Last week our Torah portion spoke of what the Cohanim, the Priests, where to do with the different sacrifices that were presented to them by the people. When the Beit HaMigdash
was destroyed, the idea of sacrifice changed. There was not place to bring them, there needed a change. Today we do not have the same sacrifice offerings as we had in ancient time, but now our sacrifice is of ourselves, of our time, body, mind and soul. We have replaced these original sacrifices with prayer and prayer has become a sacrifice of our time, body, mind and soul. As I was researching Vayikra last week, I came across this passage and thought it was very relevant. I share with you this passage on a thought about Vayikra...
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Prayer is the heart…of significant
living.… Prayer is a step on which we rise from the self we are to the self we
wish to be. Prayer affirms the hope that no reality can crush, the aspiration
that can never acknowledge defeat.… Prayer seeks the power to do wisely, to act
generously, to live helpfully.… Prayer is the search for silence amidst
noise.... Prayer takes us beyond the self.… Our prayers are answered…when we
are challenged to be what we can be. (Rabbi Morris Adler, cited in A torah
commentary for our times, UAHC Press, 1990, p. 101)
May you live your life to the fullest.
