Tzav #3- Avoiding Embarrassment
"במקום אשר תשחט העלה תשחט החטאת"
“In the place where the burnt-offering is slaughtered shall the sin-offering be slaughtered.” (6:18
In this weeks parsha we are told how to give certain korbanot. It is commanded that the two korbanot are shechted at the same place. What is the significance of the requirement to shecht them in the same place? Chabad.org says the reason for this is because while one korban is brought for forgiveness from a sin and another is brought as a contribution to the beit hamikdash, the reason for the korbanot being shechted in the same location is to avoid embarassment from outsiders watching the shchitah. No one will know whether the shechita is being preformed for redemption or contribution.
What are other examples of avoiding embarrassment as seen in this weeks parsha?
The torah says that the one bringing an offering is referred to as a "person." But the Torah refers to the one who brings a flour offering as a "soul."
ReplyDeleteThe Gemara says that this change in terminology shows that in Hashem's eyes, it is not the value of the korban that counts, but rather the intention behind it. Because the poor person may live from day-to-day not knowing where his next meal is coming from, it may well be that the flour offering of the poor was greater than the rich person's bull. We see from this that Hashem wants us to succeed in our own way, and not for a standard. He really cared about the individual person
It's possible that the burnt offering represents life and mitzvots and the sin offering represents עבודה זרע. I learnt this year in Gemara class that fire isn't good or bad. It has both qualities, meaning it can either be used for mass destruction or light but doesn't have a set way to think about it. The burnt offering is an offering we bring after burning it on the alter. We burn it with fire to symbolize that fire can be used either for good or bad but we used it for bad and therefore, we are burning this korban to symbolize we used the fire wrong and we apologize for it. Also we should have done your mitzvots and Torah because that's what gives us light. It's also possible that we give the sin offering at the same place as the burnt offering because it's directly related to the burning. We give the sin offering as an atonement for our sins, just like the burnt offering. They both represent sin and ask for forgiveness and because of this, they are given at the same place.
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