For all the different meanings of the term Torah, its use in the opening passage of this week's Sidra is nevertheless surprising.

The Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 'Command Aaron and his sons thus: Zot Torat Ha Olah.'

Now, the literal translation of those words would be, "This is the Torah of the Burnt Offering."

We surely have reason to be intrigued here. What kind of Torah are we talking about? The Torah of the Burnt Offering? Obviously it cannot refer to what is normally meant by the term - Torah. Here the meaning must somehow be different, but what? The standard translation is somewhat helpful, for it translates the Hebrew word torah which is used in the description of each of the sacrifices, as "ritual." Hence, the translation of our passage would then become -

This is the ritual of the Burnt Offering.

To take great pains, as obviously our tradition has, to elaborately describe ritual is to be in line with the current findings of the anthropologists. These experts tell us that no matter the culture, whenever people truly want to prevent chaos in their world, they proceed to impose structure upon it. These structures often manifest themselves as spiritual rituals. Religious rituals - they are the structure that applies to worship. But when we stop to think about it, our lives are filled with countless other ritual structures from the moment that we get up to the moment we go to bed at night. For life to have meaning, it needs to be ritualized, otherwise it would be haphazard and chaotic.

What an appropriate observation for this Shabbat before Pesach, when according to Jewish tradition, Rabbis for many centuries have been expected to instruct their congregations in the proper observance of the Passover rituals. Now, Reform Rabbis are normally not well received when they speak about ritual, and for some when they dare to voice their displeasure about crawfish and crabs in the synagogue. Nevertheless, I am still willing, this morning, to risk your further displeasure! For I feel compelled to state, that ritual on Passover is as integral a part of the celebration as is any other aspect of our festival.

Undoubtedly there are many of us who delude ourselves that we can be faithful to our Torah and to our tradition by following merely its broad precepts, its moral instructions, without having to inconvenience ourselves by paying attention to its details of ritual and observance. For though we say that we want to be authentically Jewish, we also seem to have a passionate need to be indistinguishable from our secular and Christian neighbors. Adhering to the so-called "broad principles," by omitting the details of ceremony and ritual, we believe ourselves able to achieve our goal.

In truth, however, by excluding and ignoring ritual, we must necessarily diminish our Judaism. For surely, secularists and Christians are no less law abiding or ethical, and thus no less faithful to "the broad principles of Torah," than Jews. Jewish uniqueness can only be shaped by following the pathways of Torah as our liberal Judaism has come to describe and delineate them. The way many Jews celebrate Pesach may illustrate what I mean.

According to all available surveys, the Passover Seder is the most celebrated event of the Jewish calendar, and that even includes Yom Kippur. More Jews come together to mark the first night of Passover, and perhaps even the second, than attend Worship on Kol Nidre Eve. But, according to persistent and reliable eyewitness accounts, such observance at Passover time is often an unfocused celebration of "broad principles of the Torah," and not its detailed application. In short, many don't know which end of the Haggadah to open if they even have a Haggadah. And often, those who do, run through its pages with olympic speed so that the family can get on with the meal.

Many of us have come to conclude that it's really about time that we outgrew our adolescent rebellion against Jewish observance. Once it was cute and once, perhaps, even understandable that it reminded us too much of the world of Jewish Orthodoxy that our grandparents wanted to escape with such passion. The ant-ritualism of earlier generations may have an historic and psychologic explanation, but it simply does not correspond to the reality of the life of the human spirit - nor to the needs of the 21st Century. And as a result, many report that their spirits are literally starving though their bodies are very well fed.

In the words of Franz Rosenzweig, truly one of the most influential Jewish thinkers of this century, "Rituals are gestures of love." It is not enough to harangue my beloved with speeches expressing my love, for it ultimately is my actions that speak louder than my words.

So it is that Rosenzweig points out that "rituals are gestures of love." It is not enough to utter words in order to express our love of God, our actions must speak for us. Torah means the use of words and the performance of rituals, precisely because our tradition expects a combination of both. And it is for this reason that the Haggadah, as we have it, is a combination of words and ritual. And make no mistake about it, we are much more encouraged to improvise the words of the Seder than the rituals, because the rituals provide the structure. And once we abandon the structure, we end up with meaninglessness.

Our Torah Portion this morning has reminded us of the obligations of Aaron and his sons - that is the priests. "Command Aaron and his sons thus," the text has told us. The great revolution that took place in Biblical times and has been greatly augmented through subsequent history - is that every Jew has now been called to the priesthood, and not just the members of the family of Aaron. When the Temple in Jerusalem was destroyed for a second time in 70 of the Common Era, the Jewish Sanctuary moved to the home, which now became the only accessible sacred place for all Jews.

In making the Jewish home the Jewish Sanctuary, tradition has also made each one of us the rightful descendants of Aaron and his sons. Therefore, the command concerning ritual is applicable to every Jew, not only to the experts and to those of us who are professional Jews. That's why we insisted on carrying the Torah into the midst of the congregation each Sabbath and holiday morning. To exemplify by our actions the message that Torah is not a private property of those who are ordained. It is the shared legacy of each and every Jew to touch it, to kiss it, to embrace it, to study it, to live it, to perpetuate it.

Hence my plea this morning, dear friends, simply put is this: Please don't trivialize your Seder tonight. Just eating Matzah can have devastating effects on our digestive system. It is, however, worth it, to let it play havoc with our stomachs, if we regard it as the price we gladly pay for the beneficial effects that this ritual will have upon our souls. At this evening's Seder, perhaps more than at any other time, make no mistake about it - the menu will be the means, but surely not the end!