Parashat Vayikra After Sefer Shemot, Vayikra is tough. After seeing Am Yisraels progress from Yetziat Mitzrayim to the situation in which Hashems presence is felt within the camp on a constant basis, it is difficult to relate to something that seems so foreign to us- Korbanot. Stranger still is the opening pasuk. There is the double language of vayikra (and He called) and vayedaber (and He said). What is the reason for both these words in once sentence? Rashi addresses the question but leaves us with another. He explains that this double language is to show Hashems affection towards Moshe. The question is: what does Hashems closness to Moshe have to do with the whole Parsha of Korbanot? It all seems so alien. I think any answer must begin with the appreciation that we, religious Jews, although we are doing what Hashem wants us to do in our current situation, are not living the life of original, authentic Judaism. Maybe if Korbanot were part of our current world they would not seem so alien. (Maybe if we had stopped shaking Lulav for two thousand years we might think that was strange as well...) Despite all this, I believe there is a way we can approach the subject and come out with some kind of understanding. Before giving the answer that I heard, I would like to build the question. During the Amida, every day, we request that Hashem should bring back the Avoda in the Bet Hamikdash. Clearly this is part of the Jewish vision of the perfect world. Many misquote Rav Kook when he wrote about how eating animals is not part of the ultimate world. There he brings a proof that until the generation of Noach we were not allowed to eat animals; only once the Flood happened did the consumption of meat become permissible. But all this does not include Korbanot! We see that Hevel (Bereishit 4,4) brings an animal as a sacrifice nine generations prior to the Flood! Clearly Korbanot are part of the world in its perfect form. The question is: why? The Kuzari addresses this question (Passage 2, Paragraph 26). He points out that the Torah describes the Korbanot as food for Hashem. Now this seems very strange. How can we say that an infinite being eats or needs food? But the truth is that we also do not need food to survive! If Hashem had desired, He could have created a reality where we had no need to eat, no necessity to destroy in order to survive. But He did not. We accept the reality, that in the world that Hashem created, we must destroy things, both plant and animal, as part of eating, in order to survive. The same is true for Korbanot. This is the spiritual reality that Hahsem has created. And in His kindness he told us about this reality, that we must bring Korbanot in order to guard our spiritual wellbeing and to form a bond with Him. If we can reap, slaughter and eat in order to preserve our physical wellbeing, all the more so should we be able to do the same for our spiritual wellbeing. If a doctor told us that the only way we would survive was if we were to eat meat, I am pretty sure that is exactly what we would do. Surely when we get a prescription from G-d himself, Ani Hashem Rofech(Shemot 15-26), we should listen. Despite this, it is hard for us to take spiritual realities seriously. Generally we don’t see or hear them. But if we truly believe that we stood at Har Sinai and received the Torah from Hakadosh Baruch Hu, the least we can expect from ourselves is a little trust. Shabbat Shalom Binny
Posted on: Fri, 07 Mar 2014 10:39:23 +0000
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