Liat Granot – Year 11

Parashat VaYikra

Parshat Vayikra outlines the offerings one must give in specific circumstances – these are as follows:

• Ascending offering – wholly raised to God by the fire on top of the altar.
• Peace offering – for one who wanted peace with himself or his neighbour. 
• Sin offering – for any wrongdoing committed. 
• Guilt offering – for one who does not know whether he has committed a sin, so he brings an offering just in case.

All of these offerings could be made by everyone – the king, kohen or any other citizen.

Let’s analyse the Hebrew word for sacrifice ‘korban’. Like all Hebrew words, this word has a root word – in this case ‘karov’ meaning close. Such sacrifices were meant to bring one closer to God. The sacrifice was the main way for the Jews to gain atonement for sins. However, we also know that there were other sacrifices that were brought without being related to a sin. Therefore, the purpose of the Korban must not have only been for atonement. The real goal of every Korban was to bring the individual closer to God.

‘But why is this relevant?’ I hear you ask… How does animal sacrifice apply to my daily life? Well I would hope for your sake – not much would apply to you. But for the biblical Jews, animal sacrifice was a way to get closer to God. In a time where meat was rare and very expensive burning an animal for God was truly a sign of dedication.

There were also different kinds of sacrifices for when one has sinned individually or when a whole community has sinned. This demonstrates the importance of responsibility – which is the main message that I would love for you to take away from this Devar Torah. Every single person has a responsibility to know when they have sinned and a responsibility to get closer to HaShem/God. This can be any way you want! Say a prayer, go to Shul, whatever you find brings you closer to HaShem.