by Rabbi Ephraim Sprecher
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Sefer
Vayikra is taken up with sacrificial laws and rituals. For many people,
it is easier to relate to narrative portions of the Torah or Mitzvot
that apply in our day than to those dealing with Mishkan sacrifices. The
last sacrifices were offered in 68 C.E., before the Second Temple was
destroyed. Many people would find it hard to conceive how the
sacrificial system could actually be restored in the Messianic Era.
Yet
the Rambam tells us in Hilchot Melachim 11 that Moshiach will build the
Third Temple and reestablish the entire Sacrificial System. The
question is, what is the purpose of the sacrifices? According to
Kabbalah, the Temple Altar is a metaphor for our body and our table at
which we eat, containing lessons about how we should go about satisfying
our vital, natural function.
The
"daily diet" of animal, wheat, oil and wine offerings on the Temple
Altar corresponds to our daily diet of animal and grain products, fruits
and vegetables that go on our table and into our mouth. The reason why
some feel uncomfortable about the sacrificial ritual is because it
presents our existential situation so boldly in the form of animal
blood, fat and other offerings on the Altar.
It
is a fundamental law of creation that higher life forms consume lower
forms of life in order to exist. When a lower life form is eaten and
ingested by a higher life form, the lower life form is "elevated" by its
turning into the body and nourishing the activities of the higher life
form. As humans, our blood and fat are made up of material, derived from
other lower levels of existence, mineral, vegetable and animal. Our
physical life functions come to nourish and serve a higher life form –
the soul.
Kabbalah
explains that the Temple Altar and the Korbanot guide us to elevate our
own blood, fat and energy to fuel the fire of G-d's Service on the
Altar of our own bodies. The Altar fire is a metaphor for the human soul
as the verse in Mishlei says, "The candle of G‑d is the soul of a human
being." Our bodies "burn up" the various nutrients we take in, just as
the Altar burns the sacrifices.
Our
body requires tending in order to serve as an "Altar" for G-d's Service
just as the Temple Altar had to be tended. The opening Mitzvah of the
day in the Temple – removal of the ashes of the consumed sacrifices may
be compared to what is the first physical functioning of a person's day,
the elimination of wastes to cleanse the body for G-d's service.
Keeping the Altar fire stoked was the daily task of the Kohanim.
So
too each one of us has the task of keeping the "Altar" of the body
properly maintained with the right nutrients in the right quantities. As
Kohanim of our own bodies, our aim must be to keep the soul fire
burning brightly every day.
The
fact that the Kohen must eat from a sin or guilt offering and thereby
accomplish atonement for the sinner is a wonder. Having the correct
intention is a recurrent theme in all Sacrifices. The Kohen has to have
the correct intention at every stage in the sacrificial ritual.
The
Sacrificial System teaches us to eat with the intention of maintaining
our body, our personal "Altar of G-d" with nutrients that we can elevate
to His service. In this way we will be able to utilize our energy to do
more Mitzvot. The blessings we make before and after eating serve as a
focus that all eating can be a Service of G‑d.
May we be worthy of bringing the Thanksgiving offering in the rebuilt Third Temple very soon in our day.
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