Thinking Torah Blog

Parashat Tzav opens with two chapters regarding our ancestors' sacrifices at the Tabernacle and eventually at the Temple in Jerusalem. One of the sacrifices is called Zevach Shelamim and is often translated as a sacrifice of "well-being." This translation echoes ancient ideas of offerings made by kings of besieged cities to the commanders of the sieging forces. Our sages, however, often would translate this sacrifice as a "peace" offering. In a midrash from Leviticus Rabba, the sages say, "Great is peace, as all the blessings, goodness, and consolations that the Holy One blessed be God brings upon Israel conclude with peace." The midrash highlights several instances in Jewish living where peace represents the foundation and the virtue we should all work toward.

I assume none of us can directly affect the trajectory of world peace. I am sure we'd all love the hostages to be returned and this war with Hamas to be over. I think it would be too easy for some of us to dismiss this midrash as fantasy, an unrealistic understanding of the world, and maybe it is, but against all odds, we are a tradition of hope. If our ancestors could write this midrash in the face of Roman rule and oppression, so may we live up to our tradition's ideals. This midrash invites me to reconsider how I might have peace in my home with the allies I thought I had. I imagine many of us have had, to some degree or another, ruptures in our social justice relationships; we feel pained, forgotten, and maybe even ultimately dismissed. How might this midrash help us find the healing and wholeness we need to forge ahead and create a world where peace might exist?