Parashat Vayikra
Nissan 1, 5772 ~ March 24, 2012
by Alex Hart
And we’re off at a run again. It’s put down the gragger and up with the broom. The frenetic pace has me filled with fright. Why? Because I feel overwhelmed. The kids should have new clothes, the chametz should be dwindling and cupboards wiped and lined. Instead, I work full weeks and simply don’t have the time to sit, engage and plan it all out. As such, I have a rising sense of panic which accompanies my every second thought. Not only do I need to plan a menu in order that I may place a meat order but I also need to think about restocking the store cupboards as O.K. may well run out of the essentials, resulting in a possible wild goose chase across a bridge and into a valley. Additionally, there’s a hiatus of childcare for the youngest, the week prior to chag, which adds to the frenzy. If I stop I’ll be filled with melancholy because the reality is, this rush and expense is just for the week.
Imagine then a different scenario another instance in which the mind overtakes all sense of reason. Imagine you had taken the wrong turn in life, something that your nearest and dearest would view with abject horror and despair for you. Or even a circumstance where you were unaware as to the effect of your actions.
Let’s start with Rashi’s commentary on VaYikra Perek 1, Posuk 2.
“A man that offers a sacrifice must do so in the same manner in which Adam offered a sacrifice. Just as Adam did not bring stolen property as a sacrifice, so must a person ensure not to bring any stolen items as a sacrifice.”
This of course should be self-evident. If a person is seeking to draw closer to G-d, it would be hypocritical to commit a crime to fulfill the need. The Gemara in Masechet Gittin (55a) states that if such an event occurred and the Kohen performed the full sacrificial process to completion, he should not be informed that the animal had been stolen; it could cause the Kohen distress to such an extent that he would feel uneasy about completing his role in the future. Ah, how quickly melancholia can strike!
In VaYikra, there are two chapters devoted to sin offerings; much lengthier than that of the others. I am going to suggest that this is not due to the nature of the whole nation but instead the harmful effect living with having committed a sin can be and to demonstrate G-d’s mercy; that there is recourse in such circumstances because depression is powerfully destructive.
There are various levels of depression and in our parsha, we see that there are various levels of knowing and not being aware of having sinned. With plants, as with a steady flow of water, they are able to navigate an alternative path for themselves in the face of an obstacle. When the ordinary human is depressed, there are outlets. A brisk walk; an exercise class; psychotherapy; a couch potato session or we may find solace in yoga, G-d or, sadly, on occasion, something more desperate. On the occasions that the man on the Clapham omnibus may err, he asks forgiveness of others. It could be the simple “Please excuse any typos, I’m an iPhone newbie” or “Excuse Me” trips off the tongue in a crowded area. We may approach the individual concerned and show remorse, doing what one can what to fix a broken relationship. Charles L. Griswold, New York Times 12/26/10 ‘On Forgiveness’ writes, “Is forgiveness to be commended? Some object that it lets the offender off the hook, confesses to one’s own weakness and vulnerability, and papers over the legitimate demands of vengeful anger. And yet, legions praise forgiveness and think of it as an indispensable virtue. Recall the title of Archbishop Desmond Tutu’s book on the subject: “No Future Without Forgiveness.’”
If we sin and sin bad, or we lose ourselves to self-interest, there may be the awful realization and we may feel far removed from G-d. Repentance requires ‘metanoia’ a total change of thought, an internal revolution against oneself. In the time of the Mishkan, the recourse was to offer a ‘korban’.
In VaYikra is the first occurrence of the word ‘korban’. We have seen offerings in the Torah previously but some commentators have suggested that previous offerings were similar to that of other cultures. For example, Ramban quotes the Rambam who writes in Moreh Nevuchim that it was the custom of idol worshippers to bring gifts and sacrifices to their gods which consisted of bread and honey. Back to the parsha and with the building of the Mishkan, there’s the suggestion of a new order; a new manner in which the Israelites could bring themselves closer to G-d. The Zohar comments (III4b) that the very root of korban is k-r-v, meaning closeness, an act of intimacy with G-d. Hirsch comments:
“It is most regrettable that we have no word which really reproduces the idea which lies in the expression ‘korban’. The unfortunate use of the term ‘sacrifice’ implies giving up something of value, ideas not only entirely absent from the nature and idea of ‘korban’ but diametrically opposed to it. Also the idea of ‘offering’ presupposes a wish, a desire, on the part of the one to whom it is brought…But the idea of ‘korban’ is far away from all this. It is used exclusively with reference to Man’s relation to G-d, and can only be understood from the meaning which lies in its root ‘k-r-v’: to approach, to come near, and so to get into close relationship…”
G-d being most merciful and omnipotent has provided an outlet. To err is human, to forgive, divine. Here in VaYikra we read what may have been Pope’s source.
In bringing karbanot for wrongdoing, an individual was forgiven before G-d. The Korbanot acted as a vehicle of atonement from sin, thus giving individuals a tool to prevent their sins from causing the Shechina, Hashem's presence which dwelt in the Mishkan, from withdrawing from them. Having successfully brought the Shechina into their midst at the end of Sefer Shemot, Bnai Yisrael receive the wherewithal to retain the Shechina in Sefer VaYikra.
So that’s all clear then. The general populace, knowing that an individual had recognized his personal guilt, sourced his animals for an offering and brought them to this private space before G-d. This would have wiped the slate clean, in turn, providing chizuk for the individual to move on.
Great. The simple art of Forgiveness, in a different time and at a different level.
But, I had to ask, was that it? Did that exonerate a person before the kahal?
When people marry, they look for a commonality of background. Somewhere they can hang their hat. In someone they can trust to walk alongside. As with a community, we fall in with convention; it helps to maintain social cohesion across time. There is an invisible web in which we dance. We mortals are unforgiving if someone breaks with the status quo and, Rav Soloveitchik reminds us that sin has a polluting quality, making its mark on the sinner’s personality and ‘removing the divine halo from the man’s head, impairing his spiritual integrity.’ Furthermore, an Israelite who had sinned suffers a reversal in his legal status and is no longer permitted to be called on as a witness in a court of Jewish Law.
In despair one may well ask, ‘Is there no half-way measure?!’ Oddly, in circling back to the Creator, I recalled a relevant comment from an unlikely source:
Rick Perry – in endorsing Newt Gingritch early on in the Republican nominee race said, “Newt is not perfect, but who amongst us is? The fact is there is forgiveness for those who seek G-d.”
A more important source of information was my dear Saba, (Reb. Asher Zundel ben Yaacov Noson HaCohen) who pointed me to Tehillim 71 which commences:
In You G-d have I taken refuge, let me never be ashamed. אַל-אֵבוֹשָׁה לְעוֹלָם; בְּךָ-יְהוָה חָסִיתִי
Rav Kook, in ‘Oros HaTeshuvah’ takes a different tack and comments:
“The expulsion of the harmful substances [of sin] has a good and healing effect on the body, the [body] is perfect in its composition.”
When a person begins to engage in Teshuva, it is a healthy experience.
Returning to my own personal, mounting despair as Pesach looms as soon as I flip the calendar forward a page (yikes – turn back!) The parsha of VaYikra this year appears a mere 2 Shabbatot before Pesach. Pesach, where the baking process of our daily bread is incomplete and unfinished. Returning back to honey and bread, neither were permitted on the Mizbe’ach, except on Shavuot; they are both examples of fine finished products.
Rav Yoel Bin Nun, in an article in Megadim 13 writes:
“Chametz represents the completion of a process, of the bread rising to its fullest and, symbolically, of one who reaches an apex in terms of material wealth. On the other hand, matza stands for a process that was aborted midway and is left incomplete…
A person who brings a sacrifice, like one who prays, stands before Hashem and feels a sense of smallness and deficiency in His presence. As such, it is impossible to stand before the altar with a feeling of self-worth or wealth, a feeling that one's own strengths produced the goods that he is now offering to Hashem. As such, chametz is forbidden to be offered on the altar.”
Here in VaYikra, the lines are drawn along which we live life. The sacrifices once brought, represented the beginning of a process; they conveyed an expression of closeness to G-d but the offering was only a means to an end; it was not to be viewed as an end in itself. Yes, here we are given a path along which to overcome guilt but it was only part of a larger process which man was to undertake in order that his sacrifice should have the desired effect. We should not feel overwhelmed and plunged into despair. After all, we begin the Pesach by reciting ‘Kol Chamira’, as we do at Yom Kippur with ‘Kol Nidrei’. we do our best to be mindful in all we do and there is an outlet in the event that we have overlooked an aspect unintentionally. We grow each day and although we do not bring korbanot today, we can relate to the many ideas which they represent. As chosen people, we are forever pursuing the maxim:
ﬠומד אתה מי לפני דﬠ Know before whom it is you stand.
Shabbat Shalom, Mazeltov to the Bar-Mitzvah and his family, V’ Chag Kasher v'Sameach
