vayikra

The last lines of the book of Exodus have Moses, Bezalel and the Israelites placing the finishing touches on the Tabernacle. The Tabernacle is, in the final lines of Exodus, enveloped in clouds, with the presence of the Holy One emanating from its center. Moses is prevented from entering because the clouds indicate the Holy One's presence. Then the next book, Leviticus/Vayikra, opens with God's inaugural meeting with Moses.

That is where we begin this week in the book of Leviticus, "And He called to Moses, and God spoke to him from the Tent of Meeting saying..." A calling, what is a call? Perhaps you were called to your work? Maybe calls are what we as Pennsylvania voters are going to be inundated with in the coming weeks. No matter who you want to vote, for we are in for a lot of calls...so if you don't have caller ID, now may be the time!
Leviticus is the book of the Torah with which children begin their studies in the Orthodox community. In the midrash, Rav Assi asks why, in Orthodox tradition, children begin their Bible learning with Leviticus rather than Genesis. And, the text answers, because children are pure and the sacrifices are pure.
Though most Reform religious schools don't start with Leviticus, we might add a few additional explanations. Leviticus emphasizes what we are to offer God. It emphasizes the need to perform concrete, tangible acts of service to God. It holds out the possibility that there are acts which human beings can perform that bring us closer to God and God closer to creation.
While Genesis offers us mostly stories, Leviticus offers us rules for living. Still, we might do worse than learning from Rav Assi. We could do a lot worse than using these months in Leviticus to reexamine and recommit ourselves to the details of Jewish behavioral obligations. Like our children, we best express our "purity" when we learn how to live so as to make our actions an offering, a drawing close to our community and, we hope, to God.