Please include Israel's captive soldiers in your tefillot: Zecharia Shlomo ben Miriam Baumel, Tzvi ben Penina Feldman, Yekutiel Yehuda Nachman ben Sarah Katz, Ron ben Batya Arad, Guy ben Rina Chever, Gilad ben Aviva Shalit.

 

Motzaei Shabbat – March 13, 2010

 

            One of the categories of voluntary sacrifices discussed in Parashat Vayikra is the shelamim offering.  The fats of the animal brought as a shelamim were burned on the altar, while the meat was eaten mostly by the ba’alim (person bringing the sacrifice, and his family and guests); a small portion of the meat was shared with the kohen who tended to the sacrifice.

 

In describing the offering of the fats of the shelamim upon the altar, the Torah writes, “Aharon’s sons shall offer it on the ola which is upon the wood which is upon the fire” (3:5).  Rather than simply requiring the kohen to place the animal fats on the fire which burned on the altar, the Torah instructs that the fats must be placed “on the ola.”  The term “ola” refers to the burnt-offering, the voluntary sacrifice which was entirely burnt upon the altar, as discussed in the first chapter of Sefer Vayikra.  What does the Torah mean when it requires burning the fats of the shelamim “on the ola”?

 

            Rashi explains this verse to mean that no sacrifice may be offered upon the altar before the daily ola, that is, the tamid offering that was brought each morning.  By requiring that the fats be placed “on the ola,” referring to the daily tamid sacrifice, the Torah teaches that the tamid must have been already offered on the altar before any sacrifice is offered.

 

            Rav Shimshon Raphael Hirsch, in his commentary, notes the broader implications of this concept, particularly as reflected by the context in which it is introduced.  As mentioned, the Torah speaks here of the shelamim sacrifice, which is, generally, an individual offering.  (National shelamim sacrifices – shalmei tzibur – were brought very rarely.)  A person brought a shelamim sacrifice as a celebration to mark a festive occasion.  The requirement to ensure that all the meat was eaten within two days necessitated the inclusion of family members.  The shelamim was thus a personal, family event, in direct contrast to the tamid sacrifice, the daily offering which was purchased with public funds and thus represented the entire nation.  Moreover, as opposed to the shelamim, which, as mentioned, was eaten in the form of a feast, the tamid was entirely burnt upon the altar.  The shelamim thus represents the festive, joyous aspect of religious observance, whereas the ola signifies humble, somber devotion and submission to the Almighty.  The tamid, the ola offering brought each day by the entire nation, expresses Benei Yisrael’s national, collective sense of duty and submission to the Almighty.

 

            Rav Hirsch explained that by commanding that the fats of the shelamim be placed upon the tamid, the Torah alludes to the inextricable bond between our national sense of devotion to God and the joys of personal, family life.  He writes, “…this could be to express the great Truth, that it is just in the pure happiness of the families and individuals that the national devotion to the Torah finds its fruits…”  The Torah seeks to demonstrate that there is no contradiction between the ola and the shelamim, between humble submission to God’s authority, as reflected by the ola, and the festive, joyous aura that characterized the shelamim feast.  Our national sense of religious duty and devotion to God is to lead to the shelamim, to the exhilarating sounds of families joyously celebrating together around a sacrifice.  Both are integral components of the sacrificial rite in the Mikdash, and both are integral components in the religious life envisioned and mandated by the Torah.

 

 

David Silverberg

 

 

THE COMPLETE SALT ARCHIVES CAN BE FOUND AT:

www.vbm-torah.org/salt-archives.html

 

Comments are welcome.

(c) 2010 Israel Koschitzky Virtual Beit Midrash, Yeshivat Har Etzion.

 

 

 


Sunday

Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

Friday

Motza'ei Shabbat

 

Come study in the VIRTUAL BEIT MIDRASH - Torah by email

 


What's New?

VBM Courses

Archives

Web Links

Subscribe

Contact Us

Yeshivat Har Etzion