How Korbanos Can Very Much Be Part of Our Lives

Parshat Vayikra 

by Rabbi Avi Billet

 This week we are introduced to Vayikra and the sacrificial order. 

 In chapter 4, the instruction comes from God that Moshe is to tell the people “If a נפש (literally ‘a soul,’ though sometimes it simply means ‘a person’) sins accidentally, [doing] one of the [negative] mitzvoth of God that one should not do…” that there is a procedure to follow to achieve atonement. 

 Alshikh explains that the intent of the Torah through this statement is to tell someone of the proper thought process to be experienced. “Don’t think, ‘what have I done? How will my sin be counted? I never intended to sin or to rebel against God.’ The person needs to understand that when this accidental sin happens, there is a flaw in the person’s soul on account of some other sin the person has committed, or even from an errant thought a person has had. The person who is sinless doesn’t come to commit sins by accident, for ‘even the animals of the righteous don’t come to do anything wrong’ (Hullin7a), so certainly the righteous themselves don’t sin accidentally. It is thus because a person sinned through doing a mitzvah one isn’t supposed to do (ie violate a negative commandment) that one becomes prone to committing a sin by accident.” 

In the Rav Peninim Chumash, the editors go on to ask what the purpose of Korbanos was. Quoting Abravanel, the suggestion is made that one reason for Korbanos was to put in check the accidental sinner who is simply not careful, or is actually careless! Being, for most people, a serious financial commitment, the korban aims to hit the person in the pocket to remind the person to be more careful in the future, and to thus avoid the kinds of circumstance that cause the individual to sin. 

 An individual who becomes טמא, in many cases is a person who isn’t careful about the rules of Tumah and Tahara. But someone who takes upon himself to be careful about that – such as a נזיר – and nevertheless becomes טמא is a person who falls into the category of נפש כי תחטא, a soul who has veered from a proper parth. 

 To turn one’s activities in the opposite direction, the Rabbis taught זריזות מביא לידי זהירות, זהירות מביא לידי טהרה, טהרה מביא לידי קדושה, or “Alacrity leads to being careful, being careful leads one to purity, and purity brings one to holiness.” 

 This approach suggests that, at least from one perspective, the sacrificial order is one that is meant to give a person pause to think about what it means to create this kind of connection with God. Certainly not all Korbanos (offerings, sacrifices) come from a place of sin – there were Korbanos for holidays and special occasions, as well as daily offerings in Temple times, which indicate it’s not only about sin offerings and guilt offerings. 

 For us, Korbanos still play a central role in our synagogue service, between the many Torah readings (including many holiday readings and Maftirs) that remind us of Korbanos, as well as the first part of davening that is actually referred to as “Korbanos,” we certainly have regular (think of Shabbos and Yom Tov Mussaf services), even daily reminders of what we are missing. Of course, our daily reminder is a fulfillment of the phrase from Hoshea 14:3 ונשלמה פרים שפתינו, that we “pay” for the bull (offerings) through the words that come out of our lips. 

 This teaches us a few important lessons. 

1. Korbanos as part of our davening is quite significant. They should not be rushed through or skipped. The Talmud even says that when we read all of Korbanos God considers it is as if we have brought them all and to those who recite them He grants forgiveness for their sins. (Taanis 27b) There is a perspective in Halakha that if one only has time for one – either reading Korbanos or Pesukei D’Zimrah – that Korbanos should take precedence. 

2. We have to imagine that we have penalties built into the lives we live when we make errors. Some people may make a public apology or admission and suffer embarrassment in this world. Others will take a self-imposed financial hit through giving a penalty to tzedakah for violating a sin. 

3. The idea of using Korbanos as a tool to get close to God (קרבן and קרוב are quite related) is something we should not dis-count or push aside. 

There are many mitzvos associated with Korbanos, as noted by the Sefer HaChinukh every time a new Korban is mentioned in the Torah, and while we don’t bring the Korban physically in the absence of the Beis HaMikdash, the thought processes and devotions attached to the bringing of these Korbanos can certainly be part of our experience should we choose to make it such. 

In short, Korbanos as an experience is meant to inject an awareness of finding meaning in life. Whether we look at it from the perspective of devotion to God, financial penalty for wayward behavior, or even a concept of how the bringing of the animal itself brings about atonement, we can tap into such concepts in our own lives and experience. 

When thinking of the positive things in our lives that would warrant a Korban, we can donate to Tzedakah in lieu of bringing a Korban. When thinking of incidents we regret in our behaviors and activities, we can think of donating to a different Tzedakah, based on a self-imposed penalty that will remind us that the donations in that direction are on account of vices that we can’t seem to overcome. When we simply want to demonstrate our general devotion to God, as many of us do daily, we can pay special attention to the Korbanos in our davening, and make a commitment to say every word, not rushing through them, as this is our way of essentially visiting or participating in the activities of the Beis Hamikdash with regularity. 

May our lips indeed replace the bulls and other animals as our offerings to God, and may we merit to serve Him in the most ideal way when the Beis HaMikdash is once again rebuilt.