"Rabbi Levi opened: 'And a bull and a ram for a peace-offering (shelamim) to slaughter before the Lord, ... for today the Lord appears to you' (Leviticus 9:4). Rabbi Levi said: Now if for this one who offered a bull and a ram for My sake, I will reveal Myself to him and bless him, then regarding Abraham, who circumcised himself for My sake, how much more so! This is why immediately after the story of the circumcision it is written: 'The Lord appeared to him in the plans of Mamre' (Genesis 18:1) to indicate that God came to bless him in reward for having performed the mitzvah of circumcision."
-- Midrash Rabbah Beresheet, 48.5
Implicit
in Rabbi Levi's midrash is the idea of Abraham's circumcision being
analogous to the ritual sacrifices offered by the Kohanim in the Beit
HaMikdash.
Showing posts with label sacrifice. Show all posts
Showing posts with label sacrifice. Show all posts
Friday, November 7, 2014
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."
"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.
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.
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