Dear Friends;
I hope that you will enjoy the following Parsha summary followed by a Dvar Torah;
” Parsha in a Nutshell ”
Parashat Vayikra begins with Hashem calling Moshe into the Mishkan where he will be taught many mitzvot, to be ultimately passed on to the Jewish people. The first half of the parsha describes the various “optional” korbanot (sacrifices) brought by individuals. They consist of the following: the korban olah (elevation offering) which is completely consumed on the altar; the korban minchah (meal offering) which, because of its inexpensive contents, is usually brought by someone of modest means; and the korban shelamim (peace offering) partially burned on the altar, with the remainder divided between the owners and the Kohanim.
The second half of the portion discusses the “required” chatat (sin) and asham (guilt) offerings to be brought in atonement for unintentional transgressions.
The sin offering is brought to atone for transgressions committed negligently by the High Priest, the entire community, the king, or the ordinary Jew.
The “guilt offering” is brought by one who is in doubt as to whether he transgressed a divine prohibition, or who has committed a “betrayal against G-d” by swearing falsely to defraud a fellow man.
The sin offering is brought to atone for transgressions committed negligently by the High Priest, the entire community, the king, or the ordinary Jew.
The “guilt offering” is brought by one who is in doubt as to whether he transgressed a divine prohibition, or who has committed a “betrayal against G-d” by swearing falsely to defraud a fellow man.
” Dvar Torah “
In this week’s Parsha and in the most parts of the book of Vayikra, the Torah talks about the sacrifice ceremonies in the Mishkan which would be carried out in the Temple later on too. The Torah goes into great detail to describe different kinds of sacrifices. There were optional sacrifices and there were required sacrifices. The majority of the sacrifices consisted of kosher animals and birds, and some were flour made in the form of cakes.
The latter part of the Parshall speaks about the compulsory sacrifices. Everyone who committed a sin unintentionally, or felt guilty, had to bring an animal sacrifice. When an animal was sacrificed, the animal was killed and it’s blood would be daubed on the horns of the burnt offering altar. Then it’s meat would be given to the kohanim, and the sacrifice brought, would have atoned for his sin.
But the question that has been bothering the Chachamim to this very day is about the whole concept of sacrificing. How can killing of an animal be an atonement for a sin?! What benefit does Hashem get from the sacrifice? What does the sinner gain from the whole ordeal? Many Chachamim believe that the concept of sacrificing is beyond our understanding, but not to our dear Rabbi Yishachar Frand. He gives the following beautiful explanation:
The word “sacrifice” in Hebrew is called “Korban”, which comes from the same root as the word “Karov” – to come close”. Rabbi Frand explains that the whole concept of sacrificing was just a tool for the people to come close to G-d. They say when a human being does something wrong towards another person, each party has the tendency to distance or isolate himself from the other party. Similarly when we do a sin, we also have a tendency to distance ourselves from Hashem, because of the immoral actions that we did makes us feel embarrassed to face the Almighty. Sacrifices provide a means for repairing this damaged relationship, and brings us close to Hashem once again. When the Torah asks us to bring a sacrifice, basically what Hashem is telling us to do is as follows: “If you do a sin, there is no need to runaway, but on the contrary, try to come close to me. We can work it out!!” Hashem is standing ready, waiting to forgive us; all we need to do is to come close and ask for forgiveness! Hashem does not need our sacrifices, but it’s a human nature to give a gift when asking for forgiveness. Because when we see that our gift has been accepted by the Almighty, we feel that we have been pardoned and our friendship has been reinstated!
Yes my friends, no part of the torah is unrelated to us, nor is outdated! There are always great lessons to be learned from the Torah, even from the sacrifice ceremonies that was done over 2000 years ago. So, the lesson is, when someone does something wrong to you, have the heart to forgive him, just like Hashem. Let him come close to you and ask for forgiveness. Don’t isolate yourself from him and try to work out your differences. Remember that no one is perfect. Everyone does mistakes in their lives. It can be your spouse, your children, your parents, your friends or your colleagues at work. But the question that you should ask yourself is, are you willing to forgive them? Forgiving needs a lot of courage, but if Hashem is able to forgive everyone who comes close to him, so why can’t we forgive those who are close to us?
So my friends, if you ever get into an argument with your spouse, don’t distance yourself from her. On the contrary, come close to her and work out the problem. Be ready to forgive and be ready to “sacrifice”!
Shabbat Shalom and Regards;
Martin