Parshas Vayikra
There are two aspects to korbanot. One is that the korban is a harsh decree that we do not understand. That is signified by the word “daber” (Vayikra 1:2). The other aspect is that the korban is something that we desire. That is signified by the softer expression of “ve’amarta” (1:2).
The word korban comes from the word karov, which means close. Given that the human being has a soul, it feels the need to draw close to G-d: “nefesh ki takriv” (2:1), it is an offering of the soul.
The way to anyone’s heart is by bringing a gift. With G-d it is no different.
Of the five korbanot mentioned in Vayikra – the Olah, the Minchah, the Shelamim, the Chatat and the Asham – three of them are voluntary and brought in an attempt to draw closer to G-d. They are the Olah, the Minchah and the Shelamim. The remaining two, the Chattat and the Asham, are obligatory. They are brought to atone for sins.
The Olah is brought to atone for not having fulfilled a mitzvat aseh, a positive commandment, with the full self-application and enthusiasm it deserves. When I invite a friend for a meal, am I more interested in enjoying the food together with him or do I derive all my pleasure from just watching him eat?
The Olah is burnt entirely on the altar. All of it is dedicated to G-d. Its fragrance is pleasing to G-d (1:9).
When we perform a mitzvat aseh, like davening, putting on tefillin, sitting in the sukkah, keeping Shabbat, with full concentration, while putting aside all other thoughts and preoccupations, it pleases G-d no end, because it justifies His experiment in creating mankind.
When G-d created the universe, he conferred with the angels (Shabbat 88b). “Why create man?” they argued. “You are giving him freedom of choice. Without mankind, nobody will commit murder, nobody will steal and none of the 365 prohibited acts will be committed, because there is nobody around to commit them.” “True,” responded G-d, “but without man, there will be no one around to perform the 248 mitzvot aseh. That’s where my real pleasure comes from.”
This is the meaning of the phrase “Aseh docheh lo ta’aseh,” that in a contest between the more numerous negative prohibitions and the less numerous positive commandments, the positive commandments prevailed. That is how we got here.
But we are human. We pray with work on mind, we are eager for Shabbat to end so that we can resume our weekday activities. We want to leave the cold and rainy sukkah behind and go back inside. We fall short of dedicating all our thoughts and offering up all our enthusiasm to G-d.
This is where the Korban Olah comes in. It is brought to bridge the gap between the ultimate way of performing the mitzvah and the compromised way in which we do it. It reminds us to fully offer ourselves up, like the Olah itself, in thought to G-d, at least during the time that we are performing the mitzvot.
The obligatory korbanot, if we think more deeply into it, are less of a harsh thing than they seem at first blush.
By bringing an animal sacrifice, we are given the opportunity to transfer the punishment we deserve, onto the animal, as long as we are honest enough to confess our sins. “This is my exchange, this is my substitute, this is my atonement. This animal will go to its death while we will have a good, long and peaceful life” (from the Kaparot tefillah on Erev Yom Kippur).
When we bring a korban, all we are being asked to do is to give back some of the wealth that G-d has given us, because we have not fulfilled the conditions of the gift. That is a much more merciful penalty than having to pay for our transgressions with our own lives.
Indeed, although the destruction of the Temple was a terrible thing, it was not as bad as the destruction of the Jews themselves. That is why the Temple is called Mishkan, from the word “mashkon,” which means a pledge. The Mishkan was given to us by G-d as a pledge, on condition that we fulfill the mitzvot. If the conditions are not fulfilled, then G-d takes the pledge and destroys it, but He never destroys us (Rashi to Shemos 38:21).
We are told that if the Korban Olah that we bring is a sheep, it must be slaughtered on the north side of the altar. The north side of the altar is where the Shulchan, the table which symbolized wealth, sat. Like the table, the sheep also symbolizes wealth. It provides its owner with expensive wool, and generally renders one wealthy, which is why it is referred to in the Torah as “Ashteros Tzon,” from the word “osher,” which means wealth, (Rashi to Devarim 7:13). The word “tzafon,” north, comes from the word tzafun, which means hidden. When we are wealthy, we tend to hide G-d’s contribution to our success and attribute it all to our own efforts. To atone for this ungratefulness, the sheep must be offered up in that self-congratulatory place called the north, in full admission that it is G-d who gives us the strength to succeed.
