UI 042: Connecting to the Divine... God is not on Facebook

How do you connect with the Divine? This has been something I have struggled with since I began seriously questioning my atheism.  That a transcendent Creator actually created our natural world ex nihilo was logical enough, but that He cares about His creation? Or that He desires we communicate with Him?  These were beliefs I struggled with deeply.  And still, I struggle with the way to connect with God. This week we are beginning the Book of Leviticus (Vayikra.)  For many people, this is their least favorite of the Torah books.  I get it, there's a ton of detail, repetition, formula, and references which are lost on our modern ears. But for me, Leviticus has been among the most transformative works I've ever read.  Really, I am a Leviticus-phile.  Much of my love is because of the teaching from Dennis Prager and Jacob Milgrom. I have studied Prager's biblical commentary every year for many years now.  And for the last 4-5 years I have reviewed Jacob Milgrom's books on Leviticus every time we reach it in our Torah reading cycle (In Judaism, we read the entire Torah set to an annual schedule.) And this is why I am raising this issues for this segment of Ultimate Issues. Leviticus could be read as an antiquated text filled with meaningless ritual and pagan practices, but it is anything but that. Rather Leviticus opens as a statement that beyond God creating every thing (Genesis), and His continual care and remembrance  regarding His creations (Exodus), God also knows that while we want to connect with Him we don't naturally know how to do so.  So in Leviticus God teaches the people in a context that they can grasp and apply meaningfully. So, God pours "new wine into old bottles" (a Prager line).  The rituals and practices that are described throughout Leviticus are old frames of reference the people of that time could easily receive and understand, but then God put new meaning into them and transformed them into ethical, monotheistic practices and rituals. So for instance, killing and offering food to satiate or propitiate the gods was normative and universally accepted thousands of years ago.  Had God simply said to early man "just meditate and focus on your breath and you will eventually connect to me" that would have meant nothing to them.  So God worked with man so that both could benefit and eventually progress to the point were blood and "sacrifice" was no longer necessary. God knows that it is better for man to elevate and progress via evolution versus revolution.  Revolution rarely works.  And even then it is under very certain circumstance (i.e. the American Revolution occurred after a long period of evolution, and it had the benefit of the Atlantic dividing them from whom they are revolting against.)  As we have witnessed in the 20th century, revolutions often lead to societal degeneration.  Concepts may be revolutionary, but to apply them to life requires evolution.  Ethical Monotheism itself is revolutionary in concept, but the practice and rituals that surround had to evolve with its people. Here is proof regarding the concept I am talking about.   In Leviticus a tremendous amount of detail is used in describing the "sacrificial" system for the Israelites.  But a HUGE problem is the word "sacrifice."   I know that in our easily hypnotized minds we instantly conjure up gruesome imagery of savages "sacrificing" in order to please the gods, like in an Indian Jones movie.  And yes that did exist... probably still does exist to an extant. But that is NOT what is described in the Torah. The word in Hebrew for "sacrifice" is korban. Korban means "get close to."  The korbanot ("sacrifices" pl.) were a means for this new society to connect and get closer to God.  They were entirely for their benefit!  For the first time in human history there is no indication what so ever that God "partook" in a meal, or dwelt in His chambers, or even demanded a sacrifice. This concept is revolutionary.  I am sure for the people at the time, when they read Leviticus (Remember neither the Torah nor Leviticus were exclusive gnostic texts hidden from the masses. NO! Quite the contrary, the entire Israelite public could hear these words and instructions every year... Revolutionary!)  I am sure they heard these instructions in Leviticus and said "Wait a second?  God is not going to eat any of this?  The priests eat the bread?  The entire animal is burnt?  Other animals are to be eaten by people?"  Not only that, but God makes it clear He doesn't need anything... rather He is responding to their need to give something in order to connect. If you have a bull ~ you bring the best.  But if you can only afford a sheep - thats fine.  And if you can only afford a pigeon - thats fine too.  And if all you can really afford is grain - then bring some cereal and make sure it means something to you. So again to be clear on this, not only does God ban sacrificing humans way back in the book of Genesis (again a revolutionary idea considering this was a universal and accepted practice thousands of years ago); He also makes it clear that even blood is not necessary!  You don't need to kill to get close to Him or connect with Him.  And it seems quite clear to me that the system God sets up for the Israelites (ie. Kashrut, Korbanot, and all the rules surrounding slaughter) are designed to eventually have a people who do not kill animals unless necessary. With all this in mind Leviticus and its idiosyncratic laws and rituals start to make sense.  First of all, if and when you want to sacrifice to get close to Me  this is how you are allowed to do it.  These are the only circumstance in which you are allowed to do it.  Second, everyone has the same rules and everyone knows them.  This should end the still common practice of: A) Someone claiming they have special or secret knowledge of what God wants (Everything is revealed to all the people.) B) Someone desiring to do more in order to get even closer to God (He demands your best and your undaunted intent.) C) Someone officiating who demands more and more for his own personal benefit  (Priests can't demand extra gold or chickens, there is a very specific amount for all.) D) People thinking that God benefits from the material world.  (The only notion of God benefiting is in regards to the immaterial odor being pleasing... but this still was just a euphemism that was understood in that day.) And what this sets up is a system of pouring new wine into old bottles.  Infusing new meaning into old rituals.  Creating a society whose primary concern is in regards to moral human behavior rather than the preoccupation with pleasing capricious gods. Of course it also sets a precedent for the future that eventually we, the people, will no longer require sacrifice to get closer to God.  Rather, we can focus our minds, or our behaviors, or our words in a way that elevates us and draws us closer to God. For those who know me, they know that I have a difficult time with prayer.  Prayer is a way for many people to connect with God.  And I am not saying it doesn't do anything for me... it does.  But my prayer is more true to the Hebrew word for prayer, lehitpalel, which really is a reflexive verb meaning "to judge oneself."  So prayer is introspective for me, much more so than communicative with God. So how do I end up connecting and communing with the Almighty? Primarily its through deep study of the divine text, Torah... the first five books of the Bible.  I actually do believe that the Torah is a divine text (perhaps the only one) and it is therefore unique in its power, insight, and influence.  The Torah for me is somewhat like a love letter from God, or an advice manual... or a human behavior manual straight from the Manufacturer.  God wants us to do good, and so He gave us a book to learn how to do so.  He wants us to act good toward one another, and so He gave us a book to learn what that means.  He wants us to love the stranger, our neighbor, and God, Himself... so He gave us a book teaching us how to act lovingly.  In general, none of this comes naturally to people.  Some seem to be born on a higher plane than others.  I was not. From the mouth of God, to the hand of Moses, to the mind of the Torah reader.  I see Torah as great connector for those who choose to connect with it. Nothing has changed my life more, or connected me more to the Ineffable than the words that are found in that ancient scroll.  And of the five books, Leviticus may have had the most impact in my daily life and ability to connect with God. Oh and regarding Leviticus and sacrifice, keep this in mind.  If you want to get close to anyone or have a deeper connection sacrifice is often required.  Sacrifice of time.  Sacrifice of money.  Sacrifice of resources.  The more I sacrifice for those I love, the deeper my love for them grows.  The more I sacrifice for God, the more my connection with Him strengthens.  Obviously I'm not referring to chickens or bulls or even grain.  I mean time.  I mean effort.  I mean mental focus.  I mean moving into a religious community.  Putting my children through religious school.  Raising them with a religious identity.  These all require a great deal of sacrifice.  But it is all worth it, because it is done in order to praise and show gratitude to God. I hope that may help some of you.  If it does let me know. And if you have your own insights on how you connect with the Divine, please share in the comments below.