A Thought on Parshas Tzav

A Thought On Parshas Tzav ibn Shu'aib returns again to his views on the korbanos (introduced last week). He cautions us, in closing, that the actual reasons for the sacrifices remain hidden from us, despite our efforts to frame them in a manner which we can relate to. He illustrates this point by pointing to some of the obscuring features of those offerings: they are replete with conditions and details about which we have little comprehension. A burnt offering (olah) must be a male animal. An individual sin offering (chatas) must be a female. A sin offering is brought before a burnt offering. A peace offering (sh'lamim) can be either female or male. All of these animals are incinerated and each type's fragrant smoke rises identically to the higher domain. The olah must be slaughtered in the north. The sh'lamim is slaughtered in the south. ibn Shu'aib writes that "without a doubt to anyone with understanding, there is some meaning in all of this. Alas, until the arrival of the Moreh Tzedek - the one who will guide us correctly - when the world will be filled with knowledge, these matters remain closed and sealed." He suggests that the "take away" lesson from this is that, more important than our understanding a mitzvah, is that we actually perform the act of doing the mitzvos. Even without a comprehension of the secrets of the sacrifices, we were commanded to bring them. We cannot bring them now, but we can offer up our words and our deeds as a means of serving HaShem. HaShem expects us to serve Him with sincerity, and our actions, when done with the motive of serving Him, whether or not we comprehend the reasons behind a given mitzvah, create a plume of sweet favor with which our avoda transcends this world. ibn Shu'aib closes with a verse in Shir HaShirim (4:16) - "...oori tzafon u'bo'ee teiman...yizlu b'samav, yavo Dodi l'gano v'yochal peri migadav.." "... awake from the north, come from the south, let the fragrance flow, and let my Beloved come to His Garden to eat His precious fruit..." Citing midrashim, ibn Shu'aib explains that this mystical verse refers to our cryptic sacrificial rites. "awake from the north" means bring the olah which is prepared in the north wing of the Temple. "come from the south" means bring the sh'lamim, prepared in the south wing of the Temple. "let the fragrance flow" means the ascent of the incense smoke. "let my Beloved come" refers to the Presence of Shechina. "to eat His precious fruit" means He will accept all of our offerings to Him. Good Shabbos. Purim Sameach. D Fox