VAYIKRA
Torah
AND G-D
SPOKE TO HIM FROM THE TENT OF MEETING
The last five parshahs of
the Book of Exodus explained the form of the Sanctuary and its vessels, and
Exodus concluded with an account of how the completed Sanctuary was finally
erected by Moses on the 1st of Nissan, almost one year after the Exodus from
"And He called to
Moses." (Lev. 1:1). G-d's call to Moses, with which VAYIKRA opens, is the
immediate continuation of the narrative with which Exodus concluded. Now that
the Sanctuary was complete, the next step is for us to learn what is to be done
in it. The book of VAYIKRA, which takes its name from its opening word, thus
begins with the detailed commandments relating to the sacrifices, since these
were to be the main activity in the Sanctuary and in the
Leviticus, the Latin name
of VAYIKRA, corresponds to the name used by the rabbis of old when referring to
this book: Toras Cohanim,
"The Torah of the Priests". The book is so called not only because
much of it is taken up with the sacrificial services and other ritual practices
(such as purification from leprosy) in which the role of the Cohen-Priest is
central. In addition, G-d's challenge to ALL of the Children of Israel was to
be "a
* * *
TESHUVAH
It is an ancient
tradition that little boys who have learned their Aleph-Beis
and are just starting to read, commence their study of the CHUMASH (Five Books
of Moses) with VAYIKRA. "Let pure souls come to study the laws dealing
with purity." For a cynical, sophisticated age that feels entitled to call
anything and everything into question, the Torah code of sacrifices and
purification may appear ancient, primitive, complicated and irrelevant. But if
we are willing to explore the Torah with the fresh eyes of children, ready to
take the word of G-d on trust, with faith and belief, we can discover that the
sacrificial system contains the keys to repentance and the healing of the soul
and the entire world.
The theme of sacrifices
enters Genesis and Exodus in a number of places. Adam, Cain and Abel, Noah and
Abraham all offered sacrifices. Moses' declared purpose in taking the Children
of Israel out of Egypt was to bring sacrifices, and the animal sacrifices
brought at the time of the Giving of the Torah were described (Ex.24:5), as
were the sacrifices that were to be brought at the inauguration of the
Sanctuary (Ex. ch. 29). However, it is here in the opening parshahs of
LEVITICUS that the sacrificial system of the Torah is laid out in detail. The
universal significance of this teaching is brought out in the use by the Torah
of the word ADAM in introducing the sacrificial commandments: ".when a MAN
(ADAM) would bring a sacrifice." (Lev. 1:2). The sacrificial system comes
to heal man's alienation from G-d through atoning for his sins and bringing him
back into a relationship of peace with Him. This is the ultimate rectification
of Adam's sin of eating the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil.
This sin caused the mix-up of good and evil in this world that is the root of
all subsequent sin.
VAYIKRA begins with the
laws of the OLAH, "elevation" or "ascending" offering,
which could either be an ox, a sheep or a goat, a dove or pigeon, or take the
form of a MINCHAH offering of wheat in the form of flour or unleavened loaves
or wafers. In the case of an animal OLAH offering, the blood of the animal was
splashed on the sides of altar, while its fat and other portions were burned on
the altar. The OLAH offering comes to atone not so much for "sins of
commission" -- something a person did -- as for "sins of
omission", what he failed to do (such as if he failed to fulfil a positive commandment). The laws of OLAH are
followed by the laws of SHELAMIM, the peace-offering, an animal sacrifice whose
blood and fat were offered on the altar but whose meat was shared between the
priests and the one who brought the offering. The SHELAMIM sacrifice is a
celebration that signifies that man has made his peace with G-d.
Next come
the laws of CHATAS, the sin-offering brought for unwitting violation of Torah
prohibitions whose willful infringement carries the penalty of excision.
Different kinds of animals are to be brought and different procedures of
atonement apply depending on whether the sinner is a private individual, the
"Prince" (Nasi, king or leader), the
Supreme Court (Sanhedrin) or the High Priest. [Rashi on Lev. 4:22 comments:
Happy is the generation whose leader is able to admit he made a mistake and who
tries to make amends.]
The last part of Parshas VAYIKRA contains commandments relating to a variety
of CHATAS ("Sin") and ASHAM ("Guilt") offerings for
specific sins. It is noteworthy that while some of the sins in question are
bound up purely with man's relation with G-d (such as unwittingly entering the
Sanctuary or eating sacrifices while ritually impure),
there are certain sins in man's behavior to his fellow men that also make him
liable to a sacrifice. These include the sin committed by one who, having received goods or money on trust, subsequently
denies it under oath. This is at once a sin against G-d and against the person
from whom he received the goods or money. It is normal and natural for a person
to choose a private place without witnesses in order to entrust someone with
valuable goods or money for safekeeping. Besides the two people involved, the
only other "witness" to the transaction is G-d Himself, who knows
what really happened. If the trustee invokes the name of G-d to swear falsely
in denial of what G-d knows, this is a denial of G-d Himself. Not only must the
trustee return the goods or money together with a twenty-five per cent
supplement. He must also make amends to G-d by bringing a sacrifice.
* * *
THE ARI
ON THE MEANING OF THE SACRIFICES
The outstanding kabbalist, Rabbi Isaac Luria (ARI) explains that the sacrificial
service consisted of elements from the inanimate world (salt), the vegetable
world (flour, oil and wine), the animal world (the sacrificial animal or bird),
the human world (the sinner, who had to confess his sin over the offering) and
the world of the souls (represented by the officiating Cohen-priest). These
five realms -- inanimate, vegetable, animal, human and spiritual -- correspond
in turn to the "worlds" of which the kabbalah
speaks: Asiyah (the material world), Yetzirah
("formation", corresponding to the vegetable realm), Beriyah ("creation", corresponding to the animal
realm), Atzilut ("emanation", corresponding
to Man) and Arich Anpin,
the Crown or Root of Atzilut, corresponding to the
soul.
"Know that all the
different animals and birds have a soul which descends and is sustained by the
CHAYOT ('living animals') of the Divine "Chariot" (Merkavah). The pure animals and birds are sustained by the
Holy Chariot, while the impure animals and birds are sustained by the Unholy
Chariot. Sometimes it happens that a soul falls and a person becomes wicked. As
a punishment, this soul might be incarnated in an animal. When this animal is
brought as a sacrifice (KORBAN), the effect is to bring this soul back close
G-d again. Through the proper performance of the sacrificial ritual, the soul
is brought back to its root and rectified. Even when the sacrificial animal is
not an incarnation, it nevertheless contains holy sparks that fell at the time
of creation and that are now rectified.
"When the impure
animal aspect of man's soul gains dominion over him, it causes him to sin. To
rectify this, he must bring an animal as a sacrifice. The burning of the animal
on the altar draws down an exalted fire that burns away the sins, drawing
cleansing to the person's animal soul from its very root. Since the impurity of
the vegetable and inanimate levels is even greater than that of the animal
level and also causes people to sin, they too must be represented on the altar
in the form of the wine and flour libations and the salt.
"The sin of Adam
caused good and evil to become mixed up, bringing a flaw into all the worlds
and giving strength to the forces of evil. Accordingly G-d
commanded man to bring together representatives of the inanimate, vegetable and
animal realms. and through the service of the
priests while the Levites sing, the Israelites stand by and the owner of the
sacrifice repents, all of the worlds are cleansed and purified.
"When the
Shabbat Shalom!
Avraham Yehoshua Greenbaum