וּהָרֹאשׁ וְהָרֶגֶל וּשְׁתֵּי הַיָּדַיִם הָעֹקֶץ וְהָרֶגֶל הֶחָזֶה וְהַגֵּרָה וּשְׁתֵּי הַדְּפָנוֹת וְהַקְּרָבַיִם
The head and the [right] leg [were carried by one priest]; and the two forelegs [by a second]; the haunch and the [left] leg [by a third]; the chest and the throat [by a fourth]; and two flanks [by a fifth]; and the intestines [by a sixth].
Tisha b’Av commemorates the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem, the locus of all of these rituals of Yom Kippur. These rituals, highly dramatic, gruesome, cultic and for many generations of our ancestors, cathartic, became homeless in the wake of the destruction of the Temple. Where do we perform these sacrifices now? Where do these detailed teachings hold aesthetic or moral wisdom for us now? At a time when we not only conjure rabbinic images of the Temple and Jerusalem in flames, but consciously hold images seared upon our hearts of destruction and heartache from Israel and Gaza, what can we take with us when we learn of the butchering of an animal, a sin offering, into body parts for the priests to carry out for sacrifice? To what degree do we, like the priests, see our own hands as bloodied, carrying sins of others and our own, into the inner sanctum of consciousness and accountability, grief and endless wondering—when will it get better?
As we examined the different body parts and their proto-roots, many of you noticed that the word for intestines, קְרָבַיִם, has a special conjugation, the ai-yim sound (the final patach, chiriq and mem) which implies a doubling. The question was asked, “why do the intestines specifically get a doubling?” And someone else pointed out, “maybe it’s to signify the upper and lower intestine.” Fabulous instinct, y’all. Anatomy has never been my strong suit, but that sounds pretty right to me! It also brought something else to the forefront– the significance of the root of that word, ק–ר–ב, meaning close, or to come close, to approach.
The image I’m leaving today’s session with is that one priest who is holding the insides, the close parts. Maybe the two are the upper and lower intestines, but maybe that priest is also carrying their own insides with him, along with that of the sacrifice, into the Temple, into that sacred and fallible place. Maybe we all carry a piece of the puzzle, and where we end up in life is both a thing of chance, like the lottery of the priests, and also a product of systems established long before us, but in our hands and lifetimes to change. May this Tisha b’Av of grief and mourning, also be an invitation to come in closer, to bring the different parts we have to offer, to make a world more whole. Can’t wait to learn with you next time!