Introduction To Leviticus

Jewish tradition has given a very honored place to the Book of Leviticus because it contains a significant number of laws and commandments by which Judaism defines its life and practice. Six hundred and thirteen commandments have been identified in the Pentateuch, which are binding in Israel. Some 247 of these occur in Leviticus. The early rabbinic commentators of the Talmud spent many hours and volumes examining the meaning of the statements in Leviticus and establishing practical ways in which they still could be observed many centuries after they were written down. The learned teachers of the law in the first centuries after Christ (from about 70 to 500 AD). Never tired debating the myriad ways of understanding the legal materials in Leviticus and elsewhere. This may seem particularly surprising since nearly all of the laws of sacrifice that fill the first quarter of the Book of Leviticus had been rendered impossible to perform by the Roman conquest of Jerusalem and the destruction of the Temple in 70 AD. It indicates, however, how richly diverse the contents of this book, that even with the in ability to perform so many of its commands, it still remains the most important statement of Law for Judaism.
It is also important to recall that in Judaism, Torah (Law) does not have the narrow and constricting meaning of Law in modern society. “Torah” means teaching or way and it can be best understood as a means of expressing ourselves before God as a faithful and obedient son or daughter. Law for the Jew is always linked to joy. Following God’s law means a happy and contented person: Look at Psalm 119. Psalm 119 continues like this for another 173 verses. Most modern day Christians are repulsed at the idea of animal sacrifices or what should be eaten or not eaten or the topic of the purity or impurity of bodily functions.
To appreciate Leviticus, we need to reflect on its message on two levels. First, we can explore what religious insight and meaning the various laws and practices had for an ancient Israelite. Second, we can look at the major themes it treats in terms of how they reveal the enduring character and purpose of God, which gave direction and vitality to Israel’s fidelity and witness throughout the centuries, and that have become central to Christianity’s own teaching. AN example of this would be the idea of sacrifice. Without knowing the central role of sacrifice in Leviticus as a means of relating to God, the meaning of Jesus’ own death and the explanation of the Eucharist would be seriously weakened and perhaps incomprehensible.
Leviticus has really two major divisions that are quite different in spirit. Chapters 1-16 give regulations for matters that are handled directly by the priests. Chapters 17-27 treat the larger social areas of community behavior and public worship. Both of these areas express the spiritual heart of living within the covenant.
All of the laws in both sections of Leviticus seem to be a part of what separates the sacred from the ordinary. God is holy and not to be treated in just any old way. Judaism and Christianity have always made the transcendence of God a first priority. In other words both Jews and Christians recognize the gulf that divides us as creatures from the one who creates. Certain moments of our lives and certain n activities (such as the sacraments) highlight this difference. Humans enter into the realm of the sacred that is set apart on a holy day or in a holy place or by a consecrated holy person (priest). Certain features of our being too are holy, such as sexuality, birth and death, because they are at the heart of the mystery of Divine creation and Divine control over existence. They are to be treated with special reverence. Exodus covered the making of all necessary sacred objects and some ordination rites; Leviticus concentrates on how Israel is to act according to holy principles.
Chapter 17-25 deal in particular with acting according to holy principals. This section is called “The Holiness Code” and it has become the model for modern day legal and ethical systems. They established Israel as a nation living under the law both legal and liturgical with God as its leader.
In Hebrew, the Book of Leviticus is called Vayikra, which means, “He called”. This title shows the full nature of this fascinating book being a call to holiness by God to all of his people over all time.


TA
2/24/10

Wrap Up Talk For Exodus 30-32

It may seem to us that the liturgical details we read in these three Chapters of Exodus are boring and tedious. To the Hebrew people of that day and today, these passages, along with the genealogies (toledoths) in the Pentateuch are the most important of all the Scriptures. They form the foundations of and give legitimacy to Hebrew worship of God. As Catholics, we are heirs to a very long and rich liturgical tradition, which actually preceded Jesus’ earth shattering Passover at the Last Supper. Jesus did NOT invent a new liturgy, when He instituted the Holy Eucharist but rather was faithful to the Seder traditions of the Jewish Law. What He did do was to bring Jewish Law to its fulfillment by the sacrifice of Himself. To do this, He hearkened back to the time of Moses and the Exodus. It was during this period that the rudiments of worship were developed. Later, many of these traditions would be taken from desert to become institutionalized in the Temple at Jerusalem. Many of these traditions had very practical origins and then only later assumed a theological significance. Incense is a good case in point. Incense was readily available in the Middle East and widely used. Primarily, it was used as a perfume to mask the smell of large gatherings of unwashed bodies as well as the stench of the entrails of sacrificed animals. Eventually, the sight of the clouds of sweet smelling smoke came to symbolize prayer pleasing to God rising to the heavens. Catholic use of incense is well documented and finds its origins in the early days of the Church probably around the 4th Century. The common reference to it in Jewish Temple worship suggests an early familiarity with it by Christians. Liturgies of St. Mark and James refer to it’s use in the “Sacred Mysteries” around the fifth century. A Roman Ordo (book of the order of worship) of the seventh century mentions that incense was used by the bishop when processing to the altar on Good Friday. Almost all Eastern Liturgies bear witness to it’s use in the celebration of the Mass. In the present discipline of the Western Church, incense is used at solemn Mass. solemn blessings, processions, choral offices and funerals. When incense is used, it is generally burned. There are two cases, however, when it is not – does anybody know? (Answer next week!)
Incense was used frequently as well as basins and oil in Jewish Liturgies. In Catholic worship today basins are used, at Baptism, at Mass for the Lavabo (washing of the priests’ hands) and at the Washing of the Feet on Holy Thursday. Basins in Old Testament times were used to catch and conserve water, which was a precious resource, so that it could be used again. In Temple worship, the bronze basin was used for ritual washings following the sacrifices.
The use of earthly material such as water, oil and bread as symbols in liturgical worship is part of what we call the “Sacramental Principle”. The Sacramental Principle states that God uses things of the earth to symbolize his saving power in the Sacraments.
As with water, oil was a staple of life in the Middle East. Oil was widely used for cooking, particularly in the baking of bread. It was also used for medicinal purpose and for anointing. In the Jewish Dispensation, It was widely used in the anointing of priests and consecrated persons. In the Catholic Church, three Sacramental Oils (Oleo Sacra) are used: The Oil of the Catechumens (Baptism), the Oil of Chrism (Confirmation and Holy Orders) and the Oil of Unction (Anointing of Sick).
The Oil of Catechumens is usually pressed olive oil or palm oil, the Oil of Chrism is very aromatic because it contains a mixture of olive oil and balsam. The Oil of Unction is most frequently olive oil.
Despite the establishment of these liturgical signs and the origin of early Hebrew worship, many of the people continued to fall into Idolatry. In its origins in Jewish teaching, idolatry (Gr. eidololatria) denotes Divine worship given to an image. The natural extension of this as it came to be is Divine worship given to anyone or anything other than God. St. Thomas Aquinas, (whose Feast Day is tomorrow) treats it the same as superstition. (Summa Theo.II_II, qxciv). The most serious aspect of idolatry is that fact that it is in direct opposition to our primary object of worship, which must be God. Putting anything before God is the most serious of all sins and has its origins in Original Sin. Today, we find many things that society puts before worship of God – entertainment, sports, money, power and sex. The danger with this most grave of sins, then as now, is that it is insidious. It becomes so much a part of us that, if not confessed, will take over our personality. We “become the sin”.
The primary way to avoid serious sins like putting things before God, is Prayer and the Sacraments. Chapter 32 of Exodus, in Moses’ dialogue with God, we can see the doctrinal basis for Salvation – Covenant, Sin and Mercy. It is a cycle that will repeat itself in the national life of Israel many times – and in our own lives, today. God makes a covenant with us, we break it by sinning but after just punishment, God calls us back and extends his boundless Mercy. It is this Mercy which God extends to us every time, we receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation. The episode of the Golden Calf is one of the great teachings of Exodus because it points out two realities of the spiritual life. (1)That the pattern of Covenant, Sin and Mercy plays out to this very day. (2) A strong Interior Life is necessary for us to fight temptation. And as Moses teaches us -we cannot have a spiritual life without a dialogue with God in the inner recesses of our soul.