Last week’s post examined the concept of animal sacrifice within Judaism, analysing Rambam’s controversial contention that these sacrifices were instituted in order to withdraw the emerging Jewish nation from its pagan associations. While Rabbi S. R. Hirsch does not subscribe to Rambam’s general position, he too takes great pains to point out how the Jewish conception of korban is fundamentally different from pagan ritual. This difference, he explains, is represented by the term “korban” itself, which is from the root “lekarev,” to draw near. Common translations of korban such as “offering” or “sacrifice” do not accurately convey the Hebrew term and promote the popular misconception that korbanot are intended to appease or placate higher powers. Instead, the term “lekarev” focuses upon the need of the makriv, the person bringing the korban, to draw close and dedicate all aspects of that person and his or her personality to God and His Torah.
The chapter of Judaism Reclaimed relating to parashat Tzav takes the reader on a journey of Hirschian symbolism which, despite its sacrificial focus, affords the reader a window through which to view some unique and enlightening aspects of R’ Hirsch’s religious philosophy. It shows how R’ Hirsch first assembles halachic details from both the written and oral components of the Torah before exploring reasons for mitzvot. This perspective allows him to demonstrate how, in stark contrast to pagan ritual which emphasises shedding blood in order to appease angry gods, the Jewish korban sees shechitah (slaughter) as fulfilling predominantly a preparatory role for the deeply symbolic acts which follow. In Rabbi Hirsch’s understanding – for which we find support in Rabbi Yehudah Halevi’s Kuzari and the Talmud – each corner of the altar and each detail of the sacrifice’s processing is infused with profound meaning and represents valuable moral and spiritual truths.
Our chapter also examines the Hirschian understanding of shechitah and its significance as the first stage of the korban process. R’ Hirsch explains that, while humans and animals bear many superficial similarities, the process of shechitah highlights the crucial distinction between the essence and purpose of mankind and that of the animal kingdom. Unlike animals, humans possess both intellect and free will. The challenge facing them is how to control the instincts and urges which arise from their physical nature by engaging the intellect and free will with which they are endowed. When consuming meat, however, a person is incorporating animal flesh—symbolizing unrestrained physical instincts and urges—into his own body. The Torah therefore requires that such eating be preceded and prepared for through the act of shechitah, which represents the mastery and control of the human mind over the realm of animalistic physicality.
This theory, explains R’ Hirsch, can account for many of the detailed laws governing the shechitah process, which requires a degree of subtlety and control that is unique to mankind. This teaches a powerful lesson: the animal material that will be absorbed within the human body must be subservient to the free will of the human intellect, no longer governed by the forces of purely physical compulsion. When one approaches God’s Mikdash in order “lekarev,” to draw close to Him by bringing a korban, the fact that the process is initiated through shechitah may symbolize that one is approaching as a “human” who seeks to establish and maintain control of his physical urges. This mirrors another fundamental theme in R’ Hirsch’s works: that one must first be a “mensch”—a decent human being—before attempting to be a “Jew,” first acquiring humane virtues and only then proceeding to pursue spiritual proximity to God.
The chapter proceeds to a broader analysis of the Hirschian approach of proposing symbolic rationales for the mitzvot. Citing prominent students of R’ Hirsch’s school of thought such as Rabbi Y. Y. Weinberg, we record criticisms made of the Hirschian approach by Reform thinkers who suggested that ritual practice could be jettisoned once its inherent symbolic message had been extracted and understood. For R’ Hirsch, however, repeated performance of a mitzvah provides more than a mere superficial awareness of an idea; rather, such repetition can inculcate a profound truth into the actor’s consciousness. The chapter concludes by presenting R’ Hirsch’s thoughts regarding the difficult balance between the individual’s licence to propose innovative avenues of Torah thought on the one hand, and the challenge of maintaining loyalty to an ancient tradition on the other.
First posted on Facebook 2 April 2020, here.
