Animals for Slaughter, Korbanos... The Deeper Reasons - Guest Post by Rebb. Devorah Fastag

I am happy to present, below, a guest post by Rebbetzin Devorah Fastag, author of The Moon's Lost Light, which is a  book I found to be very enlightening in better understanding why things are the way they are in these "last few minutes before Moshiach," as Rav Moshe Weinberger always says. We featured a guest post about the book here at Dixie Yid here and you can see some of her other guest posts here. All the best.

 

His Mercy is on All His Creatures
 

By D. Fastag

 

Recently I came across a story about a student in a ba'al tshuvah yeshivah who objected to korbonos, saying "I don't kill animals". The teacher answered that we don't kill animals unnecessarily – that would be tsa'ar ba'aley chaim – but since animals were created to serve human beings, it is perfectly acceptable to kill animals for our valid use. So ends the discussion.

 

But does it? True, this is from Hashem, but The All Merciful One is not like a human king who makes decrees without caring if it hurts others unjustly. Hashem is totally just, good, and kind.         Why, then, would He want to cause suffering to feeling creatures?

 

To emphasize the question, one needs only to look into Ashrei, which is taken from Tehillim 145. There we say "Hashem is good to all and His mercy is on all His creatures". Yet how can we understand that it is merciful to animals to have them killed, and that this is called being good to them? 

 

Ashrei also says: "Hashem is a tsaddik in all His ways and does chessed with all His deeds.  Yet where is the fairness and righteousness towards the animal who is killed for our needs?

 

Some answer that the animal reaches a tikun, a rectification, through becoming the vehicle of a mitzvah.  But the animal is dead. What good does it do the animal that it reached a tikun if it does not feel or know about this tikun?

 

The answer is that it does feel and know about this tikun. In order to understand this, we need to realize that the superficial level with which we view the world, is far, far, from accurate. It is like taking pieces of a story out of context, leaving out essential factors.  This is true not only of the way we view physical reality, but even of the way we view Torah. Our understanding is incomplete because the secrets behind the mitzvos will be revealed to us only in the future. Rashi, explaining the second pasuk of Shir Hashirim says: 

 

"… He gave them His Torah and spoke to them face to face, and that expression of love is still more precious to them than any pleasure. And He promised them that He would appear again over them to explain to them the secret of its reasons and the mysteries of its hidden content, and they beseech Him to keep His word. That is the meaning of 'He shall kiss me from the kisses of His mouth'"

 

This is also the meaning of Chazal's statement that Hashem says: "A new Torah will come forth from me" (Vayikrah 13:30). The new Torah is the hidden meanings of the same Torah we have now. Until we receive this, we are missing eye opening parts of Torah which would make us aware of its greatness, goodness, and depth.

But why did Hashem do this to us? Why didn't we receive the whole Torah at Har Sinai?

Forty days after the giving of the Torah, while the Jewish People were still encamped at Har Sinai, they made a golden calf.  This happened on the 17^th of Tamuz, which later became the day when the walls of Jerusalem were breached, and it is the fast day that begins the three weeks leading to tishav ba'av. The sin of the golden calf forced Moshe to break the first luchos. Had those luchos remained we would have received the full Torah at that time. We would have learned it all effortlessly, with great love and passion, and never would have forgotten our learning.

But the sin of the golden calf changed all that. That sin became the first link in a chain leading to our present galus. And since then, at some level, the Torah itself was also in galus.  From then until the coming of Moshiach we must fulfill the Torah out of pure emunah, without understanding the reasons behind it. Emunah, like the moon, is the light which guides us through the darkness of the night of galus.   

 Yet our period in history is like none before it. According to the Zohar we are now in the period called the erev Shabbas of the world, and just as on erev Shabbos one is supposed to taste of the Shabbos food, so in our times we can – and should – begin to taste of the secrets of the Torah, the spiritual food of the world's Shabbos. This is how the Ba'al Shem Tov explained his teaching the Jewish masses Torah secrets, and this was also the policy of the Vilna Gaon, the Ohr HaChaim, the Chofetz Chaim, and many others, who spoke openly of Torah secrets which had previously been known only to very few tsaddikim.

So now let us look into some of those great secrets.

The Sfas Emes on parshas Emor (5658) comments on a medrash which draws a corollary between bris milah, performed on a baby's eighth day, and the law that a baby animal may be sacrificed only on its eighth day. The Sfas Ems explains that just as milah is super natural, connected to things above and beyond this world, so sacrifices are something outside and above nature, something other worldly. He then goes on to say:

"… therefore regarding animals that were slaughtered outside [the mishkan] it is written 'it is considered murder [literally blood] as one who spills human blood. Because when it was sanctified as a korbon, it rose to the aspect of a human being, as explained above."

In other words, when an animal is sanctified as a korbon it rises to the aspect of a human being, so that if it was not afterwards sacrificed properly this is considered as having murdered it. That is why regarding this sin the Torah uses a term reserved for murder.

 Mind boggling!!

And so the Sfas Emes gives us a tiny peek into the great secrets of the Torah to be revealed in the future. And with it we get a gleam of understanding of Hashem's caring for His creatures. Far, far from being the decree of an uncaring king, Hashem, the ultimate of love and kindness, has, through korbanos, given the animal the ability to rise to the level of a human being.

Shchitah, too is for the animal's benefit. Far from what people imagine, the spirit of an animal does not expire with its death. Koheles tells us that the spirit of the animal goes down into the earth. And so earth is placed over the animal's blood which contains its spirit.

Where into the earth does the spirit go? What happens to it then? Why does the animal need a tikun?  Perhaps we will have to wait until the ge'ula to find out. In the meantime, we are, in the words of Rashi, "beseeching Hashem to keep His word" and teach us the mysteries of His glorious Torah.

May it be very, very soon!

Devorah Fastag is the author of The Moon's Lost Light, a deeper explanation of the turbulence surrounding contemporary women, (originally published under the pen name Devorah Heshelis) and the Jewish ebook, Whatever Happenedto the Aschalta Degeula. She can be contacted at fastag.df_at_gmail.com.
 

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Burning Away the Chometz in Our Minds - Shalosh Sheudos Torah From R. Weinberger

Rav Weinberger taught an amazing Torah from the Nesivos Shalom at Shalosh Sheudos last night. He quoted the pasuk from the beginning of Parshas Tzav, Vayikra 6:2, which said:

"צַו אֶת-אַהֲרֹן וְאֶת-בָּנָיו לֵאמֹר זֹאת תּוֹרַת הָעֹלָה הִוא הָעֹלָה עַל מוֹקְדָה עַל-הַמִּזְבֵּחַ כָּל-הַלַּיְלָה עַד-הַבֹּקֶר וְאֵשׁ הַמִּזְבֵּחַ תּוּקַד בּוֹ." Metzuda translation: "Command Aharon and his sons, saying; this is the law of the burnt-offering. It is the burnt-offering [which remains] on its pyre on the altar all night, until the morning, and the fire of the altar will be kept burning on it."

He asked why the pasuk has to say "זֹאת תּוֹרַת הָעֹלָה," this is the law of the Olah for the rule that the korban has to be burnt all night until it is fully consumed. After all, that is the rule for the burnt portion of all korbanos, not only the Olah.

He answered from the Nesivos Shalom that an Olah is different and a more difficult tikun than the other korbanos for two reasons. One is that it is mechaper, atones, for aveiros of thought, rather than action. Even when one can avoid bad actions, it is still difficult to control and stop all impure thoughts. So the Olah is coming to accomplish an especially difficult kapara. Second, the there is more of a yetzer hara not to bring an Olah because the korban costs money to bring but one can't eat any of it, and may feel that he gets less out of it because of that. Therefore, the Torah says "Tzav," "command" in this verse, which Rashi always says is a lashon "ziruz," indicating that we must work extra hard to fulfill this mitzvah because it's more difficult than other mitzvos.

In order to understand the Slonimer's first answer, that it is especially important to teach that the Olah is burned all night because it atones for aveiros of thought, he brought an amazing moshol from the Lechovitcher, from which the Slonimer dynasty comes.

The Lechovitcher brought a moshol of a man who wanted to cut down a forest in order to build a city. So he began by cutting down one tree, and then another tree, etc. But he soon realized that the forest was so large that he would probably die before he cut down all of the trees, much less built a city in their place. Therefore, he came up with an idea and set a large fire, which was successful in burning down the whole forest in one shot.

The Nesivos Shalom used that moshol here. When one is trying to drive away all impure thoughts, he may try to wage a battle against one evil thought. And then as soon as he's finished with that one, he realizes that there's another one. So he tries to get rid of that one next. By the time he finishes getting rid of that impure thought, he realizes that the first one has grown back even stronger. And then he realizes that he will die before he is ever successful in ridding himself of all of his impure thoughts.

But then the person realizes that if he can set one big fire, he can burn away all of the impure thoughts in one shot. The key is to set one's self on fire with Yiddishkeit. He has to daven mit ah bren, too learn with fire, to do his avodah with a fire. Then he'll be successful in burning all of his evil thoughts into oblivion.

That's why the pasuk says "Tzav," that he requires special alacrity to work on his thoughts. They are impure, but no one else can see them. They represent a "chisaron kis," a fault (chisaron) which is covered (lashon kisui) and that no one else can see. It is therefore a fault which is more difficult to work on, thus the lashon tzav, indicating that one needs an extra push to get working on it.

And because the Olah atones for impure thoughts, it is especially necessary to say that the korban must be burned all night, because it is only through the burning fire of passionate Yiddishkeit that that can burn away all of the impure thoughts.

Rav Weinberger lamented the fact that the schools just work on cutting down one tree and then another tree. They ban the ipods. Then the iphones, then Internet, then the iTouch, etc. etc. etc. But as soon as they ban one device, ten more take their place. We can never get rid of everything that will turn our minds and thoughts away from Hashem. There have always been things that turn people away. In one generation, it was Communism, in another generation, it was haskala, then reform, then Zionism, etc. We can never get rid of every temptation that threatens to take our and our children's minds away from Torah. The key is not to focus all of our attention on the trees. Instead, we have to do the only thing which can get rid of the whole forest of temptations, which is creating a fiery avodah that can burn them all down.

We have to create a fire within ourselves and our children. Passionate davening, passionate learning and fiery Yiddishkeit is the only thing which can burn away all of those temptations. While obviously we have to use common sense and not unnecessarily introduce temptations into our or our children's lives (see here), those things will not go anywhere near doing the job on their own.

May we be matzliach in burning away all of the chometz of our minds with the fire of biur chometz tomorrow morning!

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Kol Brisk on Parshas Vayikra - Korbanos/Sacrifices

לעלוי נשמת הגאון הר"ר אהרן בן הר"ר משה הלוי סאלאווייציק זצ"ל

Parashas Vayikra

With this week's parasha, we open a new sefer, Sefer Vayikra, Toras Kohanim. Sefer Vayikra deals with the laws concerning korbanos, sacrifices, tum'ah v'tahara, and laws concerning Kohanim.

Today, we have no Bais Hamikdash. We have no mizbai'ach. We cannot bring korbanos. Chazal teach: Unishalmah parim s'fasaynu, Our lips have the power to replace the oxen.

The mefarshim give us some interesting glimpses into the experience of bringing a korban in the time of the Bais Hamikdash:

The Mai Ha'shiloach gives the case of a person who got an idea to do something new. For example, he desired to build for himself a large new home. However, he had certain hesitations and fears. Where was this desire coming from? Was it a real need of his? People would be surprised and would talk etc. These thoughts caused him to be not completely at ease with his plans. Perhaps his misgivings were a sign that this was not a right thing to do. Perhaps this was a sign that this was not the Ratzon Hashem, the Divine Will?

This person would then bring a korban olah and mincha.

The purpose of his olah was in order to submit his ENTIRE ratzon, desires and intellect to Hashem Yisbarach, in order that Hashem would direct the person in the direction He willed. The olah is ENTIREly sacrificed on the mizbai'ach. If the project was truly Hashem's Will, the korban would effectively subdue and clear away all the hesitations.

Once the proper direction, for or against the plan, became clear, the mincha would assume its function. If this person was to build his new house, the mincha would give him great motivation, confidence, energy and enthusiasm to proceed with his plans. If it was not the Ratzon Hashem for the person to embark on the project, then, by bringing the olah, he would lose his motivation and interest. Then, however, the person could be beset with afterthoughts; why was this plan not right for him? By bringing the mincha, the person would become Divinely enlightened as to how such a home would have had a damaging effect on a certain aspect of his character. The mincha would put the person's mind at REST.
Mincha - its root connotes REST.

Two people could jointly bring the olah, for submission before G-d is something in which everyone is equal. The mincha, however, could only be brought by one person alone. This is because peace of mind is very individual, and translates differently for every nefesh miYisrael, every Jewish soul with its own needs.

A shlamim was brought by a person experiencing any sort of anxiety or unsettled feelings. The shlamim would restore wholesomeness, peace within the person, peace with his environment, and with his Creator.

Unishalmah parim s'fasaynu.
All of the above functions of the olah, mincha and shlamim can be achieved today through proper tefillah.

I personally know someone who, through tefillah, by saying tehillim, clarified strong misgivings in the realm of shidduchim. Interest in shidduchim that were all wrong for him faded out; and eventually, for the shidduch that was very right for him, about which he was not so sure, he acquired interest and motivation. Today, he is Baruch Hashem, very happily married to a wonderful and devoted wife, and has b'ayin"h beautiful children.

Also, someone had a complex question of how to conduct himself in a certain situation. For a long difficult period he carried the doubt with him. Unable to continue to bear the strain, he sat down one night, recited the entire Sefer Tehillim without interuption, concentrating from the depths of his heart specifically on this question. Within two days, the situation became much more clarified.

*

V'nefesh ki sakriv korban mincha laHashem
The Netziv miVolozhin explains that the mincha was brought to atone for hashchasas hanefesh b'midos, that is deterioration of character. The example in Tanach that he brings is Shaul HaMelech. David suggested to him to bring a Mincha, for he was suffering from ruach ra'ah, resulting from, what was on his level, depression and anger. There are four types of mincha, corresponding to the four humours or four elements. Each person has his unique combination of these four. Extremities in any direction are the cause of midos ra'os.

The Ba'al haTanya teaches us that Am Yisrael starts out in the first place with a relatively speaking refined nefesh habehemis, vital soul. This is because of our ancestry. We all inherited in our genes compassion, modesty and generosity! So on first glance, on a superficial level it is difficult to discern our weaknesses.
Here they are:

1. Yesod ha'aish, marah adumah- element of fire- in extreme causes anger and arrogance




2. Yesod hamayim, marah levana-element of water- indulgence in pleasure and desire




3. Yesod haruach, marah tzehubah-element of air- giddiness, frivolity, boasting and idle talk




4. Yesod he'afar, marah shechorah-element of earth- depression and laziness

In the time of the Bais Hamikdash, one could bring a mincha to straighten out his midos.
Today, we have no mincha, we have no mizbai'ach and we have no Bais Hamikdash. But we still have tefillah.

And Hashem waits to hear from us. And He listens. And He answers.

Harchev picha va'amaleihu.
Just open your mouth (in tefillah) and I will fill it up, urges G-d.

May the service of korbanos be restored speedily in our days.

A gutten Erev Shabbos
from Yerushalayim Ir HaKodesh

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