Vayikra/He Called
Shabbat 3/12/11
In the first parasha of Leviticus, we read about the main types of sacrifices that individuals would offer. For example, the Chatat was a sin offering to atone for unintentionally violating a prohibition, while the Asham was a guilt offering for an act such as robbery, or for when someone was in doubt about having committed a transgression.
Given that Passover is coming up, it is appropriate that this week’s parasha mentions the prohibition of placing chametz (leavened food) on the sacrificial altar with meal offerings. Chametz may be defined as food prepared from grain that has been allowed to rise through prolonged contact with a liquid, or with a leavening agent such as yeast. On Pesach, of course, we refrain from chametz for a full week. The Torah gives us the reason for this, namely because our ancestors left Egypt before their bread could rise. They refrained from chametz out of necessity, and we abstain from it today as a memorial to their flight from slavery.
So we understand abstaining from chametz on Passover; but why was chametz not allowed on the altar for sacrificing on other occasions? Is there something else about it that is problematic? Maimonides suggests that leaven and honey (which was also forbidden on the altar) may have been used together in pagan worship, while Sefer HaChinuch suggests that prohibiting the ‘puffy’ chametz symbolizes the value of humility over haughtiness. Other scholars suggest that it was essentially a practical issue; the leavening of cakes on the altar would prolong the process of preparing, offering and eating food gifts.
Whatever the reason behind it, chametz was simply not allowed on the altar. Rabbi Brad Artson teaches that by emptying our entire house of chametz for Pesach, we symbolically turn our whole home into God’s altar, elevating our household to the level of sanctity and purity of the Sanctuary itself. I also think it is significant that six months after tossing away our sins in the form of breadcrumbs at tashlich during Rosh Hashana, we now have the opportunity for a mid-year checkup, wherein we once again rid ourselves of the physical chametz that clutters our lives and the spiritual chametz that weighs upon our hearts. May we all do a thorough cleaning!
