Parashah Tzav
We know that every word in the Torah is there for a reason; there are no superfluous verses. So what do we learn from detailed instructions for these ancient rituals? As Nancy Fuchs Kreimer reminds us in The Torah, a Women’s Commentary, after the destruction of Jerusalem’s Temple, the sacrificial system was replaced by maintaining sacrifices in new forms. These new forms still included a complex system of laws and rituals around preparing and eating food. And we know, too, from other rituals performed both communally and privately that detail and ritual remain important. Why?
