Session 13: Parashat Vayikra

The Pledge of Allegiance, 1954 version

Leviticus presents a society taking shape and intuiting how to conduct itself so as to balance purity and compassion. In the shadow of Mount Sinai, before the people enter the wilderness, God instructs Moses about the rites, duties, and sacrifices necessary to maintain the tabernacle’s purity, allowing God to dwell among the people. This labor is apportioned among the priests, other leaders, and the people. Ritual is currency in Leviticus, the means by which the people maintain their worthiness in their own eyes and God’s. The instruction begins with Vayikra’s cataloguing of various modes of sacrifice–a sin offering, a peace offering, a burnt offering.

The public rituals identified in the Torah help contemporary readers reflect on contemporary American speech-rituals. How do these rituals help elevate the act of civic participation and endow American identity with spiritual dignity?

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