Do you remember the old movie The Karate Kid? The kid wanted to learn karate moves from the old master, but ended up out back waxing cars: wax on, wax off. He didn’t realize until later that going through the motions of waxing the cars was in fact training him in martial arts maneuvers. Much of the Torah is like that. It’s full of rituals, holidays, feasts, and offerings that don’t seem to do much for anybody in the near term. As rules go, they’re not as “practical” as (for example) the one instructing us not to eat buzzards. Rather, they’re there to teach us specific things about Yahweh’s plan of redemption, the depth of His love for us, and His schedule—His to-do list. They’re prophecy, if you will, most of which was fulfilled in the atoning sacrifice of Yahshua the Messiah.