Leviticus, 1:1-5:26

Portion Summary

The portion, VaYikra (The Lord Called), deals with rules of sacrifice and the priests serving in the tabernacle. Some offerings are optional; some are mandatory. Some of the offerings are burnt to ashes on the altar, and some remain for the priests and the giver of the offering.

The rules of offerings speak of a “burnt offering” that one brings voluntarily from the cattle, flock, and poultry. There is also a “gift offering,” which one brings voluntarily from the flora. Also, there is the “peace offering,” which is an offering that one brings from the cattle, sheep, and goats. The “sin offering” is an offering brought by one who sinned by mistake. That person makes an offering to atone for the sin.

Commentary

The portion, VaYikra (The Lord Called), teaches us about the work of the offerings, which are also the main topic in the Talmud. We learn all the works from the works of the Temple.

When people draw near to the purpose of Creation and Dvekut (adhesion) with the Creator—the human level, a life in a totally blissful world—and experience all the worlds and the sensation of Nature as complete and eternal, as it was prepared for us, that nearing is called Korban (offering/sacrifice), from the word Karov (near). We are approaching it step by step by correcting our nature.

There are 613 desires in us that we must correct one at a time, each desire with all of its parts. Our desires divide into four levels: still, vegetative, animate, and speaking. The work of the offerings teaches us how to sacrifice and correct them so they are in bestowal and love. The rule in our work is to correct our nature and achieve the state, “Love your neighbor as yourself; it is a great rule in the Torah.”¹ Thus, we become similar to the Creator and achieve Dvekut with Him.

The correction of the egoistic desire from receiving for myself into bestowal upon others is called an “offering.” The offering may come from several sources. It may be from the still, as it is written, “On all your offerings you shall offer salt” (Leviticus, 2:13), or water or oil. It can also be from the vegetative or processed plants, such as the showbread. From the animate, only a certain kind is offered. The priests’ and the Levites’ daily work in the Temple is to sacrifice the flock and the cattle.

There are offerings that one must make on a daily basis, similar to our progress from day to day according to the plan of Creation, at a predetermined pace. When we do not follow suit, the negative forces push us from behind.

The offerings we cannot make—namely the desires we cannot correct into aiming to bestow upon others—become negative forces that manifest as problems. These push us from behind through suffering, and accumulate until they break out as crises, similar to the comprehensive crisis we are currently experiencing.

A crisis is not a negative state. It is the result of neglect. It occurs because we are so engrossed in materialism instead of rising above it, and because we are so obstinate and refuse to listen to the guidance of Kabbalists.

In fact, the crisis is a point of new birth. It points to our inability to live according to the old paradigm. Our perspective on life and our attitude toward values in our lives breaks and falls apart, as it manifests in education, family relations, and so forth.

The order of the work of the offerings is very important because it explains how we advance in life. If we follow this order, our lives will flow in order, too.

If each moment we correct more and more pieces of our egoism into altruism and love of others, into connection with humanity, with Nature, we will draw nearer to the Creator—the only force that exists in reality. In this way, we are in balance with it, and there is no better state for us than that. After all, in that state we do not need anything and reside in a world of utter bliss.

VaYikra details the order of correction of all 613 broken, egoistic desires into connection with others, and through it, our connection with the Creator. It is written, “From the Love of man to the love of God.”² However, before we connect with others, we must be properly built within, and must prepare ourselves for the connection internally, as well as externally.

Assume that a person must be “married,” meaning have a deficiency. A woman is a deficiency next to the man, a deficiency adapted to the ability to correct it. The feminine part of a person is like a deficiency, the left side, while the masculine part is the right side, which complements the woman. In a state of collaborative work, a person is considered “married.”

The man—who is higher than the woman and wants to advance and correct the deficiency—makes an offering. The offering is also for the feminine part of the person. The same applies to the rest of the people.

The work of the offerings is the work in the Temple, the common Kli of the world where we express our attitude toward the Creator. There are many details in this work: how to slaughter, burn, and discern all the parts in the offerings.

There is a part of us that enjoys, and a part that is as “smoke.” The word “smoke” is an acronym for Olam, Shana, Nefesh (ASHAN [smoke]) by which we transcend the limitations of our world, thus advancing toward the purpose of Creation.

When we begin to connect and approach the Creator through our offerings, we become more suitable to the Creator. Each time, one of the 613 desires becomes more suitable to the Creator. This way, we begin to feel that the system within is becoming more similar to that of the Creator. Then, we begin to understand Him since we contain a partial sample of Him that gradually expands. The more our desires close in on a similar structure to Godliness, the more the Creator “clothes” the person. Thus, we become more similar to the Creator.

Through our internal system, where there is already a part of the Creator, we begin to understand and know Him. We can picture and imagine that system, thoughts, desires, and the approach of the Creator toward us. Thus, we can increasingly understand our own attitude toward the Creator. The model that we build within allows us to be in mutual connection with the Creator, and this is how we become man (Adam).

From the beginning of Creation through its end, we undergo a process by which we must correct ourselves and rise from our world to the world of Ein Sof (infinity). We must do it internally, in our inner structure, so that each time we become increasingly similar to the upper force. This is the work that this portion deals with.

The Creator is inviting us to this work, hoping that humanity will respond. The whole work is of the part of us called “Israel,” and of which it was written, “And you will be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation” (Exodus, 19:6). The priests are those who manage the work at the Temple, bringing the rest of the nation to this work so that all may be able to correct themselves.

All of Israel is regarded as priests, in relation to the rest of the world. VaYikra (The Lord Called) is first and foremost a call to Israel because Israel is obliged to teach the rest of humanity how to approach the Creator. It was written about it, “They shall all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them” (Jeremiah, 31:33), and “for My house shall be called ‘a house of prayer’ to all the nations” (Isaiah, 56:7), once it is built.

This is why VaYikra is a call to the entire nation of Israel to correct itself as quickly as possible, thus also correcting the global crisis, the world’s problems, and abolishing anti-Semitism. Then, everyone will truly be as one nation.

Questions and Answers

We sacrifice to the Creator, but sacrifice actually means nearing between people. What is the connection between bringing people closer and sacrificing to the Creator?

There is an act and there is the intention. To perform a correction, we must draw closer to others. We cannot draw closer to others unless we have the intention to draw closer, and unless the common force of bestowal that exists in the world, namely the Creator, appears among us. With mutual nearing we can build an opportunity, a place, a space of mutual desire where the mutual force of bestowal appears, meaning the force of love, which does not exist in our world. That force does not exist in our qualities unless we exert to make it, to make room for it. The place where the force of bestowal appears is called “dweller” or “the revelation of Divinity.” It requires three conditions in order to exist: you, me, and the Creator.

What is the order between them? It seems reasonable to say, “Give me this type of temple and I will sacrifice my cow there.”

It is all within us. The cow, too.

It follows that we must approach the Creator so He can give us the strength to love others. Therefore, does one not reach the Creator through others, but from the Creator to others? Because the problems are between us and not with the Creator?

True, there is no other way. We begin with hating each other; we have no desire whatsoever to draw near to others. Only through troubles and problems, when we ask how and why, what is the meaning of life, what is happening in the world, do we understand that we must correct our nature and start looking for a solution. Our correction is from reception to bestowal, from hate to love, from understanding that the hatred is destroying the world and our lives.

Today the whole world is dealing with correcting human nature because it ruins everything, including this planet. Many scientists are warning us about these problems, which are already causing our collapse.

The problem is that we cannot restrain human nature. We are marching as sheep to the slaughter, unable to stop ourselves. Baal HaSulam wrote that the angel of death comes with a drop of poison on the tip of his sword, and you open your mouth to it because there is a last bit of pleasure in it, and then you die. You cannot see past yourself, and even if you do, you simply must have this drop.³ Just so, we are advancing blindly, following our nature into wars and troubles, ruining everything along the way because it is all done without higher guidance.

We need the upper force. This need arises from the sensation of troubles and problems that are already appearing in the world, but it should come with an explanation. There must be a system that provides information that we, the children of Israel, must pass on to the rest of the world. This is the meaning of “being a kingdom of priests.” The priests are those who teach the people, as it is written, “And you will be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation” (Exodus, 19:6).

We must make the reason for the crisis known, as well as the means for correcting human nature, in order to bring the whole of humanity to balance with Nature, or we will not survive.

Although the conditions for it have all been prepared, we have to do our share of this work. This is why we are witnessing an increase in global anti-Semitism, which will only increase unless we make the method of correction and its use known in due time and promote its implementation the world over.

It is therefore clear that we ourselves must be connected to the Creator, study, and demand the revelation of the Creator in order to allow ourselves to advance. All we need is the sense of lack and our drive toward it, since the moment we need His strength, we will ask and receive it.

What does it mean that we sacrifice a cow, a sheep, or a goat?

The Book of Zohar explains that these are not cows, sheep, or any other kosher animal. Rather, it is a person who needs to correct, to discern the animal part within, the speaking part, which is the priest, Levite, and Israel. A person offers and sacrifices part of the animate, which is all the animate within us. Actually, sacrifice concerns the desires within us, which are divided into still, vegetative, animate, and human.

Why is it so difficult to offer the sacrifice?

We cannot perform correction without first knowing what to do, without internally distinguishing good from bad. Currently, we do not know what to correct. You might say, “Yes, sometimes I lie,” but how can you tell that this is what you must correct? Anyone can say that, at least to oneself. However, even then it is not a sincere confession. So how will you know what is stopping you from approaching the goal? For this, we need the revelation of the Creator, the light that reforms, to illuminate the desires we can sacrifice.

From The Zohar: One Who Did Not Marry a Woman Is Flawed

“When any man of you brings an offering” means excluding one who did not marry a wife, since his offering is not an offering and there are no blessings in him, neither above nor below. This means that when it writes, “When any man of you brings an offering,” he is different, not a human and not included in man. Divinity is not over him because he is flawed and called “maimed,” and one who is maimed is removed from everything, all the more so from the altar, from offering sacrifices.

Zohar for All, VaYikrah (The Lord Called), item 63

Ask most people and they will tell you, “I’m fine with the Creator; I get along with Him.” How do they know? Do they feel this way? Is this how the Creator is depicted for them?

They feel so because the Creator is hidden from them, so they are sure they are OK with Him.

If the person is OK with the Creator, why is He hidden?

We do not ask ourselves this question. We say, “I pay my taxes, I’m friendly to my neighbors, I even put the garbage in the right bins. I’m just fine.”

How do you explain to people that there is a connection, that we must discover the quality of bestowal within us, that this is the Creator? How do you explain that VaYikra means that the Creator is calling us to approach something very different?

We determine our own situation on the scale, according to the upper force, which is benevolent, whole, in which there is no hate but only love. We measure how similar or different we are from the Unique One, from Whom everything was created and to Whom everything returns. First, we must see and feel how different or similar we are to Him. We must also engage in the wisdom of Kabbalah, or we will have no chance of approaching Him.

This is how everyone thinks, which is why it is impossible to turn to anyone in this manner. We need to measure ourselves compared to the Creator, and then it will be possible to see how obligated we are, and how the Creator has made us so. We could say, “Go to the craftsman who made me,”⁴ since He has made me this way, and only through bringing the upper light will anything be resolved.

Our qualities have been designed since childhood by our parents, education, the environment, the Creator, genes, grandparents, and previous generations. Then there are our own additions. Over that part, which we could avoid adding to ourselves, we have a choice and can say, “This I need to correct.” This is the initial scrutiny. It is a very special work, which is why we do not immediately arrive at the offerings.

During all the previous portions, we advance toward this work, discovering the Creator—the upper force—at the level we are on through the quality of Moses in us. We measure ourselves compared to his quality, and only then can we correct our qualities and know how many of them we should fix, and how. After all, we have many qualities that need no correction because they are corrected by themselves, as they are not ours.