Parshat Vayikra: The Significance of Sacrifices

Dov Linzer

Parshat Vayikra opens with God speaking to Moses from the newly erected Sanctuary. In this communication, the Torah outlines the various sacrifices that the Jewish people can and, in some cases, must bring in the Sanctuary. These sacrifices are: the ‘olah, or freewill burnt offering; the mincha, or freewill grain offering; the shlamim, or freewill peace offering; and the chatat, or obligatory sin offering.

We, as modern readers, struggle with understanding the significance of sacrifices. From an aesthetic point of view they seem like anything but a religious experience: an animal is slaughtered; its blood, spurting out, is caught in a basin and then sprinkled on the alter; and finally its innards and sometimes the flesh itself is burnt on the alter. What could be the purpose of this, and why was it such a central ritual?

I believe that the best explanation for this is offered by Rabbi David Tzvi Hoffman in his Commentary to Leviticus. The first point we must recognize is that sacrifices, as almost every other ritual in Judaism, serve a symbolic purpose. Unlike pagan cults that believe that sacrifices give power to their gods, the Torah is very clear that the purpose of sacrifices is for our sake and to allow us to achieve a relationship with G-d. Seen as a symbol, we can begin to appreciate what it symbolizes. First and foremost, a sacrifice is a gift - it is an object of value given to God, by being placed on His altar. It is either from the grain or from the flock, because these were the basic forms of wealth in ancient times. A sacrifice such as this is motivated, ideally, by a recognition that our wealth is not our own. Rather, it comes from God, and in recognizing this, we give back to God some of what is really His. This message is a vital one for us today. Many of us give tzedakkah, charity, but give it with the mentality that we are giving something that is ours to God, and that we deserve credit for our generosity. This type of giving, while better than no giving at all, misses the point of true giving, of the gift-sacrifice. “Riches and honor are Yours to dispense . . .. For all is from You, and it is Your gift that we have given back to You,” (Chronicles. I, 29:12-14) says King David.

However, the meaning of sacrifice does not end there. Blood and living animals are very central to the sacrificial service and seem to point to another symbolism: life. Not only is our prosperity from G-d, but our very life comes from and depends on God. When one appreciates this, how can he express his thanks and recognition? Every morning we say: “I give thanks to Thee, Everlasting King, that You returned my soul to me with compassion.” But do we really feel what we are saying? Do we lead our lives as we would knowing, feeling, that they are a gift from God and must be used accordingly? How can we make this knowledge part of our awareness? This is the second, and primary, purpose of sacrifices. By offering up a live animal we express that a life - our life - belongs to God. That we want to be giving our life back to God but, failing that, are at least offering a substitute. This surrogate life is placed on God’s altar, its blood is sprinkled on the altar wall, and its smoke rises up to the heavens, symbolically to God. We leave this experience feeling that it is our lives that we want to give back to God, we want to rise up and make that connection, attain that intimacy. These powerful symbols remain with us, and when we leave the Sanctuary and go back to our lives, we will hopefully lead them with an awareness that not only our wealth, but our very selves, come from God, and that we must strive to dedicate it back to Him in every step of our life.