A good story is made up of a villain, the person being negatively affected by that villain and the hero who saves the day.
In this week’s Torah portion we read about the sacrifices. The portion discusses the laws of what animal/bird to bring up, if/when/how to sprinkle some blood on the altar, whether a meal offering accompanies the sacrifice, etc. While it is nice as a law book, there is neither villain nor hero and essentially there is no story line. What we read can seem uninteresting or irrelevant to many of us.
This week we add a special portion in honor of the month of Nissan, called Parshat Hachodesh. We read about the first mitzvah the Jews received - to sanctify the new month via seeing the new moon. Once again, it seems very legalistic and not relevant in today’s day and age as we use a predetermined calendar due to the lack of a High Court.
Perhaps the answer to both of these is that the Torah wants to teach us that you are the hero!
G-d does not need our sacrifices. However, one of the ways to build a connection with G-d is to bring a sacrifice. We think of the receiver’s needs and wants when we give a gift. Similarly, a sacrifice is giving something of ourselves over to G-d, to thank him for the good we have, to apologize for a mistake or just because we are in a relationship with G-d as that is what He wants.
Now the story of the sacrifices becomes interesting; what to do when?
What is there to do with when once committed a sin? What to do when there is a lack of gratitude to G-d? How to repair our relationship with G-d? This is the suspense in the story.
The Torah resolves the suspense by telling us how we can resolve and repair the relationship with G-d. Whether it means bringing “roses and chocolate” (in Torah terms - a sacrifice) or “tulips and chocolate” (in Torah terms - a different type sacrifice). When we bring the sacrifice we are the hero saving the relationship.
If we put ourselves in a situation where we have a gap in the relationship, we can think about what sacrifices we need to make to enhance the relationship.
The "new moon" is a similar story. When we want rebirth, we need to wait until the past is gone. The only way the "new moon" comes about is after the moment of it being completely hidden from our sight. One can only read the next chapter after the close of the previous one, it takes a hero to let the past go!
Take a moment and take this message to be heroic; apologize, rebuild a relationship, show gratitude, celebrate the rebirth and let the past be a chapter that you can choose to reread if it was good and leave behind if it was not.
Rabbi Kushi Schusterman