December 5, 2025 -
December 5, 2025 -
Updated Values
This past weekend, we celebrated a very special Shabbat as our Bat Mitzvah girl, Melanie R., led the services and read from the Torah beautifully. Melanie’s speech was insightful and original as well. With pride, we share her essential message with you.
“Today, I read from the last Parsha in the Book of Leviticus, Parshat Bechukotai. Leviticus, also known as Torat Kohanim, the Teachings of the Temple Priests, begins and ends with offerings.
It starts with the laws of the burnt offerings:
“God called to Moses and spoke to him from the Meeting Tent, saying: Speak to the Children of Israel and say to them: When any of you present an offering of livestock to the L-rd, You shall choose your offering from cows or sheep.”
The Torah then provides options from birds and grain.
In addition to burnt offerings, there are Peace offerings, Thanksgiving Offerings, Festival, and numerous sin offerings.
In my reading, the book of Leviticus concludes with various monetary and material offerings:
“Speak to the Israelite people and say to them: When any party explicitly vows to God the value for a human being…” The value then depends on the person’s gender and age.
Additionally, a person can offer the value of one’s donkey or even their house. As it says: “If any party consecrates a house to God, the priest shall assess it. Whether high or low, as the priest assesses it, so it shall stand.”
The book is not solely about sacrifices. Tucked in the middle of Leviticus are laws dealing with morality known as the Holiness Code.
Two of the most famous examples are:
“Don’t be a gossiper among your people, and don’t stand idly by your Brother’s blood.”
And the Golden Rule:
“Don’t take revenge or hold a grudge, but Love your neighbor as yourself.”
However, judging from the vast amount of text devoted to the sacrifices and the smaller allocation to morality, we can see what the Kohanim favored. The Priests believed a person’s service and closeness to God depended on the sacrifices and gifts they offered.
This is exemplified in the teachings of the early Second Temple priest, Shimon HaTzaddik. He used to say: “The world stands upon three pillars: the study of the Torah, the Temple service, and acts of kindness.”
Yet, even when the First Temple stood, the Prophets started emphasizing morality and acts of kindness. The Talmud says Isaiah came and established the 613 mitzvot upon six principles:
The Prophet Micah then established the 613 mitzvot upon three principles: “It has been told to you, O man, what is good, and what does the Lord require of you;
After the destruction of the Second Temple, Rabban Shimon ben Gamaliel revised the pillars of the world to justice, truth, and peace. As the Prophet Zechariah said, “Execute the judgments of truth and peace in your gates” (Zechariah 8:16).
Why the change?
With the destruction of the Temple and our inability to offer sacrifices, most of the book of Leviticus became inapplicable. What remained were those beautiful moral codes. The pursuit of Justice, Truth, and Peace then became our primary focus.
Pursuing these values was crucial two thousand years ago and indeed remains imperative today in the 21st century, when truth and facts are questioned and peace is hard to find.
While we still read about the sacrifices in Leviticus every year, integral to our Judaism is the recognition that we are a religion in evolution. We are no longer asked to sacrifice our animals and belongings. Our service to God is measured by our morality and kindness and by our pursuit of justice, truth, and peace.”
Melanie is certainly correct; now, more than ever, we need to stand up for these values. May we have the strength and courage to fulfill the call of our destiny.
Have a wonderful week,
R’ Neil
Manetto Hill Jewish Center
244 Manetto Hill Road, Plainview, NY 11803
(516) 935-5454
