“The Very Best”

   The following is the D’var Torah I delivered to the members of the Board Monday evening:

   Exodus ends and Leviticus begins…time flies when you’re in the wilderness. From the minutiae of the wilderness sanctuary to the minutiae of the sacrificial system outlined in Leviticus, we leave the world of stories, of excitement, of redemption, of revelation, and move to, well, we move to detail. 

   It’s not just detail; in our lives we have to deal with detail every day. This biblical detail however doesn’t touch our everyday lives. The details of the sanctuary might be relevant if it’s the Board’s House Committee talking about the various details of our bimah, our roof, our social hall; the details of sacrifice however – of rams and lambs – truth be told, who cares!?

   But as we know, sacrifice as the Torah understands it is not the same as do we. And our contemporary definition is relevant, maybe even more so than that which the House Committee considers when the members deliberate this or that.

   Sacrifice is what each and every one of you, and each and every member of the congregation, does. To put it differently, the sacrifice we offer is through time, money, commitment, dedication. The sacrifice of the past required that our ancestors gave the very, very best of their flock or herd, and often for them it was similar to the sacrifices in our time…namely, it’s not always easy. 

Well, whether God expects the “best” from us in our stewardship of Beth El, I believe all of you give the best you can to make us the kind of community we are. Keep it up!