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Audio & Outline Notes for Parashat Vayikrah

Parashat Vayikrah - VaYikrah (Leviticus) 1:1-5:26 -  Haftarah Reading: Yeshayahu (Isaiah) 43:21-44:2

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Outline Notes:

I. Introduction

A. The personal relevance of the Korbanot

B. Parashah Abbreviated Outline

1. G-d calls to Moses from the Tent of Meeting, and communicates to him the laws of the korbanot, the animal and meal offerings brought in the Sanctuary. These include:
2. The "ascending offering" (olah) that is wholly raised to G-d by the fire atop the Altar;
3. Five varieties of "meal offering" (minchah) prepared with fine flour, olive oil and frankincense;
4. The "peace offering" (shelamim), whose meat was eaten by the one bringing the offering, after parts are burned on the Altar and parts are given to the Kohanim (priests);
5. The different types of "sin offering" (chatat) brought to atone for transgressions committed erroneously by the High Priest, the entire community, the king, or the ordinary Jew;
6. The "guilt offering" (asham) brought by one who has appropriated property of the Sanctuary, who is in doubt as to whether he transgressed a divine prohibition, or who has committed a "betrayal against G-d" by swearing falsely to defraud a fellow man.

C. Review

1. Since the Torah is the word of G-d, who is infinite, it is itself infinite. Infinite in time, because it is eternally binding. Infinite in meaning, because every verse has innumerable layers of interpretation and significance. At the literal level (peshat) it contains laws and narratives; at the level of allusion (remez) it points obliquely to the deeper principles of Judaism; homiletically (drush) it outlines the religious ethic of the Jew; and esoterically (sod) it contains the clues to the mysteries of the experience of G-d
2. When G-d told Moses to erect a Sanctuary, He said: "And they shall make Me a Sanctuary, and I will dwell in them," meaning, in the soul of every Jew/believer. Thus, even though the physical Temple is destroyed, the inward Temple, which each Jew/believer makes within himself, survives, indestructible. And the service, which he conducts in the reaches of his soul, mirrors in every respect the service of the Temple and Sanctuary. So their laws, which appeared at first sight to have no contemporary application, are in fact precise instructions for the inner life of the Jew/believer.

D. Drawing near as a "living Korban (sacrifice)."

1. Symbolic meaning of Korban
2. Looking to Avraham Avinu as our example - as one who was willing to be a living Korban - Is 51:1-3

II. Drawing near as a "living Korban (sacrifice)

A. Symbolic meaning of Korban - VaYikrah 1ff

1. The word Korban literally means "drawing near " not sacrifice.
2. Literally Vayikrah can be read as "When you draw near to God with a sacrifice bring your self as a sacrifice and in addition bring an animal.
3. The animal represents the "animal soul " which constitutes all physical desires and all the instincts, which a man has in virtue of having a body and being part of the animal world.
4. Thus the aim of the Korban is the redirection and sanctification of the " animal " in man
5. Every facet of sacrifice in the physical sanctuary has its counterpart in the sanctuary of the soul
6. If HaShem required a sacrifice in the "outer" sanctuary how much more does he require an act of sacrifice in the inward sanctuary, which has become the "temple of the living God! - cp 1 Cor. 6:19

B. The sacrificial process of the Korban:  Rather, a more acceptable explanation of the sacrifices is that in the process of sinning a person utilizes thought, speech and action.  Therefore, God decreed that atonement for his sin should also be three fold: First he places his hands on the animal, an action of atonement.  Then, he confesses verbally.  And finally, the animal's innards - the source of physical desire - are burned, in corresponding to the person's thoughts and desires that led him to sin.  The animal's blood is also spilled out, suggesting to the person that, really, his own life should have been taken away because of the sin, but that God in His mercy has accepted the life of the animal as a substitute.

C. The  "living Korban" process is a series of actions that involves self- examination and transformation - cp Romans 12:1-3

1. The examination of the animal for defects - ayikrah 1:3; Psalm 51:7
2. The transformation of the animal into a sweet smelling/pleasing odor/aroma to the Lord - Vayikrah 1:13; 2 Cor 2:15; Eph 5:2            

D. Why did HaShem choose Avraham from all the people on the Planet? - Nehemiah 9: 7-8 cp Midrash Genesis Rabbah 39:4 on Gen 12:5

III. Conclusion

A. Pesach - Z'man Cheiruteinu (Season of our Freedom); when we gained our freedom from the Egyptian enslavement.

B. We can only be free from the things the enslave us by presenting ourselves as "living Korbanot."

C. Yeshua is the one who makes our Korban/sacrifice Complete!