Vayikra: The Sacrifice

Text: "Speak to the Israelites. Tell them that when a man from one of you brings an animal for a sacrifice…."

Commentary: From one of you: This means that any person wishing to bring a sacrifice to the Holy One must first bring himself as a sacrifice. The act of bringing an animal to be offered to God is insufficient; it is not enough to accomplish meeting the desired outcome. Bringing an animal to the altar of God must be preceded by the person first coming before the Holy One with an open heart; one not tainted by wrong-mindedness. The mind and hands must act in tandem. The first sacrifice is the ego.
Bring to HaShem only your purest self.


Text: "And he shall press his hands on the head of the animal to be sacrificed: Only afterward will the sacrifice be acceptable as atonement."

Subtext: Any Jew could bring a sacrifice to the Lord in order to achieve personal healing and wholeness. Touching the animal the person would beg God, “I have sinned. I have rebelled and gone astray. These are my sins…” The supplicant then goes on to list the specific reasons for this act of contrition. The words must be deliberate and honest.

Commentary: Prayer of the heart can only take us so far. Torah tells us to take the ideas in our head and make them concrete by saying them aloud. In putting our deepest pains and joys into words we make them more real.
Have we lost the facility of communicating with God? Has prayer become rote? It can be recaptured by enacting what no other creature in the universe can do: expressing feelings, intangibles into the media of words is a gift of God. Aspirations, frustrations, dark anguish and dreams can all be placed on the altar of God. In words.

D’var Acher: The liturgy of Yom Kippur which attempts to heal all our shortcomings for an entire year is not enough. Without an accounting of the raw nature of the sins there can be no forgiveness.
Confession means candor.

-------------------------------------------------------

Four categories of sacrifices are listed in this parasha:

1. Olah- an olah is a male animal sacrifice. A person brings an olah because they are strongly moved to do something bad. That is to say, they have not acted upon this impulse yet but fell themselves tilting towards the forbidden.
A male animal is a specified for the olah because they need to be strong to resist and overcome the inner temptation.

Idea: When we contemplate evil in speech or deed a great well of strength must be marshaled to resist the urge. The first wall of defense against sin is critical for when this primary wall is breached it is far easier to sin a second and third time.


2. Hatat – For the realized sin a female animal is brought to be sacrificed.
Hatat is not just a sin; it is purposeful. The intent was to perform evil. That is why it is called a hatat, a willful sin offering.

Idea: Acknowledging that we have done wrong is no small step. Most people prefer to excuse their behavior. Statements like “they deserved it,” or “they it coming to them,” are common phrases in excusing our actions. It is much easier to blame than take responsibility.
A female animal is brought to gently bringing us back to a place where our sense of self is not threatened. When someone has sinned the Torah attempts to ease them toward teshuva, allowing them to rejoin society. That is why they bring a female sacrifice.

3. Asham- This korban, sacrifice, may be either male or female animal. An asham is an atonement for an inadvertent sin. Once a person realizes that they have performed an evil act, it is acknowledged by bringing the korban. An important reminder is that the sin was not premeditated. Asham sounds like the word “ashamed”, does it not? Is that a coincidence? In shame we bring our personal testimony for our faults.

4. Shlamim- Like the asham, this korban may be male or female. Unlike the other sacrifices, shlamim are not brought to mend a wrong but to acknowledge an inner state of peace. This sacrifice is a celebration of calm. Shlamim comes from the root shalom indicating 'whole' or 'peace'.
A korban shlamim is the gift of a grateful person. Such a person is so expansive in their desire to bring the entire universe to proximate their wholeness they rejoice with this korban.

Idea: We ask God to bless us with peace and tranquility. This is a downward movement. Coming from Above the blessing originates in heaven and wends its way to our realm far below. Yet the great mystic tradition believes that our hands can also generate the seedlings of wholeness and spread them outward. This is an upward movement. Starting from the earth we place into being the kernels of cosmic redemption. The shlamim sacrifice is that blossoming flower.

-----------------------------------------------------------

Text: “This is the Torah of sacrifices….”

Question: What does this mean this is the Torah of sacrifices? Is not the whole Bible Torah?

Answer: Torah means “instruction”. Every time this specific word is used in indicates direction. Here, the “Torah of sacrifices” means these are the directions of how they are enacted.

Subtext: The purpose of the sacrifices is to come out of our personal exile and draw near to God. The Hebrew korban actually means to come close, not sacrifice. That is why the parasha delineates different kinds of sacrifices from the great to the meager. What matters is that the heart yearns for HaShem.

Commentary: Reb Simcha Bunem of Przysucha said, “It is all one; whether you do more or less as long as you direct your heart to heaven.”