Still another approach is to regard this text as a paradigm. Achieving this last perspective is a goal of CLAL, the National Jewish Center for Learning and Leadership, an organization that is devoted to Jewish pluralism. To look beyond the kosher and not kosher classifying of animals and view this list as a reminder of our responsibilities as stewards of the world. To view recycling as more than the sorting of paper, metal, and plastic and as an opportunity to preserve creation. To regard our professions as opportunities to bring holiness and godliness into the world.
Life is full of stunning opportunities.
When we turn our prism toward holiness, we can find it everywhere-even at the zoo. Rabbi David Fine is the regional director of the UAHC Pacific Northwest Council, as well as the director of Seattle's Florence Melton Adult Mini-School. In this week's Torah portion, Parashat Sh'mini, the Israelites have reached a critical moment. The priests have been ordained, the Mishkan has been built, and God, through Moses, calls upon the Israelites to transform themselves into a nation. Parashat Sh'mini gives us a model of precisely this kind of transformational change.