Boys to men: the path to adulthood

Having completed the Book of Exodus, whose opening lines were, “And these are the names of the children of Israel …”; we now read in Leviticus, “When a man from amongst you shall offer …”

Many lessons shared in Vayikra (Leviticus) are relevant to our own lives, as we develop from the youth which we were into the adults we’re (still) becoming.

Here are three:

1. To realise that one’s quality of life, one’s growth from childhood to adult, is gauged not by what one has acquired, but by what one offers others. As John F. Kennedy once intoned, “Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.”

Children are by nature and force of circumstance generally on the receiving end. However, the moment one gives of oneself, one embarks on establishing one’s own independent identity.

2. Quoting Rashi on verse 1:17: “Whether one offers much or little, it’s equally pleasing to G-d provided that one directs his heart toward Heaven.”

G-d wants the heart. It is not enough just to go through the motions. It is about quality, about doing what one can with what is available. It is better to spend only 15-20 minutes every morning putting on tefillin and doing the basics of prayer, wishing that we could do more, than to spend 45 minutes praying, all the while thinking about how we wish that we were finished already because of whatever. It is better to give a little with a smile than a lot with a frown or a scowl.

3. Not all the qualities and character traits of our childhood are appropriate or desirable to retain as we mature. Growing up often entails having to let go of certain modes of behaviour.

The three types of animals used as offerings – oxen, sheep, and goats – represent three basic types of animal soul or yetzer harah:

The ox corresponds to the confrontational personality who is always seeking to assert himself and oppose the directives of the divine soul – the yetzer tov – the internal voice of other-centred goodness;

The sheep corresponds to the conformist-type, who follows the crowd and is too weak to assert his divine nature if it means going against the tide;

The goat corresponds to the stubborn type, who refuses to budge from the preconceived notions he has grown up with, trained in him by his animal soul;

Slaughtering the animal thus symbolises how we “slaughter” – in other words give up – our “me first”, animalistic orientation toward life.

Sprinkling the blood and placing the fat of the slaughtered animal on the altar alludes to how we re-orient our warm-blooded enthusiasm and sense of delight (fat) to G-dliness.

So our confrontational ox-like character becomes transformed into: “How dare you, yetzer harah, suggest that I eat treif, break Shabbos, lie, cheat on a test, or skip putting on my tefillin…”

Our sheep-like nature helps us to follow Hashem’s instructions, and to choose wisely with which flock of “friends” we associate with; and our goat-like nature can be used to help us stubbornly stick to the path of Torah and goodness, even if it’s not so convenient or pleasant.