Temple Shalom Shabbat Morning Torah Study ?Parashat Tzav: What’s So Special About Sacrifices יְדַבּ ֵ֥ר יְהו ָ֖ה אֶ ל־מֹשֶׁ ֵ֥ה April 4, 2020 לּ אמֹֹֽ ר: צ ַ֤ ו אֶֹֽת־אַ הֲרֹן֙ וְאֶ ת־בּ נ ָ֣יו ל ראמֹֹ֔ זֵֹ֥ את תֹּורַָ֖ת ה עֹל ָ֑ה ...

Adonai spoke to Moses, saying: Command and his sons thus: This is the ritual of the … The entire Pentateuch (the five Mosaic books) forms a chiasmus. From the perspective of the Israelites in the wilderness, Bereshit (Genesis) looks back to the pre-history of Israel, while Devarim (Deuteronomy) turns to the future, as Moses’ prophetic vision scans the far horizons of hope and expectation. Shemot (Exodus) and Bamidbar (Numbers) are a matched pair, telling the story of the present – Israel’s journey from Egypt into the desert and to the brink of the promised land.

This leaves Vayikra (Leviticus) as the central and therefore the most important book (not by accident was it the Jewish custom for many centuries to begin teaching Torah to children by starting with Vayikra). At the centre of Vayikra itself is the so-called “holiness code”, chapter 19, with its great injunction, “Be holy, for I, the Eternal your God, am holy.” Vayikra is largely about sacrifices and the service of the priests. Hence its ancient name, Torat Kohanim, “the law of the priests,” from which we get the Latin- English word Leviticus (“of priestly matters”). - Sacks • The book of Leviticus reflects the perception that God’s created world is fundamentally harmonious, good and orderly.

• Leviticus understands that boundaries may be wrongfully crossed. It therefore specifies what to do when things become disorderly.

• The sacrificial system (the sacrifices and the rituals associated with the sacrifices) were created to restore the balance of the universe. They are designed to cancel or neutralize the damage done when order was disrupted.

• In Leviticus, the human body, the sanctuary and the community are all see as microcosm of the universe. The laws associated with purity and impurity are created to maintain or restore holiness in these spaces.

• Anyone who breaks the harmony of the universe (the order) can – and must – repair it. The first seven chapters of this book outline the complex system of sacrifices offered by the Israelite priesthood. We find descriptions not only about different types of offerings but also different ‘grades’ of offerings so that no one is excluded from participating in the ancient rites of sacrifices. Yet the Torah says little about what these rites looked like or what happened when an individual brought an offering. In addition we don’t know what was said during the ritual and if anything was said at all.

The sacrificial rite is also a theological statement about our ancestors’ conception of God. Writing about the sacrificial offerings Professor Nahum Sarna states: “God desires sacrifices not out of the need for sustenance but out of a longing for the devotion and fellowship of worshippers.” It is this insight that helps us understand the connection between sacrifice and prayer. Both are forms of Avodah, service of God. - Mark Greenspan Outline for Vayikra (And God called):

Procedures for Three Types of Basic Offerings (1:1 – 3:17) Burnt offering – olah (1:1 – 1:17) Meal offering – (2:1 – 2:16) Well-being offering – sh’lamim (3:1 – 3:17)

Procedures for Offerings to Restore Order (4:1 – 5:26) Purgation offering – chatat (4:1 – 5:13) Reparation offering – asham (5:15 – 5:26) Outline for Tzav (Issue a Command):

Supplemental Instructions to the Priests Regarding Sacrifices (6:1 – 7:38) Instructions for the burnt offering (6:1 – 6:6) Instructions for the meal offering (6:7 – 6:16) Instructions for the purgation offering (6:17 – 6:23) Instructions for the reparation offering (7:1 – 7:6) Concluding instructions for the preceding offerings (7:7 – 7:10) Instructions for the well-being sacrifice (7:11 – 7:21) Prohibitions regarding the fat and the blood (7:22 – 7:27) Further details regarding the well-being sacrifice (7:28 – 7:36) Affirmation of the Sinaitic origin of the sacrificial practices (7:37 – 7:38)

The Ordination of the Priests (8:1-36) Mincha: Food and Drink Offering A meal offering (minchah) represented the devotion of the fruits of our work to God, Olah: Burnt Offering because it was not a natural product, but something created through human effort. A Perhaps the best-known class of offerings is the burnt representative piece of the offering was burnt on the fire of the , but the rest was offering. It was the oldest and commonest sacrifice and eaten by the kohanim. represented submission to God's will. The Hebrew word for burnt offering is olah meaning ascension. An Zevah Sh’lamim: Well-being Offering olah is completely burnt on the outer altar; no part of it A peace offering is an offering expressing thanks or gratitude to is eaten by anyone. Because the offering represents God.. The Hebrew term for this type of offering is zevach complete submission to God's will, the entire offering is sh'lamim (or sometimes just sh'lamim), which is related to the given to God (i.e., it cannot be used after it is burnt). It word shalom, meaning "peace" or "whole." A representative expresses a desire to commune with God and expiates Types of portion of the offering is burnt on the altar, a portion is given to sins incidentally in the process (because how can you the kohanim, and the rest is eaten by the offerer and his family; commune with God if you are tainted with sins?). An Korbanot thus, everyone gets a part of this offering. This category of olah could be made from cattle, sheep, goats, or even offerings includes thanksgiving-offerings, free will-offerings, and birds, depending on the offerer's means. offerings made after fulfillment of a vow. Note that this class of (Sacrifices) offerings has nothing to do with sin; in fact, the Talmud states that in the age of the messiah (when there is no more sin), this Asham: Guilt Offering will be the only class of offering that is brought to the Temple. A guilt offering is an offering to atone for sins of stealing things from the altar, for when you are not sure whether you have committed a sin or what sin you Chatat: have committed, or for breach of trust. The Hebrew A sin offering is an offering to atone for and purge a sin. It is an expression of word for a guilt offering is asham. When there was sorrow for the error and a desire to be reconciled with God. The Hebrew term for doubt as to whether a person committed a sin, the this type of offering is chatat, from the word chayt, meaning "missing the mark." A person would make an asham, rather than a chatat, chatat could only be offered for unintentional sins committed through because bringing a chatat would constitute admission carelessness, not for intentional, malicious sins. The size of the offering varied of the sin, and the person would have to be punished according to the nature of the sin and the financial means of the sinner. Some for it. If a person brought an asham and later chatatot are individual and some are communal. Communal offerings represent the discovered that he had in fact committed the sin, he interdependence of the community, and the fact that we are all responsible for would have to bring a chatat at that time. An asham each others' sins. A few special chatatot could not be eaten, but for the most part, was eaten by the kohanim. for the average person's personal sin, the chatat was eaten by the kohanim. Chapter 6 1. Adonai spoke to Moses, saying: 2. Command Aaron and his sons thus: This is the ritual of the burnt offering: The burnt offering itself shall remain where it is burned upon the altar all night until morning, while the fire on the altar is kept going on it. 3. The priest shall dress in linen raiment, with linen breeches next to his body; and he shall take up the ashes to which the fire has reduced the burnt offering on the altar and place them beside the altar. 4. He shall then take off his vestments and put on other vestments and carry the ashes outside the camp to a clean place. 5. The fire on the altar shall be kept burning, not to go out: every morning the priest shall feed wood to it, lay out the burnt offering on it, and turn into smoke the fat parts of the offerings of well-being. 6. A perpetual fire shall be kept burning on the altar, not to go out. 7. And this is the ritual of the meal offering: Aaron’s sons shall present it before Adonai, in front of the altar. 8. A handful of the choice flour and oil of the meal offering shall be taken from it, with all the frankincense that is on the meal offering, and this token portion shall be turned into smoke on the altar as a pleasing odor to Adonai. 9. What is left of it shall be eaten by Aaron and his sons; it shall be eaten as unleavened cakes, in the sacred precinct; they shall eat it in the enclosure of the Tent of Meeting. 10. It shall not be baked with leaven; I have given it as their portion from my offerings by fire; it is most holy, like the sin offering and the guilt offering. 11. Only the males among Aaron’s descendants may eat of it, as their due for all time throughout the ages from Adonai’s offerings by fire. Anything that touches these shall become holy. 12. Adonai spoke to Moses, saying: 13. This is the offering that Aaron and his sons shall offer to Adonai on the occasion of his anointment: a tenth of an ephah of choice flour as a regular meal offering, half of it in the morning and half of it in the evening, 14. shall be prepared with oil on a griddle. You shall bring it well soaked, and offer it as a meal offering of baked slices, of pleasing odor to Adonai. 15. And so shall the priest, anointed from among his sons to succeed him, prepare it; it is Adonai’s—a law for all time—to be turned entirely into smoke. 16. So, too, every meal offering of a priest shall be a whole offering: it shall not be eaten. 17. Adonai spoke to Moses, saying: 18. Speak to Aaron and his sons thus: This is the ritual of the sin offering: the sin offering shall be slaughtered before Adonai, at the spot where the burnt offering is slaughtered: it is most holy. 19. The priest who offers it as a sin offering shall eat of it; it shall be eaten in the sacred precinct, in the enclosure of the Tent of Meeting. 20. Anything that touches its flesh shall become holy; and if any of its blood is spattered upon a garment, you shall wash the bespattered part in the sacred precinct. 21. An earthen vessel in which it was boiled shall be broken; if it was boiled in a copper vessel, [the vessel] shall be scoured and rinsed with water. 22. Only the males in the priestly line may eat of it: it is most holy. 23. But no sin offering may be eaten from which any blood is brought into the Tent of Meeting for expiation in the sanctuary; any such shall be consumed in fire.

Chapter 7 1. This is the ritual of the guilt offering: it is most holy. 2. The guilt offering shall be slaughtered at the spot where the burnt offering is slaughtered, and the blood shall be dashed on all sides of the altar. 3. All its fat shall be offered: the broad tail; the fat that covers the entrails; 4. the two kidneys and the fat that is on them at the loins; and the protuberance on the liver, which shall be removed with the kidneys. 5. The priest shall turn them into smoke on the altar as an offering by fire to Adonai; it is a guilt offering. 6. Only the males in the priestly line may eat of it; it shall be eaten in the sacred precinct: it is most holy. 7. The guilt offering is like the sin offering. The same rule applies to both: it shall belong to the priest who makes expiation thereby. 8. So, too, the priest who offers a man’s burnt offering shall keep the skin of the burnt offering that he offered. 9. Further, any meal offering that is baked in an oven, and any that is prepared in a pan or on a griddle, shall belong to the priest who offers it. 10. But every other meal offering, with oil mixed in or dry, shall go to the sons of Aaron all alike. 11. This is the ritual of the sacrifice of well-being that one may offer to Adonai: 12. If he offers it for thanksgiving, he shall offer together with the sacrifice of thanksgiving unleavened cakes with oil mixed in, unleavened wafers spread with oil, and cakes of choice flour with oil mixed in, well soaked. 13. This offering, with cakes of leavened bread added, he shall offer along with his thanksgiving sacrifice of well-being. 14. Out of this he shall offer one of each kind as a gift to Adonai; it shall go to the priest who dashes the blood of the offering of well-being. 15. And the flesh of his thanksgiving sacrifice of well-being shall be eaten on the day that it is offered; none of it shall be set aside until morning. 16. If, however, the sacrifice he offers is a votive or a freewill offering, it shall be eaten on the day that he offers his sacrifice, and what is left of it shall be eaten on the morrow. 17. What is then left of the flesh of the sacrifice shall be consumed in fire on the third day. 18. If any of the flesh of his sacrifice of well-being is eaten on the third day, it shall not be acceptable; it shall not count for him who offered it. It is an offensive thing, and the person who eats of it shall bear his guilt. 19. Flesh that touches anything unclean shall not be eaten; it shall be consumed in fire. As for other flesh, only he who is clean may eat such flesh. 20. But the person who, in a state of uncleanness, eats flesh from Adonai’s sacrifices of well-being, that person shall be cut off from his kin. 21. When a person touches anything unclean, be it human uncleanness or an unclean animal or any unclean creature, and eats flesh from Adonai’s sacrifices of well-being, that person shall be cut off from his kin. 22. And Adonai spoke to Moses, saying: 23. Speak to the Israelite people thus: You shall eat no fat of ox or sheep or goat. 24. Fat from animals that died or were torn by beasts may be put to any use, but you must not eat it. 25. If anyone eats the fat of animals from which offerings by fire may be made to Adonai, the person who eats it shall be cut off from his kin. 26. And you must not consume any blood, either of bird or of animal, in any of your settlements. 27. Anyone who eats blood shall be cut off from his kin. 28. And Adonai spoke to Moses, saying: 29. Speak to the Israelite people thus: The offering to Adonai from a sacrifice of well-being must be presented by him who offers his sacrifice of well-being to Adonai: 30. his own hands shall present Adonai’s offerings by fire. He shall present the fat with the breast, the breast to be elevated as an elevation offering before Adonai; 31. the priest shall turn the fat into smoke on the altar, and the breast shall go to Aaron and his sons. 32. And the right thigh from your sacrifices of well-being you shall present to the priest as a gift; 33. he from among Aaron’s sons who offers the blood and the fat of the offering of well-being shall get the right thigh as his portion. 34. For I have taken the breast of elevation offering and the thigh of from the Israelites, from their sacrifices of well-being, and given them to Aaron the priest and to his sons as their due from the Israelites for all time. 35. Those shall be the perquisites of Aaron and the perquisites of his sons from Adonai’s offerings by fire, once they have been inducted to serve Adonai as priests; 36. these Adonai commanded to be given them, once they had been anointed, as a due from the Israelites for all time throughout the ages. 37. Such are the rituals of the burnt offering, the meal offering, the sin offering, the guilt offering, the offering of ordination, and the sacrifice of well-being, 38. with which Adonai charged Moses on Mount Sinai, when He commanded that the Israelites present their offerings to Adonai, in the wilderness of Sinai. Amos 5:21-25 (21) I loathe, I spurn your festivals, I am not appeased by your solemn assemblies. (22) If you offer Me burnt offerings—or your meal offerings— I will not accept them; I will pay no heed To your gifts of fatlings. (23) Spare Me the sound of your hymns, And let Me not hear the music of your lutes. (24) But let justice well up like water, Righteousness like an unfailing stream. (25) Did you offer sacrifice and oblation to Me Those forty years in the wilderness, O House of Israel?

Jeremiah 7:22-24 (22) For when I freed your fathers from the land of Egypt, I did not speak with them or command them concerning burnt offerings or sacrifice. (23) But this is what I commanded them: Do My bidding, that I may be your God and you may be My people; walk only in the way that I enjoin upon you, that it may go well with you. (24) Yet they did not listen or give ear; they followed their own counsels, the willfulness of their evil hearts. They have gone backward, not forward, (25) from the day your fathers left the land of Egypt until today … Malachi 3:4 – 3:24 3 He shall act like a smelter and purger of silver; and he shall refine them like gold and silver, so that they shall present offering in righteousness. 4 Then the offerings of Judah and Jerusalem shall be pleasing to Adonai as in the days of yore and the years of old. 5 But [first] I will step forward to contend against you, and I will act as a relentless accuser against those who have no fear of Me: Who practice sorcery, who commit adultery, who swear falsely, who cheat laborers of their hire, and who subvert [the cause of] the widow, orphan, and stranger, said Adonai of Hosts. 6 For I am Adonai—I have not changed; and you are the children of Jacob—you have not ceased to be. 7 From the very days of your fathers you have turned away from My laws and you have not observed them. Turn back to Me, and I will turn back to you—said Adonai of Hosts. But you ask, “How shall we turn back?” 8 Ought man to defraud God? You are defrauding Me. And you ask, “How have we been defrauding You?” In tithe and contribution. 9 You are suffering under a curse, yet you go on defrauding Me—the whole 17 And on the day that I am preparing, said Adonai of Hosts, they shall be My nation of you. 10 Bring the full tithe into the storehouse and let there treasured possession; I will be tender toward them as man is tender toward a son be food in My House, and thus put Me to the test—said Adonai of who ministers to him. 18 And you shall come to see the difference between the Hosts. I will surely open the floodgates of the sky for you and pour righteous and the wicked, between him who has served God and him who has not down blessings on you; 11 and I will banish the locusts from you, so served Him. 19 For lo, That day is at hand, burning like an oven. All the arrogant that they will not destroy the yield of your soil; and your vines in the and all the doers of evil shall be straw, and the day that is coming—said Adonai of field shall no longer miscarry—said Adonai of Hosts. 12 And all nations Hosts—shall burn them to ashes and leave of them neither stock nor boughs. 20 shall account you happy, for you shall be the most desired of lands— But for you who revere My name a sun of victory will rise to bring healing. You shall said Adonai of Hosts. 13 You have spoken harsh words against Me— go forth and stamp like stall-fed calves, 21 and you shall trample the wicked into a said Adonai. But you ask, “What have we been saying among ourselves pulp, for they shall be dust beneath your feet on the day that I am preparing—said against You?” 14 You have said, “It is useless to serve God. What have Adonai of Hosts. 22 Be mindful of the Teaching of My servant Moses, who I charged we gained by keeping His charge and walking in abject awe of Adonai at Horeb with laws and rule for all Israel. 23 Lo, I will send the prophet Elijah to of Hosts? 15 And so, we account the arrogant happy: they have indeed you before the coming of the awesome, fearful day of Adonai. 24 He shall done evil and endured; they have indeed dared God and escaped. 16 In reconcile parents with children and children with their parents, so that, when I this vein have those who revere Adonai and esteem His name come, I do not strike the whole land with utter destruction.