| (24th Parsha of the Torah )
By Avraham David (Earl, Libni (Cary) & Jack David) grandson of Strettyner Rebbe Numerical Interpretation of Torah with aid of Gematria. Questions/Comments 908-907-0953 . online at www.codeoftheheart.com ©2005 Dvar Torah 5765 Our Souls Desire to be with G-d
We are now starting the third book of the Torah of Moses, known in Hebrew as Vayikra or in the English vernacular, Leviticus. After finishing the building of the Mishkan in the Book of Exodus we now proceed to read and study the laws of sacrifices to G-d and the pursuit of holiness. The Torah says, אדם כי יקריב מכם קרבן לה' , “when a person among you will bring an offering to G-d”(Leviticus 1:2). The root term of offering is קרב, meaning to come near or approach. With the aid of the codes we see additional meanings. According to Rabbi Avigdor Miller, the Rambam states that the purpose of sacrifices was to wean the people away from idol worship which was prevalent in ancient Egypt. With the aid of the codes, we see an allusion to this explanation. If we reverse all of the letters of the term, קרבן, and rearrange the letters, it spells the term שד גט, shed get or divorce from images or demons. This teaches us that by simply removing ourselves in thought and action from worshipping images brings us closer to G-d. Although the Jewish people do not practice idol worship, for the common person of the world, even this may be a difficult task as there are approximately 1 billion Hindus or 1/6 of the population of the world that practices idol worship. To get near to G-d means to remove any of our intentions or actions for idol worship which is covered by the 1st to the 3rd commandments of the Ten Commandments. Another interpretation can be gleaned from the hidden letters of the term קרבן, korban. If we write out the first letter, we have קפ kaf, the second letter spells ריש , reish, the third letter spells בית, beis and the last letter spells ןן, nun. If we rearrange the hidden letters, it spells the term נפשת, meaning souls. This teaches us that it is our soul or spiritual entity that desires to be with G-d . According to Rabbi Avigdor Miller z’tl, “ the innermost desire of the soul is to join Hashem in eternal life; and because this longing is not fulfilled during a man’s lifetime, he can never gain total happiness… The Olah (burnt sacrifice) goes up heavenward to symbolize this longing to be united forever with Hashem.” Rabbi Miller quotes King Solomon in Koheles who states,והרוח תשוב אל האלקים “And the spirit returns to G-d that gave it” (Koheles 12:7). If we take the acronym of the encircled letters it spells the term תאוה, ta’aveh, meaning desire. Hence, we see that the words of Rabbi Avigdor Miller are confirmed. It is our soul , our spiritual entity that seeks to be with G-d. Is it only upon death that we can unite with the One Above? With the aid of the codes, the answer is no. If we take the acronym of the encircled letters of the above phrase , והרוח תשוב אל האלקים it spells the term בחלם, bachalom, meaning in a dream. This term can be found at Genesis 20:6 and at Genesis 31:24. This teaches us that we can have visions with the Lord even in our dreams. In fact, the Torah mentions that prophecy comes to people in dreams (See Numbers 12:6-8). When we have such a relationship with the Lord, we can bring down G-d’s presence to earth. Perhaps this is what sacrifices did. It brought us close to G-d. According to the Torah, there are four kinds of sacrifices including animals (cattle and flocks) birds, flour and wine. What puzzled me is how come there are no sacrifices of fish? The Torah mentions about fish in Vayikra but only in the section of permitted and forbidden foods. In my opinion, we have go back to Genesis where G-d describes the corruption of man before the flood. According to Rashi, the corruption even affected the animals. As a result, the flood killed mankind and the animal kingdom but according to my reading, it did not affect the maritime world. Perhaps the atonement must come from species that were involved in the sin mentioned in Genesis. In another interpretation , the sacrifice of fish is impractical as a fish starts to smell bad if it is in the open and the sacrifices were something that is pleasing to G-d. There were no freezers or pools in the desert of Sinai. Additionally, there were no open lakes in the desert of Sinai to net fish. Moreover, part of the sacrifice is to place the hands with all one’s might on the head of the animal (Leviticus 1:4). Imagine placing your hand on the head of a fish. Your mind will not focus on what your supposed to think in that the animal is being sacrificed instead of you. Instead, you will be thinking about how to clean your oily hands. Contrarily, if it’s animal from your herd, it must be a very emotional experience to be with your animal that you’ve grown accustomed to as you have fed it and watched it grow and now it is being sacrificed to G-d. The sacrifice procedure would definitely impact the thought processes in directing ourselves to the will of the Lord. May our thoughts always be heaven ward . A refuah shlaima to my father Yaakov Zev Ben Malka Blima, who is recovering from stroke at Vanderbilt Nursing Home, SI, NY GGGood Shabbos שבת שלום & Happy Purim | |
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