The Trouble with Calling
This week's Torah portion, Vayikra, kicks off the Book of Leviticus with a familiar feeling theme—G-d calling to Moses and delivering a set of instructions. In this case, G-d delivers detailed instructions for the sacrifices Aaron, his sons, and their priestly descendants will perform on behalf of the Israelite people. These sacrifices are the Israelite's main means of communicating with G-d, but since the destruction of the First and later Second Temples, the Jewish people have been unable to communicate with G-d through sacrifices. So we turned to prayer.
This week though, I'm talking a lot less about Judaism than I normally do, because while the Jewish people turned to prayer and ritual as our primary means of communicating with G-d, other religions have evolved out of Judaism, and created their own means of talking to G-d.
So this week, if you'll indulge me, and in celebration of my 50th episode of Modern Torah, I'm exploring the idea of being called by G-d and searching for a means to respond. In particular, I'm taking hard look at the Puritan Christian theology that has so dramatically affected social policy and culture in the United States. I hope you'll stick with me, and definitely let me know what you think!
