month of Nissan.  It is a Babylonian name. In terms of names, Nissan is a relatively new name.  It is not found in the Chumash, and probably was incorporated into our way of thinking when we were exiled to Babylonia in the 6^th century BCE. 

Nissan is found in the Book of Esther at 3:7 -“In the first month, which is the month of Nisan,…”

בַּחֹדֶשׁ הָרִאשׁוֹן, הוּא-חֹדֶשׁ נִיסָן

By God’s command at Exodus 12:4, Nissan became the first month of the Hebrew year:  “This month shall be to you the head of the months; to you it shall be the first of the months of the year”.

At 13:4 and 23:15 the month in question is identified as Aviv or Spring time”.  The name Nissan had not come into play yet, and would not for more than several hundred years.

If Aviv or better yet Nissan is the first day of the year as per Hashem’s commandment, how is that reconciled with the first of Tishri (another Babylonian name) being the Jewish New Year?  Well it seems that we have a sacred ecclesiastical calendar that starts at Nissan and a civil calendar that starts at Tishri.  Go figure.
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The Festival of Passover will shortly be upon us.  It begins Wednesday evening, April 8^th and ends in the evening of Wednesday,15^th of April.

In that regard, I would like to present some of the many Laws of Passover to help you get ready for the big event, the Festival of Our Freedom.  It is not meant to be an exhaustive presentation or for that matter an authoritative presentation, but something for you to talk about at your table and put you on the right track.

THE FOUR CUPS

On the first night of Pesach (first two in the diaspora) it is incumbent upon every Jewish man, woman, and educable child to drink four cups of wine in recognition of the four expressions of freedom stated in the Torah in connection with Y’tzias Mitzrayim יציאת מצרים, the going out of Egypt.

The four expressions are found in Exodus 6:6-7:

“Therefore, say to the Israelites: ‘I am the Lord, and I will bring you out (V’hotzeiti וְהוֹצֵאתִי) from under the yoke of the Egyptians. I will free you (V’hitzalti וְהִצַּלְתִּי ) from being slaves to them, and I will redeem you (V’go’alti וְגָאַלְתִּי) with an outstretched arm and with mighty acts of judgment. I will take you as my own people (V’lakachti וְלָקַחְתִּי ), and I will be your God. Then you will know that I am the Lord your God, who brought you out from under the yoke of the Egyptians.”

There is actually a fifth expression, that a minority opinion holds requires a fifth cup. Unfortunately I have recently learned that the majority do not hold with this opinion. It is forbidden to drink the fifth cup.

 For many years I had been under the mistaken impression that drinking a fifth cup was tantamount to adding to a Mitzvah, a good thing, a godly thing and in a certain sense being “ultra”. After all, the keynote of Pesach is freedom, and consequently as an expression of freedom the Cup of Elijah has always been, until now, fair game. Live and learn.