What exactly is a sacrifice these days?

This week’s parsha, Vayikra, God instructs Moses on the five different kinds of sacrifices that were to be offered in the sanctuary. These sacrifices ranged anywhere from a gentle burnt offering to the slaughtering of an animal. All were meant to demonstrate to God just how much you were willing to give up to make sure God was aware of your devotion to his commandments. What I find most interesting and connected to within this week’s Torah portion is not the “what” of the sacrifice or even the “how” but the idea that some of these sacrifices were mandatory but some were voluntary. Commentary differs (shocking) when it comes to understanding the reasons for a voluntary vs. mandatory sacrifice but ultimately, it seems as if the mandatory offerings assumed that there were times when a person needed to reconnect with God while voluntary offerings provided people freedom to initiate or deepen that sense of connection.

The first sacrifice described in this parsha is described as the olah or "burnt offering". It was a voluntary sacrifice that had a high degree of sanctity and was regarded as the "standard" offering. The entire animal, except for its hide, was burned on the altar. (1:1-17). I’m trying to think of what the equivalent of this would be for your standard human today. An entire animal, of which during Temple times it’s quite possible was your only animal or one of few, was burnt almost in its entirety for no other reason than to connect deeper with God. What would that be today? A cell phone? Your car? Can you imagine that much love for God?

I hear or read the word “sacrifice” right now and all I can think of is Ukraine. I immediately think of the pictures of men saying goodbye to their families, sacrificing their whole life, to save their country. Family members sacrificing everything to stay put to take care of their elderly relatives. At Hillel at Miami, we knew we needed to do something, anything, to honor their sacrifices and help in the only way we knew how — by baking challah. We scrambled our resources and made and sold over 100 homemade challahs raising $2100. All of this funding will be going directly to Voices of Children Foundation.

We are so grateful for the support, for the generosity of our community who donated without wanting a challah but wanted to support those affected by this horrible war, and for the students who helped us make this project a reality.

Shabbat Shalom. Wishing you a peaceful Shabbat.