Woke Purity-Vayikra

Woke Purity
Parshat Vayikra

This week's portion is Vayikra, which begins a new book, topic and discussion. The third book of the Torah, Vayikra, is called in Latin "Leviticus", as it is the book that is primarily related to the laws of the tribe of "Levi" from which the Kohanim and Levi'im descend. As such, this book of the Torah is about the sacrificial rites and Korbanot found in the Torah. In Hebrew, it is also called Torat Kohanim - the Laws of the Priests, for the very same reason.

The Mesorah (tradition) of Jewish Chinuch (education) teaches us not only the WHAT about our faith, but also HOW to teach it.

There is a special age-old custom that when children begin to study Chumash (the Torah) they should begin with the opening verses of Vayikra. This custom is brought in the Midrash Yalkut Shimoni (Tzav 479): It states "Why do young children start with Torat Kohanim (Vayikra)? Let them start with Bereishit? Since the Korbanot (sacrifices) are pure and the children are pure, let the pure come and deal with the pure."
The obvious question is, why do children begin their learning with the Book of Leviticus rather than the Book of Genesis? After all, for a young child, the laws of sacrifices seem like a strange place to begin. If I was designing a curriculum for Torah study, I might choose to start somewhere different. Perhaps Genesis, as the midrash asks about. After all, it is the beginning. It describes the creation of the world. It is full of stories about Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, Noah and the Flood, the Patriarchs and Matriarchs. Or, maybe we might choose to begin with the Book of Exodus. It describes the beginnings of the Jewish people, the Exodus from Egypt, and the receiving of the Torah on Mount Sinai.

But no. The tradition was/is to begin with Leviticus.  Why, the Midrash asks, would we start children’s education here?

There is a certain similarity between children and the spiritual concept of sacrifices. All of the sacrifices written in Leviticus have to do with purity. Children are pure, and have not yet experienced sin. Children are sincere and precious. Therefore, the Midrash explains "the Holy One said, let the pure ones come and engage with matters of purity, and I will consider it as if you were standing before Me and offering sacrifices". In other words, it is about keeping our children holy and protected, and it is critical for our children to retain their innocence and purity as long as possible. 

In an ever-confused world, where confusion and woke culture prevail, this idea is more important than ever. It is our first job and priority to maintain the purity and innocence of our children to the very best of our abilities. Indeed, our children can quickly become the "sacrifices" of our culture in the extreme negative. It is therefore our sacred responsibility, to make sure that the opposite is achieved, and they remain enveloped in holiness and bliss. Only then, can we focus on the other matters of education.

Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Y. Marrus