But I Didn’t do Anything Wrong – Parshat Vayikra

We live in a society which though is quite accepting can also be very critical. So there are people with a tendency to get defensive quickly. "I didn’t do anything!" they will say. And they will feel they have gotten themselves off the hook. Is it, though enough to not do anything?

This week's parsha, Parshat Vayikra starts off discussing the Burnt Offering. In describing the procedure for this sacrifice, the Torah says that this sacrifice atones for us.1  "But what is it atoning for?" Rashi asks. He answers that even when we miss out on doing proactive deeds, we need atonement.

For inaction, sitting idly by and not living up to our potential in a given situation, we need atonement. We cannot wait for life to pass us by. We need to do and create and initiate in this life. Otherwise our life will be for naught.

If we are to find meaning in this life, and indeed we are,2  it is not just as a reaction to that which surrounds us. We are to take action to create a better, more peaceful and friendly world.

Click here to read another logoParsha article on Parshat Vayikra (Mixing Fires)

Notes

  1. Vayikra 1:4
  2. Viktor Frankl, author of Man's Search for Meaning, describes this in length in this book as well as in many other books and writing of his.

 

Have A Great Shabbat!laughing

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