The Animalistic Gullet and the Godlike Soul: Reframing Sacrifice in Midrash Leviticus Rabbah

This article proposes an analysis of two homiletic units in the Palestinian Midrash Leviticus Rabbah, which revolve around biblical chapters pertaining to sacrifices. A theme that pervades these units is that of eating as an animalistic activity that often entails moral depravity. In contrast, the act of sacrificing is constructed in these units as one in which one is willing to give up one's own nourishment, and in a sense one's own “soul,” in order to offer it to God. Many of the motifs used to vilify eating in the Midrash can be traced in moralistic Greek, Roman, and early Christian diatribes preaching for moderation in eating or for asceticism; the homilists in Leviticus Rabbah, however, utilize these popular motifs in order to present sacrifice as the spiritual contrary of eating, and thus to give the obsolete practice of sacrifice cultural cachet and compelling meanings

Narrar el tiempo en el judaísmo rabínico: el calendario lunar-solar y el ciclo leccionario

Critical chapters of the story of Israel, commemorated as festivals, are timed to coincide with turnings in the year of nature. In Judaism, time is marked by the lunar months and the solar seasons and is endowed with sanctity when a turning in the heavens coincides with an episode in Israel’s story. Harmony thus characterizes Israel’s life on earth and God’s abode in heaven. In the words of the Qaddish, “He who makes peace in the heights may make peace for us.” The sacred calendar signalled by the sun (for seasons) and the moon (for months), coordinates Israel¹s life here on earth with the movement of the heavenly bodies. The movement of the sun and moon around the earth attests to critical episodes in the Torah’s narrative.Episodios críticos de la historia de Israel, conmemorados como días festivos, son medidos de manera que coincidan con el cambio anual de la naturaleza. En el judaísmo, el tiempo es marcado por los meses lunares y las estaciones solares; además adquieren sacralidad cuando un cambio en los cielos coincide con un episodio en la historia de Israel. Así la armonía caracteriza la vida de Israel sobre la tierra y la morada de Dios en el cielo. En las palabras del Qaddish: “Aquel que procura la paz en las alturas puede procurar nuestra paz”. El calendario sagrado, señalado por el sol (para las estaciones) y por la luna (para los meses), regula la vida en Israel en la tierra con el movimiento de los cuerpos celestes. El movimiento del sol y la luna en torno a la tierra da testimonio de episodios críticos en la narrativa de la Torah