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.
“ Dvar Torah “
The main topic of discussion in this week’s Parsha and the rest of the book of Vayikra, is about the sacrifice ceremonies performed in the Mishkan which would be carried out in the Holy Temple later on in time. The Torah goes into great detail describing different kinds of sacrifices. There were optional sacrifices and there were required sacrifices. The Chachamim explain that the main purpose of sacrificing was to atone for our sins.
But the whole concept of sacrificing is very difficult to understand. Why should bringing a sacrifice be an atonement for our sins? Hashem does not benefit from our sacrifices so why spill the blood of an innocent animal?! Sacrificing was a ritual performed by idolaters at that time. So why did Hashem introduce the idea to Benei Israel?
The Chachamim explain that the word “Korban” [Sacrifice], comes from the same root as the word “Karov” – to come close. Therefore they conclude that the whole idea of sacrificing is for people to come close to Hashem when they commit a sin. When we do a sin, Hashem doesn’t want us to run away! On the contrary, He wants us to come close to him! Hashem is ready to forgive us, but he wants us to come close and ask for forgiveness. And sacrificing was the mean to come to the Temple and get close to the Almighty.
At the beginning of the parsha, the Torah talks about the laws of the Korban “Olah”, a volunteered offering with a variety of options, depending on one’s financial status. The wealthier individual could bring a cattle, a less wealthy person a sheep, and even a less fortunate individual could bring a turtledove. For the most destitute individual who would like to offer something but has no money for even a turtledove, G-d allows him to bring a “Korban Mincha”, a meal-offering. But the way the Torah describes it is as follows: “When a “nefesh”, a soul, offers a meal-offering to Hashem, his offering shall be of fine flour; he shall pour oil upon it and place incense upon it”. But in connection to animal offering, the Torah says: “When a man (adam) from among you will bring an offering to Hashem from the animals…”
The following question is asked by our sages. Why does a man who just brings some flour and oil (meal-offering) is referred to as a soul, while the one who brings an animal is just called by his physical name, the man?! For who is it that usually brings a Korban Mincha? The poor man! The Talmud says that Hashem is considering the poor man’s sacrifice as though he’s offering his very own soul. Therefore the Talmud concludes that the offering of the poor man, Korban Mincha, is more dear to G-d than the offering of the rich person. But why is the poor man’s offering more dear?!
Rabbi Chaim Goldberger from Atlanta gives the following explanation. Although, the offering that the poor man brought, could have been at little or at no cost to him, since he probably made the flour from the grain left behind in a field, we can safely presume that to the one who is poor, the act of parting with fine flour which he might otherwise eat to silence his hunger is an even greater act of sacrifice than that of the rich man giving up an expensive animal. To the poor, the flour is more than a large chunk of his possessions; his life depends on it! To the rich, however, the healthy cattle that he brought might have been one of the many that he owns.
In today’s time, unfortunately, we cannot bring sacrifices to Hashem, since we don’t have a Beit Hamikdash anymore. But our sages replaced for us the sacrifice ceremonies with “Tefillot”, prayers. Out of all our daily prayers, the one that is the shortest is the Mincha, the afternoon service. It contains neither the long introductory and closing segments of the morning service (Shacharit), nor the Shema and the other paragraphs of the evening service (Arvit). It is basically just the Amidah (the silent prayer), yet the afternoon service is the only one which is called by the name “mincha” — the offering which was most dear to Hashem. But why is that? Because, as impoverished as this service appears, it is the only one that comes smack in the middle of our workday; it is the only one that asks us to drop whatever we are busy doing and go and pray and spend time with the Master of the Universe, the G-d Almighty. Mincha is the only prayer service that asks us to disconnect ourselves from our mundane and worldly matters and try to connect with our Creator. It may just take 10-15 minutes, but it is a mincha — a prayer which is as dear to Hashem as our soul!!
Yes my friends, when you donate to the House of G-d, it’s the quality that matters, not the quantity. Hashem does not assess contributions and commitments based on the value, but rather, He looks at your efforts.
We always applaud and praise the people who give large donations to Kanissas. “Wow…. this guy donated $10,000….. this guy donated $50,000…… this guy donated $100,000…..etc.” However, a person who donates a few hundred dollars, we don’t show much appreciation. But the few hundred dollars that came from a person who is having a hard time making ends meet, may be more dear to Hashem than the thousands of dollars from a wealthy man which may be only a small portion of his wealth.
When Hashem wants to asses the gift of an individual, He doesn’t look at the quantity — He looks at the quality. He doesn’t look at the person — He looks at his soul!
Shabbat Shalom & Regards;
Martin