Understanding Korbanot by Rabbi Yossi Goldin

so I I have to apologize on my father's behalf that U that unfortunately um without getting into too too much of the details my parents unfortunately had to fly to America for a uh for a medical uh procedure uh it was a last minute thing they didn't know if it was be done here or going to be done there um more of a treatment thank God nothing serious but um but he will be away my parents are going to be away in the end for pesak and and and and and even a couple of weeks after so I will be taking over for I have the privilege of giving this year this week and next week and then for the first couple of weeks after after P um like I said nothing serious but just something that they weren't sure if they're going to do it here or there and in the end they decided to uh to do it in America so they flew last minute to America and uh they'll be there for till till towards the end uh towards the end of May so uh so I apologize that you won't get to to learn from my father but I will uh I will do my best to uh to provide something meaningful and I'm I'm excited to be able to learn with you once again okay um what I what I wanted to do today again um trying to think of we only have two weeks to learn together and and and and I and I prefer not to not to continue what my father was doing because we have very different styles and allow him to pick up safer braate when he comes back and not just you know mix and match so I wanted to do something a little bit different it's not specifically related to the paraa but it is definitely something that many of us are thinking about are thinking about during during uh during saer VRA and and I want wanted to kind of do actually like a two-part Series this week and next week I want this week to talk a little bit about corbon note uh understanding corbon note because all ofra is about corbano trying to understand the idea behind them potential reasons behind them and gaining a better understanding and then next week I'd like to after understanding corbon in general next week I'd like us to talk a little about the Corban PES um and understanding the difference between the Corban PES MIM and and the corote that we're going to learn about today so this week we're going to learn more in general about corbon note and next week it'll be connected but separate talking a little bit more about p and understanding um and obviously you know learning some lessons for us for for p so I want to actually open with a uh a fascinating story that that happened to my father my father as I mentioned has a lot of great stories from from the Rabin it so this one I I was not there but he he tells the story that when he was in Anglewood a few years after arriving as the rabbi in Englewood he received a phone call from the far from the Korean foreign Ministry um there was a group of Korean ministers who who were visiting visiting America uh visiting the US and they and they wanted to come to a synagogue and understand more about uh the the Orthodox synagogue and what things were like would it would it be okay if they would come and visit the synagogues my father didn't necessarily think it was uh a good idea to have them visit on a shabas chabas a shabas morning when when the show is full it might be a little bit interesting so he said sure you know what uh but why maybe you should come during the week I'll explain to you you know I'll give you a tour of the synagogue I'll explain to you how everything works what we do and and and how and how the services work and then if after that it's my te maybe you can come visit us on a on on a Saturday during service but first I want to give you an introduction and and and this group of of of of Korean ministers come and they visit and they're and he and he takes them around the sh and and and the sh angle is is a very large Sho and a beautiful building and he takes them around and shows them he opens up the Aron kodes he shows them the toras explains to them the service and then at the end he says okay um does anyone have have any questions and all of a sudden hand start shooting up yes Rabbi where do you do the animal sacrifices and over and over and over again they were insistent that like somewhere in the basement the sh was hiding a bunch of animals that they were going to sacrifice over the course of they just to them it was that was a part of the service was in the 1990s this was not like you know in the 1700s or whatever or much earlier and I sorry they were Christians I believe so yeah and and and and what I think that highlights U that story as cute as it is and as funny as it is it highlights a very very interesting I think Dynamic that we have when it comes to corbon on the one hand corbon are Central to to to to to our Judaism meaning all of saik and even more is dedicated to the service that went to place in the mishan and and and in the BET mikdash and there's no question that corbon are Central to to to to Judaism and to as we generally understand they will return on the other hand they're very foreign to us we don't necessarily understand how they work we don't really understand how sprinkling of the blood can accomplish or why we have to slaughter the animal this way or that way and there's so many minutia uh that are connected to to Corban and it's very very clear that cor had to be done in a certain way I've been learning Mish with my with my son we learned mvah now we've has passed but we still didn't finish all of this all of the six books of the Mish now we're learn we just we did and now we're doing and one of the things I've learned very quickly is there's a lot of details every single Corban has a tremendous amount of minutia that are involved and if you make one small mistake or one small change it totally changes the dynamic ker not keser sometimes it's kosher sometimes it's not depends on the corbon this had to be sprinkled over here this had to be sprinkled over there and and and there's so much to corbon on the one hand we understand I think for an intellectual perspective to be important and and and varar and one of the proofs is that many of The Outsiders still think apparently that we do it because you know it look how look how prominent it is in the Torah on the other hand we haven't done it for thousands of years and to many of our modern sensibilities it sounds to be again some would suggest it's cruel but I don't want go there but it it seems to be weird or it doesn't seem to be something that we in our modern sensibilities can fully connect to why this would be such a major part of our of our service to God so what I'd like to try to do today is to is to see a whole range of understandings a whole range of opinions trying to really just uncover exactly what corbon all about um I can't say we're going to you know answer all of our questions and understand everything we're not going to give a history or go through all the specific corbo but really take a general picture to really understand what do the different mforum and different commentaries have to say about corbon note why we have corbon note what they're meant to elicit what kind of emotions SL understanding they're meant to elicit and then hopefully through that we'll be able to connect more to these to these pors and then of course as I mentioned next week we're going to contrast that to the actual Corban PES inim and see that it actually although it was a Corban it was a very very different type type of corbon so so in order to really do that we have to start with with the very very beginning of safer V Source number one the Torah says so you hem tells Moshe you should say to is when a person brings from you aan from an animal from cattle or from sheep you should bring close your your Corban and then again the Torah goes in we're skipping a little bit right now for now just for for our for time purposes describes what how it's going to be done and at the very end the ends the insides of the animal you need to wash them with water and then you're supposed to burn everything on the this was okay this was a specifically was burnt entirely on the and then the Torah and the ends by calling it a so the first person who kind of wanted to just discuss the first approach to Corban not is Rashi right here on the spot and Rashi kind of um as we're going to see in in one small comment kind of puts a halt to to much of our discussion says Rashi what does it mean this is going to be something that's going to be a pleasant smell something that I am going to appreciate and and and be be thankful for because I told you to do it and you fulfilled my will now Rashi isn't saying this explicitly he actually says this in a number of other places but Rashi seems to be hinting at and then on some might might might put a hold to our entire discussion which is on some level what are corbane they are a they are they are something that we don't fully understand and we're never going to fully understand them so why do we do them because God commanded us to and on some level when it comes to certain mitzvot and really when we all mitzvot we do them because who commanded us as we know as many of us are familiar with generally mitv are divided into two categories what are called and MIM generally refers to laws that are more logical in nature ones that make more sense to us like don't murder don't steal don't commit adultery things that a normal society a standard society would establish themselves even if there even hadn't commanded it and then there are laws that are called are generally understood to be mitzvot that and again here also there's an interesting range either have no reason or and the simpler understanding is they have a reason that we don't simply understand and when tells us to do them we do them a classic example would be shotes right why can't I have a beggar that has wool and linen okay or or or even certain aspects of kasas or certain there are many mitv like that where we don't really understand why can't I have k Why can I mix certain why can I mix certain uh certain um plants in the ground lots of Mitzvah like that we don't fully understand them a paruma is the classic t right how is it that the red heer purifies somebody how does that work and how is it that the red heer purifies somebody the person who brings it himself becomes impure there's many aspects to these mitvah that we don't fully understand on some level Corban are a classic H they are a Mitzvah that will that although there might be certain things we can glean from them but generally we're never going to fully understand everything and why do we do them because told us to now what's the value in that what's the value in that I mean one of the things that I remember that I remember I would always tell my I would always when I was younger and I told myself I would never say to my kids when they would say to me why do I have to do this because I said so and yet somehow I still managed to find myself doing that every once in a while right everyone hates the because I said so okay so then why would a do that why would a what's the value in having mitzvot that we're never going to fully understand and yet we do them anyway and then have a suggestion amuna good what do you mean well if you're doing just because I could telling you to do it be doing it because you believe that there's a reason for it I don't have to understand the reason excellent it's good enough excellent I think another way of understanding it and I think you're 100% right is it establishes a certain Authority right it shows that AES is the authority and sometime and there's value to doing something because the authority told you to do it might not be easy and I don't know if as parents we should always you know rely on that Authority it might be more valuable to try to it's right we can argue about that whether or not it's more valuable to rely on that Authority or to or to try to explain things to our children but when it comes to a relationship with the almighty who is the clear Authority then it would seem to be that there is a value in learning and being trained to listen to what says okay used to talk about this a lot in general about the idea of being willing to anull our will submit our will to a right there's very something very very important in being able to do that and therefore what perhaps at least what we see here in Rashi is that the idea was the part of the reason why we have the reason for the cor was told us to do it he wants to see that we're going to do it and by listening to him we bring if you look here in Source number two I brought you who who also says something very very similar this suggests that the H can be defined as an absolute norm and an ultimate command demanding total submission without reservation it is to be affirmed even if the Satan and the nations of the world taunt Israel ridiculing its irrationality the observant accepts the Torah even as a patient follows the prescription of his doctor taking complex medications and submitting to required surgical procedures right very often when you're going through a surgical procedure you have no clue how anything's going to help you what do you do the doctor told me to I'm relying on the doctor I have faith in the doctor I you know I I I I trust him we may seek to understand and make all possible inquiries But ultimately we accept it on faith the Lord Creator and healer of All Flesh undoubtedly knows what is best for our bodies and souls as well as what is harmful to them so this is based on a certain belief that knows what's best for us we could even take it farther and say it might not be based on just that he knows what's best for us but because he told us to do it and we're and we're showing our allegiance to him but the idea being that there is a value here to having a to having mitv that we don't understand and yet we do them anyway that's that's one that's one approach to this entire idea is you're right we're not going to fully understand it and it could be that especially now in our modern sensibilities the idea of cor is something that is hard for us to understand but there is a value in being able to to submit our understanding and our sensibilities and giving to the the will of AES you can go to a store and buy this book reflections of the RO yes uh I don't know if it's still for sale but we can talk about it afterwards but I don't know there is a book absolutely I don't know I don't know if it's still in print but yes reflections of there of is one it was one of the first ones to come out it wasn't written by him it was written by his student RAB bezin but yes it was one of the first ones to come out of essays by by by Ric yes Sonia seems to me that there's also another lesson that's there and that is that by showing this example of a relationship where sometimes you have to submit to the mysterious demands of another uh maybe showing us that sometimes that's true in other relationships as well and it's I agree I agree in theory and I think what you're saying is that it's not just about a relationship with God it's also about being able to do that with other people but I think it's a different level when we're talking about God because of the authority piece because because of and that's why you know I was differentiating between parenting and that because in the end of the day as parents we might be an authority but we're not the authority we might think we are but we're not okay and therefore when we're talking about there's it's almost as if you have to have this in a relationship with the authority you have to have a certain element of I do it because this is what he told me to do and and and and and I'm I'm going to do it even if in other areas we might want to have that understanding and that reason and that reasoning yes it's interesting you know in some of the schools they when they start teaching Kum they start with SRA and some of the reasons that I've read is that because it teaches a certain discipline toine so that we're talking about the same I mean yeah it is well known it is correct it is correct that says that the first few should start with and there's different reasons given for that but the idea of discipline and the idea of submission is something that is yeah is very is very very very important however many many while not disagreeing with this idea of the H argue that never less we still should attempt to understand the even as much as we can Chief among them being the r if you look at source number three the r in Source number three points out the following it is appropriate for somebody to contemplate the laws of the Tor now again he's referring to mishpatim but I don't know if the r here is is necessarily differentiating between mishpatim and I mean he does differentiate between them but I think he's basically saying our job is to try to understand the and to try to understand as much as we can let's say you find something which you don't understand it doesn't seem to have a reason you don't see a proper reason for it you shouldn't take it lightly frbo and you shouldn't then go and say ah well you know what I don't understand it it makes no sense to me that's it I'm done okay so says the it's very very clear you should be attempting to understand you should do your best to understand but it shouldn't be that if you don't understand it you're not going to do it and then the ra continues sorry you shouldn't be treating the Torah like any other discipline in other disciplines you might say well this doesn't make much sense to me so I'm just not going to follow it whether it's health or it's this or it's that when it comes to the Torah the Torah isn't just any other discipline it's the will of God and therefore while there is value in understanding it and trying to glean lessons from it we shouldn't necessarily make our observance dependent on that and then he says what's a classic example of this right all what is a classic a which some don't understand he says corote are the classic so it's interesting that in the same will call the but nevertheless still say that we should be attempting to understand whatever we can we're not going to fully understand but we should be understanding and in fact the rim gives a couple of very very fascinating and actually controversial explanations for Corban ra two different places gives what seem to be almost two opposite explanations of corbane and why commanded corbane and I'd like to review them quickly with you the first one in Source Number Four The Ram suggests and this this is a relatively wellknown idea that you may have heard that the reason why God commanded Corban not was because this was what AM Israel got used to in MIT this is what they observed for the 210 years they were MIT and that was how they saw the culture around them serving their God if you look here look at the word Source number four there how did all these things come into our Torah says the ra it is very very hard for somebody to go from one extreme to the other suddenly it is very hard for somebody to go from some type of action or activity that he is used to to all of a sudden reject that immediately and what the ram then goes on to explain is when when the Jews were in Egypt what they saw and what they actually very often I don't know if took par in is the right word necessarily served but they were part as servants they might have had to play a role in how to do this obviously carefully what they saw was that the way that you served that people served their gods the way that the sered their gods was they brought corbane they brought they had an idol or they had this or they had that and they would bring gifts and corbon Note and sacrifices and that was had a cult that was how the cultures serve their gods says the rambam it would have been too hard for to take am Israel out of Egypt out of 210 years of that culture and basically say to them no no no no that's not how you're going to serve me you're going to serve me entirely different Compares it to if someone were to come today and tell us you know what you don't have to D in you don't have to do any Mitzvah all you have to do is think good thoughts if you think good thoughts that's how you're going to connect to God he Compares it to that okay uh he says that's all you have to do you don't have to do any to us that would be totally far you mean I don't have to do any actions I don't have to do it would be very weird and hard for us to relate to that service of God and therefore says the ram rather than outlawing it and saying you can't do it at all decided to then shift it to be a to be a part of of our of theem encouraging them to do that but to do it in a certain way based on the rules that he sets as part of their service to that's the Ra's first explanation interestingly enough the second explanation you give somewhere else in if you look in Source number five is almost the opposite I'm going to try to explain this is the way that I understand it the MIT used to serve the Sheep the Sheep was a God to the MIT to the Egyptians for because of that it was forbidden to she any animals to she any sheep anyone who who was a Shepherd was considered abominable he says therefore you have certain cultures that even till today apparently there are certain animals that they want out of a certain tradition that they have for certain animals being being a God and because this was for for the Egyptians the Sheep was the symbol of God and of power in order for the Jews to break that connection or that Association what did command them to do not just not just the by the way which is obviously one idea but it was that to make that a part of part of what should you be doing where should the Corb be coming from from the sheep from the goat from the cow specifically those types of animals that the Egyptian considered to be a God those are the ones that you're now going to bring your corot from and so what the r is almost saying is it wasn't because this is what they were used to was actually to break and to contrast the way that the Egyptians acted this is what wanted the Jews to do and that's why commands at least certain parts of the of the corbon note now this Ram is very very controversial why is this controversial or or challenging what are some challenges what's what's wrong again they're they're Sim but different ideas what's what's what a challenge you could have said that's a good idea but let's do it for a year and then ah if it was just about breaking it then why do you why does it have to be permanent then why does it have to be part of our good even more than that what else from sheep true excellent not all car are from sheep so therefore that that second answer but something more fundamental according to the ram had there not been the sh in MIM we've had which means something so fundamental to our Judaism was only given as a concession to the Jews to a concession to their weakness to a concession to something that that they experience as opposed to saying the corbon note have inherent value because of what they represent and what they are oh because they were in Egypt and they got used to it so therefore said well you know you can't break it so then that's why we have that's why we had that's why we have Co we have the we have a CO every single day the bet mikdash so much of our Judaism will revolve and did revolve and even today is associated with The Bash and the mishan and that was all just a concession that's that's one thing the ra asks on the on the r that's not so difficult because the whole con of p is based on the the whole is based on correct correct obviously obviously but I but I think I think it's not even just about the historical question it's just more the implication that this was more of a con ession to who we are as opposed to an an ideal way to serve AES is something that the ran found found found difficult that's what I meaning that's the way I would say but yes well that's true no so to say that to say that we commemorate what happened is one thing but to then say that the entire Enterprise of corbano and everything which was so Central that that I think is a challeng has another challenge yes ALS same with Evan 's he's putting it on the same correct the ra the ran has in other places as well done this meaning there are there are some who suggest that part of every iy the whole Enterprise of having a servant and having servants was was was a concession to to to to human Frailty or to what they were used to to the times again whenever you say that there's always going to be potential controversy because you're you're suggesting that there's a certain amount of what's happening in the Torah that's connected to the times which is certainly in and of itself a controversial thing but I think with the Corban note it makes it even more another question the ramban asked this question he says wait a second are you implying that Corban note weren't weren't brought before see for shim what about thear what about the cor of all Theos are you implying that that was all just you know meaning that Jews have been bringing cor since the beginning of creation and you're suggesting that all of that was just not where did that come from okay so if you look here look in Source number Source number six the the ramban is not very happy he takes the ran to task on this we didn't bring it but he quotes the r and he says these are this makes no sense I'm not translate every single part but the last part there is he's saying you're taking the sh this table of God and you're turning it into this this basically this concession to the weak Jews who got used to something and couldn't live without it that's that's what corbon all about t calls them it's not just this thing that we do because no one because we don't have a choice or because we're just used to it it's much greater than that and then he continues right no when there was no one else in the world there was no one else there he brought aan he says that you would suggest after all that we have in the beautiful descriptions of the corbon for you to suggest that this is just a concession to the weak Jews who were used to to what what was going on says the ran it can't be that it's got to be much much more and the ran goes on to suggest the following idea he says I want to give you another suggestion what is the value what is the idea behind says the ra person person's actions or when a person does something it usually is taking place in one of or sometimes all three Realms thought debor speech and M action and when a person sins very often he is sinning or the sin involves all three of these Realms therefore a god commanded one a person sins he should bring a Corban so what do you do you should part of the bringing theban is what's called SM where the owner would lean on the animal and says the ran that's to correspond to any any sin that was done in action he should do he would say the V the confession I did the sin and I'm sorry and that was corresponding to any sin in speech and then part of what was burned on the on the miss were the inerts and the Cote if I'm not mistaken the kidneys that are that are where the thought and and desire come from and each so basically what the what raan is saying is that the way that this is done is was thought out and has tremendous significance every part of what we were doing in the Corban was meant to correspond to a different aspect with which a person sinned and and the other inard correspond to the hands and the or the thighs I think is actually con correspond to the to the hands and the feet of the person who did this action and the blood was thrown on the that just like the blood is meant to correspond to a person's soul so this is meant to correspond to this person's soul and this is the key what what is this all to elicit a person should think when he does all these things a person has to realize that when he sins he has sinned with his body and with his soul and really says the ra really he's the one who should be burnt down the and he's the one who should be be uh be killed if not for God's kindness so he says this this animal's blood is inside of your blood this animal's body is inside of your body everything is meant to correspond this animal is meant to take your place so everything we do for the quban says the ran is meant to elicit within a person an understanding that really he should be the one that's there because of the sin that he has done and so again that's so what ran is suggesting here is again that the purpose of the quban is so that a person realizes the gravity of his sin and hopefully this through this he will do okay also makes a similar suggestion where He suggests the similar idea and he says the following and this is a famous idea has mentioned in many different places the idea a concept called This is a relatively famous idea that after a person's thoughts follow his actions following his actions when a person does certain things that often causes an in a change within him so says the say that a person's thoughts a person's inside a person's inner World very often is is taken or impacted by the things that he does therefore if a person SS to God says you can't just you know get up and just say I'm Sorry God I did it and just you know you know do confession you need to do much more than that confession enough isn't going to change you isn't going to impact you Shar right to just stand there at the wall and say I'm sorry God I won't do it again when you do an action for the for the sin when you you have to take something which belongs to you which costs a lot of money back in the day these animals were not were not cheap and you had to take something which was valuable to you and bring it to and bring it to the that entire process says the was meant to elicit a certain like oh okay I've done something serious here right if all you needed to do after you sin was just get up and and and and and confess be a lot easier but you needed to do much more and that process of doing much more was meant to elicit within the person an understanding of what of what he had done and you have to bring it to the by doing this he'll recognize the gravity of his sin and hopefully encourage him to never do it again and then the says something else we won't do it inside he then says something very very fascinating He suggests he says a part of the idea of why you have to bring an animal is because fundamentally there is not much of a difference between Mankind and animals what's the main difference our ability to think our ability to think our ability to to TA actually communicate as well and says says when a person sins he is misusing the SE that he has been given and he's almost acting as if he were an animal and therefore we are commanded to bring the animal to show that when we sinned you know the gamor says that a person doesn't sin unless unless there's some kind of of spirit that comes and causes him to sin so says the that when a person sins what he basically is doing is he's using he's listening to the animalistic urges within him he's not taking advantage of the that he has and therefore says if you're just G to act like an animal then you need to bring this animal to show to remind you of how you're acting and to encourage you to do more okay so what we've seen in the ramban so far ran and the is another suggestion which is that there is tremendous meaning in the actions of the Corban note and fundamentally what it's about is to encourage a to be thoughtful to encourage a person to think and to be understanding of what he's doing but there's one challenge to this because with the ran and the have described is one small percentage of the Corban what theyve basically described are corote that a person brings when maybe asham if you want to suggest right when a person sins when he sins so you have to do these thingsa there are a lot more Corban that took place in the betam mikdash and in the mishan besides those two Corban and so we're still left with okay well then what's the purpose of the Corb I mean the ran does have a hint here at the very very end but there's more to it what about theb what about the what about so many different corbon note the corbon the corbon seore that were brought the corbon Kipper there is so much that's happening here that is not being that was that wasn't even uncovered yet and so if you look very and just just to bring again there's so many different sources with from which we could we could glean here but um ra in 19 letters he was very big on symbols anyone who's ever read refers very that much of of Judaism had he put a tremendous amount of importance into the symbols of Judaism and the lessons we can learn from them and he very briefly here I brought it for you goes through the different categories of Corban note to show how every single category was meant to teach us a a different lesson so just to read a little bit of this inside source number eight formerly we had also for this purpose the symbolic actions of the sacrifices pure symbols both in what they represented and in how they were offered the temple itself represented the Abode of the Torah which is isel's focal point and the source of sanctity for its life in it the Aron represented the concept that the Torah is god-given and the manora and the shulhan the concept that the physical and mental faculties needed for inflamation of the Torah are god-given too the sacrifices involved and now he's going to go through different aspects of the sacrifices and try to glean different midot that we're meant to learn from the sacrifices sacrific involve divesting ourselves of sensuality that we burnt the the C the liver and the and the kidneys and selfishness which is is the fats and consecrating to God our lifeam by the dam is where is where our life comes from our sentiments the Tes and indeed our entire personality by fulfilling the Torah so in the in just these few lines it's just it's fascinating to see we're not going to spend time on each one but he's in just those few lines he's developing from every single corbon a different method a different a different value and a different Meda that we can gain by by means of these sacrificial actions we were able to express our striving to number one consecrate ourselves to God through the Fulfillment of Torah the Ola and Ola was a Corin that was brought entirely on the m and that represents our willingness to consecrate our entire lives to God that's what the ol represents number two regain the forfeited purity of Our Lives by divesting ourselves sensual sensuality and selfishness that is returning to Torah the asham and theas Were Meant to help us return from our sins the things that we've done and return to a and the third acknowledge God as having granted us some out outstanding blessing or benefit or as being the source of a state of untroubled peace in our lives while at the same time renouncing any sensuous or selfish thought in connection with these blessings and on the contrary dedicating them exclusively to the service of God through the Fulfillment of the Torah so what what what what first has has highlighted here is that each of these and this is the and the Tor these were brought when you wanted to think of for things so he's pointed out that every single Corban every single category of Corban note had a different value and a different meter that was meant to teach us and if you delve into each of them there's a tremendous amount that that we can learn so what we've seen is that again just to just to summarize what we've seen so far in terms of understanding understanding what the coron or bad we started with Rashi um and Rashi highlighted that maybe the coron just a that we're not that we're not really supposed to understand that there's a value in serving a without having a reason we're serving we do what tells us to do simply because he told us to and then we saw that there are many others at the head the head of that would be the rambam who suggest that even if something is a there's still value in trying to understand it trying to understand it to our extent even if but not but not allowing that to dictate whether we observe it or not and the raham gave two controversial suggestions suggesting that maybe the idea of corut was really just a concession to man's Frailty after having been in in MIT the ramban took him to task for that and said that it can't be that this entire edifice of of corbane is just simply because man was weak it must be something greater than that and ran starts to explain that's about but the ran wasn't enough for us because ran talks about the idea of corbano being a way to recognize the gravity of your sin and yet it's not enough because what about all the other K of her has come and filled that in for us but there's another piece to this that I think we have that we haven't even really touched upon and in order to really understand this we need to go back and uh and go back to the very very first Corban that is in the Torah we all know that many of us are familiar with the fact that a CO of the Mish marish um brought brought a brought a Corban but the truth is that carbon isn't listed in the Torah anyone know who gave the who brought the first corbon in the Torah the first one listed Ken Ken interestingly enough okay so let's go back look at source number 10 I'm I want to share with you an idea that I that I heard from my Father which I think help will help us really understand what cor all about we've seen a few different ideas but there's something I think here fundamental that we haven't yet been able to to highlight interestingly enough Ken who gets criticized for what he does he was the first person in the Torah to bring a corbon and look at the way the Torah describes the story of in he at the end of days and Ken takes from the fruit of the ground a present to Hashem now it's important to note that according to the simple understanding of the Torah corote were man initiated doesn't say hey K bring me a corbon hey he bring me a corbon who what happened K had an idea again we know that there's a medis that Adam did also and but fundamentally the simple the shot in the Torah is this was a man initiated way to connect to and the person to do it was continues the and he also brings from his from the from the choicest of his sheep from the fats andem turns to he and to his Corb and to and his Corban he does not turn and gets very upset and he and he bows falls down to hasem now this might be something that many of us are just we might not realized it but there's there's some extra words in these Pim that are very very very important here what are the extra words in there's two extra words in and in Al is important for us to know where he took it from meaning that that tells us where he took it from maybe in contrast to Ken G gam who okay fine but even more than that godh you could say that's true that is that is that is extra but it could I would I would even argue that that's probably telling us that that that he was just following in K's footsteps it's important to know that if the Torah just wanted to tell us that Hashem listened to or Hashem accepted K heel and not Cen what do the Torah need to tell us brought a corbon andem turned to that corbon what's extra here Hashem enters the Torah the Torah specifically brings [Applause] in what do you think the Torah is hinting at here why does the Torah stress that this that that God didn't just turn or not turn to the corbon but he didn't turn or he did turn to a person Corbin from the person's con excellent at the very very beginning of corbon what we're learning here is is what's the most important part of the Corban that who cares about not the actual Corban it's the person it's the person why fundamentally turn to he and not turn to Cen and C we know got upset and K we know complained and it wasn't necessarily about what was brought it had to do seemingly according to the simple understanding of the Torah it had to do with the way they brought it it had to do with what he had in mind and it had to do with what Cen had in mind and that was what was turning to or not turning to because when we talk about corbano what's the purpose of corbano fundamentally coming closer to Corban for everything that we've seen this interpretation that interpretation fundamentally the goal of corbane is from the word the purpose of corote is to come close to and for whatever reason we don't NE necessarily know why for whatever reason didn't feel that closeness inan and he did feel that closeness in he Corban and therefore he responded to he and he did not respond to Ken already in the very very beginning of corbane we see it's man initiated and we see very clearly the purpose of Corban note first and foremost is to come close and have a relationship withes that's why and then if we go back by the way if we now turn back we don't have to do it all together if you look back at the very beginning of the first the says if a person will be bring from you a Corban say the the word mik is extra what do you mean from you of course you're bringing it from you where else are you going to bring your cor it should just say what's the real lesson what's the purpose of the Corban it's got to be from you it's got to be me it's got to be from you that's what a wants to see more than anything else more than anything else in any of these Corban note whether it's a Corban because you sinned or it's a Corban because you want to thank Hashem or it's a Corban because you just want to bring a gift to a what AES wants more than anything else is us is us to come close and that's what Corban note are really all about I saw there was just a question here yes com I see that from from from the htic standpoint but from it seems that and when you're a child you learn that it seems that because from and that will brought from the S well of course listen that there was that distinction that that that that that true that doesn't that doesn't contradict this it could be that it could be that how he brought it could first of all what you're suggesting which is that as we all see it because it says he brought PRI it says he all brought no he brought from the best seeming to contrast that now again that might indicate what was going on inside so it's not necessarily contradictory it could be that we it's just important to know that those are all just inferences we don't really know hasm turned to one and not to the other but what seems clear is is that it wasn't just about the Corban it was about the person because otherwi that's what the Torah seems to be indicating there what the issue with one person with Cen versus Heil was so one hint is as you suggested this point of course of course of course exactly of course exactly 100% yes so that's a good way of proving that you get no benefit from the car what you get benefit is who you are and how you express yourself not that one this one ah okay good so yes if that's true then why are C significant what significant is how you approach God okay so I if I understand your question if I understand your question correctly you're basically saying if it's all about how we approach God then why does it have to be in a specific way or why does it have to be specific why does it have to be mandated in a certain way why does it have specific details and I think that's a very very good question what I what I what I would think is is that there always needs to be a balance meaning if it was always about serving God or coming close to God in the way that I want to then that meaning when we're talking about a relationship with people you might have a way that you want to come close but you also have to find out how K wants you to come close to him meaning you might think that I'm going to come close to God like a classic example would be why do we have why do we have to have an institution of doing three times a day this text that text why can't I just you know you know jump up and down and say I'm doing to God because because if we leave it up to that there has to be a balance between what the person themselves wants to bring and certainly what the person who's receiving wants to accept and here is basically saying this is how this is the best way to serve me I'm going to give you a range of ways to do it within a certain range but there still are certain ways to do it there has to be a certain way that it's that is commanded but have taken the place of Corban that's also true for the last correct you know 25 years yes and that's what we're used to and not corbut corre corbut will take us away from God rather than so that's a good question I think that I think that it might I understand what you're saying I think that again that gets that gets to our modern sensibilities meaning I think what you're suggesting is that I don't know if I would say that the cor will take us away from God I think what you're I think what I think what you mean to be saying I don't know I don't want to speak for you is that given our monor sensitivities it's hard for us to understand how corbon note can bring us close to God and that's a fair and that's a question that I think some people struggle with more than others and it's okay and it's and it's it's and it's okay to raise that question I think for some people it'll be be harder to understand than others but nevertheless to say that it'll take us away from God is a harder thing to say because again it's in the Torah it's what God is commanding us to do now no one knows what's going to be in the times of mish no one knows exactly how things are going to look I just kind of just as a it's just I almost kind of look at it it's just a vision you know how like for those of us who have walked into like a and you walk into a and you have like that that screen that says like okay this minion is going to be here here in 20 minutes so I just have this vision of like walking into third B mdash be like Corb TOA in room number three Corb over here that's just like the vision that I have meaning we don't know what it's going to look like we don't know and we don't know what the reality is going to be there are some who suggest and again I don't think this is I'm going to just say I'm going to mention it I don't think it's mainstream but it is an understand there are some who suggest that maybe there won't be corbano I don't think that's the mainstream approach I'm not I'm not here to you know again I don't want to get say what's right and what's wrong that's not my place the main stre approach is that there will be corbon note and that and that maybe maybe we it'll be done in in a way that that we're that that we're more sensitive to I don't know I don't know uh that's a very good question but it's still something that at least we have to understand has a tremendous amount to share and for us to learn from even without necessarily knowing what's going to be when when Mah comes why do we have that belief that it will be in the where does that come from is there a that says that or I think I okay so the question just just because of time I I'll spend one minute on again this is this isn't meaning I can't I'm definitely not an authority on this but as I understand it the question was how do we know that that it actually will take place I mean I think there's no indication otherwise meaning we're dominant that Bish will be will be rebuilt and the way that we understand what the BET mikdash served as was the center for as corbon were done that was what the mdash was no I think so I think the indication is it's it's it's Eternal meaning I don't I don't need anyone to tell me I'm going to wear fill in when I when when when or I'm going to do other Mitzvah the assumption is is that that is what we're doing for that was we're praying for yeah I mean mean that is that that is the Assumption there's no indication of otherwise and we're ding for the BAM mdash and that was what the BAM mdash was to suggest the bdash will be something else I think we would need more evidence to suggest that because otherwise I mean that is how we serve God in the so again I'm not uh it's it's definitely something that I think all of us think about and some of us struggle with more no there's no reason to deny the struggle but I just want to I want I want to just end with with with two comments once we have this understanding of coming close toes carbon are fundamentally about coming close toes I think that changes things a little bit because until now the perspective was more about getting repent repentance and learning and teaching ourselves how much we've sinned once we realize that corot are fundamentally a little bit different by coming close to the question becomes how do corbon accomplish that how do corbon accomplish that so I'd like to bring you two suggestions you look at source number 12 I'd like to bring you an idea that I that my father writes in his book which I think is a beautiful and an original idea that that that think is different and that I think I think is important to understand says my father suggests how do corbon note help us become close to God because if we think about it what cot really are is basically a shared meal with with look at source number 12 in contrast to the classical sacrifices consumed entirely on the altar konote were in large measure shared shared meals with God faced with the naturally developing distance between man and his creator forced to address the separation from God that results from sin the Torah proposes a path astoundingly profound in its Simplicity invite God to your table a corbon deriving from the word karov to draw near is the mechanism through which an individual can begin to repair and reestablish his relationship with a personal God just as in the human realm a shared meal is a powerful relational tool so to a meal consumed with God's symbolic participation can begin to address his estrangement from our lives consumed with Pomp and Circumstance in the very shadow of the Holy Temple with some portions placed upon the Altar and others shared with the priests and often with the supplicants themselves each corba became a potentially rehabilitative tool God's presence as an invited honor guest was pable and concrete to the participants these observances were far from meaningful rituals they were instead shared meals with God the first step to a fuller awareness of the Divine in their lives okay so a very beautiful idea that how do the corbon note accomplish this many of the corote involved some of it was burn on the M some of it was given to the kohanim and some of it was given to the owner and the idea was we're going to have this meal together with and the final idea of how perhaps this creates closeness is suggested by Jonathan sax when he points out that perhaps the way that corote create this connection with God is because what corbo do is demands of us to give to a because if you think about it does God really need what reg got to give to him no but nevertheless just like a parent when a when a young child gives gives gives a parent a picture that he made for him the parent will treasure that forever because it came from that child and the child will feel proud of the fact that the parent took accepted something from him part of what corbon not are meant to be is us taking things that are meaningful to us that cost money that are valuable and us giving it to a and that itself is meant to create this connection I'll read it for with you and with that we'll end the Hebrew word for sacrifice is Corban which comes from the root that means to come to bring close close excuse me the essential problem to which sacrifices an answer is how can we come close to God this is a profound question perhaps the question of the religious life not simply because of the utter disparity between God's infinity infinity and our fin finitive but also because the very circumstances of Life tend to focus our gaze downwards to our needs rather than upward to our source the Hebrew word for Universe am is connected to the verb meaning to hide the physical world is a place in which the presence of God is real yet hidden we our Horizon of Consciousness is foreshortened we focus on our own devices and desires yet we sorry we walk in God's light but often our minds on other things and how do we come close to God by an act of renunciation by giving something away specifically by giving something back the sacrifices of the biblical age were ways in which the individual or the nation as a whole in effect said what we have God is really yours the world exists because of you we exist because of you nothing we have is ultimately is ultimately ours the fundamental gesture of sacrifice on the face of it is is absurd what we give to God is something that already belongs to him yet to give back to God is one of the most profound instin of the Soul doing so we acknowledge our dependency we cast off the carus of self-absorption that is why in one of the most striking phrases the Torah speaks of sacrifice as being a sweet Savor to a God one of the sweetest savors of Parenthood is when a child by now grown to maturity being a parent uh a gift gives a gift or expresses his or her thinks this two seems absurd what can a child give what can a child Excuse me give a parent that remotely approximates what a parent gives a child namely life itself yes yet it is so and the reverse is also true the crul thing a child can do is not acknowledge his or her parents the tal attributes to Rabbi aka the phrase AO Our Father our King those two words encapsulate the essence of Jewish worship God is kingmaker and Sovereign of the vast Universe yet even before God is our King he is our father our parent the one who brought us into being in love who nurtured and sustained us who taught us his ways and who tenderly watches over our destiny sacrifice the gift we bring to God is the gift of the made to its maker the owned to its owner the parent the child to its parent if creation is an act of Love sacrifice is an acknowledgement of that love and so we have two beautiful suggestions here by my father by by sax who suggest how it is that corbano bring that closeness we've seen a whole range of opinions regarding corono we open by talking about how corbon note are an anomaly hard for us to really understand hard to really understand how they work we noted a number of different opinions regarding that I'm not going to go over them now because of time I want to give you a break uh what I would like to do and I want to thank you next week be for those of you were able to come next week I want to have just a little bit of homework thank about or if you have time open up the and read theim that described the cor P that the Jews brought in think about what we learned about today about what corbon note are what they were about and contrast that with what you see was the corbon in MIM similar to the corbon note that we discussing today or different and if it was different how is it different we'll see that next week everyone have a great day