A Picture is Worth 1000 Words – Vayikra
There is a story about HaRav Chaim Ozer Grodzinski ztz”l, one of the most prominent poskim in Vilna in the early 1900’s. On one of his many fundraising drives, he travelled around Vilna collecting tzedaka and came to the house of a wealthy man. The temperature outside was 20 degrees below freezing and HaRav Chaim was appropriately insulated in a thick fur coat and hat. He knocked on the door of the house and the rich man, wearing his thin “house” clothes, opened the door. The house was ornately furnished and HaRav Chaim was hit by a wave of warmth from the central heating inside.
When the man recognized HaRav Chaim he was overwhelmed – the Gadol Hador on his doorstep! “Please come in” he gushed. “I unfortunately cannot”, replied HaRav Chaim, “I am in a big hurry and will take very little of your time”. He then began his “pitch” with a few divrei Torah, amazing gems and chiddushim. Astounded and delighted as he was, the rich man, dressed in his thin clothes at the open door, started to feel the severe chill.
HaRav Chaim continued for another five minutes, all the while refusing repeated offers to come inside where it was warm. The wealthy man began to shiver uncontrollably when finally HaRav Chaim got to the crux of the matter. “I am collecting tzedaka for a poor widow whose landlord has shut off the heating in her apartment as she cannot pay the bills. Are you willing to donate?” “Of course!” replied the rich man with his teeth chattering furiously “but why did you refuse to come inside where we could have sat comfortably and discussed this?”
HaRav Chaim replied “If I would have come inside and spoken with you while sitting in your warm, comfortable living room, you would never have really understood how this poor woman is really suffering. Only when you felt the severe cold yourself, could you truly visualize this poor woman freezing in her icy apartment.”
Chazal say that the difference between a צדיק and a רשע is that a צדיק has the ability to visualize while a רשע does not. A צדיק has the ability to conjure up images in his mind beyond what his body tells him. Even though he cannot actually see HKB”H with his eyes or touch Him with his hands, he can still grasp the concept. A רשע on the other hand only believes what his body tells him – if you cannot see it, touch it, smell it, hear it, taste it – it doesn’t exist. Similarly when science is perverted, (“if it cannot be proved scientifically it doesn’t exist”) it can lead to רשעות. A true scientist understands that even though something is beyond our current capability to scientifically analyze it, does not mean it does not exist
This principle is a fundamental cornerstone of the Torah and one of the reasons משלים are so proliferous in the Torah. A משל achieves two important goals. Firstly it is non-confrontational, it doesn’t directly, personally accuse anyone, instead it allows the person to reach the necessary conclusion themselves by inference. Secondly it paints a picture and helps you to visualize.
A perfect example is the Pesach Seder, which we will celebrate b”H next motzei Shabbat. Everyone has their own favorite part of the seder. Some enjoy the learning best, some the kneidlach, others the singing. Undoubtedly however the longest part of the seder is Maggid, where we recount the story of יציאת מצרים.
The Pesach seder is rife with visual aids. When we get to מצה זו שאנו אוכלים על שום מה, we take the matza in our hands and raise it up. When we recite the Ten Plagues, we dip our fingers in the wine and remove a droplet for each plague. The youngest child in the family stands on a chair and sings מה נשתנה.
Maggid however is not and should not be a shiur. It should be a re-enactment! חייב אדם לראות את עצמו כאילו יצא ממצרים, we need to visualize the bag on our shoulder, we need to taste the matza, the maror, we need to see that the charoset looks like mortar mixed with blood … we need to visualize the hardship of slavery …. the cold, like the rich man in our story above, because only by seeing it in our mind’s eye, can we truly grasp it.
We have just completed the second sefer, שמות, which the Ramban calls ספר הגלות והגאולה as the first part deals with our slavery in Egypt while the second addresses the Exodus, receiving the Torah and culminates in the building of the Mishkan. This week we begin the third of the five books, sefer Vayikra, also called Torat Kohanim as it deals predominantly with the avodah of the Kohanim in the Mikdash, the Korbanot, the subject of צרעת and the נגעים, which are diagnosed and remedied by the Kohen, the subject of טהרה etc.
This week’s parsha Vayikra details the Korban Olah, Mincha, Shlamim, Chatat, Asham etc. It is the foundation for many masechtot in the gemara, including Masechet Menachot, which is extremely interesting for bakers like myself as it describes all the various bread offerings, solet, מאפה תנור, רקיקים, חלות מצות בלולות בשמן, מרחשת, מחבת, Korban העמר and more.
Many Talmudei Torah begin teaching their תינוקות של בית רבן davka with sefer Vayikra, using the premise יבואו טהורים ויתעסקו בטהרות. It seems a strange choice – to start 5 year old kids davka with all the “blood and the guts”, rather than the “bedtime stories” of sefer Breishit.
Forget about 5-year-old kids, even most adults are not overly attracted to sefer Vayikra, with all its “gore”. Many ba’alei kria find it harder to lein the parshas of Vayikra (not me, my barmitzvah parsha is Tzav), because they do not easily understand and identify with the זרוע, לחיים וקיבה subjects that abound in it. Not only do they find it difficult to identify with, they also find it hard to picture a future in which the Beit Hamikdash will be rebuilt and we will again be offering Korbanot? It doesn’t feel humane and politically correct in our day and age -slaughtering the animal, catching the blood in a כלי, spraying blood on the corners of the מזבח, skinning the animal, slicing and dicing the limbs, washing the entrails, burning parts in the fire, decapitating birds with the fingernail. It sounds so …….. primitive!
To fully understand the modus operandi and meaning behind the Mikdash and the Korbanot would take months or longer. Look for example at the Rambam in Moreh Nevuchim, the Ramban in parshat Vayikra, the sefer Torat Ha’Olah of the רמ"א which gives 12 different reasons why we bring Korbanot and then goes on to devote an entire chapter to each of the twelve.
There are many deep, Kabbalistic reasons, for example, from the sefer שערי אורה –
The Mikdash is also called כה. When Avraham told his servants "ואני והנער נלכה עד כה" (בראשית כב, ה) he was referring to Har Hamoriah, the Beit Hamikdash. When it says "כה תברכו את בני ישראל" (במדבר ו, כג) it means that the Kohanim should do Birkat Kohanim in the Beit Hamikdash. When we say איכה we are really saying אי כה, where is the Mikdash?
The reason why the Mikdash is called כה is because 25 (the gematria of כה) is the halfway, connection point between the עולם של מטה and the עולם של מעלה. There are 50 שערי חכמה (like the 50 levels of purity). Moshe managed to reach the 49th level in his lifetime, but only ascended to the 50th when he died on הר נבו, הר ש-"נ" בו. Our world starts at level “zero” and ascends to the עולם של מעלה which is level 50. The Mikdash is the halfway point connecting the two worlds. That is also why a Kohen is called a כהן because he takes something from the lower world, in the Beit Hamikdash, which is level 25 כה and elevates it to the upper world which is level 50 "ן".
Although many mefarshim try to bring the “main” reason why we bring Korbanot in the Mikdash, the true reason is multifaceted and each reason given by the different mefarshim is just another piece that completes the puzzle.
In this shiur I would like to develop a principle that adds to this mosaic and pertains not only to the Korbanot but to the entire Beit Hamikdash and everything in it.
The Beit Hamikdash is one enormous visual aid! Everything in it, the structures, the כלים, the Korbanot, the clothing – everything, is designed to create a mental picture in the mind of the person who sees it and helps them to visualize a deeper concept.
A simple example of this is the Lechem Hapanim which I am privileged to be researching. The shape of the Lechem Hapanim is that of a smiling mouth and a central purpose and message of the Lechem Hapanim is איזהו עשיר השמח בחלקו. It is all about happiness and gratitude.
The Kohanim working in the Heichal have this in front of them every day. Am Yisrael in its entirety sees it three times a year, on the רגלים, when the Kohanim bring the שלחן and the מנורה out of the Heichal for all to behold. The שלחן with the Lechem Hapanim immediately triggers an unmistakable mental image which hints at a deeper concept intended for the viewer to think about and internalize.
This principle applies to every minute element of the Beit Hamikdash, including the Korbanot.
When a person brings a חטאת to atone for a sin done בשוגג, or a עולה for a הרהור שבלב for example, he sees the animal being slaughtered in front of him. He sees the blood draining, the animal being skinned, sliced up into pieces and burnt on the מזבח.
I don’t know if any of you have visited a slaughter house where they do schita (I never have, but I have seen videos). It is a jarring experience watching even the video. I cannot fully imagine what it must be like to physically be present there with all the smells and sights the camera does not capture. I don’t think anyone could not be deeply moved (or jarred) by such an experience. This is what prompts many people to become vegetarian or vegan. For the rest of us, it is perhaps a good thing that we are spared witnessing the above and get our food all “neatly” packaged on the supermarket shelf.
The Korban חטאת is a very vivid visual aid which causes the person bringing it to be jarred and reflect on what he is seeing and what it means. What it means is that by sinning it is he that should be on the chopping block and be skinned and sliced up. This drives home the severity of the sin and its repercussions.
It is only out of HKB”H’s great mercy that He allows us to substitute an animal in our place. We humans are made up of an animalistic body and a spiritual Neshama. The part that sinned was not the Neshama but the animalistic body, so we sacrifice an animal instead of the part of us that sinned, allowing us an opportunity to do Tshuva and merit both continued life in this world and עולם הבא.
This modus operandi was instituted by Hashem since the Creation of the world. Adam Harishon brought sacrifices, as did Hevel, as did Noach (who admitted 7 of the pure animals, as opposed to 2 of the impure animals, into the ark). These animals were created by Hashem to serve man, which they do – even to this day – as food. Why is it more politically correct and “humane” to kill an animal for food to ensure our physical survival, than to kill an animal to ensure our physical and spiritual survival?
All the sacrifices brought in the Beit Hamikdash are connected somehow to the אדמה, because the first sin in history was by the אדמה when on the 3rd day it disobeyed Hashem’s commandment to deliver עץ פרי עשה פרי and instead delivered עץ עשה פרי (see my shiur on parshat Truma www.showbreadinstitute.org/truma2021 ).
The Korbanot therefore include elements from the דומם (salt), the צומח (wine, solet, levonah etc.) and the חי (the pure animals and birds) which are all connected somehow to the earth. This is the reason why we do not bring Korbanot with fish – because they are not connected to the sin of the אדמה. Only something connected to the אדמה can atone for the sin of man (who is also from the אדמה).
Those elements that were sacrificed on the מזבח were also blessed. All the remaining minerals that were not sacrificed were blessed, the crops, the flocks and herds. The animals participating in the Korbanot are those that are from the נרדפים and not the רודפים, as you cannot atone for a sin by sacrificing a predator.
That is just one additional facet that gives us a deeper understanding into the Korbanot, but must be viewed together in the מכלול of other reasons.
In the time of the Mikdash the Korbanot atoned for our sins. Chazal say that after the Beit Hamikdash was destroyed, we are still able to atone for our sins, but this process is now brought about by ייסורים. The enormous power of the Korbanot enabled the cleansing of our Neshama without suffering. Without the Mikdash today, we unfortunately have to suffer to achieve the same end. This gives us a deeper insight into suffering and the concept of צדיק ורע לו רשע וטוב לו, that by suffering, HKB”H is in fact being kind to us and cleansing us so that we will be able to enter עולם הבא pure and without sin.
Also according to Chazal, without the Mikdash today, we can still bring “Korbanot” using the concept of ונשלמה פרים שפתנו. Instead of actually physically sacrificing a חטאת on the altar, by studying and reciting the פסוקים related to the חטאת, we can achieve the same end. This is why much of our Tefila is connected to the Korbanot - before Shacharit, before Mincha, in Mussaf of Shabbat, Chagim and Rosh Chodesh, etc.
But it is not enough just to recite them, we need to visualize that we were actually bringing them in the Beit Hamikdash, with all the kavanot, understanding what we are doing and without distractions. To be able to do this we need to study the קדשים in the Mishna, the Gemara and the Mefarshim and have the required כוונה, otherwise what we are reciting is just lip service and ineffective.
Some people completely skip the Korbanot and begin Shacharit straight from הודו every morning. Most of us who do say Korbanot haven’t really got a clue what we are saying (קרן דרומית מערבית, לפנים מן הקלעים, שני עשרונים סולת etc.). What a golden opportunity we are missing to be מכפר without suffering and ייסורים! If you had the choice – lose all your money on the stock exchange (or much worse) OR learn and understand פרשת חטאת and say it with כוונה, what would you choose? Unfortunately, due to ignorance, most of us unwittingly choose the first option וחבל.
We are living in the final stages before the גאולה and ironically at the same time the level of awareness of the קדשים (and amongst them the Korbanot) today is at an all-time-low (even amongst very “frum” Jews). I don’t know if it is from ייאוש from so many years of גלות, due to a lack of אמונה or simply from ignorance. I cannot and will not judge Am Yisrael because for many years of my life, I suffered from the same malady.
What I do know is that we are in serious need of a wakeup call! We need to revitalize the relevance of the קדשים in our daily lives. They are not some outdated concept from our distant past - they are part of our imminent future. We need to urgently reconnect with them.
I do not suggest that everyone devote their entire lives to studying the קדשים like I do, although anyone who does is highly commended. We can start small, making them part of our lives by making subtle changes in our daily תפילה to reflect a feeling of belonging and relevance to the present day and not just the distant past. I have made these slight but significant changes in my daily תפילה and I highly recommend them to everyone.
In the Korbanot – (parts to add/change in bold)
יהי רצון מלפניך,ה' אלקינו ואלקי אבותינו, שתהא אמירה זו חשובה ומקבלת ומרצה לפניך כאילו הקרבנו קרבן התמיד במועדו ובמקומו וכהלכתו ושייבנה בית המקדש במהרה בימנו ותן חלקנו בתורתך ושם נקריב קרבן התמיד במועדו ובמקומו וכהלכתו כמו שכתבת עלנו בתורתך על ידי משה עבדך מפי כבודך.
אתה הוא ה' א-לקנו שהקטירו אבותינו לפניך את קטרת הסמים בזמן שבית המקדש היה קים ושאנו עתידים להקטיר בבית המקדש השלישי במהרה בימנו, כאשר צוית אותנו על ידי משה נביאך, ככתוב בתורתך.
רבון העולמים, אתה צויתנו להקריב קרבן התמיד במועדו ולהיות הכהנים בעבודתם ולוים בדוכנם וישראל במעמדם, ועתה בעונותינו חרב בית המקדש והופסק התמיד ואין לנו לא כהן בעבודתו ולא לוי בדוכנו ולא ישראל במעמדו. ואתה אמרת ונשלמה פרים שפתינו. לכן יהי רצון מלפניך ה' א-לקינו וא-לקי אבותינו שיהא שיח שפתותינו חשוב ומקובל ומרוצה לפניך כאלו הקרבנו קרבן התמיד במועדו ובמקומו וכהלכתו ושייבנה בית המקדש במהרה בימנו ותן חלקנו בתורתך ושם נקריב קרבן התמיד במועדו ובמקומו וכהלכתו כמו שכתבת עלנו בתורתך על ידי משה עבדך מפי כבודך.
In the Shir Shel Yom –
היום יום >ראשון/שני/שלישי וכו'> בשבת שבו היו הלוים אומרים ועתידים לומר בבית המִקדש.
In פיטום הקטרת you should count the eleven ingredients using your fingers as you say them clearly, so that you don’t miss any or mispronounce them, as in the time of the Mikdash, this was punishable by מיתה.
If you don’t understand anything relating to the Korbanot, you can go to the website of Machon Hamikdash (search for מכון המקדש in Google) and use their search feature. They have an indispensable online/free database (in Hebrew) of detailed explanations of every element in the Beit Hamikdash and the Korbanot with diagrams and artists depictions. If you have any questions regarding the Menachot you may contact me at our website showbreadinstitute.org and I will be happy to answer any questions you may have.
We have all the resources at our fingertips enabling us to “bring Korbanot” today the right way, reconnect with the קדשים and hasten the גאולה. All it requires is a mind shift and a little effort. It is this little effort that, if more and more people in Am Yisrael do it, will lessen our personal suffering and hasten the גאולה. בבי"א
