I really loved this reflection, in particular the connection of the blemished state of a sacrifice with the relational aspect of drawing close to God. As you write, "there are no fractional shares": you shall love HaShem "v'kol meodekha", with everything you can bring, with everything you are. And "everything you are" depends very much on the present moment. Perhaps one cannot muster much kavannah at a particular time, that doesn't prevent one from showing up half-hearted in a full-hearted way. As you note, "showing up proves it".
Further, beyond the Temple system, the nature of a blemish becomes a question. A blemish, for us, need not be permanent; teshuvah introduces the possibility of "un-blemishing". The Sefat Emet writes that "is is only in accord with one's personal purity that one can deserve to attain Torah" (R' Green translation). "A person can enter into Torah only insofar as that person is pure," and yet, "Words of Torah themselves serve to purify the one who studies them"! What is the state of an impure person, being purified by words of Torah?
For us, blemish is not a binary state, it's dynamic and in flux. We draw close however we are, knowing that however we draw close, we will leave the encounter transformed.
I really loved this reflection, in particular the connection of the blemished state of a sacrifice with the relational aspect of drawing close to God. As you write, "there are no fractional shares": you shall love HaShem "v'kol meodekha", with everything you can bring, with everything you are. And "everything you are" depends very much on the present moment. Perhaps one cannot muster much kavannah at a particular time, that doesn't prevent one from showing up half-hearted in a full-hearted way. As you note, "showing up proves it".
Further, beyond the Temple system, the nature of a blemish becomes a question. A blemish, for us, need not be permanent; teshuvah introduces the possibility of "un-blemishing". The Sefat Emet writes that "is is only in accord with one's personal purity that one can deserve to attain Torah" (R' Green translation). "A person can enter into Torah only insofar as that person is pure," and yet, "Words of Torah themselves serve to purify the one who studies them"! What is the state of an impure person, being purified by words of Torah?
For us, blemish is not a binary state, it's dynamic and in flux. We draw close however we are, knowing that however we draw close, we will leave the encounter transformed.