Rabbi Howard Morrison

The last chapters in the book of Shmot, Exodus, detailed the construction of the Mishkan, Tabernacle. The focal point would be the Mizbeach, the altar, on which sacrifices would be brought.

Now, the book of Vayikra, Leviticus, focuses on the actual ritual and usage of the Mishkan, Tabernacle. We read this week and next week of the various categories of offerings which would be brought to the altar. Priest, sacrifice, and altar would become the center stage of Jewish worship in antiquity. Judaism was hardly democratic or inclusive. The Priesthood and the Temple precincts would be a consecrated and reserved area for much of Jewish history until the second Temple was destroyed almost 2000 years ago. The dawn of Talmudic/Rabbinic Judaism would begin to create a form of Judaism that would become more democratic, inclusive and accessible to all.

Perhaps the one symbol which shows the transformation of Jewish life from Temple to Talmud is the Mizbeach, or, altar, itself. If you ever enter a Church, as some of us did a couple of weeks ago, the stage or, Bimah, of the Christian sanctuary is called the Altar. For Christianity, once the holy Temple of Jerusalem was destroyed, the Church took over the concept of the altar and transferred it to the center of the Church sanctuary. In the Catholic or Episcopalian forms of Christianity, the whole altar and priesthood is more laden with the look of the ancient Temple than the appearance of more liberal Churches, such as the one we visited two weeks ago.

In Judaism, the platform on which I am standing, on which the Torah is read, on which the Shliach Tzibbur is leading the prayers, is not called a Mizbeach, or, altar. Rather, this is merely a Bimah, or stage, or, elevated platform. That's all this is - reaffirming that the synagogue is not a replica or perpetuation of the ancient Tabernacle in the Torah or the ancient holy Temple of Judaism. Did the concept of altar disappear from Judaism after the destruction of the holy Temple in the year 70CE? The answer is no.

Rather, the Jewish home took on the terminology of Mikdash M'At - the Temple in miniature, and the dining room table in the home became the altar. For example, the Talmud states, "In the days of the Temple, the altar served to atone for us; now it is our table that atones for us." The commentor Rashi adds on that statement, "by inviting guests to our table." In other words, when we invite people to our table, we refine human relationships. This is how and where atonement takes place. Notice how the limited Priestly space of the Temple became the totally inclusive and accessible space of the Jewish home.

In Pirkei Avot, the Ethics of the Sages, "Whenever three people eat at a table without any words of Torah, it is as if they had consumed the meat of the dead." In other words, the altar of the Jewish home is made spiritual not only by inviting others to the table but also by the quality and content of the conversation that is being shared. 

Over the years, it has become a practice to salt our bread at the Table, not only on Shabbat and Festivals as part of an elaborate Kiddush and Ha'Motzi ceremony, but any time we recite Ha'Motzi over bread on any day of the week. The ritual of salting our bread connects the altar of the home to the altar of the Tabernacle and Temple when all of the sacrifices were salted.

While it is customary to invite others to our homes for Shabbat and many other occasions, the exemplary time for inviting will take place a week from tonight over the first two nights of Pesach. We will proclaim, "All who are hungry come and eat." If not literally, at least figuratively, the value of the Jewish home being open to guests is announced at the very beginning of the Seder and even toward the end when the door is opened again for Elijah the Prophet.

Let us use this week before Pesach as an optimum time for making the altar of Judaism a relevant, inclusive, and accessible space for relationship building and deepening the spirituality of Jewish life.

Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Howard Morrison