Posted on 07/05/18
We read this week the details regarding the daily communal sacrifices that are to be brought in the Temple as well the additional sacrifices that are offered on each Shabbos and the Moadim, the holidays.
The placement of these laws seem totally out of context to the other subjects discussed previously.
Immediately preceding this portion Hashem informs Moshe that he is not destined to lead the nation into the Promised Land. Subsequent to that realization Moshe appeals to Hashem to make sure to appoint a suitable leader who will be understanding and sensitive to the needs of the people and lead them capably as a loving ‘shepherd’, going on to charge his primary disciple, Yehoshua, with the position.
It then segues unnaturally to the directive regarding these special sacrifices.
Rashi quoting the Sifrei records a perplexing dialogue between Hashem and Moshe. After hearing of Moshe’s request that Hashem assure an appropriate leader after his departure, ‘The Holy One, blessed is He, says to him, “Before you command me regarding My children, command My children regarding Me.” This is analogous to a princess who was about to depart from the world and was instructing her husband about her children, and he replied, “Before you instruct me about them, instruct them about me.”
Certainly Hashem has no need for personal veneration from His children. So what could He have possibly meant in His directive to “instruct them about Me”? But even more challenging is the fact that Moshe’s worry for an understanding leader was ultimately not only out of concern for the nation but primarily on Hashem’s behalf, so that they would be more inclined to hearken to the word of G-d as conveyed through the His kindly representative.
Additionally, why would the laws specifically concerning the sacrifices be symbolic of ‘concern for Him’ more than any number of commandments in the Torah?
Moshe knew that only a sympathetic leader could transmit the love Hashem has for his people. It was in that light that Moshe appealed to Hashem to select someone who could emulate the warmth of Hashem to the people. Similarly the princess encourages her husband to insure in her absence his displaying a love that is inherent to a mother to her children. Hashem responds that although the unconditional devotion of a parent is critical to the health of its children, unless the children pine genuinely for connection and closeness, not merely out of practicality so they may have their needs met, the relationship can spiral downward, towards a sense of entitlement and resentment.
Hashem therefore prods Moshe to enlighten the nation to the exquisiteness of a relationship with Hashem.
All mitzvos bring us closer to Hashem, but korbanos more than other commandments express this notion so loudly.
Rav S.R. Hirsch writes: 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 the giving of something up that is of value to oneself for the benefit of another, or of having to do without something of value, ideas which are not only absent from the nature and idea of a Korban but are diametrically opposed to it....
KAREV means to approach, to come near, and so to get into a close relationship with somebody. This at once most positively gives the idea of the object and purpose of the process of KORBAN as the attainment of a higher sphere of life ... the (person) desires that something of himself should come closer to God, that is what his KORBAN is...
If Moshe can succeed in implanting the instinctive thirst for closeness to Hashem, as embodied in korbanos, there is hope that the unconditional love of Hashem will prod forth an equal response from His children.
We inevitably read the portion of Pinchas at the onset of the Three Weeks, Bein HaMetzarim, the period ‘between the straits’; the many tragedies that befell us on the 17th of Tammuz and Tisha B’Av.
The holy Ohev Yisroel, the Apter, alleges that the twenty one days during this period correspond to the twenty one days on which we celebrate the Shabbos and holidays: Shabbos, Rosh Chodesh, seven days of Pesach, one day of Shavuos, two days of Rosh Hashana, Yom Kippur the seven days of Sukkos, and Shemini Atzeres.
Perhaps we seek to emphasize our longing for that closeness which was experienced collectively, when the Temple stood when the sacrifices were offered, by reading this portion precisely now.
For the most part we live our lives in freedom, in thriving Jewish communities, availed of opportunities our ancestors only dreamt about. We experience daily the awesome benevolence of Hashem towards His people.
The question though is how much do we truly long for a real connection?
Do we dream of the days when the Temple will be restored and we will live a life inspired by purity and holiness, absent of the secular cultural distractions we are all victims to?
Are we really interested in as life of constant devotion and adherence to the ‘will of Hashem’? Or are we comfortable in our yiddishkeit, living in a land foreign to our longing, exposed to influences that are anathema to the world we formerly lived in when a Davidic king ruled, the prophets inspired, and the Priests and Levites excited our senses?
In the very first paragraph which discusses the Tamid, the daily continuing offering, we are instructed: תשמרו להקריב לי במועדו (במדבר כח ב), be careful to offer to Me in its appointed time. The verb usage of תשמרו, to be watchful, is seemingly extraneous. It should have merely stated תקריבו, you shall offer. Rashi again quoting Sifrei says this alludes to the ‘Kohanim, Levites, and Israelites who shall stand over them [to watch them]; hence they instituted the מעמדות, [representatives of the people who were present and stood watch at the sacrificial services.’
The holy Kohen of Tzefas, the Sifsei Kohen, as well as the saintly Shinover offer an alternative translation. When Yaakov heard the dreams of Yosef, observing the subsequent jealousy of his brothers, sensing the Hand of G-d and providence, the Torah reports how Yaakov, שמר את הדבר, was waiting and looking forward in expectation of when it (the fulfillment) would come. (רש"י)
Our verse is addressing a time when we will no longer have the Temple and the ability to express and experience the closeness it offered us on a regular basis. We will be charged, תשמרו, to ‘long’ and ‘yearn’ with thirst for that intimacy we are so desperately missing.
The Talmud reveals several questions that will be posed to us after one hundred and twenty years on this earth: Did you devote time to study Torah? Did you deal honestly in your daily interactions? Did you strive to bring children into this world?
The fourth question will be צפית לישועה: Did you long for the coming of Moshiach and the restoration of a world infused with meaning, inspiration and purity?
Why is that so significant? How does that impact on my daily life?
Clearly when one lives by those hopes it inspires all that he does never leaving one complacent in our relationship with Hashem and taking our fortune for granted.
On Rosh Chodesh we recite in the Mussaf prayer, as we do during all the holidays similarly:
ואת מוסף יום ראש החדש הזה נעשה ונקריב לפניך באהבה כמצות רצונך, And the additional offering of this New Moon day we shall perform and bring before You with love according to the commandment of your favor...
How can we state, that ‘this’ offering will be brought? There is no actual one we can point to?
The Rama M’Pano teaches that we bring our pining and yearning because that too is an ‘actual’ offering, for it permeates our being and elevates our soul.
We bring it ‘with love’ as Hashem encourages us to find His ‘favor’.
If we live with an authentic yearning for a life of closeness and inspiration that will be experienced with the restoration of the Temple, Hashem will respond in kind by making that a reality.
באהבה ובצפיה לישועה,
צבי יהודה טייכמאן