Parshas Vayikra - The Powers of a Jew in the Avodah of Korbanos - Rabbi Asher Perkash

00:02 The Book of Vayikra, the parsha of the offerings. The book begins with a parsha that speaks about Jews, about the strengths of Jews, about how great they are, and about how precious a Jewish soul is. This week brings 2 Nissan, the yahrzeit of the Rebbe Rashab, whose soul is in Gan Eden. I was told a story about something that happened with the Rebbe Rashab. I want to speak about it in connection with the weekly parsha, drawing also on his teachings about “And He called to Moshe,” and on a wonderful explanation he gave of the Rebbe’s teaching. Let us farbreng in honor of 2 Nissan. The story concerns a chossid who was among the first Temimim in America. His name was Reb Shlomo Zalman Hecht. The Hecht family included several brothers who were among the first Temimim when the Frierdiker Rebbe arrived in America in 5710. The oldest was Reb Shlomo Zalman Hecht, who later became a rabbi in Chicago. He was a Torah scholar, a very energetic man, and a person of great accomplishment. In those early years, around 5710, Reb Shlomo Zalman Hecht was busy with various missions the Frierdiker Rebbe had sent him on, [unclear]

02:05 cheders, a yeshiva, and other educational endeavors. During that period, he went in for yechidus, and the Frierdiker Rebbe told him about an incident that had taken place. He said that during the difficult years in Russia, in the Rebbe Rashab’s time, the government wanted to impose a number of decrees affecting Jewish life, education, and the rabbinate. The Rebbe Rashab traveled especially to Moscow and Petersburg and met with government ministers and royal officials to fight the decrees and stand firm on matters of Judaism. He related that a meeting was held in Petersburg. Seventy people attended: various scholars, ministers, men of science, and several rabbis. The Rebbe Rashab came to that meeting, and the rabbis were treated rather dismissively; that is, they were given no importance. Among those who came was a lawyer representing the government. He was an influential man whose opinion carried weight. He was Jewish, but sadly very far from Judaism. He came with proposals and wanted to suggest all sorts of things that were directly opposed to Judaism. He wanted to abolish the laws of

04:17 gittin, the laws of divorce; he wanted to abolish marriage according to the Torah; and he wanted, G-d forbid, to bring about [unclear] for intermarriage. He began presenting his views and his approach. The Rebbe Rashab stood up and said sharply: How can a brazen Jew speak—how can a man with such great influence speak this way? The Rebbe Rashab spoke with such force, with words that came from the heart, after all that man had said. Suddenly, that Jew, that expert, burst into tears. This went on for some time, and as he spoke, he admitted that in certain matters, G-d forbid, he had transgressed on Yom Kippur, had eaten non-kosher food, and went on confessing his sins. Afterward, he went to speak privately with the Rebbe Rashab, and as a result of everything that had happened, he became a baal teshuvah. A few months later, or some time later, he met one of the chassidim, Reb Mendel Chen, who was involved in arranging the rabbinical meetings. He was among those who assisted the Rebbe Rashab, one of the Temimim, a brilliant Jew and Torah scholar. He was involved in all these matters, and the two met some time afterward. Reb Mendel Chen asked that Jew: What

06:06 happened here? What took place? You were completely on the other side. You came with entirely different thoughts, different ideas. How did this happen? He said that the Rebbe—the Rebbe Rashab—with his truth, with the truth in him, reached deep inside him, broke his heart, broke his heart of stone. He felt that it was truth speaking, and that changed him completely. The Frierdiker Rebbe told this story to Reb Shlomo Zalman Havlin in yechidus and said to him: “One must know that the Rebbe is now in Egypt, [unclear] in life the Rebbe is together with them, and one must be devoted. When a chossid is devoted, the Rebbe goes with him, and the Rebbe will bring about all these things.” This was [unclear] that the Frierdiker Rebbe gave that chossid: the strength to go on his mission and to know that “the heart of a Jew is awake,” that one can reach it with strength, and that when one goes with the Rebbe’s strength, one can change a Jew and touch his heart. The weekly parsha contains the section on offerings, dealing with bringing offerings. A Jew asks: What is the idea of offerings? A large part of the offerings specifically concerns sin offerings and the like, guilt offerings,

07:52 matters that are undesirable. In general, the Alter Rebbe’s teaching on the verse “When a person among you brings an offering to Hashem, from the animals, from the cattle and from the sheep” is well known. The Alter Rebbe asks a familiar question, which the commentators also ask: If the plain meaning of “When a person brings an offering from among you” is that one of you brings an offering, it should have said, “When a person from among you brings an offering.” In other words, according to the plain meaning, the order of the verse should have been “When a person from among you brings an offering”—a person brings an offering to Hakadosh Boruch Hu. But the wording is “When a person brings from among you.” When a Jew wants to draw close, “When a person brings”—[unclear]. That is why it says “from among you”: the offering to Hashem comes from you, from yourselves. One must take an offering to Hashem from one’s own body and one’s own animal soul. “From the animals, from the cattle and from the sheep, you shall bring your offering.” That is, one must offer one’s own animal, one’s animal soul, to Hakadosh Boruch Hu. But when we look at the parsha, what is this avodah in practical terms? It is the avodah of offering up the animal soul. What is the animal soul? The animal within a person. And “cattle and sheep” are, as it were, types of animal soul. Each person has an animal soul of their own. There is an aspect of cattle, a large animal, in the animal soul, and an aspect of sheep, a smaller animal, in the animal soul. These are two types. Everyone has them in their animal soul, and this must

09:53 be the avodah. That is what the laws of the sin offering, the burnt offering, the peace offering, and the guilt offering discuss—the different offerings of the animal soul, in all their many details. Broadly speaking, an offering contains fat and blood. What does fat represent? Pleasures. And blood? Warmth, emotional excitement, the blood boiling. The fat is the richness, the pleasure. These are two aspects of the animal soul: the capacity to be stirred by animal concerns, and pleasure in animal concerns. These must be offered on the altar and brought to Hakadosh Boruch Hu. And here a question arises. The Rebbe Rashab discusses this in detail in several places, in Hemshech 5666, one of his well-known series of maamarim, on “When a person brings.” There is something similar in Hemshech 5672, the Rebbe Rashab’s great and well-known series, [unclear]. And here, seemingly, is the question: Precisely in the parsha that speaks about the animal soul, and about sin offerings, guilt offerings, and other undesirable matters, a person is called “adam.” Yet “adam” is the loftiest name. As is known, there are four names used for a person: adam, ish, gever, and enosh. These are four types, four levels; each name indicates a level. Adam is the highest. The level of adam, the qualities of adam. As explained in Chassidus, adam signifies the quality of intellect, of the mind; adam is related to “adameh le’Elyon”—“I will resemble the One Above.” This expresses the name

12:01 of holiness. The name adam alludes to “adameh le’Elyon.” In other words, adam points to the G-dly soul, which “resembles the One Above.” There is another connection: the numerical value of adam is 45, the same as mah, and mah signifies bittul, self-nullification. Moshe Rabbeinu said, “And what are we?” What are we? This is the idea of bittul. The power of mah, meaning the power of bittul within the soul. And the numerical value of adam is mah. Then there is ish, which indicates the emotions, as in “each man according to his might.” Then there is gever, associated with strength: one must overcome these things, prevail in one’s service of Hashem. And then there is enosh, related to the word “anush,” meaning weakness: “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately weak.” This points to weakness. Yet here in the parsha of the offerings, we speak about the animal soul, about animals, cattle and sheep, to the point that one may even stumble into matters requiring a sin offering or a guilt offering. So why is the name used here specifically adam, the name of the highest level? Why is the name adam needed specifically in the parsha of the offerings? The explanation is that, on the contrary, it is in these matters that the true rectification of a Jew’s soul must be revealed. The Torah comes and says, “When a person among you brings an offering to Hashem.” To be able to bring an offering to Hashem, to take the animal soul—the animal, the cattle and the sheep, animality of every kind—even to the point of stumbling into matters requiring a sin offering or a guilt offering,

13:47 This is the special quality of a Jew: Whatever circumstances he finds himself in, he has the quality of adam, of a human being; he has a soul. And the soul is “truly a part of G-d above,” and through it he has the power of mah, the soul’s self-nullification. The quality of adam is connected with greatness: He has the power to offer up and refine his body and animal soul, and bring them close to G-dliness. In a maamar, the Rebbe Rashab cites the Zohar on “When a person among you brings an offering,” which says that this is the meaning of “And you who cleave to Hashem your G-d are all alive today.” Jews, specifically, are called adam. “You are called adam, but the nations of the world are not called adam”; that is, Jews possess the special quality of adam. And what is that quality? “And you who cleave to Hashem your G-d are all alive today.” They cleave to G-dliness. And it is precisely through this power, the Zohar says—because Jews are “you who cleave to Hashem your G-d,” and are truly in the category of adam—that they have the power of “brings an offering from among you”: They can elevate the animal and make it an offering to Hashem. [unclear] And he cites the Midrash Rabbah along the same lines. On “When a person among you brings an offering,” he brings out the point that Jews possess this attachment: “For you are attached to Me.” And because you are attached to Me, you can bring offerings. This explains what the Rebbe Rashab cites. The explanation is the special quality of a human being, even compared with angels, as is well known and explained in Chassidus. For angels are

15:37 confined to a single level: in love and awe, in the service of Hashem, in singing His praises. But angels cannot rise to another level; they cannot do this work. We find that when they descended below, the opposite happened. The angels, the two fallen ones—when the angels, “the sons of G-d,” descended below, they became the fallen ones. This is what the Torah says at the end of Parshas Bereishis about the fallen ones, the giants, who were angels that descended from heaven. [unclear] But the soul’s special quality is that above, it is wholly immersed in service and holiness. That is how it is in the higher world. But when it comes into the physical world? The situation is just the opposite: The soul descends and becomes clothed in a body and an animal soul. There is a yetzer hara there and all these other things, and it is not at all easy. Nevertheless, the soul has this power. Not only does the soul not fall, G-d forbid, or become lost amid all this; it also has the power to elevate the body and animal soul, and transform the animal’s faculties into powers that can be offered up. [unclear]

17:22 The offerings in the literal sense come from living creatures, from animals, and from plants. There are the meal offerings, from the inanimate and plant kingdoms, as well as offerings from living creatures. [unclear] There were also libations. All these belong to the inanimate, plant, and animal kingdoms. A human being has the power to elevate the entire world and make it a dwelling place for G-dliness, for the Creator of the world. For this, a person must perform the inner service of the offerings. The offerings also allude to the body and animal soul. This requires specifically the power of adam. A person has a part of G-d above within him. The numerical value of adam is 45, mah; the numerical value of Hashem’s name when spelled out with alefs is also 45. Through his soul, which is “truly a part of G-d above,” he has the power of adam. He has the power to elevate and refine his body and animal soul, and to make his entire body and the entire world a dwelling place for G-dliness, for the Creator of the world. Of this it is said: “When a person among you brings an offering.” And this is the meaning of “And He called to Moshe, and Hashem spoke to him from the Tent of Meeting.” “And He called to Moshe, and Hashem spoke to him”—the verse begins, after all, with “And He called to Moshe.” The Torah does not say who called, only “And He called.” And this follows from what came before. “And He called to Moshe”—this is the subject of a maamar by the Alter Rebbe in Likkutei Torah. The Alter Rebbe explains “And He called to Moshe.” He says that it continues the preceding verses: “And Moshe could not enter the Tent of Meeting.” Moshe

19:13 “And Moshe could not enter the Tent of Meeting, because the cloud rested upon it and the glory of Hashem filled the Mishkan.” What does “the cloud rested upon it” mean? The Alter Rebbe explains that an exceedingly lofty revelation was present in the Mishkan. And the cloud alludes to an even higher level, above revelation. Even Moshe Rabbeinu could not enter the Mishkan because of the great revelation of the cloud, as it says at the end of Parshas Pekudei: “And Moshe could not enter the Tent of Meeting.” But “And He called to Moshe”—“called” is an expression of affection. Hakadosh Boruch Hu calls to Moshe Rabbeinu so that he can enter. Rashi says, “‘And He called’ is an expression of affection.” This was Hakadosh Boruch Hu’s affection for Moshe Rabbeinu: He called to him. And the Alter Rebbe explains that, on the contrary, even though we are here in the World of Asiyah, amid the darkness of the ordered chain of worlds, [unclear] Hakadosh Boruch Hu calls to a person and gives him the power to enter. [unclear] Why could Moshe Rabbeinu not enter the Mishkan? Because of the great revelation—“And Moshe could not.” Yet through “And He called,” he was able to enter.

21:08 And the Alter Rebbe says: That is true of Moshe Rabbeinu. But for an ordinary person, because of his body and animal soul, “he could not” in any case—he cannot enter the Mishkan; he cannot enter a revelation of G-dliness. Until “And He called” reaches him. When a person thinks to himself, “Who am I, and how can I enter the Mishkan, connect with G-dliness, with serving Hashem?” he is told: “And He called.” [unclear] Who is calling? Who is speaking? It comes from above, from Hakadosh Boruch Hu Himself, from His very Essence. That is where the call comes from: “And He called,” an expression of affection. It is the affection with which Hakadosh Boruch Hu loves every Jew. Because of this, He calls him to enter and gives him the power to perform the service of the offerings: to offer up something of himself, of his body and animal soul, and become a vessel for G-dliness. And this was the farbrengen the Rebbe held on Shabbos Parshas Vayikra, 3 Nissan. 2 Nissan was on Friday, and on Shabbos, 3 Nissan, the Rebbe held a farbrengen. Continuing the theme of 2 Nissan, the Rebbe delivered a maamar, “Vayikra El Moshe,” and emphasized this point. [unclear] The Rebbe spoke about how “And He called to Moshe” must happen for every Jew. One must know that at every moment—and the Zohar puts this very strongly, very sharply—one must know that at every moment there is an “And He called to Moshe”: Hakadosh Boruch Hu Himself, in His very glory, calls to every Jew. And through the power of Moshe—there is Moshe Rabbeinu, of course; that is the plain meaning, and there is the Moshe of every generation. In every generation there is a Moshe Rabbeinu of that generation.

23:14 And there is the leader of the generation, right down to our generation. In his maamarim and sichos, the leader of the generation conveys to us “And He called to Moshe,” the call that Hakadosh Boruch Hu Himself issues through the Moshe of the generation. He awakens a person to respond to “And He called to Moshe”—“called” being an expression of affection. A person should know that Hakadosh Boruch Hu is addressing him with a mission in the world: to make the world a dwelling place for Him, to engage in the service of the offerings, to offer up your powers, your senses, your body, your animal soul, and your portion of the world, and to make the world a Beis Hamikdash, a Mishkan, a dwelling place for Him. This service involves all these powers. And the Rebbe relates something interesting. He relates that when he was—I need to return to this point—in 5707, the Rebbe was already in America. But in 5707 the Rebbe’s mother, Rebbetzin Chana, left Russia and arrived in Paris. The Rebbe then traveled to Paris for several months to arrange the documents and everything else that needed to be arranged so that she could obtain a visa and come to America. The Rebbe spent several months in Paris. At that time, chassidim were also leaving Russia. There were chassidim there who had left Russia then. As is well known, after the Second World War, chassidim left Russia, and they gathered in Paris.

25:06 [unclear], and from there they later traveled to [unclear] around the world. But, the Rebbe says, I saw chassidim there praying, and you could see from them, from their very souls, that they were immersed in inner service. They studied Chassidus, thought about Chassidus, contemplated, and prayed with vitality, putting life into the words. You could see, he says, a warmth in their service of Hashem. Years later, when I meet them today, here in America, after almost thirty years have passed, you can see that everything has gone cold for them. And when I look at one of them today—I saw them back then in 5707, and today I look at them again—I see them praying coldly, cold as a duck. They do not say the words with feeling; there is no vitality in what they say, no enthusiasm. That is because over the years they became occupied with earning a living, with eating and drinking, with the concerns of America. And this is where “And He called to Moshe” comes in, the Rebbe says. When the call comes, one must remember and know that this call—the call of our Rebbeim, the call of the Moshe Rabbeinu of every generation, who asks and demands, and “He called to him” is an expression of affection—awakens an essential love, an essential affection. A person should know that he has...

26:39 ...all these strengths. We should know who we are and remember that we have these strengths—powerful strengths, the strengths of the soul; that a person, every Jew, is truly an adam, a human being. Even when he is surrounded and stained by matters of the soul, when he becomes preoccupied with all sorts of things, the parsha comes and says: “And He called to Moshe.” [unclear] Rather, it comes from His very Essence and Being, [unclear] and He turns to them with a request: “And He called to him”—an expression of affection—to the Moshe within each and every person. And what does He tell him? You are an adam; you have a soul. And regarding that soul it says: “When a person among you brings an offering to Hashem, from the animals, from the cattle and from the flock.” This includes the fat, all the flavor, all the pleasure, and all the animalistic things that we bring into matters of G-dliness, into Torah study, observing mitzvos, Ahavas Yisroel, Torah and purity—and all of it with warmth. That blood must be brought up onto the altar. And we do this ourselves. That is why it says “among you”: about this service, the service of Hakadosh Boruch Hu, it says, “When a person among you brings an offering.” “Among you”—from yourselves, to make an offering to Hashem. As he says in the maamar Basi Legani, the maamar of the Frierdiker Rebbe, the final Basi Legani maamar that he published, the meaning of “among you” is that “it depends on you and lies within you.” That...

28:08 ...a person needs to know that even if he is at a low point, things are difficult for him, and he feels that he has failed in all sorts of undesirable matters and is soiled, and so on, he must still know that “among you”—the Rebbe comes and says that “among you” means “it depends on you and lies within you.” You have all these strengths. With that “And He called to Moshe” from above, you can carry out the purpose here: to refine the body and the animal soul. And through the service of the offerings, may we soon merit, in our days, to “there we will perform before You according to the command of Your will” in its fullest sense. “According to the command of Your will” will be in the Third Beis Hamikdash, when the service of the offerings will take place there. And may we merit, on Pesach, [unclear], to “eat there of the sacrifices and the Pesach offerings,” with all that entails, with the coming of Moshiach Tzidkeinu. Amen, so may it be.