From TorahVort.com
Vayikra
Yes Yes! This week we are entering the book of Vayikra. There are ten different parshas in this book, usually three of them being read on Shabbats as a double parshah reading. We left off at the end of last week, with an erected tabernacle, now Hashem had called Moshe in the presence of the entire nation. Moshe was to instruct the Jews with many of the different mitzvot which we are going to see in the coming parshahs. Moshe merited this as he was the most humble man of all time. He always put others first. We saw in Parshat Ki Tisa how he urged Hashem to spare the destruction of the Jewish nation, putting his own neck on the line. Humility in Judaism is seen as being vital, this is very much represent by Beis Hillel and Beis Shammai, the ultimate chavrusa pair, during the Talmudic era, Hillel always allowed Shammai to express his opinion first, in a gentle manner they would listen to each other and never insult each other in halachic debates. This week’s reading describes the various different sacrifices which the Jews had to bring or voluntarily brought to the tabernacle/temple. The first offering related in this weeks reading is known as the ‘elevation offering.’ This was brought by an individual who was repenting due to any wrong thoughts he may have had, voluntarily bringing the sacrifice to the tabernacle, the entire offering was burnt up, this was also known as the ‘burnt offering.’ This offering could be an ox, a lamb, a goat, a turtle dove, a pigeon or even a flour offering. The individual would bring the offering to which he could financially afford. So the rich man was expected to bring an ox, whereas a poor man would offer a pigeon or flour. If a rich man would bring a pigeon as an offering, Hashem would not be satisfied as he is expected to bring much more with his vast wealth. Whereas if a poor man donates even a cheap ‘flour’ offering, Hashem regards it as if he gave away his soul. We saw in Parshah Bereishit that Cain brought a very cheap offering to Hashem, when much was expected of him, whereas Hevel brought an expensive offering, Cain's sacrifice was not accepted by Hashem, whereas Hevel’s was accepted. The Parshah then goes on to relate the ‘Mincha offering,’ this was a flour offering, that was made in different forms, the ingredients included wheat flour, oil and sprinkled incense. These flour offerings were cooked in the form of ‘wafers,’ challos, deep pan and fried. All the sacrifices had to be ‘salted,’ where salt was put on the sacrifices. Salt can either be destructive (as we saw with the destruction of Sodom in parshat Vayera) and it can a preservative. The Torah then discusses the ‘Peace Offering,’ which is a free will offering of an individual who is in an elevated state of mind and, through the donation of a Korban, wishes to express his happiness to Hashem. When a peace offering was offered, the almighty blessed the world with peace and this offering brought about peace and harmony to all those who participated in offering it up. The Parshah then discusses the ‘sin offering,’ this was given if a Jewish man or woman had inadvertently transgressed a negative torah command. The sin offering would atone for the mistake, for example if an individual would have accidentally switched on a light on Shabbat, it would cost him a she goat or a lamb. The unintential mistake usually comes about by an individual being very careless, in order to prevent him/her doing it again, the Torah requires a heavy punishment as a deterrent from it happening again. Next up, the Torah relates different types of ‘Sin offerings,’ the first was brought by a Kohain Gadol who became aware that he erred in halachic decision. The second form of offering was brought if the Sanhedrin (men of great assembly) erred in a halachic decision. The third form is the ‘sin offering of a king,’ The torah offers special attention to the subject of a Jewish King to show that even the king, if he had done wrong, had to bring the animal sacrifice personally, rest his hands on it and enunciate the sin confession just like anyone else. It shows that the king is even a human being who can make an error. True Kingship is when one puts his hands up after making a mistake; we saw in Parshat Vayeshev how Yehudah admitted his transgression with Tamar, in front of his family, thus saving Tamar’s life. The Torah then relates information on the ‘guilt offering’ and the ‘variable offering.’ The natural Haftorah for this weeks reading, comes from Chapter 43 and 44 in the book of Isaiah. The Sidrah gives the rules for dedication to Hashem through offerings in his temple; the haftorah is appended that calls eloquently for Israel to devote itself to this calling. This dvar torah is dedicated to Liluy nishmas Yisrael Leib ben Yehudah HaLevi.
