Showing posts with label Temple. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Temple. Show all posts

Saturday, June 14, 2014

Talmud Bavli Ta'anit on Reading Scriptural Sections on Offerings to Atone for Sins

"Abraham said: Master of the Universe! Perhaps Israel will sin before You and You will do to them as You did to the generation of the Flood and the generation of the Dispersion. God answered him: No! Abraham said before God: Let me know by what means shall Israel atone for their sins and thereby be saved from destruction. God answered Abraham: 'Bring Me three calves and three goats...' (Genesis 15:9).

"Abraham said before God: Master of the Universe! That is fine for the times when the Holy Temple will be in existence, but in the times when the Holy Temple will not be in existence, what will be with them? God answered Abraham: I have already established for them the Scriptural section of offerings. Whenever they read from them before Me, I will consider it as if they had brought offerings before Me, and I will forgive them of all their sins."

-- Talmud Bavli, Ta'anit 27b


This teaches that there is something significant about reciting the sections of Torah that describe the priestly rituals. The way the Torah works is that it is a vibrationally coded instruction manual. The word "sacrifice" comes from a root meaning "to be made close to", in other words, the sacrifices are the means by which we can be made close to God. The sacrifices are not meant to be carried out physically, but instead through speech, as it is the vibrational effects of the sounds of the words that are significant. Thus, the morning prayer service contains several readings of the Torah passages detailing the rituals of the Kohanim.

Monday, May 26, 2014

Talmud Bavli Megillah on Studying the Laws of Sacrifice

"Abraham said before the Holy One, blessed be He: Master of the Universe! Perhaps, Heaven forbid, Israel will sin before you, and You will do to them as You did to the generation of the flood and the generation of the Dispersion. He said: No! Abraham said before God: Master of the Universe! Whereby shall I know? With what will they atone for their sins? God said to Abraham: 'Bring Me three calves' (Genesis 15:9).

"Abraham said before God: Master of the Universe! That is fine for the times when the Holy Temple will be in existence, but in the times when the Holy Temple will not be in existence, what will be with them? God said to Abraham: I have already established for them the Scriptural section of offerings. Whenever they read from them, I will consider it as if they were bringing an offering before Me, and I will forgive them of their sins."

-- Talmud Bavli, Megillah 31b


Perhaps the Temple never existed as a historical reality. But the plan of the Temple exists eternally in the divine mind. Then all the laws of sacrifice are seen as coded formulas for theurgic enactment.

The Torah teaches us how to become like Moses, whereby we receive instructions from the divine mind and teach them to others, and how to become like Aaron, whereby we serve as priests in the temple and perform blessings and prayers and rites of purification, atonement and mystical elevation.