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In chapter 29 of our current portion, we catch a glimpse of the importance of blood sacrifice. Our God is a God of covenants. His covenants are ratified with the shedding of blood. The old Christian hymnal says it all: "There's power in the blood!" Actually, the reason that there is "power" in the blood is because the Torah explicitly teaches that there is "life" in the blood. The Torah paints a picture in 29:10-45 that an acceptable sacrifice sanctifies both the altar and the person who touches the altar (29:37). The sacrifice served an important function in the life of the average Isra'elite. Allow me to conduct a word study to explain. In our text of Ephesians chapter two we read, "But now, you who were once far off have been brought near through the shedding of the Messiah's blood. (2:13) There is a play on words found in the Hebrew thought conveyed in this passage, but not found in the English or the Greek. The Hebrew word for "sacrifice" is "karban". The sacrifice in question here is undoubtedly Yeshua's own. His was the spotless offering that was placed on God's altar, for the remission of the sins of the world. In our parashah we are told that the offerings of the morning and evening lambs, offered at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting, would create a pleasing aroma before ADONAI. These offerings would be at the place where HaShem would meet with and speak to the people (29:38-43). Moreover, verses 45-46 go on to promise that HaShem would live among his people (read last week's parashah), and that they would indeed know that he was the very one who delivered them from the slavery of Egypt. The sacrifice brought the people near to their God and it brought God near to his people. The Hebrew word translated as "near" in our above passage in Ephesians, is "karav". Here is the play on words: because of the sacrifice (karban) of Yeshua, we have been brought near (karav) to our Holy God! In fact, the two Hebrew words share the exact same root word. These words are not to be confused with the Hebrew word "keruv" which is translated as "cherub". Even though it was between the wings of the "k'ruvim" (cherubim) that the Glory of God was manifested, and it was the Mercy Seat (cover to the Ark) where the blood was splashed. The point is clear: our God instructed his people to offer the blood sacrifices in order that the covenant requirements might be met. Covenants are our key to relationship with an otherwise unapproachable, Holy God. It started with a sacrifice in B'resheet 3:21, and since then, there has existed a "scarlet thread" that has run through the entire Bible!