Subject: Torah Weekly - Vayikra 5758
Date: Thu, 9 Apr 1998 00:29:06 +0000
To: "Parasha-Page List"<heb_roots_chr@geocities.com>
From: "Ohr Somayach" <ohr@virtual.co.il>
To: " Highlights of the Torah weekly portion" <weekly@virtual.co.il>
Subject: Torah Weekly - Vayikra 5758
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* TORAH WEEKLY *
Highlights of the Weekly Torah Portion
Parshas Vayikra
For the week ending 1 Nissan 5758
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Overview
The Book of Vayikra (Leviticus) which we start reading this week, is also
known as Toras Kohanim - the Laws of the Priests. It deals largely with
the korbanos (offerings) that are brought in the Mishkan (Tent of Meeting).
The first group of offerings is called korban olah, a burnt offering. The
animal is brought to the entrance of the Mishkan. Regarding cattle, the
one who brought the offering sets his hands on the animal. Afterwards it
is slaughtered and the kohen sprinkles its blood on the altar. The animal
is skinned and cut into pieces. The pieces are arranged, washed and burned
on the altar. A similar process is described involving burnt offerings of
other animals and birds. The various meal offerings are described. Part
of the meal offering is burned on the altar, and the remaining part is
eaten by the kohanim. Mixing leaven or honey into the offerings is
prohibited. The peace offering, part of which is burnt on the altar and
part is eaten, can be either from cattle, sheep or goats. The Torah
prohibits eating blood or chelev (certain fats in animals). The offerings
that atone for inadvertent sins committed by the Kohen Gadol, by the entire
community, by the prince and by the average citizen are detailed. Laws of
the guilt-offering, which atones for certain verbal transgressions and for
transgressing laws of ritual purity, are listed. The meal offering for
those who cannot afford the normal guilt offering, the offering to atone
for misusing sanctified property, laws of the "questionable guilt"
offering, and offerings for dishonesty are detailed.
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Insights
If you look at a Sefer Torah, you will see that the first word in Vayikra
(Leviticus) is written in an unusual fashion. The last letter of that word
- the aleph of the word Vayikra - is written much smaller than the rest of
the word.
Why is the aleph small?
When Hashem told Moshe to write the word Vayikra - "And He called" - Moshe
didn't want to write that last aleph. It seemed to Moshe that it gave him
too much importance. How could he write that Hashem called to him? Who
was he, after all? A mere man. Moshe would have preferred to write
"Vayikar" - "And He happened (upon him)" - as if Hashem just came across
Moshe, as if He didn't "go out of His way" to appear to him.
In spite of Moshe's protestations, Hashem told him to write "Vayikra" -
"And He called." Moshe put the aleph at the end of the word as Hashem had
commanded him - but he wrote it small.
What's in a small aleph?
The aleph is the letter that represents the will, the ego. It is the first
letter of the word "I" - "Ani." When a person sees himself as the Big A,
the Big Aleph, Number One, he usurps the crown of He who is One.
When a person sees himself as no more than a small aleph, then he makes
room for the Divine Presence to dwell in him. His head is not swollen with
the cotton-candy of self-regard.
Moshe was the humblest of all people. Moshe made of himself so little that
he was barely in this world at all. He didn't even want to be a small
aleph. He, as no man before or since, saw that there is only one Aleph in
all of Creation, only one Number One - Hashem.
Moshe made his own aleph - his ego - so small, that he merited that the
Torah was given through him.
__________ CLOSENESS__________
"When a man from among you will bring a `korban' " (1:2)
Closeness and distance are not necessarily measured in meters or miles, for
people can be close even when they are on different sides of the world, and
they can be distant even though they may be sitting next to each other on a
bus, or living in the same house.
Closeness is spiritual. It is part of the internal life.
We have no word in the English language to express the meaning of the
korbanos which were brought in the Beis Hamikdash. The word "sacrifice"
implies giving up something of value so that another person will benefit.
Obviously, Hashem cannot benefit from "sacrifices," for He lacks nothing.
The word "sacrifice" also implies having to do without something of value.
In point of fact, what we gain from the "sacrifice" is infinitely more
valuable than the "sacrifice."
The word "offering" is also inaccurate: The idea of an offering is that it
appeases the one to whom it is brought. It's like buying someone off. A
kind of bribery.
The reason that we have a problem translating the word korban into English
is that our ideas of "sacrifices" and "offerings" derive from pagan
cultures. Indeed, in those cultures the word "sacrifice" and "offering"
were apt and accurate.
The root of the word korban is the same as the word "closeness." It is
used exclusively in relation to Man's relationship with Hashem. When a
person brought a korban, he wanted to bring himself close to G-d, which is
the only real good that exists. All other "goods" are pale imitations,
worthless forgeries compared to the real good of being close to Hashem.
Today when we no longer have the closeness to Hashem that korbanos gave us,
we still have its substitute - prayer. When we pour out our hearts in
prayer, when we offer ourselves up to Hashem, we bring close both ourselves
and the world with us to our G-d.
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Haftorah for Shabbos HaChodesh: Yechezkel 45:16 - 46:18
__________ PARTNERS IN TIME__________
The last of the "Four Parshios" is Parshas HaChodesh.
Shabbos HaChodesh usually falls out on the Shabbos before the beginning of
Nissan. This year, however, the first of Nissan coincides with Shabbos and
so we read Parshas HaChodesh and its accompanying Haftorah on Rosh Chodesh
itself.
Nissan, the first month of the year, is called the "king of the months."
On Rosh Chodesh Nissan the Jewish People received the first of all of the
613 mitzvos - the sanctification of the moon.
Through this mitzvah the Jewish People were given a partnership in the
mastery of time: The world of Shabbos is fixed in time. We return to it
every seven days. However, the mitzvah of kiddush hachodesh (sanctifying
the moon) gave the Jewish People the ability to establish the length of the
months and thus to determine the dates of Pesach, Shavuos, Succos, etc.
Thus Man becomes a partner with Hashem in sanctifying time. Hashem through
the fixed holiness of Shabbos, and the Jewish People through kiddush
hachodesh.
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Sources:
o The Big A - Ba'al Haturim, Midrash Tanchuma Ki Sisa 37, MiTa'amim in
Iturei Torah
o Closeness - Rabbi Shimshon Rafael Hirsch, Rabbi Shlomo Yosef Zevin
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LOVE OF THE LAND
Selections from classical Torah sources which express the special
relationship between the People of Israel and Eretz Yisrael
GATEWAY TO HEAVEN
One who prays outside of Eretz Yisrael should face in the direction of
Eretz Yisrael, and one who prays in Eretz Yisrael faces in the direction of
Yerushalayim.
Both of these directives are deduced from the prayer of King Solomon at the
inauguration of the Beis Hamikdash, in which he appealed to Hashem to
accept the prayers of His people in all places and all circumstances.
Should they be taken away from their land into foreign captivity because of
their sins, he asked that their repentful "prayers directed to Hashem
through their land" be accepted (Melachim I 8:48). Should they be engaged
in war in their own land, he asked that their prayer for heavenly help
"directed to Hashem through the city You have chosen" be accepted (Melachim
I 8:44).
Although King Solomon was referring to particular circumstances placing
Jews outside their land and their city, he set the guidelines for how Jews
in all times must direct their prayers to Heaven through the holy land and
the holy city where the holy house of Hashem stood.
Berachos 30a
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General Editor: Rabbi Moshe Newman
Production Design: Lev Seltzer
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