For many of us, the word “sacrifice” is an automatic reference to the korbanos that were offered in the Beis Hamikdash, as described in Sefer Vayikra. Bnei Yisrael brought korbanos, offerings from their flocks or grain crops, to express their contrition or gratitude to Hashem. The offerings were accompanied by the stirring music and songs of the Levi’im and the guidance of the kohanim, who made sure the one who was offering the korban had the proper intentions and feelings.
The commonly understood meaning of the word “sacrifice” is to give up something for the sake of something or someone else. Unfortunately, contemporary culture is all too focused on the development and gratification of the self, making the concept of sacrifice increasingly irrelevant.
Our sefarim hakedoshim teach that all sacrifices, large and small, are extremely significant and meaningful. Our community in Milwaukee is quintessentially representative of sacrifice in this context, just like other baal teshuvah communities in the world. The great majority of our constituents, in midlife, abandoned the world they knew for the unfamiliar and mysterious world of Torah u’mitzvos, which required mastering a new alphabet and language.
These pioneers often had to surrender family, friends, and prestigious careers in order to embrace Judaism. This great sacrifice created space for a new and more vibrant version of themselves to emerge. They personify the idea that, in this world, it is not what we take up but what we give up that makes us rich. They are an incredible nachas to us.
In a contrast of sorts, the amenities that are available in the larger Jewish communities today, which have made the daily lives of Jews much more convenient, have also affected the quality of their relationship to Yiddishkeit. Finding a minyan at nearly any time of day is a given. Kosher food and restaurants are not luxuries but are taken for granted. The need to sacrifice is diminished, and with it, there is a diminution in our spirituality.
The following story illustrates the difference between growing up in Milwaukee and growing up in New York.
Many years ago, my father, the Faltichener Rav, came to Milwaukee for a visit, bringing treats for my children. When he gave my five-year-old son Efraim a lollipop, the little boy hesitated and carefully examined the treat. My father, perplexed, asked him what he was doing.
“Zeide,” Efraim admitted awkwardly, “I’m looking for the hashgachah.”
Needless to say, my father was delighted and impressed. None of his grandchildren growing up in New York would have thought for a moment to question their grandfather about whether the lollipop he offered them was kosher.
In another realm, it is clear that friendships and marriages in which the individuals give of themselves, sacrificing time, convenience, profit and comfort in order to support each other, are the ones that are more durable.
Some sacrifices for the sake of principle are more than ordinarily courageous. Rav Yaakov Weinberg, the rosh yeshivah of Yeshivas Ner Yisrael of Baltimore, shared with us many years ago that although he knew many people who didn’t eat treif, he knew very few people who kept kosher. He explained with the following story.
Rav Weinberg learned of two Jews who escaped from a Nazi concentration camp and fled into the forest, where they survived for many days by eating grass. Starving and exhausted, they came to a farmhouse where they begged for something to eat. The woman there took pity on them, looked around to make sure that no one was watching, and gave them a single egg. They ran off, cracked open the top of the egg, and saw that it had a blood spot. They looked at each other, and without hesitation threw the egg away.
Rabbi Weinberg concluded, “They kept kosher!”
The truth is that every Torah-committed Jew today is called upon to make heroic sacrifices in order to maintain the spiritual integrity of the Torah in his home. The dark forces that surround us demand that we give up time, energy, strength and financial assets to counter their influence in our lives.
In that sense, despite the absence of the Beis Hamikdash, we all continue to bring significant korbanos on the Mizbei’ach of Hashem. And in that merit, we will surely be zocheh to the rebuilding of the Bayis Shelishi, speedily in our time. ●