Vayikra: The Sacrificial Service: Coming Close

by Rav Moshe Leib HaCohen Halbershtadt, Founder and Director of YORU Jewish Leadership, yeshiva.org.il, translated by Hillel Fendel.

The word for sacrifices is korbanot, from the Hebrew root k.r.v., meaning "to come close"

This week's Torah reading begins the Book of Vayikra, Leviticus, which is practically all about sacrifices and the sacrificial service. The second verse posits that when a person brings a sacrifice, it is mikem, "from you." Let us seek to understand this.

Last week, we concluded the Book of Sh'mot, Exodus, in which we learned of the construction of the Mishkan, Tabernacle; the utensils inside, such as the Ark and the Menorah; and the priestly garments worn by Aharon the High Priest and his sons, who were the other priests. The Mishkan was to be the place in which Israel would come close to G-d on the highest level possible on earth, as is written, "They shall make Me a tabernacle and I will dwell in their midst" (Sh'mot 25,8).

The Torah now begins Vayikra by pouring content into the physical house, namely, the sacrificial service. The principle purpose of the sacrifices is to bring the Children of Israel closer to their Father in Heaven; the Hebrew word for sacrifices is korbanot, from the root meaning "to come close." As Nachmanides explains: "Every korban refers to coming close and unity."

In the beginning of the second chapter of Vayikra, we read of the mincha offering: "A soul who offers up a korban mincha to G-d – the offering shall be of milled flour." This is the only offering that refers to a person as a "soul." Rashi says: "Who is accustomed to donate a mincha? A poor person; G-d says, 'I consider him as if he offered up his soul.'"

Who is more highly regarded: a poor person who tries hard and gives a small sum  - the most he has - to charity, or a wealthy person who gives a large sum, even though he could easily afford much more? The answer clearly is that in our world of deception, the wealthy man is more admired, because the bottom line is that he gave more.

However, in the world of truth, the Sages tell us that "G-d desires the heart," He wants to know what is in our heart, and the reward He gives is commensurate with our effort, toil, and hardship. The poor man who essentially gives his soul has done a greater act than the rich person, and thus coming much closer to G-d with what he did. He offered his soul, which is a higher level than offering one's money or even one's body; he thus "came close to G-d" with kirvat nefesh on the highest possible level.

There are roughly three levels in human relationships: There is a superficial acquaintance that causes people to like each other; there are acts of giving that bring about love; and there is the highest degree of love, soul love, that is the result of a series of little acts of giving, or of major acts that are actually sacrifices. Our forefather Yaakov gave over to his son Yosef everything he learned from Shem and Ever (see Rashi to B'reshit 37,3); he gave him his all – and this led to, in the words of Yehuda, "his [Yaakov's] soul is bound up with his [Yosef's] soul" (B'reshit 44,30).

In another example, we know that King Sha'ul's son Yehonatan gave up any possibility of succeeding his father as the monarch, and even risked his life – all for the sake of his love for David. Their love was certainly a soul love, as we read: "… Yehonatan's soul was bound up with David's soul, and Yehonatan loved him as his own soul... and Yehonatan made a covenant with David, loving him as his own soul" (Samuel I 18,1-3).

The Sefer HaChinukh beautifully explains one of the rationales for the sacrifices:

"G-d commanded us to always sacrifice from that which the heart of man covets, such as meat and wine and bread, so that the heart will be more aroused to it. A poor person is similarly obligated to bring [not from animals, but] from the small amount of flour that his eyes and heart are constantly set upon.

"And there is yet another aspect of arousal of the heart with animal sacrifices, in that human and animal bodies are nearly the same; they are differentiated only in that a feeling heart and mind was given to humans and not animals.

"And when the human body "takes leave" of his mind when he sins, he must know that he has entered the realm of animals, as he has abandoned the only thing that differentiates him from them. He must therefore take a body of flesh like him and bring it to the place chosen for the raising of the intellect and burn it there, so that it is completely incinerated, in order to form a strong picture in his heart that a body without intellect is lost and null… And by fixing this image in his soul, he will be very careful not to sin…"

The purpose of the sacrifices is that we should give up some things that he greatly love, to remind us not to sink into the mire of materialism, but rather to come close to G-d – which is the ultimate goal of man in this world.

Prayer Instead of Sacrifices
The Medrash Tanchuma teaches: "Look how G-d forgives the sins of Israel. Whoever has a bull should offer up a bull, whoever has a ram should bring a ram… a lamb… a dove… even just milled flour… And whoever doesn't even have flour, should bring words [of prayer], as is written, 'Take with you words and return to G-d' (Hoshea 14,3)."

Our prayer service was instituted to correspond to the sacrifices, because when the Holy Temple was destroyed, we had no way to come close to G-d other than via the words of our prayers, as is written, "We will pay bulls with our lips" (ibid.).

And as with sacrifices, we can choose the level on which we wish to pray and come close to G-d: like "a man who sacrifices from you an offering to G-d," or on the higher level of "a soul who brings a mincha offering to G-d," as if he is giving his soul.

Given that prayer takes the place of sacrifices, it is appropriate and worthy that we pray in the way we would offer sacrifices: with great devotion, without foreign thoughts, in a permanent place, and even, if possible, with special clothing for prayer; see Shulchan Arukh Orach Chaim 98,4.

The more we implement these laws of the Shulchan Arukh, the more we will merit to reach a higher level of closeness to our Father in Heaven – "as if we had sacrificed our souls."