Of all the books of the Torah, Sefer Vayikra is the most mysterious and seems the most foreign. Concepts like קרבנות-sacrifices, טהרה-purity, and כהנים-priests are all difficult to comprehend individually, let alone in the context of the twenty-first century. Even beyond these complex concepts, this book is perplexing from its very beginning:

וַיִּקְרָ֖א אֶל־מֹשֶׁ֑ה וַיְדַבֵּ֤ר ה’ אֵלָ֔יו מֵאֹ֥הֶל מוֹעֵ֖ד לֵאמֹֽר: (ויקרא א:א)

And He (God) called to Moshe, and Hashem spoke to him from the Tent of Meeting, saying…(Vayikra 1:1)

This is the beginning of a book, but it is the middle of a story: The calling of Moshe into the Tent of Meeting, the Mishkan, is the direct continuation of the events with which Sefer Shemot concluded:

Moshe was unable to enter the Tent of Meeting because the cloud rested upon it, and the glory of Hashem filled the Mishkan. (Shemot 40:35)

Enter the beginning of Parashat Vayikra: God summons Moshe. With this Divine invitation, this place was no longer out of bounds; Moshe could enter. Why does Sefer Vayikra start like this? There are only four transitions between the books of the Torah. All the others do what books should do: they start at the beginning and end at the end. Yet, Vayikra starts in the middle of a story.

To help shed light on Sefer Vayikra in general and the beginning of this week’s parasha in particular, we need to understand the focal point of both: the Mishkan, the forerunner of the Beit HaMikdash. For brevity, I would like to focus on just three of their most striking features:

First, the laws that concern these holy places and their sacrifices have great specificity. Sacrifices are from specific species, with specific ages and physical features. They can only be offered at specific times and in a highly specific manner. The world of “קדשים-the sacrificial order” is one of the few spheres in Jewish law where even incorrect thoughts have a concrete halakhic effect: they disqualify sacrifices. In no other area do we find such a commitment to detail.

Second, the Mishkan and the Beit HaMikdash are places where entry is highly limited. Access is restricted to specific individuals, at specific times, under specific conditions. The holier an area within them, the fewer people can enter it and the less frequently they can enter. Even today, Temple Mount remains the only place in the world where Jewish law imposes restrictions on entry due to geography alone.

Third, the vast majority of services in the Mishkan and the Beit HaMikdash are carried out by Kohanim. The manpower is exclusively from the tribe of Levi. These positions are fully hereditary. This is in contrast to almost all other areas of Jewish life, where merit always has primacy over birth.

To understand all of this, we have to consider a comparison we have looked at before: The building of the Mishkan reflects God’s creation of the world. This can be seen textually: There are many shared expressions used in the Torah’s account of the creation of the world and the building of the Mishkan. This can be seen halakhically: we do not perform thirty-nine forms of  “מלאכה-labour” on Shabbat. Shabbat is a commemoration of God’s creation of the world. The particular forms of labour that are forbidden are those that were employed in the construction of the Mishkan. This can also be seen conceptually: The world is the home that God made for us. The Mishkan is the “home” we made for God.

Rabbi Jonathan Sacks z”l, deepens this symmetry in a striking way:

The universe is the space God makes for man. The holy is the space man makes for God. The secular is the emptiness created by God to be filled by a finite universe. The holy is the emptiness in time and space vacated by humans so that it can be filled by the infinite presence of God…We make space for God in the same way that God makes space for us, by tzimtzum, self-effacement, self-renunciation. (Leviticus: The Democratisation of Holiness, p.18)

The Mishkan is an area given over to God. Where God is, Man cannot be. Strictly speaking, nobody should be allowed in. However, that barrier must be partially lifted as there are services that must take place within it. It is lifted with great caution and at great peril. This explains the severe rules regarding entry: The more holy the area, the less people can enter. The “Holy of Holies-קודש הקדושים” was only entered once a year by the “High Priest-כהן גדול” on Yom Kippur. The more Godly a place, the less human it is. Rambam (Hilchot Temidim UMusafim  3:3) even details that when a Kohen would enter the Beit HaMikdash to burn the “קטרת-incense” offering twice a day, everyone had to leave the vicinity: God “comes” to the Mishkan to atone us of our sins. We cannot be there if He is.

This explains that great specificity in the services performed in the Mishkan and Beit HaMikdash. They must be done precisely as instructed, or not at all. There is no room for human intuition, this is God’s realm. In the world outside of it, proactivity and creativity are fundamental duties in Jewish life. We are invited to be “שותפים במעשה בראשית-God’s partners in creating the world.” As the tragic death of Nadav and Avihu (Vayikra 10:1-2) teaches us: our job within the Mishkan is to only do as we are told.

This could also explain, although more thorough inquiry is needed, why Kohanim are chosen by birth rather than merit. Merit has no place in the Mishkan, because by merit, no human should be there at all. The entry of Man into the realm of God is a concession. Kohanim are chosen by birth because they definitely cannot earn the right to enter the House of God. “מי יעלה בהר ה’ ומי יקום במקום קדשו – Who can climb the Mountain of God? And who can stand in the place of His Holiness?” (Tehilim 24:3). Kohanim are merely operatives performing a service. Indeed, Rambam includes the laws of Kohanim in his book “הלכות כלי מקדש – The Halakhot of the Vessels of the Temple.”

This is why Sefer Vayikra begins with Moshe being called into the Mishkan. The story of Man in the House of God can only begin with an invitation. Without that Moshe cannot enter. The realm of God is for God alone.

We are indeed God’s partners in the creation of the world. However, every junior partner needs to know their place. There are places, that are invitation only. There are places that we cannot go. If we want God to enter the world, we must make space for Him to do so.

© The Times of Israel (Blogs)