Gimme five!
The Kli Yakar (7:11) reveals that it says ‘this is the Torah’ five times in reference to the various korbanos, hinting at the five books of the Torah. For anyone who learns through the five books of the Torah is as if they have offered up all five korbanos. How so? For, as the Kli Yakar explains, each of the five korbanos correspond to one Chumash. The olah (the first korban) is paired with Chumash Bereishis (the first Chumash), for Hevel, Noach, Avraham, and Yaakov all offered olah korbanos in Bereishis. Furthermore, Shemos is paired with the mincha offering, for the mincha offering comprises of matzah - Shemos has in it the mitzvah of matzah and the korban pesach. Similarly, Vayikra corresponds to the chatas offering, for the root of all sins is the chet ha’egel, and throughout Vayikra there are references to the atonement for this sin - and the chatas comes to atone for sins. Moreover, the greatest atonement for the chet ha’egel is the Mishkan, and Vayikra deals with topics related to the Mishkan, as the Ramban in his hakdama to Vayikra highlights. Additionally, Bamidbar is paired with the asham offering, for the topic of ‘asham’ crops up in Bamidbar (5:6). Finally, Devarim matches the shlamim, for this korban pops up in both the sedras of Ki Savo (27:7) and Re’eh (12:27). Moreover, the shlamim is always the last of the korbanos, and Devarim is the final Chumash.
Where’s your Kohen gone? :
It is a relatively famous fact that Moshe’s name is not mentioned in parshas Tetzaveh (though it has not quite made it into Trivial Pursuit). What is less well-known, is that Aharon’s name does not make it into parshas Vayikra. Given that Vayikra is all about korbanos, and, as Kohen Gadol, korbanos are Aharon’s thing, it seems strange that he does not feature. Why is that? The peirush HaRosh (6:2) cites a Midrash (Vayikra Rabbah 7:1) which answers that this was because Aharon was still ‘rejected,’ to an extent, by HaShem due to his role in the chet ha’egel. What is interesting to note here is that it is clear that the rest of the Bnei Yisrael had been forgiven by now for the chet ha’egel - the completion of the Mishkan testified to this, as the Rosh himself pointed out in Pekudei (38:21). Yet Aharon, the only member of the sin of the chet ha’egel who had fully worthy intentions and the only one who did not want to make a calf in the first place, is the only one still being punished by HaShem. Why is that? The solution here seems to be the principle laid down in several sources (see the Ramban quoted by the Kli Yakar in Vayikra 4:20 and Ibn Ezra Bereishis 32:9) that HaShem punishes tzadikim more harshly than He does other people. The reason for this is partly because the greater one is, the more is expected of you, and partly because HaShem wants to cleanse every trace of sin from the tzadik in this world so that his share in the Next World will be wholesome.
Parashas Tzav – Waving at Hashem:
How many possuks/verses in this weeks sedra צו/Tzav? צ = 90 and ו = 6; therefore 96!
In this week's Parasha we continue with the theme of korbans/offerings with the Torah addressing the Kohanim and teaching them the additional laws that relate to the Mishkan service. We see in the first two chapters of Tzav that the previously mentioned offerings of the olah (the elevation-offering), minchah (meal-offering), shelamim (peace-offering), chatas (sin-offering) and the asham (guilt-offering) are now expanded on with regards to how they are prepared, offered and also included are other related laws. Chizkuni explains that parashas Vayikra incorporated commandments about offerings which pertain to the nation as a whole, whereas Tzav, mainly discusses those mitzvahs which are relevant to the realm of the Kohanim. This is evident from the first sentence of the
The Netziv[1] notes that in all the various topics and laws of Chumash Vayikra (and there are many) we only find the term ‘adam’ (‘person/man’) twice. One is in our topic of korbanos (Vayikra 1:2) and the other is in the portion dealing with tzara’as (13:2) - the mark on one’s skin, clothes, or house which comes primarily from speaking Lashon Hara. Why do only these topics deserve the word ‘adam?’
What does the word adam connote; why is it different from other words which mean ‘man,’ like enosh, gever, or ish?
The Midrash[2] picks up on the word adam here and cross-references it firstly to the things in Creation which are most precious to HaShem, and then to the pasuk[3] ‘I have found one (worthy) man [adam] out of a thousand,’ which refers to Avraham Avinu or Moshe Rabeinu. Thus, it seems that the Midrash
