Vayikra
In this shiur we are going to try understand why Vayikra is the first book of the Chumash taught to small children, Tinokot Shel Beit Rabban, why it is considered holier than all the other Five Books of Moses – when on the surface, it does not appear to be so. Vayikra is the secret formula for relationships, between parents and children, between spouses, between siblings, between neighbors, between us and HaKadosh Baruch Hu.
There are no “nice stories” in Vayikra, like there are in Bereishit. Why not start teaching the small children Sefer Bereishit with all the “nice” tales of Avraham/Sarah, Yitzchak/Rivka, Yaakov/Rachel/Leah/Bilha/Zilpa, etc.? Why not teach them about the building of the holy Beit HaMikdash in Sefer Shemot, the Aron, the Menorah, the Lechem HaPanim? These are topics that appeal to young children, not all the “blood and guts” of the Korbanot, the green/yellow/red, etc. blemishes of the leper.
We need to understand that the Korbanot listed in Sefer Vayikra were not part of HaKadosh Baruch Hu’s original plan. The pasuk says that HaKadosh Baruch Hu placed Adam HaRishon in Gan Eden “Le’Ovda u’le’Shomra” (Bereishit 2:15), to “serve and preserve.” No mention is made of sacrifices and the fact is that Adam in Gan Eden did not bring any Korbanot. After the sin with the Tree of Knowledge and after he and Chava were expelled from Gan Eden, on motzei Shabbat, the sky went dark for the first time since the creation of light on the first day. Adam was in a panic thinking the earth would remain in darkness – until the following morning when he saw the sun rise. Adam was so overjoyed at this sight, the Midrash (Avot de’Rebi Natan 1:8) says that Adam built a Mizbe’ach and brought a Korban of a one-horned ox. The first Korban was therefore the aftermath of Adam’s sin.
What does it mean then that HaKadosh Baruch Hu placed Adam in Gan Eden “Le’Ovda u’le’Shomra” if that did not involve Korbanot? What other kind of “Avodah” is there besides Korbanot? The answer is, when a person has no yetzer hara and is sin free, there is only one kind of Avodah – “Ivdu et Hashem be’Simcha (Tehillim 100:2), living every moment of every day in joy and praise of HaKadosh Baruch Hu, basking in the glory of the Shechinah.
After Adam and Chava sinned it became apparent that humans would not always be able to overcome their yetzer hara and would sin, thereby distancing the Shechinah. HaKadosh Baruch Hu therefore instituted a mechanism that would enable them to invite the Shechinah back in.
The Shechinah dwelling amongst us reflects an intimate relationship between HaKadosh Baruch Hu and Am Yisrael. Chazal compare the relationship between HaKadosh Baruch Hu and HaKadosh Baruch Hu to a marriage, HaKadosh Baruch Hu is the “husband,” as it were, and Am Yisrael are the wife. This is what Shir HaShirim (that we will read during Pesach) is all about – an allegorical depiction of the intimacy between HaKadosh Baruch Hu and His Chosen People. The Korbanot are the failsafe, a repair mechanism to restore this intimate relationship, if it has been damaged or lost. This is the root of the word Korban – “Kirvah,” intimacy.
By studying the structure of the Korbanot, we can learn how to repair a broken relationship, any relationship.
The stages of bringing a Korban are essentially the same four stages of teshuvah – 1. Admission, 2. Regret, 3. Relinquishing the sin, 4. Resolution for the future.
First comes admission. If someone does not perceive in their mind that they have done anything wrong, there is no raison d’etre for the Korban or teshuvah. To admit wrongdoing requires being truthful with yourself, integrity. When a person brings a Korban, the first thing they do is lay their hands on the head of the Korban (Semicha) and lean on it with all their weight. Admission is perception related, in the brain, the head – thus the resting of the hands on the head of the animal. The leaning with all your weight symbolically “transfers your identity” to the animal, indicating that the animal is replacing you as the Korban. While doing Semicha the person also does Vidui, admitting and detailing their wrongdoing.
Next are the “gory” parts of the Korban. When you see with your own eyes the animal being slaughtered, the blood, the body parts painstakingly being carried up the ramp of the Mizbe’ach, one by one, the burning of the body parts – it is an incredibly jarring experience. The person bringing the Korban is not an innocent bystander, he is seeing what should have happened to him! Instead of the ox/sheep, etc., it should be his blood, his insides, etc. being sacrificed. By all rights it should be him up there on the Mizbe’ach being burnt. This drives home the severity of the sin and gives rise to the remaining stages, regret, leaving the sin behind and resolving never to repeat it. After the person experiences such a mind-altering spectacle, the next time they are tempted to sin, they will think a million times first.
This brings us to the other meaning of the word Korban, meaning “sacrifice.” A person bringing a Korban is sacrificing that part of themselves that caused the rift in the relationship. We have to purge that part of ourselves that was involved in the sin, by showing it the door. The sacrifice is giving up that part of yourself that wants to repeat that sin.
A person sinned because it made them feel good. It gave them a sense of power, pleasure, superiority, etc. – all the things the yetzer hara tempts us with. Often, rachmana litzlan, we are habitual offenders, because the wiles of the yetzer hara are closely linked to addiction and everyone knows how hard it is to break an addiction. This is the sacrifice – forgoing the “benefits” of the sin, bending your body to your will.
This is the essence of a Korban. It is cleansing ourselves of the impure, intrusive element within us which drives away the Shechinah and restoring the infrastructure to welcome the Shechinah back in. Enabling us to live every moment in joy and praise of HaKadosh Baruch Hu, basking in the glory of the Shechinah.
Parshat HaShavua Trivia Question: What is the difference between the Marcheshet and Machvat pans?
Answer to Last Shiur’s Trivia Question: Why did Moshe gather Am Yisrael and tell them the halachot of Shabbat before he summarized the building of the Mishkan? To teach them that Shabbat takes precedence over building the Mishkan, that we are not allowed to profane Shabbat to build the Mishkan (Mechilta).