Esnoga Bet Emunah

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Three and 1/2 year Lectionary Readings	Second Year of the Reading Cycle
Tebet 16, 5767 – January 5/6, 2007	Fifth Year of the Sh’mita Cycle

Candle Lighting and Havdalah Times

San Antonio, Texas, U.S. Brisbane, Australia:

Friday, Jan. 5, 2007 – Candles at: 5:31 PM Friday, Jan. 5, 2007 – Candles at: 6:29 PM

Saturday, Jan. 6, 2007 – Havdalah 6:28 PM Saturday, Jan. 6, 2007 – Havdalah 7:27 PM

Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Singapore, Singapore

Friday Jan. 5, 2007 – Light Candles at 5:25 PM Friday, Jan. 5, 2007 – Candles at: 6:53 PM

Saturday, Jan. 6, 2007 – Havdalah 6:24 PM Saturday, Jan. 6, 2007 – Havdalah 7:45 PM

For other places see: http://chabad.org/calendar/candlelighting.asp

Shabbat	Torah Reading:	Weekday Torah Reading:
זֶה קָרְבַּן אַהֲרֹן
“Zeh Qorban Aharon”	Reader 1 – Vayikra 6:12-16	Reader 1 – Vayikra 8:1-4
“This is the offering of Aaron”	Reader 2 – Vayikra 6:17-23	Reader 2 – Vayikra 8:5-9
“Esta es la ofrenda de Aarón”	Reader 3 – Vayikra 7:1-5	Reader 3 – Vayikra 8:10-13
Vayikra (Lev.) 6:12 – 7:38	Reader 4 – Vayikra 7:6-10
Ashlamatah: Malachi 3:4-12	Reader 5 – Vayikra 7:11-21
	Reader 6 – Vayikra 7:22-30	Reader 1 – Vayikra 8:1-4
Psalm 76	Reader 7 – Vayikra 7:31-38	Reader 2 – Vayikra 8:5-9
	Maftir – Vayikra 7:35-38	Reader 3 – Vayikra 8:10-13
N.C.: Matityahu 13:10-23	Malachi 3:4-12

Roll of Honor:

This Torah commentary comes to you courtesy of His Honor Paqid Adon Hillel ben David and most beloved family, and that of Her Excellency Giberet Sarai bat Sarah and beloved family, as well as that of His Excellency Adon Barth Lindemann and beloved family and that of His Excellency Adon John Batchelor and beloved wife, and that of His Excellency Adon Ezra ben Abraham and his beloved wife Giberet Karmela bat Sarah. For their regular and sacrificial giving, providing the best oil for the lamps, we pray that G-d’s richest blessings be upon their lives and those of their loved ones, together with all Yisrael, amen ve amen! Also a great thank you to all who send comments to the list about the contents and commentary of the weekly Seder.

If you want to subscribe to our list and ensure that you never lose any of our commentaries, or would like your friends also to receive this commentary, please do send me an E-Mail to ravybh@optusnet.com.au with your E-Mail or the E-Mail addresses of your friends. Toda Rabba!

Rashi & Targum Pseudo Jonathan for: Vayikra (Leviticus) 6:12 – 7:38

RASHI	TARGUM PSEUDO JONATHAN
12 And Adonai spoke to Moshe, saying:	12 And the Lord spake with Mosheh, saying:
13 This is the offering of Aharon and his sons that they shall offer to Adonai on the day that he is anointed; one tenth of an epha of fine flour as a meal-offering, always [daily]. Half of it [he shall offer] in the morning and half of it [he shall offer] in the evening.	13 This is the oblation of Aharon and of his sons, which they are to offer before the Lord on the day that they anoint him, that he may possess the inheritance of the high priesthood. A tenth of three seahs of fine flour for a mincha, one half in the morning and a half at eventide.
14 In a frying pan, with oil it shall be made; you shall bring it saturated, well-baked, a meal-offering of broken pieces, you shall bring a pleasing fragrance to Adonai.	14 Thou shalt make it upon a pan, mixed with olive oil shalt thou offer it; in divided pieces shalt thou offer the mincha, to be received with acceptance before the Lord, [JERUSALEM. Fried shalt thou offer it; broken in pieces shalt thou offer the mincha, a sweet savour of acceptableness unto the Name of the Lord.]
15 The Kohen who is anointed in his stead from among his sons, he shall [also] do it; an everlasting statute to Adonai, it shall be entirely burnt.	15 And the high priest who is anointed with oil, (and also when (any one) of his sons who are constituted priests (is consecrated) in his place) shall perform this: it is an everlasting statute before the Lord: the whole shall be set in order and burned.
16 Every meal-offering of a Kohen shall be completely burnt and may not be eaten.	16 For every mincha of the priest shall be wholly set in order and consumed: it shall not be eaten.
17 And Adonai spoke to Moshe, saying:	17 And the Lord spake with Mosheh, saying:
18 Speak to Aharon and his sons, saying: this is the law of the sin-offering. In the place where the burnt-offering is slaughtered, the sin-offering shall be slaughtered, before Adonai; it is holy of holies [most holy].	18 Speak with Aharon and with his sons, saying: This is the law of the sin offering which is to be killed in the place where the burnt offering is killed; it shall be slain as a sin offering before the Lord; it is most sacred.
19 The Kohen who offers it as a sin-offering, shall eat it. It shall be eaten in a sacred place, in the Courtyard of the Tent of Meeting.	19 The priest who maketh atonement with blood may eat of it in the holy place; it shall be eaten in the court of the tabernacle of ordinance;
20 Whatever shall touch its flesh shall become holy and when of its blood is sprinkled on the garment, whatever it is sprinkled upon, you shall wash in a sacred place.	20 whosoever toucheth the flesh of it must be sanctified. And if any one let some of its blood fall upon a garment, (the garment so) bedropped shall be washed in the holy place.
21 An earthenware vessel in which it was cooked, must be broken. If it was cooked in a copper vessel, it must be scoured and rinsed with water.	21 And every earthen vessel in which (the flesh of it) is boiled shall be broken, lest that which is common be boiled in it; or if it be boiled in a vessel of brass, it shall be scoured with potter's earth and washed in waters.
22 Every male among the kohanim may eat it; it is holy of holies [=most holy].	22 Every man of the priests may eat thereof; it is most sacred.
23 Every sin-offering whose blood is to be brought inside the Tent of Meeting to bring about atonement inside the Sanctuary may not be eaten; it must be burned in fire.	23 But no sin offering whose blood is carried into the tabernacle of ordinance to make atonement in the sanctuary may be eaten; it must be burned with fire.
1 This is the law of the guilt-offering; it is holy of holies [=most holy].	1 And this is the law of the Trespass Offering; it is most holy.
2 In the place where they will slaughter the burnt-offering they shall slaughter the guilt-offering, and they shall sprinkle its blood all around the altar.	2 In the place where they kill the burnt sacrifice they shall kill the trespass offering, and the blood thereof shall he sprinkle upon the altar round about.
3 He shall bring all its fat from it; the [fat] tail, the fat covering the innards,	3 And he shall offer all the fat thereof, and the tail, and the fat which covereth the inwards;
4 the two kidneys and the fat on them that are on the flanks. The lobe on the liver, he shall remove together with the kidneys.	4 and the two kidneys, and the fat which is upon them, and upon the inwards. And the caul that is upon the liver upon the kidneys shall he take away;.
5 The Kohen shall burn them on the altar, a fire-offering to Adonai; it is a guilt-offering.	5 and the priest shall burn them at the altar, an oblation before the Lord: it is a trespass offering.
6 All males among the kohanim may eat it. It must be eaten in a sacred place; it is most holy.	6 Every man of the priests may eat of it, in the holy place shall it be eaten it is most sacred.
7 As the sin-offering is, so is the guilt-offering; one law applies to them both; the Kohen who will bring about atonement with it, it shall belong to him.	7 As the rite of the sin offering, so is the rite of the trespass; there is one law for them: the priest who maketh atonement with its blood shall have it.
8 The Kohen who brings a burnt-offering of an individual, the skin of the burnt-offering that he brought, shall belong to the Kohen, it shall belong to him.	8 And when the priest offereth another man's burnt sacrifice, the skin of the burnt sacrifice which he offereth shall be the priest's.
9 Every meal-offering that shall be baked in an oven and every one made in a deep pot or frying pan, [belong] to the Kohen who offers it; it shall belong to him.	9 And every mincha which is baked in the oven, and every one that is made in a pot, or in a frying pan, or upon a dish, the priest who offereth it shall have it for his own.
10 Every meal-offering mixed with oil or dry, shall belong to all the sons of Aharon, each equally.	10 And every mincha mixed with oil, or which is dry, shall be for any of the sons of Aharon, a man as his brother.
11 This is the law of the peace-offering that one will bring to Adonai.	11 And this is the law of the Sanctified Victims which they may offer before the Lord.
12 If he brings it as thanksgiving offering he shall bring along with his thanksgiving offering matzah [unleavened] loaves mixed with oil, matzah [unleavened] wafers anointed with oil and loaves of saturated fine flour mixed with oil.	12 If he offer it for a thanksgiving let him offer with the oblation of thanks unleavened cakes mingled with olive oil, and unleavened wafers anointed with olive oil, and flour fried with a mixture of olive oil. [JERUSALEM. One rule.]
13 With loaves of leavened bread he shall bring his offering, along with his peace-offering of thanksgiving.	13 Upon the cakes he shall offer his oblation of leavened bread with the hallowed sacrifice of thanksgiving.
14 From it, he shall bring one from each offering as separated portion to Adonai. To that Kohen who sprinkles the blood of the peace-offering, it shall belong to him.	14 And of it he shall present one as a seperation before the Lord; the priest who sprinkleth the blood of the hallowed sacrifice shall have it.
15 The flesh of his thanksgiving peace-offering on the day of its sacrifice it may be eaten. He shall not leave over any of it until morning.	15 And the flesh of his hallowed sacrifice of thanksgiving shall be eaten on the day when it is offered; none of it may be laid up (or covered up) until the morning.
16 If either a vow or a voluntary offering, are the sacrifices of his offerings, it shall be eaten on the day of his offering. And on the next day, the remnant of it may [also] be eaten.	16 But if his hallowed sacrifice be a vow or a free‑will gift, the sacrifice may be (partly) eaten on the day when it is offered, and the remainder may be eaten on the day following at evening.
17 Whatever flesh is left over from the offering shall be burned in fire, on the third day.	17 And what remaineth of the flesh of the hallowed sacrifice on the third day shall be burned in fire.
18 If it will be eaten, of the flesh of the peace-offering on the third day, it will not be favorably accepted. [As to] whoever brings it, it will not be credited to him; it is an abomination and anyone who eats of it shall bear [the burden of] its iniquity.	18 If, eating, he will eat of the flesh of his hallowed sacrifice on the third day, it shall not be accepted of him who offered it, nor reckoned to him for righteousness; it will be a profane thing, [JERUSALEM. It will be a profane thing,] and the man who eateth of it shall bear his sin.
19 The flesh [of offerings] that will touch any unclean [thing] may not be eaten; it shall be burned in fire. [As to] the [pure] flesh, every [ritually] pure person may eat [the] meat.	19 And if the flesh of things hallowed touch any uncleanness, it must not be eaten, but be burned in fire; but (as to) flesh that is consecrated, every one who is clean by sanctification may eat the hallowed flesh.
20 The person who eats of the flesh of the peace-offering belonging to Adonai while his uncleaness is yet on him, that person's soul shall be cut off from its people.	20 But the man who eateth of the flesh of the hallowed sacrifice that is offered before the Lord with his uncleanness upon him, that man. shall be destroyed from among his people.
21 A person who touches anything unclean, be it the impurities of man or an unclean animal, or any unclean creeping creature and then eats some flesh of the peace-offering belonging to Adonai, that person's soul shall be cut off from its people.	21 The man also who toucheth any unclean thing, whether the uncleanness of man, or of unclean beasts, or any unclean reptile, and eateth of the flesh of the hallowed sacrifices offered before the Lord, that man shall be cut off from his people.
22 And Adonai spoke to Moshe, saying:	22 And the Lord spake with Mosheh, saying:
23 Speak to Bne Yisrael, saying: any fat of oxen, sheep or goats you must not eat.	23 Speak with the sons of Israel, saying: You may not eat any fat of oxen, or sheep, or goats;
24 The fat of an improperly slaughtered animal and the fat of a fatally wounded animal may be used for any purpose, but you are surely not permitted to eat it.	24 but the fat of an animal which corrupteth in the hour of sacrifice, or which dieth a dead thing by death, or the fat of a beast that is torn, may be used in any work; but the fat of an animal that is in a right (condition) shall be burned upon the altar, and shall in no wise be eaten.
25 For, anyone who eats fat of an animal from which is offered a fire-offering to Adonai, the soul who ate it shall be cut off from its people.	25 For he who eateth (the fat) of an animal that is fit to be offered as an oblation before the Lord, that man who eateth the fat shall be cut off from his people.
26 You shall not eat any blood, in all your dwelling places, be it of fowl or of beast.	26 In none of your dwellings shall you eat the blood whether of bird or of beast.
27 Any person who eats any blood, that soul shall be cut off from its people.	27 Every man who eateth the blood of any living thing, that man shall be cut off from his people.
28 And Adonai spoke to Moshe, saying:	28
29 Speak to Bne Yisrael, saying: Whoever shall bring the sacrifice of his peace-offering to Adonai, he shall bring his offering to Adonai from his peace-offering.	29 And the Lord spake with Mosheh, saying: Speak with the sons of Aharon, saying: Whosoever presenteth his hallowed sacrifice before the Lord, shall himself bring the oblation of his hallowed sacrifice unto the presence of the Lord.
30 His hands shall bring the fire-offerings of Adonai; he shall bring the fat on the breast and the breast [itself] to wave them as a wave-offering before Adonai.	30 His hands shall bring the oblations of the Lord which he would set apart as his hallowed sacrifice, the fat, the fatness that is upon the breast, and the breast cut out with two ribs here and two ribs there at the top, shall be bring to be uplifted, an elevation before the Lord. [JERUSALEM. His own hands shall bring in the oblation of the Lord: the fat which is upon the breast he shall give it, and the breast, to wave it a wave offering before the Lord.]
31 The Kohen shall burn the fat on the altar and the breast shall belong to Aharon and to his sons.	31 And the priest shall burn the fat upon the altar, and the breast shall be for Aharon and for his sons. [JERUSALEM. The breast.]
32 The right thigh you shall give as a separated portion to the Kohen, from your peace-offerings.	32 And the right shoulder of your hallowed sacrifice from the side unto the extremity (deroa, arm) you shall give as a separation unto the priest.
33 Whoever offers the blood of the peace-offering and the fat who is of the sons of Aharon, the right thigh shall belong to him as a portion.	33 He of the sons of Aharon who offereth the blood and the fat of the hallowed sacrifice shall have the right shoulder as his portion.
34 Because the breast wave-offering and the thigh [that is] the uplifted portion I have taken from Bne Yisrael. from their peace-offerings and I have given them to Aharon the Kohen and to his sons, as an everlasting statute, from Bne Yisrael.	34 For the uplifted breast and the shoulder of separation have I taken of your hallowed sacrifice, and given them to Aharon the priest and to his sons by an everlasting statute, from the children of Israel.
35 This is [for] the anointing of Aharon and [for] the anointing of his sons from the fire-offering of Adonai, on the day He brought them to serve before Adonai,	35 This pertaineth to the consecration of Aharon a to the consecration of his sons over all the Levites their brethren, that they may eat of the Lord's oblations in the day that they present them to minister before the Lord;
36 that Adonai commanded to give to them, on the day He anointed them, from Bne Yisrael, an everlasting statute for all their descendants.	36 which the Lord commanded to be given them in the day of their consecration from among the sons of Israel, by an everlasting statute to your generations.
37 This is the law for the burnt-offering, the meal-offering, the sin-offering and the guilt-offering; for the installation-sacrifices and for the peace-offering,	37 This is the law of the burnt offering which is brought to atone for the thoughts of the heart; of the mincha, of the sin offering, of the trespass offering, and of the peace offering, or the hallowed sacrifices
38 that Adonai commanded Moshe on Mount Sinai, on the day that he commanded Bne Yisrael to bring their offerings to Adonai in the desert of Sinai.	38 which the Lord commanded Mosheh in Mount Sinai, in the day that he commanded the sons of Israel to offer their oblations before the Lord in the tabernacle that he made unto him in the wilderness of Sinai.

Midrash Tanchuma (S. Buber Recension) for Vayikra (Leviticus) 6:12 – 7:38

2.5 Leviticus 7:ll ff., Part I

(Lev. 7:11) THIS IS THE LAW OF THE SACRIFICE FOR PEACE OFFERINGS. This text is related (to Prov. 3:17): <WISDOM’S> WAYS ARE WAYS OF PLEASANTNESS, AND ALL HER PATHS ARE PEACE. Whatever is written in the Torah is written {as an expression of} [to establish] peace. Although wars are written about in the Torah, they are written about for the sake of peace. You find that the Holy One cancelled the decree <of utter destruction (herem)> for the sake of peace. When? When the Holy One said to Moses (in Deut. 20:19): WHEN YOU BESIEGE A CITY A LONG TIME ... , <YOU WILL NOT DESTROY ITS TREES. . ..> Now concerning that whole matter, the Holy One had said that he would destroy them, as stated (above in vs. 17): NO, YOU WILL UTTERLY DESTROY THEM. However, Moses did not do so. Rather he said: Am I to go and smite them now? I do not know who has sinned and who has not sinned. Instead, let me come against them in peace, as stated (in Deut. 2:26): THEN I SENT MESSENGERS FROM THE DESERT OF KEDEMOTH <UNTO KING SIHON OF HESHBON> WITH WORDS OF PEACE, SAYING: <… ...> When he saw that he did not come in peace, he smote him, as stated (in Numb. 21:35): SO THEY SMOTE HIM, HIS CHILDREN, AND ALL HIS PEOPLE. The Holy One said to him: I myself told you (in Deut. 20:17): NO, YOU WILL UTTERLY DESTROY THEM ... . Now you have come to them in Peace. By your life, just as you have said, so will I do. Thus it is stated (in Deut. 20:10): WHEN YOU DRAW NEAR UNTO A CITY TO FIGHT AGAINST IT, YOU WILL OFFER TERMS OF PEACE UNTO IT. Therefore, it is so stated (in Prov. 3:17): <WISDOM’S> WAYS ARE WAYS OF PLEASANTNESS, AND ALL HER PATHS ARE PEACE.

2.6 Leviticus 7:ll ff., Part II

Another interpretation (of Lev. 7:11): THIS IS THE LAW OF THE SACRIFICE FOR PEACE OFFERINGS ... . This text is related (to Ps. 85:9 [8]): LET ME HEAR WHAT GOD, THE LORD, WILL SPEAK; FOR HE WILL SPEAK PEACE UNTO HIS PEOPLE AND UNTO HIS SAINTS. The peoples of the world said to Balaam: Why did the Holy One tell Israel to bring him sacrifices without telling us anything? Balaam said to them: The sacrifices are only peace (i.e., the peace offering). Whoever has accepted the Torah in which they are written must offer sacrifice. You rejected <Torah> from the start, and now you wish to offer sacrifices. Whoever accepted it is the one who offers <sacrifices>, as stated (in Ps. 29:11): THE LORD WILL GRANT STRENGTH TO HIS PEOPLE; THE LORD WILL BLESS HIS PEOPLE WITH PEACE (i.e., with peace offerings). It is therefore stated (in Ps. 85:9 [8]): LET ME HEAR WHAT GOD, THE LORD, WILL SPEAK; FOR HE WILL SPEAK PEACE UNTO HIS PEOPLE AND UNTO HIS SAINTS. What did he speak? (L.ev. 7:11): THIS IS THE LAW OF THE SACRIFICE FOR PEACE OFFERINGS ... . Why was it worded, THE SACRIFICE FOR PEACE OFFERINGS? Because it makes peace among the altar, the priests, and Israel. Come and see. The whole burnt offering belonged wholly to the flames. Also, in the case of the sin offering, its best parts and its devoted portions belonged to the altar, its skin and its flesh belonged to the priests, but there was no enjoyment from it for Israel. So also in the case of the guilt offering. However, in the case of the thank offering, its blood and its devoted parts belonged to the altar, the breast and the shoulder belonged to the priests, but the skin and flesh belonged to Israel. It resulted in making peace among the altar, the priests, and Israel. It is therefore called (in Lev. 7:11), THE SACRIFICE FOR PEACE OFFERINGS, because it made peace for all.

2.7 Leviticus 7:11 ff., Part III

[(Lev. 7:11): THIS IS THE LAW OF THE SACRIFICE FOR PEACE OFFERINGS.] When they offered the sacrifice of the peace offerings, the Holy One would lift up his face to them, as stated (in Numb. 6:26): THE LORD LIFT UP HIS FACE UNTO YOU AND GRANT YOU PEACE. Is it possible for the Holy One to lift up a face to mortals? Two verses contradict each other. One text says (in Ezek. 33:11): {FOR} I DO NOT DESIRE THE DEATH OF THE WICKED/LAWLESS BUT THAT THE WICKED/LAWLESS TURN FROM HIS WAY AND LIVE. The other text says (in I Sam. 2:25): FOR THE LORD TOOK PLEASURE IN SLAYING THEM. How has he not taken pleasure in the death of the wicked/lawless? It is simply that before their verdict was sealed, he did not take pleasure; after a verdict was sealed, THE LORD TOOK PLEASURE IN SLAYING THEM. And so Daniel said (in Dan. 10:21): HOWEVER, I WILL TELL YOU WHAT IS INSCRIBED IN THE RECORD OF TRUTH. Our masters have said: There was a story about Our Holy Rabbi (i.e., about R. Judah the Prince) that, when he was passing through Simonia (where he lived), all the people of the city came out to meet him. They wanted one elder from him to teach Torah. He gave them R. Levi bar Simon. They said to him: Rabbenu, what is the meaning of what is written in Daniel (10:21): HOWEVER, I WILL TELLYOU WHAT IS INSCRIBED IN THE RECORD OF TRUTH? Is there something false in the Torah that it <must specifically> say TRUTH <here>? <When> he did not find an answer to give them, he immediately went away [from there and came] to Rabbi. He said to him: I could not stand up before them. They asked me one thing, and I could not find out what to answer them. He said to him: What was the <one> thing? He said to him: HOWEVER, I WILL TELL YOU WHAT IS INSCRIBED IN THE RECORD OF TRUTH. Is there something false in the Torah? He said to him: There was a great answer for you to give them. He said to him: You had something to tell them: When someone sins, the Holy One inscribes death for him. <If> he repents, the record is canceled. <If> he does not repent, IT IS INSCRIBED IN THE RECORD OF TRUTH. [Here] also one text says (in Numb. 6:26): THE LORD LIFT UP HIS FACE UNTO YOU..., while another text says (in Deut. 10:17): WHO DOES NOT LIFT UP HIS FACE. If he lifts it up, why does he not lift it up? It is simply that for the nations of the world, <he is one> WHO DOES NOT LIFT UP HIS FACE, but for Israel, THE LORD LIFT UP HIS FACE UNTO YOU. The Holy One said: Just as Israel lifts up a face to me, so I lift up a face to them. And how do they lift up a face to me? <When> someone poor from Israel has four children, he takes one loaf. They sit down and eat all that loaf, but they are not satisfied from what there is in it. So they give a blessing and say (from Deut. 8:10): THEN YOU WILL EAT, BE FULL, [AND BLESS]. I will also lift up a face to them, as stated (in Numb. 6:26): THE LORD LIFT UP HIS FACE UNTO YOU. It is therefore stated (in Lev. 7:11): THIS IS THE LAW OF THE SACRIFICE FOR PEACE OFFERINGS.

2.8 Leviticus 7:ll ff., Part IV

(Lev. 7:12:) IF HE OFFERS IT FOR A THANKSGIVING ... . See how the Holy One forgives the sins of Israel. So what did they offer to the Holy One? It is simply that the Holy One said: Whoever has a bull, let him bring a bull; and whoever has a calf let him bring a calf. Whoever has a lamb, let him bring a lamb. Whoever has a dove, let him bring a dove. Whoever has only one of all these, let him bring fine flour; and whoever has neither flour nor anything at all, let him bring words. Thus it is stated (in Hos. 14:3 [2]): TAKE YOUR WORDS WITH YOU [AND RETURN UNTO THE LORD]. It is therefore stated (in Lev. 7:12:) IF HE OFFERS IT FOR A THANKSGIVING.

2.9 Leviticus 7:ll ff., Part V

(Lev. 7:11:) THIS IS THE LAW OF THE SACRIFICE FOR PEACE OFFERINGS. You find (in Ezra 10:19): AND THEY GAVE THEIR WORD (literally, THEIR HAND) THAT THEY WOULD PUT AWAY THEIR WIVES; AND BEING GUILTY, <THEY GAVE> A RAM FROM {THE} [A] FLOCK FOR THEIR GUILT. Now the sin offering {was} [took place] for the unintentional sin, as stated (in Numb. 15:25): AND THEIR SIN OFFERING BEFORE THE LORD FOR THEIR UNINTENTIONAL SIN. A burnt offering took place for a thought of the heart. Thus it is stated (in Job 1:5): AND RISING EARLY IN THE MORNING, HE WOULD OFFER BURNT OFFERINGS, ONE FOR EACH OF THEM, FOR JOB SAID PERHAPS MY CHILDREN HAVE SINNED AND BLASPHEMED GOD IN THEIR HEARTS. But when the thank offering took place, it took place on account of their gratitude. The Holy One said: This is the dearest to me of all the offerings. David said (in Ps. 50:23): WHOEVER SACRIFICES A THANK OFFERING HONORS ME (YKBDNNI). It does not say YKBDNI but YKBDNNI, <spelled with N> two times, <once> for this world and <once> for the world to come.

R. Judah bar Gadya said: Whoever answers Amen in this world merits answering Amen in the world to come. Where is it shown? <Where it is stated> (in Ps. 41:14 [13]): BLESSED BE THE LORD, THE GOD OF ISRAEL, FROM EVERLASTING TO EVERLASTING (literally: FROM THE WORLD AND UNTO THE WORLD). AMEN AND AMEN. What is the meaning of AMEN AND AMEN? AMEN in this world and AMEN in the world to come. Ergo (in Ps. 50:23): WHOEVER SACRIFICES A THANK

OFFERING HONORS ME.

2.10 Leviticus 7:ll ff., Part VI

(Lev. 7:11:) THIS IS THE LAW OF THE SACRIFICE FOR PEACE OFFERINGS. [Peace offerings rank high] because they make peace between Israel and their Father in heaven. Eleazar haQappar says: Peace is great, because even though Israel worships idols but <still> forms one fellowship (havurah), strict justice does not harm them. It is so stated (in Hos. 4:17): EPHRAIM IS ASSOCIATED (havur) WITH IDOLS. LET HIM BE. R. Levi says: Peace is great, because there is no conclusion to the Priestly Blessing except peace, as stated (in Numb. 6:26): AND GRANT YOU PEACE. R. Simeon ben Gamaliel said: Peace is great, because the Holy One has written things in the Torah which are there only because of Peace. They are the following:

1. When Jacob had died, (Gen. 50:15:) AND JOSEPH’S BROTHERS SAW THAT THEIR FATHER WAS DEAD ... , what did they do? They went to Bilhah and said to her: Go in unto Joseph and say to him (in Gen. 50:16): BEFORE HE DIED YOUR FATHER GAVE A COMMAND SAYING. Now Jacob never commanded any of these things at all; yet they said this thing on their own. [The command was for Joseph to forgive his brothers and so make peace.] Rabban Simeon ben Gamaliel said: See how much ink was spilled, how many pens were broken, {how many children were whipped,} how many skins were {destroyed} [prepared], [and how many children were whipped], in order to learn something which was not in the Torah. See how great is the power of peace!

2. And so you find in the case of Sarah, when the ministering angels came to Abraham and said to him (in Gen. 18:14): AT THE SET TIME I WILL RETURN UNTO YOU, AT THE TIME THAT LIFE IS DUE, AND SARAH WILL HAVE A SON, at that time (according to Gen. 18:12) SARAH LAUGHED TO HERSELF, SAYING:... [AND MY HUSBAND IS AN OLD MAN]. The Holy One said to Abraham (in vs. 13): [But] WHY DID SARAH LAUGH, SAYING: IS IT TRUE THAT I ALSO WILL BEAR <A CHILD> WHEN I AM OLD? Now why all this? For the sake of peace. [Thus for the sake of peace the Holy One hid from Abraham the fact that Sarah had called him an old man.]

Also in the world to come, when the Holy One returns the Diaspora to Jerusalem, he will return them in peace. Thus it is stated (in Ps. 122:6): PRAY FOR THE PEACE OF JERUSALEM. And so it says (in Isaiah 66:12): BEHOLD, I WILL EXTEND PEACE UNTO HER LIKE A RIVER.

Ketubim Targum Psalm 76

1. ¶ For praise, as a psalm; a psalm composed by Asaph, a song.

2. God has become known among those of the house of Judah; His name is great among those of the house of Israel.

3. And His sanctuary has come to be in Jerusalem, and the dwelling of the house of His holy presence is in Zion.

4. ¶ When the house of Israel did his will, He made His presence abide among them; there He broke the arrows and bows of the Gentiles who were making war; He made forever the shields and battle-lines of no account.

5. Bright [and] awful are You, O God, acclaimed from Your sanctuary; the kings who dwell in the mountain fortresses, the place where their spoil is gathered, will tremble in Your presence.

6. The mighty in heart have stripped from them the weapons of war; they have slumbered in their sleep; and all the men of might have not been able to grasp their weapons in their hands.

7. At Your rebuke, O God of Jacob, the chariots have fallen asleep, and the cavalry have been disabled.

8. You are awesome, You are God; and who will stand before You from the time Your anger becomes strong?

9. From heaven You proclaimed judgment on the land of the Gentiles; the land of Israel was afraid [and] became silent.

10. ¶ The righteous/generous say, “Let God arise for judgment with the wicked/lawless, to redeem from their hands all the meek of the earth forever.”

11. When You are angry at Your people, You show mercy to them, and they will give thanks to Your name; but the remainder of fury that is left to You, out of the wrath that You showed, You will gird on to destroy the Gentiles. Another Targum: For when Your anger grows strong against Your people, they will repent and give thanks to Your name, and You turn from anger; but against the remnant of the Gentiles You will gird on the instruments of anger.

12. Make vows and fulfill [them] in the presence of the Lord your God, all you who dwell around His sanctuary; let them bring offerings to His awesome temple.

13. He will diminish the arrogant spirits of the leaders; [He is] dreadful to all the kings of the earth.

Ketubim Midrash Psalm 76

I. For the leader; with string-music. ... In Judah is God known; His name is great in Israel (Ps. 76:1-2). These words are to be considered in the light of the verse After Ephraim became desolate in the day of rebuke, I made known [My] integrity among the tribes of Israel (Hos. 5:9). When the ten tribes of Ephraim were being exiled, Judah and Benjamin were not exiled. Hence the nations of the earth began to say: “This can only mean that God is like a man who plays favorites. Because Judah and Benjamin are the keepers of His inn, God did not exile them.” But once they, too, were exiled, the Holy One, blessed be He, made His integrity known to the world, as is said I have made known [My] integrity among the tribes of Israel. Thereupon In Judah is God known; His name is great in Israel.

R. Judah taught in the name of R. Ilai: When the children of Israel stood at the [Red] Sea, they stayed there, disputing one with the other. One said: “Must I go down first into the sea?” and the other said: “Must I go down first into the sea?” Meantime, Nahshon, son of Amminadab, jumped into the waves of the sea, and it came over him. At this, Moses began to pray: Save me, O God; for the waters are come in unto my soul. … I am come into deep waters, where the floods overflow me (Ps. 69:2-3). The Holy One, blessed be He, said to Moses: My beloved are perishing in the sea, and you tarry at prayer! Speak unto the children of Israel, that they go forward (Ex. 14:15). Hence the verse, In Judah is God known; His name is great in Israel, means that His name became great in all Israel. For Moses said to God: “In that hour, when You did deal mercifully with the tribe of Judah, it was as if You had dealt mercifully with all Israel, since Israel is also known by the name of Judah.”

II. Another comment on In Judah is God known; His name is great in Israel. Why did the tribe of Judah merit the kingship? In the shade of a dovecote in Jamnia, the disciples asked this very question of R. Tarfon: “Just why did the tribe of Judah merit the kingship?” He replied: “It was because Judah confessed to his relations with Tamar.” The disciples said: “It is compensation enough that his confession was accepted as atonement for illicit intercourse.” R. Tarfon then replied: “It was because Judah said, What profit is it if we slay our brother, and conceal his blood?” (Gen. 37:26). They said: “It is compensation enough that the saving of a life was accepted as atonement for the sale of a brother into slavery.” R. Tarfon replied: “It was because Judah said, Now, therefore, let thy servant, I pray thee, abide instead of the lad” (Gen. 44:33). They said: “It is required of a guarantor that he stand by his guarantee.” R. Tarfon then asked the disciples: “If what you say is true, then by virtue of what good deed did the tribe of Judah merit the kingship?” They answered: “It was because the tribe of Judah leaped [first] into the waves of the sea.” With all the tribes standing there and not one of them going down into the sea, one tribe saying, “Must I go down first?” and the other tribe saying “Must I go down first?” the tribe of Judah hallowed the name of the Holy One, blessed be He, and went down into the sea. Hence the verse But Judah moreover went down with God (Hos. 12:1), that is, Judah surrendered to the Holy One, blessed be He, and hallowed the name of the Holy One, blessed be He, and went down into the sea, and by this good deed merited the kingship, as is said Judah was His hallowing, Israel is His dominion (Ps. 114:2). Because the tribe of Judah was the first to go down into the sea for the hallowing of God, therefore the Land of Israel became Judah’s dominion. And so In Judah is God known; his name is great in Israel means that the name of Judah is the greatest in Israel.

III. Even in Salem is set His Tabernacle, and His dwelling- place in Zion (Ps. 76:3). R. Berechiah taught: At the very beginning of His creation of the earth, the Holy One, blessed be He, set a Tabernacle in Jerusalem, within which—if one may use a manner of speaking—He prayed: “Let it be the will that My children do My will, so that I will not destroy My house and My Temple.” But when sin did bring this destruction about, what does Scripture say? And He has stripped His Tabernacle, as if it were a garden, He has destroyed His place of meeting (Lam. 2:6), that is, destroyed the place where He met with Himself in prayer. And now that the Temple is destroyed, God prays: “Be it My will that My children repent, so that I may hasten the rebuilding of My house and of My Temple.” Hence it is said Even in Salem is set His Tabernacle.

You find that the Tabernacle was called Salem, for it is said And Melchizedek king of Salem ... was the priest of the Most High God (Gen. 14:18). And Melchizedek, priest of the Most High God, was the same person as Shem, the son of Noah, for in the blessing bestowed upon Shem and Japheth, it is said God will persuade Japheth, but Shem will dwell in My tent (ibid. 9:27)—that is, will dwell in the Tabernacle of God. From this it follows that Shem was the servant of God. Indeed, in the Aramaic Targum, he was the priest of the Most High God is rendered, “He was servant of the Most High God.” Therefore, Melchizedek was Shem.

Abraham, however, called the holy Tabernacle jireh, as is said And Abraham called the name of that place Adonai-jireh (Gen. 22:14). Therefore, the Lord said: “If I call the place Salem, as Shem called it, I will be annulling the words of My loving Abraham who called it jireh; and if I call the place jireh, I will be annulling the words of the righteous Shem who called it Salem.” What did the Holy One, blessed be He, do? He combined what the two of them called it. Abraham called it jireh, Shem called it Salem, and the Holy One, blessed be He, called it Jerusalem. Hence, in the verse Even in Salem is set His Tabernacle, Salem means Jerusalem, which is made up of jireh and Salem.

Another comment. The first verse in the Psalm is read as a question: “When wilt You, God, be known in Judah?” and the second verse is read as the answer: “When You raise up the Tabernacle of which You did say In that day will I raise up the Tabernacle of David that is fallen” (Amos 9:11). And so the second verse is to be read When His Tabernacle will again be in Salem.

IV. There He broke the fiery shafts of the bow (Ps. 76:4)—that is, broke the strength of the bow of Edom, even as it is said in Their sword will enter into their own heart, and their bows will be broken (Ps. 37:15). Whatever is cruel is symbolized by fire, as is said For a fire is gone out of Heshbon (Num. 25 :28), and again Jealousy is cruel as the grave; the coals thereof are coals of fire, which has a most vehement flame (Song 8:6). Hence it is said There He broke the fiery shafts of the bow. As for the shield, and the sword, and the battle mentioned at the end of the verse, they are those of every other nation and tongue that will come to make war upon Jerusalem.

You are more glorious and powerful than the mountains of prey (Ps. 76:5), the fortresses of powerful kings, which a like verse describes as lions’ dens ... mountains of the leopards (Song 4:8).

The stout-hearted are spoiled, they will sleep their sleep (Ps. 76:6): All the kings of the nations that come to make war upon Jerusalem will be a spoil, and sleep, the last sleep, will fall upon them.

In a different exposition, the verse is read The stout-hearted are stripped, “stripped” having the same sense as in “I will go stripped and naked” (Micah i :8)—that is, weapons of war will be stripped from them. At Your rebuke, O God of Jacob (Ps. 76:7), all this victory will come to pass.

You did cause law to be heard from heaven (ibid. 76:9) on the day of the giving of the Torah, when the earth feared, and was still (ibid.). At first it feared that the children of Israel might not accept the Torah, and hence that the earth would turn back to emptiness and chaos, but when they accepted it, at once the earth was still.

When God will arise to judgment (Ps. 76:10): on the day of judgment when God pronounces sentence upon the kingdom of wickedness/lawlessness, He will then save all the humble of the earth for ever (ibid.).

Surely the wrath of a man will avow You (Ps. 76:11). When You did bring Israel to account by exile, it was a disclosure of You, for You were not angry according to the overpowering might of Your divinity, but only a little angry, like a man angry at his son or at his disciple, as is said in the verse His anger endures but a moment (Ps. 30:6). The end of the verse, The remainder of wrath will You gird upon You (ibid. 76:11), means that those powers of wrath which remain with You, them will You gird upon You to punish the nations of the earth on the day of judgment.

But as for you, O children of Israel, Promise and pay unto the Lord your God; let all that are round about Him bring presents unto Him that is to be feared (Ps. 76:12)—unto the Holy One, blessed be He.

He minisheth the spirit of the princes (ibid. 76:13) of the nations of the earth. He is One who is terrible to the kings of the earth (ibid.). What is meant by minisheth? It means “restrains,” as in the verse The Lord said: . . . now nothing will be restrained from them (Gen. ii:6).

Ashlamatah: Malachi 3:4-12

4 Then the grain offering of Judah and Jerusalem shall be pleasing to Ha-Shem, as in the days of old, and as in former years.

5 And I will come near to you for judgment; and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, and against the adulterers, and against those swearing to a lie; and against those who extort from the hired laborer's pay; and turning away the widow, and the fatherless, and the alien, and not fearing Me, says Ha-Shem of Hosts.

6 For I, Ha-Shem, change not. Because of this, you sons of Jacob are not destroyed.

7 From the days of your fathers, you have turned aside from My statutes and have not kept them. Return to Me, and I will return to you, says Ha-Shem of Hosts. But you say, In what shall we return?

8 Will a man rob God? Yet you have robbed Me. But you say, In what have we robbed You? In the tithe and the offering!

9 You are cursed with a curse, for you are robbing Me, the nation, all of it.

10 Bring all the tithe into the storehouse, so that there may be food in My house. And test Me now with this, says Ha-Shem of Hosts, whether I will not open the windows of the heavens for you and pour out a blessing until there is no sufficiency of room to store it.

11 And I will rebuke the devourer for you, and he shall not destroy the fruit of your ground against you; nor shall your vine miscarry against you in the field, says Ha-Shem of Hosts.

12 And all nations will call you blessed, for you will be a delightful land, says Ha-Shem of Hosts.

Midrash of Matityahu (Matthew) 13:10-23

10. ¶ His Talmidim (disciples) asked him, “Why is it that you speak to the kindred in parables and still they do not understand it at all?”
11. And Yeshuah replied to them saying, “To you has been given a heart to understand the mysteries of the Kingdom (governance) of the heavens, and to them it hasn’t been given to understand.
12. To whomever has wisdom to him will more be given, and whoever does not have [much], whatever wisdom he has will be taken away [from him].
13. For this reason I speak to them in parables, because (Jeremiah 5:21) having the power of seeing, they do not see; and having the power of hearing, they do not hear,” nor do they grasp and understand.
14. fulfilling what was spoken by Isaiah the Prophet (6:9-10) “Go and say to this people, Hearing you hear, but do not understand; and seeing you see, but do not know.
15. Make the heart of this people fat, and make his ears heavy, and shut his eyes, that he not see with his eyes, and hear with his ears, and understand with his heart, and turn back, and one heals him.”
16. But fortunate are the seeing eyes, and the hearing ears.
17. Now I will explain to you the parables and you hear! Like this he said, and like this, and he explained it all to them oral-saying by oral-saying.

18. ¶ Therefore, hear the parable of the sower.
19. When anyone is hearing the Sayings of the kingdom and does not understand it, an evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. These are the seeds which fell by the way.
20. The stone upon which the seeds fell is the one who hears the Saying and suddenly welcomes it with joy.
21. Since it has no real root in him, therefore it is temporary; and when affliction or trouble or persecution comes on account of the Saying, suddenly he stumbles [falls away].
22. As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the Saying, but the cares of the age and the deception of wealth choke and suffocate the Saying, and he becomes unproductive.
23. As for what was sown on good soil, this is he who hears the Saying, understands it; and indeed produces fruit, that is, from the seeds that are good works. From the first seed/good work he produces a hundred times as much as was sown, from the second seed/good work sixty times as much, and from the third seed/good work thirty times as much. The first hundred fruits are from the seed/good work of a Tahor (clean) heart and holiness of the body. From the seed/good work of two flesh that become one, these sixty fruits are from the seed/good work of monthly marital menstrual separations of the wife. From the third seed/good works, these thirty fruits are from the seed/good work of the holiness of the marital pairing in body and in heart.

The Rabbi’s Private Prophetic Study

In order to give our readers an idea of where we are in Sefer Vayiqra (Book of Leviticus) and where our present Torah Seder fits in, here is a small summary of the whole book of Leviticus.

· Laws regarding the regulations for different types of sacrifice (Leviticus 1-7):

§ Burnt-offerings, meat-offerings, and thank-offerings (Leviticus 1-3)

§ Sin-offerings, and trespass-offerings (Leviticus 4-5)

§ Priestly duties and rights concerning the offering of sacrifices (Leviticus 6-7)

· The practical application of the sacrificial laws, within a narrative of the consecration of Aaron and his sons (Leviticus 8-10)

§ Aaron's first offering for himself and the people (Leviticus 8)

§ The incident in which "strange fire" is brought to the Tabernacle by Nadab and Abihu, leading to their death directly at the hands of God for doing so (Leviticus 9-10)

· Laws concerning purity and impurity (Leviticus 11-16)

§ Laws about clean and unclean animals (Leviticus 11)

§ Laws concerning ritual cleanliness after childbirth (Leviticus 12)

§ Laws concerning tzaraath of people, and of clothes and houses, often translated as leprosy, and mildew, respectively (Leviticus 13-14)

§ Laws concerning bodily discharges (such as blood, pus, etc.) and purification (Leviticus 15)

§ Laws regarding a day of national atonement, Yom Kippur (Leviticus 16)

o Holiness Code (Leviticus 17-26)

§ Laws concerning idolatry, the slaughter of animals, dead animals, and the consumption of blood (Leviticus 17)

§ Laws concerning sexual conduct (including some that are often interpreted as referring to male homosexuality), sorcery, and moloch (Leviticus 18, and also Leviticus 20, in which penalties are given)

§ Laws concerning molten gods, peace-offerings, scraps of the harvest, fraud, the deaf, blind, elderly, and poor, poisoning the well, hate, sex with slaves, self harm, shaving, prostitution, sabbaths, sorcery, familiars, strangers, and just weights and measure (Leviticus 19)

§ Laws concerning priestly conduct, and prohibitions against the disabled, ill, and superfluously blemished, from becoming priests, or becoming sacrifices, for descendants of Aaron, and animals, respectively (Leviticus 21-22)

§ Laws concerning the observation of the annual feasts, and the sabbath, (Leviticus 23)

§ Laws concerning the altar of incense (Leviticus 24:1-9)

§ The case law lesson of a blasphemer being stoned to death, and other applications of the death penalty (Leviticus 24:10-23), including anyone having "a familiar ghost or spirit", a child insulting its parents (Leviticus 20), and a special case for prostitution (burning them alive) (Leviticus 21)

§ Laws concerning the Sabbath and Jubilee years (Leviticus 25)

§ A hortatory conclusion to the section, giving promises regarding obedience to these commandments, and warnings and threats for those that might disobey them, including sending wild animals to devour their children. (Leviticus 26:22)

§ Laws concerning the commutation of vows (Leviticus 27)

Thus, we are concluding the first of the five major parts of Sefer Vayikra – Laws regarding the regulations for different types of sacrifice (Leviticus 1-7).

The Hebrew word “Korban” is traditionally translated as "sacrifice". Regardless of what the original meaning of sacrifice was (it probably comes from a combination of Latin words - meaning "to make holy"), its common usage bears little - if any - resemblance to the ideology -or etymology - of a Korban. In conventional English, a sacrifice is something given up in exchange for nothing - but on behalf of a noble cause (e.g. defense of country, raising children etc.) The word Korban, on the other hand, comes from the Hebrew root "K*R*B" - meaning "to come close.” A Korban is therefore a vehicle for man to come close to G-d. The Hebrew word that the Bible most often used for these “offerings” of food: “korbanot,” means "that which is brought near." A closely related Hebrew word means “innards,” as in “guts” or “intestines.” Korbanot are therefore what bring the inwardness of G-d near to the innards of humans. To get really close to the Hebrew meaning, we would have to turn into nouns such English words as “nearing” or “innering” or perhaps “endearing”: Israelites brought “innerings” to the Temple to demonstrate their genuine repentance or thankfulness to G-d.. There are, generally speaking, two types of Korbanot: Zevachim (lit. "slaughtered") and Menachot (grain offerings).

There are four basic types of Zevachim. (i.e. “slaughtered” offerings):

1. OLAH: Burnt Offering - referred to as עולה עלה (Olah) [Strong’s # H5930] “ascend,” seems to refer to this sacrifice's distinctive feature, that the offering is completely burnt on the altar (except for the hide, which is given to the participating priest), thus it totally "ascends" to G-d. Only male animals or doves or pigeons (male or female) are acceptable.

• Laws for the Offerer: Leviticus chapter 1;
• Laws for the Priests: Lev 6:8-13;
• Purpose: Atonement (1:4). To be accepted before the LORD (1:3). The offering had the effect of removing and nullifying the effects of sin and averting G-d’s wrath from the offerer. In short, it restored the relationship of the offerer with G-d.
• The offering consisted of either:

i. A male without blemish from the herd (1:3),

ii. A male without blemish from the sheep or goats (1:10), or,

iii. A pair of turtledoves or young pigeons (1:14)

2. SH'LAMIM: Peace Offering – שׁלם [Strong’s # H8002] from “shalem” or “shalom,” (Leviticus chapter 3, Lev 7:11-27, 7:19-30, and 7:31-36). There are various possibilities here, none of which are certain and the following possibilities are not an exhaustive list. Either (i.) From ‘shalom’ thereby denoting “peace.” The blessing of wholeness, prosperity and the status of being at peace with G-d; (ii.) “Communion” (hence NIV’s “Fellowship” offering); (iii.) “Conclusion.” A concluding sacrifice from the form of a word that means “to complete.”

Male or female animals are acceptable but not birds. Certain fat and internal organs are placed on the altar by the Kohanim. The remainder, almost the whole animal, is permitted to be eaten. In Vayyikra (Leviticus) chapter 7, the Torah ordains that any pure person is permitted to partake of the Sh'lamim, thus allowing the donor to share it with family and invitees. Eating the Sh'lamim is permitted during the day and night of the offering and the day following and was not restricted to the sanctuary precincts. The "Todah" (thanksgiving offering) - a Sh'lamim subdivision - is an exception in that it is only allowed to be eaten the day of its offering and the night following. Priests receive the breast and the right thigh.

An individual's Olah and Sh'lamim are voluntary offerings. Although their names may connote certain purposes, and expiation was mentioned in connection with the Olah, the reasons why one may bring an Olah are not provided. There are three reasons given for this Sh’lamim offering - thanksgiving to G-d (7:12), a vow to G-d (7:16) or a freewill offering to G-d (7:16). All three were offerings that the offerer was under no obligation to make and therefore represent a gift presented to G-d but with the renewal and reminder of the covenant made with the nation present in the participation of part of the sacrifice at its conclusion (see Exodus 24:1-11 as the parallel).

3. HATTAT: חטּאת חטּאה – [Strong’s # H2403] Probably from a word meaning to “miss the mark,” or to “miss the way,” or “sin-offering” - (Leviticus chapter 4, 5:1-13, and 6:24-30) – refers only to unintentional sins, generally those that had they been done intentionally are culpable of “karet” (excommunication/death). Carelessness and inadvertence indicate laxness as concerns one's responsibilities; such transgressions defile the sanctuary. The Hattat, bringing purification and expiation to the sanctuary, is a mandatory part of the unintentional sinner's repentance process. With the exception of the Ashem brought for withholding testimony, intentional sins can not be expiated by means of a sacrifice.

Four classes of Hattat, varying according to the offender's status and without reference to the particular transgression, are itemized - those of:

a) the high priest

b) the whole community of Israel (explained by the sages as based on a high court directive);

c) the chieftain (including the king);

d) any individual.

From the sanctuary perspective the first two classes reflect a graver transgression, impacting the spiritual welfare of the nation, and require an elaborate ritual involving a young bull, a blood- sprinkling ritual on the Parokhet veil in the Ohel Moed and upon the incense altar as well as upon the bronze altar, and burning the complete bull on the ash heap outside the camp. The latter two classes of Hattat lack these stringencies. After all, the chieftain is not an official religious leader. He brings a male goat while the private individual brings a female goat or ewe. Male priests eat from these latter sacrifices within sanctuary precincts.

The offering depended upon what type of person committed the sin. Either this represented the finance available to the offender or it spoke of the increasing responsibility not to sin but of individuals who have been given more to have jurisdiction over. The offerings were either:

i. For the anointed priest - A young bull without blemish (4:3),

ii. For the whole congregation - A young bull (4:13-14),

iii. For a ruler - A male goat without blemish (4:22-23), or,

iv. For anyone of the common people - A female goat without blemish (4:27-28) or a female lamb without blemish (4:32).

v. For specific transgressions (5:1-5) - a female lamb or goat (5:6), two turtle-doves (5:7) or a cereal offering (5:11).

Three particular transgressions of omission that require a Hattat offering for expiation are also listed:

a) one who withheld testimony despite having heard an adjuration to testify - a type of negligence;

b) various cases of being impure in a span of forgetfulness (and entering the sanctuary or eating sacred items); and

c) inadvertently violating an oath.

Depending on financial ability, one either brings a female sheep or goat, two birds or a measure of flour. In the latter case, oil and frankincense are not added, reflecting the somber nature of the offering.

4. ASHAM: אשׁם - “guilt-offering” [Strong’s # H817] consisted of a ram without blemish assessed with a monetary value according to the Sanctuary (5:14, 5:18, 6:6). Restitution also needed to be made at a cost of 120% of the original value where the offence could be assessed in monetary terms (5:16, 6:5). The purpose of this offering is to atone for the unwitting sins in which restitution is required or when a sin (inadvertent or deliberate) can be assessed in monetary terms and referring to three specific classes of violations:

a) Asham Me`ila - an unintentional misappropriation for personal use of sanctuary property. The violator makes full restitution and pays a penalty of one fifth in addition to the sacrifice

b) Asham Taluy - the contingency Asham - when one has a doubt if he committed an unintentional transgression that had be been certain he did transgress unintentionally would require a Hattat offering.

c) Asham G'zelot - a trespass against God in that one lied under oath, defrauding his fellow man concerning a deposit, loan, stolen article, found article, etc.

When the defrauder chooses to repent, he restores the lost capital to the owner, adds a fifth as penalty and brings an Asham sacrifice. Although the sin was intentional, when the violator came forth himself to repent by making restitution and paying a penalty, he is allowed the expiation sacrifice. Bamidbar (Numbers) 5:5-10 contains a supplement to this Asham legislation.

5. KORBAN MINCHAH: מנחה - A Minchah, meaning “tributary gift” to G-d [Strong’s # H4503], is the fifth type of Korban (Leviticus chapter 2, and Lev 6:14-23). Although in other parts of Tanakh the term Minchah is applied to offerings of both agricultural produce and animals (B'resheet 4:3-4; Sh'muel I 2:15-17), in Korbanic legislation it strictly refers to grain offerings. Generally, it is comprised of semolina wheat (solet) and olive oil with some frankincense spice (levonah) added. It could be offered in several varieties: raw, oven-baked in either a thick or thin preparation, or fried either on a griddle or deep-fried in a pan. A fistful is burnt on the altar and the remainder eaten by male priests within sanctuary precincts.

The laws of the Minchah are delineated in Vayyikra, Chapter 2 - and later, from the Kohanic perspective, in 6:7-11. In Malakhi (3:4), we read a vision of the Messianic future which begins with this oft-quoted verse:

“And the Minchah of Yehudah and Yerushalayim will be sweet to God, just as in days of old and like years past.”

We can now approach this verse of the prophet Malachi with a new understanding - the Minchah is the Korban which lasts forever and which, when G-d redeems us, will represent more than any other offering, the eternal link which we have with G-d and with the worship at His altar. Is it any wonder that Rav Kook of blessed memory was of the opinion that when the third Bet HaMikdash is built, that all Korbanot will take on the spiritual flavor of the Minchah? The B'rit which G-d maintains, keeping us alive and restoring us to our Land, is symbolized by the eternal Korban Minchah.

It is interesting to note that in all these “nearings” to G-d, that each offering must always represent a cost to the offerer! Further, the Prophet Malachi in the section for this Shabbat seems to imply that all the offerings are in fact subsumed in the Tithe, and which the Shulach Arukh says it is between 10-20% of net income. Some have said that the Tithe is an acknowledgement of G-d’s Reign over the individual that tithes, and this is in part correct, but in fact the Tithe has in itself has ingredients of all the five offerings mentioned above. This is clear from our Ashlamatah which open with the words: “And the Minchah [offering] of Yehudah and Yerushalayim will be sweet to God …” and it ends up with: “Bring all the tithe into the storehouse, so that there may be food in My house … And all nations will call you blessed, for you will be a delightful land, says Ha-Shem of Hosts.”

And the person who regularly brings tithes and offerings to Ha-Shem, most blessed be He is said to be according to Ha-Shem “a delightful land” – a land which the Master of Nazareth says: “As for what was sown on good soil, this is he who hears the Saying, understands it; and indeed produces fruit, that is, from the seeds that are good works” (Matityahu 13:23).

May we be found faithful in our tithes and offerings, as nearings to Ha-Shem, most blessed be He, together with all of our most noble people Yisrael, amen ve amen!

Shalom Shabbat!

Hakham Dr. Yosef ben Haggai

THE RATIONALE OF THE SACRIFICES

Commentary by Nehama Leibovitz

Jewish Agency for Israel

The sacrificial laws are like a sealed book to us: we comprehend neither their basic meaning nor their purport of their rules and regulations. Indeed, their lapse since the destruction of the temple may have blunted our feelings for the sacrifices. We shall endeavor to understand the views of some of our Sages and commentators on the underlying meaning of the sacrifices.

Let us begin with the great controversy between Maimonides and Nahmanides on the subject. In two passages Maimonides deals with the meaning of the sacrifices in his Guide for the Perplexed. Thus, at length, in Part III, Ch. 32:

It is impossible to go suddenly from one extreme to the other; the nature of man will not allow him suddenly to discontinue everything to which he has been accustomed. Now God sent Moses to make (the Israelites) a kingdom of priests and a holy nation (Ex. 19:6) by means of the knowledge of God. Cf.: “Know therefore this day, and consider it in thine heart, that the Lord is God” (ibid. 5:39). The Israelites were commanded to devote themselves to His service; cf.: “and to serve Him with all your heart” (ibid. 11:13); “and you shall serve the Lord your God” (Ex. 23:25); “and you shall serve Him” (Deut. 13:5). But the general mode of worship in which the Israelites were brought up, consisted in sacrificing animals in temples containing images, to bow down to those images, and to burn incense before them. It was in accordance with the wisdom and plan of God, as displayed in the whole creation, that He did not command us to give up and to discontinue all these modes of worship; for to obey such a commandment would have been contrary to the nature of man, who generally clings to that which he is used; it would in those days have made the same impression as a prophet would make at present if he called us to the service of God and told us His name, that we should not pray to Him, not fast, not seek His help in time of trouble; that we should serve him in thought, and not by any action. For this reason God allowed these rituals to continue: He transferred to His service that which had formerly serves worship of created beings, and things imaginary and unreal, and commanded us to serve Him in the same manner; viz., to build unto Him a temple; cf.: “and they shall make unto Me a sanctuary” (Ex. 25:8); to have the altar erected to His name; cf.: “An altar of earth thou shall make unto Me” (Ibid., 20:21); to offer the sacrifices to Him; cf.: “If any man of you bring an offering unto the Lord” (Lev. 1:2), to bow down to Him and to burn incense before Him. He has forbidden us to do any of these things to any other beings.

By this Divine plan the traces of idolatry were blotted out, and the truly great principle of our faith, the Existence and Unity of God, was firmly established; this aim was achieved without deterring or confusing the minds of the people by the abolition of the service to which they were accustomed and which alone was familiar to them.

Realizing the revolutionary character of his view, whereby the purpose of the entire sacrificial service (which occupies a significant position in the Torah) was merely designed to diminish an evil by steering it in the right direction, Maimonides argues the question as follows:

I know that you will at first thought reject this idea and find it strange; you will put the following question to me in your heart: How can we suppose that Divine commandments, prohibitions, and important acts, which are fully explained, and for which certain seasons are fixed, should not have been commanded for their own sake, but only for the sake of some other things; as if they were only the means which He employed for His primary end? What prevented Him from making His primary end a direct commandment to us, and to give us the capacity of obeying it? Those precepts which in your opinion are only the means and not the end would then have been unnecessary. Hear my answer, which will cure your heart of this disease and will show you the truth of that which I have pointed out to you.

There occurs in the Law passage which contains exactly the same idea; it is the following: “God led them not through the way of the land of the Philistines, although that was near; for God said, Lest peradventure the people repent when they see war, and they return to Egypt; but God led the people about, through the way of the wilderness of the Red Sea’, etc (Ex. 13:17). Here God led the people about, away from the direct road which He originally intended, because He feared they might meet on that way with hardships too great for their ordinary strength; He took them by another road in order to achieve His original aim. In the same manner God refrained from prescribing what the people by their natural disposition would be incapable of obeying, and gave the above-mentioned commandments as a means of securing His chief object, viz., to spread the knowledge of Him (among the people), and to cause them to reject idolatry.

It is contrary to man’s nature that he should suddenly abandon all the different kinds of Divine service and the different customs in which he has been brought up, and which have been so general, that they were considered as a matter of course; it would be just as if a person trained to work as a slave with mortar and bricks, or similar things, or similar things, should interrupt his work, clean his hands, and at once fight with real giants. It was the result of god’s wisdom that the Israelites were led in the wilderness till they acquired courage. For it is a well known fact that the rough conditions of desert travel produce tough fighters, whilst the reverse (soft conditions) is the source of faint-heartedness; besides, another generation rose during the wanderings that had not been accustomed to degradation and slavery. All the traveling in the wilderness was regulated by Divine commands through Moses; cf.: “At the commandment of the Lord they rested, and at the commandment of the Lord they journeyed”.

In the same way the sacrificial portion of the Torah was prompted by Divine wisdom, according to which people are allowed to continue the kind of worship to which they have been accustomed, in order that they might acquire the true faith, which is the chief object (of God’s commandments).

Since the sacrificial service is not the primary object (of the commandments about sacrifice), while supplications, prayers and similar kinds of worship are nearer to the primary object, and indispensable for obtaining it, a great difference was made in the law between these two kinds of service. The one kind, which consists in offering sacrifices, although the sacrifices are offered to the name of God, has not been made obligatory for us to the same extent as it had been before. We were not commanded to sacrifice in every place, and time, or to build a temple in every place, or to permit any who desires to become a priest and to sacrifice. On the contrary, all this is prohibited unto us. Only one temple has been appointed, “in the place which the Lord shall choose” (deut. 12:26); in no other place is it allowed to sacrifice; cf.: “Take heed to thyself, that thou offer not thy burnt-offerings in every place that thou see” (ibid. 12:13); and only the members of a particular family were allowed to officiate as priests. All these restrictions served to limit this kind of worship, and keep it within those bounds within which God did not think it necessary to abolish sacrificial service altogether. But prayer and supplication can be offered everywhere and by every person. The same is the case with the commandment of tzitzit (Num. 15:38); mezuzah (Deut. 6:9; 11:20); tefillin (Ex. 13:9, 16); and similar kinds of Divine service.

Accordingly, the Prophets frequently reprove their fellow-men for being over-zealous and exerting themselves too much in bringing sacrifices; the prophets thereby proclaimed that sacrifices were not essential, and God does not require them. Samuel therefore said, "“has the Lord as great delight in burnt-offerings and sacrifices as in obeying the voice of the Lord” (1 Sam. 15:22)? Isaiah exclaimed, “To what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifice unto me? said the Lord” (Isa. 1:11).

Maimondes finds support for his view in the Torah. Indeed, the Torah states explicitly that all animals slaughtered for food must be brought to the Tent of Meeting to be offered up as sacrifices: “ To the end that the Children of Israel may bring their sacrifices, which they offer in the open field, that they may bring them to the Lord to the door of the Tent of Meeting, to the priest…. And they shall no more their sacrifices to the demons, after whom they have gone astray”

(Lev. 17:5-7). He sees further support for his view in the severely restrictive rules which determine the place, time and person who may perform the sacrificial ritual; it is performed only in the Sanctuary and only by a priest, the descendant of a particular lineage. Evidently, the offering up of a sacrifice must not be an impetuous act spawned by a momentary elation and liable to degenerate into idol worship.

However, not satisfied with this explanation, Maimondes proceeds to explain certain details of the sacrificial service. In his Guide for the Perplexed (Part 111, Ch. 46) he states:

……that the Egyptians worshipped Aries, and therefore abstained from killing sheep, and held shepherds in contempt. Cf. “behold we shall sacrifice the abomination of the Egyptians before their eyes, and will they not stone us?” (Ex. 8:22) and “for every shepherd is an abomination to the Egyptians” (Gen. 46:34)….Most idolaters objected to killing cattle, holding this species of animal in great estimation. Therefore the people of Hodu (India) up to this day do not slaughter cattle even in those countries where other animals are slaughtered. In order to eradicate these false principles, the Torah commands us to offer sacrifices of only three kinds: “You shall bring your offering of the cattle, the herd and of the flock” (Lev. 1:2). Thus the very act which is considered by the heathen as the greatest crime, is the means of approaching God, and obtaining His pardon for our sins. In this manner, evil principles, diseases of the human soul, are cured by other principles, which are diametrically opposed.

The sacrifices should thus keep us away from idol worship and blot it out of our memory, following Maimondes’ general view that the purpose of the Torah and its Laws is to achieve man’s total dedication to serve the Lord, and only the Lord, which requires an absolute rejection of idolatry and its aberrations, since “the whole aim of the Torah is to eradicate those ideas from our hearts.”

In his work on the rationale of the mitzvot, Professor Yitzchak Heinemann affirms that Maimondes has been misunderstood by many who accorded him the odd distinction of being the forerunner of the repudiators of all “ceremonial” commandments. Accordingly, the sacrificial service marked a deficient religious perception which would be abolished eventually with the progress and refinement (!) of the human race, whereas Maimonides explicitly accepts it as constituting a Service to God – albeit in an indirect form.

The following passage from Hilkhot Me’ila 8:8 clears up any misconception:

It is fitting for man to meditate upon the laws of the holy Torah and to comprehend their full meaning to the extent of his ability. Nevertheless, a law for which he finds no reason and understands no cause should not be trivial in his eyes. Let him not “break through to rise up against the Lord lest the Lord break forth upon him” (Ex. 19:24); nor should his thoughts concerning these things be like his thoughts concerning profane matters. Come and consider how strict the Torah was in the law of trespass! Now if sticks and stones and earth and ashes become hallowed by words alone as soon as the name of the Master of the Universe was invoked upon them, and anyone who comported with them as with a profane thing committed trespass and required atonement even if he acted unwillingly, how much more should man be on guard not to rebel against a commandment decreed for us by the Holy One, blessed be He, only because he does not understand its reason; or to heap words that are not right against the Lord; or to regard the commandments in the manner he regards ordinary affairs.

Behold it is said in Scripture: “You shall therefore keep all My statutes, and all Mine ordinances, and do them” (Lev. 20:22); whereupon our sages have commented that “keeping” and “doing” refer to the “statutes” as well as to the “ordinances”. “Doing” is well known; namely, to perform the statutes. And “keeping” means that one should be careful concerning them and not imagine that they are less important than the ordinances. Now the “ordinances” are commandments whose reason is obvious, and the benefit derived from doing them in this world is well known; for example, the prohibition against robbery and murder, or the commandment of honoring one’s father and mother. The “statutes”, on the other hand, are commandments whose reason is not known. Our sages have said: My statutes are the decrees that I have decreed for you, and you are not permitted to question them. A man’s impulse pricks him concerning them and the Gentiles reprove us about them, such as the statutes concerning the prohibition against the flesh of the pig and that against meat seethed with milk, the law of the heifer whose neck is broken, the red heifer, or the scapegoat.

How much was King David distressed by heretics and pagans who disputed the statutes? Yet the more they pursued him with false questions, which they plied according to the narrowness of man’s mind, the more he increased his cleaving to the Torah; as it is said: “The proud have forged a lie against me; but I with my whole heart will keep Your precepts” (Ps. 119:69). It is also said there concerning this: “all Your commandments are faithful; they persecute me falsely, help You me” (ibid. 119:86).-

All the laws (concerning the) offerings are in the category of statutes. The sages have said that the world stands because of the service of the offerings; for through the performance of the statutes and the ordinances the righteous merit life in the world to come. Indeed, the Torah puts the commandments concerning the statutes first; as it is said: “You shall therefore keep My statutes, and Mine ordinances which if a man do, he shall live by them” (Lev. 18:5)

(Tr. from A Maimonides Reader by I. Twersky)

The views expressed by Maimonides in his Guide, denying the intrinsic value of the sacrificial service which was a mere concession leading indirectly to the desired goal found many opponents. In his commentary on Lev. 1:9 Nahmanides takes issue with Maimonides, after citing 3:46 of the Guide (not his detailed exposition in 3:32 cited above):

His statements are preposterous. They “heal the great hurt superficially”* (i.e. provide a shallow answer to a difficult problem), and render “ the table of the Lord disgusting” by limiting its use to placate the wicked and the foolish. But the Torah states that they (the sacrifices) are “food of the offering made by fire for a sweet savor” (and thus have an intrinsic value and not the mere polemical role of abolishing distorted conceptions). Furthermore, this will not cure the perverse Egyptian concept but will rather enhance it. The wicked Egyptians worshipped Aries and Taurus (ram and bull) because they ascribed to these animals special powers, and therefore did not eat them. Now if they are offered up as sacrifices to God, this would bestow the highest honor and distinction, and this is what they actually do…. In order to counteract that distorted idea it would be more proper to eat to one’s delight the very animals they consider forbidden and abominable (i.e. neither offer them up on the altar nor sprinkle their blood on it, but merely consume the animals holy to them, denying their sacredness and divine power).

Nahmanides further argues that if the sacrifices were confined to the war against idolatry, then the earliest sacrifices ought to have arisen after the advent of idolatry. However, this is contradicted by the Torah thus:

Behold, when Noah and his three sons came out of the ark—there were no Chaldeans or Egyptians in the world—he offered up sacrifices which pleased God as the Torah states “And the Lord smelled the sweet savor” (Gen. 8:21), and as a result He said in his heart, “I will not again curse the ground any more for man’s sake”. Similarly: “And Hevel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and the fat parts thereof. And the Lord had respect to Hevel and to his offerings” (Gen. 4:4), although at that time there was no trace of idolatry in the world…Moreover, the sacrifices are described as: “My sacrifice, my bread for my offering made by fire, for a sweet savor to me” (Num. 28:2). It is unthinkable that they lack any benefit or purpose other than the elimination of idolatry from its foolish followers.

Nahmanides then propounds an alternative explanation which, as we shall see presently, does not reveal the depths of his mind:

A more acceptable rationale is the one set out as follows: Seeing that human conduct is expressed in thought, speech and action, God instituted that a person who has committed a transgression and offers a sacrifice, shall place his hands on it—symbolizing the deed, make a confession—as a reminder of the misused power of speech, and burn with fire the bowels and kidneys—which are the organs of thought and lust, and the legs—symbol of the human hands and feet, instruments which serve man in all his activities. And the blood shall be sprinkled on the altar—representing his life-blood. All this should make him realize that having sinned against God with his body and soul, he would deserve to have his blood spilled and his body burned. However, God in his infinite mercy, accepts this substitute for an atonement, and its blood in lieu of his, its main organs in place of his, the portions (of the sacrifice eaten by the priests) so as to sustain the teachers of the Torah that they may pray for him. Accordingly, the daily sacrifice is offered up because of the masses who are constantly caught up in the web of sin. This explanation is plausible and appeals to the mind even as the expositions of the Aggada. However, in the context of (mystical) truth, the sacrifices contain hidden mysteries…

The words “a more acceptable rationale” imply that this view is merely preferred to that of Maimonides, while the real explanation is contained in the mystical teachings of the Kabbala. This, however lies beyond our present scope.

But how can the scriptural reference to “a sweet savor” be reconciled with the Psalmist’s exclamation: “for You desire not sacrifice, or else I would give it, You delight not in burnt offering” (51:18) or: “You do not desire sacrifice or meal offering, You have dug open my ears, burnt offering and sin offering You have not required” (40:7). On the other hand we read: “then will You be pleased with the sacrifices of righteousness, with burnt offering and whole burnt offering…”(51:21).

In Tractate Menahot 110a, our sages state:

Do not think that He needs the food, for it is written: “If I were hungry, I would not tell you, for the world is Mine and the fullness thereof” (Ps. 50:12), and “For every beast of the forest is mine, and the cattle upon a thousand hills. I know all the birds of the mountain, and the wild beasts of the field are mine” (ibid. 10-11). I did not tell you to offer sacrifices so that you may say: I shall comply with His wishes so that He may fulfil mine (Rashi explains: I shall do God’s will, to offer him a sacrifice, for He needs it; I shall bribe Him And He will fulfill my wishes). It is not for my gratification that you offer the sacrifices (Rashi: It is not my purpose to impose upon you the offering of sacrifices), as it is written: “you shall offer it that you may be accepted” (li’retzonhem—“by your will” i.e., for your need—(tr.) (Rashi: To satisfy your needs, i.e., to fulfill My commandments, that you may gain atonement).

The view offered by the Sefer HaHinikh (see Portion Bo) on the role of the practical mitzvot also explains the obligation to offer sacrifices as rooted in human nature and psychological make-up. According to Maimonides, neither biblical. Nor modern man can worship God “in thought only, without practice.” This idea is propounded also by the Sefer HaHinukh, portion Terumah – Commandment 95, concerning the Building of the Temple) in his commentary on the sin offering:

As already stated, the mind is influenced mainly by deeds. It is therefore not enough for the sinner to cleanse his mind and commit himself to avoid further sinning with mere words. For this purpose a significant act must be performed, i.e., the sinner must take a he-goat from the sheep-pen and strive to reach the Kohen at the Temple where the ritual of sin-offering will be carried out fully as specified in the Torah. This weighty act will impress upon the sinner’s mind the gravity of his transgression so as to avoid it in the future.