When we begin the book of Vayikra we read of all the types of sacrifices that were offered on the altar to God. There were animal, fowl (not chicken) and flour as well as wine libations. The details are precise and many about how to prepare the korban, where to prepare and offer it, and what to do with it once the offering service concluded. Some were completely burned on the altar while others provided nourishment to the kohanim, and some were consumed by the original owner of the sacrifice.
In the early 1900s, the late great Chofetz Chaim opened a kollel specifically for kohanim to learn the laws of sacrifices thoroughly so we will be prepared when Moshiach comes to advance the offerings correctly and immediately. Rav Kook, the first chief rabbi of Israel, was a student at that kollel. Rabbi Yechiel Michel HaLevy Epstein penned a scholarly book called the Aruch Hashulchan Ha-atid—A Code of Law for the Future—so that all the mitzvot are clearly listed and we can hit the ground running when the Temple is rebuilt in Jerusalem. It is telling that one of the innovations made by the Reform movement was to remove any mention of the return to Jerusalem and the offering of sacrifices, while there were rabbinical seminaries studying how to perform those sacrifices when the opportunity arises. Today in Jerusalem, the entire network of Brisk yeshivot study the tractates of Talmud relating to sacrifices, called Kodshim.
There are two ways to understand what it means to sacrifice. The simple understanding is that sacrificing means giving up. I sacrifice my time, money and effort in order to accomplish a certain goal. So, too, I sacrifice my animal, flour or wine in honor of God. Yet there is a different and perhaps deeper understanding of sacrifice. To sacrifice toward any goal means to grow closer to it—and in many cases to join together with whom we are sacrificing for. For example: when a mother sacrifices her sleep to nurse her baby in the middle of the night, she is not only nourishing her baby, she is literally giving of herself to her child and lovingly providing from herself to her child and thereby joining together as one. So too, when we sacrifice unto Hashem, we join together with Him. We are taught that Hashem imbues a divine spark, a neshama, in every person. Hashem sacrifices some of Himself (so to speak) to become a part of us. So too, when we sacrifice our time, money, efforts and talents unto God we join together with Him.
As the great Yom Tov of Pesach is approaching, Jews around the world will be devoting and sacrificing their time and resources to prepare for the holiday. By doing so we will not only fulfill the great mitzvot and traditions of the day, we will also submit to and join together with Hashem.
By Rabbi Ephraim Epstein
Rabbi Ephraim Epstein, who grew up in Northern New Jersey, has been the rabbi at Congregation Sons of Israel in Cherry Hill since 2000.
