"First Things First"

15 Adar Bet 5782 
Erev Shabbat Kodesh
Parashat Tzav

HAPPY SHUSHAN PURIM TO THOSE CELEBRATING!

Parashah Commentary by Shlomo Katz:

This week’s Parashah continues to discuss the laws of the Korbanot / sacrificial offerings. We read (7:37), “This is the Torah / law of the Olah / burnt-offering, the Mincha / meal-offering, the Chatat / sin-offering, and the Asham / guilt-offering . . .” R’ Yissachar Dov Rokeach z”l (1851-1926; Belzer Rebbe) asks: If a person were to bring an Olah and a Chatat together, the Chatat would be offered first! (An Olah is a voluntary offering–a gift to Hashem, so-to-speak. Before one can give a gift to the King, he must appease the King, which is the function of a Chatat.) Why, then, is the Olah listed first in our verse?

The Belzer Rebbe answers: The Zohar teaches that, if a person toils in Torah study at night, the Torah will reveal to him the areas in which he needs to improve. Otherwise, say our Sages, “A person cannot see his own blemishes.” [The original context of this expression is the Mishnah (Nega’im 2:5) teaching that a Kohen who has signs of Tzara’at must go to a different Kohen for “diagnosis.” Later Sages apply this expression to the difficulty a person has seeing his own faults.]

The Gemara (Menachot 110a) derives from our verse, “This is the Torah . . .” that, in the absence of the Bet Hamikdash, our studying about the Korbanot takes the place of offering them. Says the Belzer Rebbe: When a person sits down to learn the laws of the Korbanot, he will not choose to learn about the Chatat / sin offering, since he does not see his own blemishes. Rather, he will learn about the Olah, which is a voluntary “gift.” That is why the Olah is mentioned first in our verse. Once he toils in the Torah of the Olah, he will become aware of his obligation to bring a Chatat as well–as hinted to by the Zohar quoted above. Therefore, the Chatat is mentioned later. (Lekket Imrei Kodesh)

Continues here.

~ SHABBAT SHALOM ~