to Vayikra Rabbah, specifically section 2, to uncover some fascinating layers within the verses describing the offerings. We begin with Leviticus 1:5: “He shall slaughter the young bull before the Lord, and Aaron’s sons, the priests, shall present the blood, and cast the blood all around on the altar that is at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting.” And then, referring to the ram offering, Leviticus 1:11 specifies it should be brought “to the north…before the Lord."
Now, the Sages in Vayikra Rabbah make a profound connection. They see these instructions as deeply intertwined with the story of Akeidat Yitzchak, the Binding of Isaac. Remember that heart-stopping moment when Abraham was commanded to offer his son Isaac as a sacrifice? According to the Sages, God prepared two sheep in anticipation of this event — one for the morning and one for the evening. God then commanded Israel to offer a daily sacrifice of a sheep morning and evening.
But why? What’s the link?
The text suggests a couple of powerful reasons. Firstly, each time the Israelites sacrificed their daily offering and recited the verse “to the north…before the Lord,” they were, in a sense, fulfilling the promise inherent in that original offering prepared at the Akeidah. Even though they weren't obligated to say it during the offering, they did.
Alternatively, even today, when we can't bring physical offerings, when we read the verse "to the north...before the Lord," God remembers the Binding of Isaac. Every time we utter those words, we're tapping into this ancient, pivotal moment in our history. A moment of ultimate faith and obedience.
The Vayikra Rabbah drives this point home with a powerful statement attributed to the prophet Elijah (Tanna d’Vei Eliyahu 7): He calls heaven and earth as witnesses that anyone – Jew or gentile, man or woman, slave or free – who reads the verse “to the north…before the Lord,” evokes God's remembrance of the Binding of Isaac.
But there’s more! The text delves deeper into the meaning of "to the north" – tzafona in Hebrew. It suggests that tzafona isn't just a direction; it’s an expression of preservation. Where do we get this idea? From the Song of Songs (7:14): “New and old as well, I preserved [tzafanti] them for you, my beloved.”
So, "to the north…before the Lord" refers to the actions of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, actions that are eternally preserved before God. These are the "old". But it doesn't stop there. The text beautifully weaves in other generations: Amram son of Kehat and the righteous in Egypt ("new"), the generations of Moses, Joshua, David, and Hezekiah ("old"), and finally, the company of Ezra, Hillel, Rabbi Yoḥanan ben Zakkai, Rabbi Meir and their colleagues ("new"). "Old and new as well."
What's the takeaway from all of this? It's that our actions, our stories, our history – they aren't just things of the past. They are preserved. They resonate. They inform our present and shape our future. Each time we engage with our tradition, whether through prayer, study, or acts of kindness, we're connecting to this unbroken chain, this preserved legacy that stretches back to Abraham and continues to unfold with each new generation.