Shalom everyone, and thank you for joining me in starting a new book, Sethor Vaikrah, the Book of Leviticus. At first glance, this book talks really about things that are maybe not exactly of our interest. Sacrifices, the tabernacle, which will be later on, the Beth amigdash, the temple, the priests, the service in the temple. How can we look at this book and make it relevant to us? Is really, is that book only the book of Leviticus, Sefer Torat Kohanim, the book that talks only about the Kohanim and their service in the temple and at the tabernacle? Or did this book have something to say to us, all of us? So the Ramban Nahmanadis, in his introduction to the book of Leviticus, Sefer Vaika, says the following. This is really a book that is aimed towards the priests and the Levites. And how do you safeguard the Mishkan? Which means after I completed Sefer Shmot, the book of Exodus, which the last four parasit of Sefer Shmot of the Book of Exodus, Trumah, Tetzave, and then Skip Kitisa Via Khelp Kudei, talked about the Mishkan, the tabernacle. The end of the book of Exodus was about the incredible description that God's presence basically filled up the Mishkan. So Sefervaika, the third book, talks really about the Kohanim who are about to serve in the temple. And then also about the sacrifices. So really, according to the Ramban in his introduction, yes, that's what we need to expect now for the next few weeks. Just really descriptions of the types of Korbanot, the types of sacrifices, when do you bring them, how do you bring them, where do you bring them? Basically, if I would say it in the 21st century, when you read this book based on the Ramban, you need to expect only things about priests and Levites. So, for the priests and Levites among us, we can be very happy. We have a special book just for you. But what about all the others? What about everyone who is not a Levite or a priest or a Kohen? What should we do with this book? So, to our surprise, the Torah begins this parasha and this book with what I will call a bit of a surprise. Hashem says to Moshe, speak to the children of Israel, and you shall tell them, Adam ki akriv mikem korban lashem, minab, minabakaru minatzon, tak rivit korban chem. Hashem says to Moshe, speak to the Jewish people, and you shall tell them, Adam ki akriv mikem, a human being, a man, a person, that will bring a sacrifice from among you. So he needs to bring some type of animal for a sacrifice. If you zoom in into this pasuk, there is a word there that obviously it's little ad. Adam, a man, a human being. The pasuk, in a way, should be written in a different way. It should say, when you will sacrifice. What does that mean? The word Adam. And in addition to it, the word Adam, the first association that comes to mind is Adam Arishon, Adam and Eve, or everyone in our humanity, in our civilization, and not only the Jewish people. So isn't that a bit strange, a bit odd, that the opening statement for the book of Leviticus, for the book that talks about, according to the Ramban, only the priests and the Levites, talks in such a, I will call it a universal general way, using the word Adam. Therefore, take a look at the Barbanel. Rabitzhak Don Abarbanel, who lived in Spain until the expulsion, says the following. The first question that he has is, when he speaks to the children of Israel, says the Abarbanel, I don't understand. You are about to talk about the Korbanot, the sacrifices. You are going to talk about how to bring the sacrifices, where to bring them. This commandment relates to whom? To Aharon and his children, who are going to be the people who will implement the Korbanot on a daily basis. So why is it that the Torah with his opening statement says, talk to the Jewish people, all of them? It should basically be to concentrate only on the priests and the Levites. So therefore, the Barbanel says the following. We are not yet trying to explain the word Adam. We are still stuck with the beginning of the Pasuk, the Ber albne Israel, speak to the Jewish people. Says the Abarbanel. Do you know why the first opening statement basically is related to the entire nation? It's because they built the Mishkan. They contributed to the Mishkan. They saw that the Mishkan is erected, and now they are looking forward to hear the word of God comes out from the Mishkan and talking to them, not to anyone else, or not just to a specific group. And therefore, Mipneik Vodam, and because Hashem wanted to honor the entire Jewish people, he spoke first to the entire nation, and then he spoke to whom? To Aharon and his children. So let's digress for just a second before we see the next source. Basically, the Barbanel asked an additional question to our question, which is we are about to speak about the Korbanot. The Korbanot really we bring them, but who sacrificed them? Who are the ones that are really responsible to make sure that the sacrifices are being brought into the Mishkan? It's only the Kohanim. Therefore, says the Abarbanel, the mitzvah, the commandment, should be directed to Aharon and his children. However, we speak to Aharon and his children only next week in Parashat Tsav, where the Torah says, Tzav et Aharon veedbanav, that you shall commend Aharon and his children. And here he talks to the entire Jewish people. Answer, says the Abarbanel. The Jewish people put their efforts, they built a Mishkan, they contributed, they felt part of establishing something so holy and so important. And therefore, because Hashem wanted to show how quote unquote he appreciates what they did, he spoke to them first. So the first thing we see a a tremendous sensitivity to the people, and B a sense of inclusion. The Mishkan is not an exclusive place which is only for the Kohanim and the Levim, it's also for the Jewish people. They were an important, a crucial, and essential part in building the Mishkan, and they and therefore they deserve honor and dignity. So now, after we understand the first part of the Pasuk, which is the Ber el-Bne Israel speak to the Jewish people, and not immediately to whom? To Aaron and his children, so now our initial question becomes even more important. If Bne Israel are the Jewish people, and the Aharon and his children are obviously the priests. So when the Torah says Adam, who are we talking about? We already spoke about Bne Israel. Next week's Pasha we will speak to Aharon and his children. So who is this mysterious Adam that the Torah relates to? So take a look at this Midrashic statement in Vaikra Rabbah, which is an ancient Midrash by our sages. Adam kiya kriv mikem, a man that will bring a sacrifice. The midrash is asking a very simple question. Why does the Torah does not say ish? Which is not Adam, but it's more the male gender. So the midrash is basically asking a very good question, the question that we ask at the beginning. What is the meaning of the word Adam? Especially if you want to say something else, you can say ish. Why the word Adam? So the Midrash provides us with an answer. It's to include the convert. In this Midrash, we have a tremendous insight into what I will call the universalism of the book of Leviticus of Sepharvaika. We begin with Daber al-Bne Israel, we are talking about the Jewish people. Next week's Pasha, we are going to talk about the priest and his children, Aharon and his children, and what is in the middle. So the midrash says we will include in this realm of Qurbanot, in this world of sacrifices, also the convert who was not with us from the get-go, but even the Nanju. Even a nanju can participate in some kurbanot, in some sacrifices. So now just think about it for just a second. We started with the Ramban Nahmanadis, who spoke about that this book, the sacrifices, the Mishkan, is really only for a very small group, an elite group, the Kohanim and the Levim. Then the Abarbanel expanded it and says, Oh, it's not only about the priest and his children, but also the Jewish people contributed to the Mishkan. They also deserve some kind of a communication with God. And now this midrash adds a tremendous component. This book, Zephilvaikha, it might be the most universal book that talks about not only the Jewish people, not only Aharon and his children, not only the converts, but also non-Jews. That they are also allowed, and we will see later on, even encouraged, to bring certain types of Qurbanot and to be part of worshiping God. So how do we do that? Says the Gmarah, the Babylonian Talmud in Hulin, page 13b, says the Tanya, I mean the third line, ish, matal mudlomar ish, ish, le Rabot of Deiko Havim, Shenodrim Nedarim Venedavot Ke Israel. Non-Jews can volunteer a sacrifice as part of their vow or a contribution, they can bring a type of sacrifice which is called nedarim vows and nedavot contributions, donations, to the Mishkan or to the Beta Mikdash. So if you thought that the only ones who can bring sacrifices to the Mikdash to the temple are Jews, we see from the Babylonian Talmud, and we also saw it in the Midrash before, that they can bring, that non-Jews can also bring certain types of korbanot. And we cannot not ask the question, what's the purpose? Why are we allowing them to bring korbanot? What's the purpose of trying to include them? And why is it as the beginning of Sefer Vaikrah that we are so inclusive instead of being very exclusive? So let's have those questions in mind and let's see Rabbi Yosef Bekhor Sho. Rabbi Yosef Bekhosh in his commentary on Sefaiqrah says the following Adam ki akriv mikem, a man that shall bring a sacrifice, a filu goim, even non-Jus. It says, Ish ish ki akriv, including non-Jews. Mikem velokurhem. This is an incredible parshanut, an incredible commentary. Basically, Rabbi Yosef de Horshore, a French commentator in the 13th century, says the following. A Jew who is not that righteous, or he did something that he cannot come into the temple, his Qurban will not be accepted. You will ask. Discrimination. A Jew cannot bring a Qurban, a sacrifice, and a nan Jew can bring? says Rabbi Yosef the Horshol, Kede Le Karvo Takat Kanfei Hashina. We do it in order to bring him closer, to be under the wings of the divine presence. Which means, in a way, what the Torah says, Adam kiya kriv mikem, and we include the non-Jews in bringing sacrifices to the Mishkan or to the Beth Mikdash, to the temple? We are doing that knowingly. That it might be that one of them will not be as righteous as he or she should be. But we will accept their donation as a sacrifice, we will accept their sacrifice in order to bring them closer. So, what about the Jew who is not as righteous? Why do we reject his or her Corban? Answer. We trust them that they will repent, that they will work a little harder on themselves in order to bring their sacrifice. But the point of Rabi Yosef Bechor show is incredible. Not only that we accept their Korbanot, in a way there is some kind of um, we show some favoritism to them and towards them, and we accept their Korban even at times that we will not accept a Corban that is brought by a Jew. However, we need to digress here for a second. Let's try to sum up what we saw until now. Let's address the questions that we asked, and then we will try to deal with the problem. So our first question was: what's the purpose of Sefer Vaikra? What can we learn from it? And the Ramban Nahmanadiz in his introduction says, We, if you are not a priest or a Levite, you cannot really learn too much from it. You can learn many things, but it's not that relevant to you. It's really a book for a special group. The Abarbanel says, no, no, no, it's not only for a special group, it is also for a special group, but it's for all of us. We all were part of the Mishkan. Don't exclude me. This book has a lot to do with me, even though I'm not a priest, I'm not a Kohen, and I'm not a Levi. So the Abarbanel says, no, we are talking about the entire Jewish people, and God felt that sensitivity to include them all. Third, we saw that the Midrash and the Babylonian Talmud in Chulin expanded and extended the idea of Korbanot not only for Jews or for the priests and the Levites, but also for the entire civilization, including non-Jews. And non-Jews can bring Korbanot according to Rabbi Yosef Behorsho, the 13th-century commentator from France, even to non-Jews who are not exactly the most righteous people. If they bring korbanot, these types of korbanot that they are allowed to bring, you should accept it. So now the word Adamikem means to us a tremendous amount, which is the word Adam comes to include everyone. So from starting with a book which is aimed to towards a very elite group, it becomes now a universal book. It's the book that talks about everyone, Jews, non-Jews alike, and they all are basically aimed towards serving God in the Mishkan. And Rabbi Yosef de Khoshur, this 13th-century commentator from friends, he's not hiding it. He says, we would like to get them close. And to get them closer to what? So that's what we did until now. But now we have the problem. What's the problem? What's the challenge? The challenge is that I said many times that the non-Jews can bring certain types of sacrifices, not all. What can they bring? They can bring neddarim, vows, they can bring nedavot, donations, they can bring olah, an olah offering, an elevation offering, which means that the entire Qurban is being consumed by the fire. But there is one type of sacrifice, for sure, that they cannot bring, which is shlamim, peace offerings. Why can't they bring shlamim? What's the idea behind the peace offering that they cannot bring? So, in order to understand it, let us analyze Rapshim Shon Rafael Hyosh and his commentary on Humash. So Raphshim Shon Rafael here says with Bne Israel, Jews, and then he expands it to Adam, which includes not only a Jew, but also a non-Jew. Says Raphshim Shon Rafael here sh call Adam Zakaiakamikdash. This is true universalism. Everyone has the right to bring a sacrifice to the God of the world. Not only the God of Israel. This is our God, but He is the God of the world. He is the God of the entire universe. And therefore, every human being has the right to bring a sacrifice to the temple. I'm skipping a bit. And basically Rapsiv Shondafail here says, Adam a Mukan Bemashmauto, when I say Adam, I include the entire civilization. Everyone can bring a Qurban to what? And then he continues. If you remember, King Solomon in the book of Kings chapter 8, when he divens to Hashem after he dedicated the temple, he says to God, God, I ask you, I really beg you, that everyone who will diven towards this, towards and through this house, this temple, please, God, listen to him. And even to the non-Jew. If he divens to you through this Beta Migdash, please listen to him. In Judaism, we believe that there is a space for everyone. Everyone should believe in God, keep the seven laws of Noah. But you don't need to be a Jew to believe in our God and to serve him and to be part of us serving him in the Betta Migdash. This is true universalism. Universalism, true universalism is not to impose my opinion on someone else, it's to create a common goal, is to create some kind of set rules, which will be the Shevam it's vodbney Noach, the seven laws of Noah. And then you don't need to be a Jew to serve God. This is the beauty of Judaism, that it all boiled down to one word in the opening statement of Sefervaika. Adam. So what about Shlamim? So if we are so inclusive and if we are so welcoming to everyone, so why is it that a non-Jew can bring only certain types of Korbanot and not all of them? So let's hold on with this question and we will deal with that and we will address it a bit later. Take a look on Rabbi Davitzvi Hoffman. Rabida Vitzvi Hoffman says the following Vi Israel Nikra Adam Mipnesh Bismanshia Dora and Oshibagad Bashem, Vi Hti Tamatara Shallish Ma Brahu Hashem, Nivha Rubim Yuchad Laam Ali De Hashem, the Alavne Emar, the Atem Tonit Sonmariti Adam Atem. Radat's Hoffman says that at the beginning, before any everyone committed transgressions and sins, everyone was called Adam, like Adam and Hava at the Garden of Eden. However, after the generations, after Adam deviated and started rebelling against God and basically choosing other gods and make up their own gods, the only people who are considered Adam and direct descendants of Adam and Eve are us, the Jewish people, because we kept believing in one God. However, every non-Jew who starts believing that he needs to come closer to Hashem and he does it by bringing a Qurban to the Beth Migdash, he becomes Adam. He doesn't become a Jew, he becomes Adam, which means he goes back to his historical ancestors before they deviated from the true religion, before they deviated from the original Adam and Eve, and then he becomes Adam again. This is a very insightful parshanut, very insightful commentary of Rabida Vitzvi Hoffman. It basically describes some kind of an evolution, or maybe I would even say reversed evolution. Everyone was called Adam because they were in Gan-Eden. They were part of Adam and Eve. And they all believed in God. Then Adam committed a sin. And the generations later started deviating, deviating, and deviating from God, going astray. The only people who kept God in their hearts and in their minds and in their behaviors was whom? Some individuals like Shet, like Noach, like Shem, and then obviously Avraham. And Avraham created this family who believed in God: Avram, Isaac, Jacob, and then the children of Jacob, and then creating the Jewish people, Amisel, who basically were the direct descendants spiritually from Adam and Eve. But he doesn't come to exclude anyone else who would like to join us fully or partially. So even if you want to join us partially by bringing cobanot sacrifices to the temple, you are more than welcome. Because our goal is not to make the entire world Jewish and that everyone will be a Jew. Our goal is to, for all humanity, to recognize God, to recognize what is good versus evil, what is moral versus immoral. What are the things that God wants us to do? And what are the things that God does not want us to do? So if Anju realizes it, internalizes it, wants to bring a Qurban and to be part of this endeavor, he is more than welcome. And then he accepts upon himself again the name Adam, which is the most honorable name to receive. That they will bring sacrifices that will be brought on my altar. This house is a house of prayer for everyone. The Jews harvestly have their special, unique relationship with God, but non-Jews are not excluded. So now take a look at the transformation that we went through. From starting this Pansha with the notion that it's only for an elite group from among the Jewish people, we extended it to the entire Jewish people, we extended it to the non-Jews, we excluded the non-Jews from certain types of sacrifices, so maybe they will not feel as comfortable as they should. And then the Malbim in Yesha'i, in his commentary on Isaiah, basically says there is going to be full universalism, full acceptance. Still, Jews will have some kind of a unique relationship with God, but everyone would feel that this temple is a house of prayer for everyone. If you want another pasuk to support this idea, there is another pasuk in Isaiah. And every month and every week, Yavok kolbasar, what is kolbasar? Everyone who has flesh and blood, every human being, everyone, everyone, not only this one or the other one. Everyone will come and bow down in front of me, says God. Because the idea is that everyone should recognize that Hashem is the God of the universe. He is the creator, he is the one who maintains this world, he is the one who supervises us. We have providence from him. Everyone needs to understand it. Says the Malbim, that every month and every Shabbat, Yavo and Hashim, Hadashim in Akum. New people will come from the non-Jewish society. They will come and bow down in front of me, says Hashem. And to throw their idols. You see, we're not talking here about full conversion. We're not talking about masses of non-Jews wanted to convert to Judaism. No, this is not our goal. If they want, there is a way to do it. But what we are interested in is to make sure that they know that they can serve God, that they can be part of this incredible journey that Avraham began back then, when almost no one recognized God. When Abraham stood against everyone with his faith in manatheism, with his faith in kindness, in morality, in an ethical way of life. This is what we do. This is what we want. Maimadis, in the laws of Korbanot, says the following. They bring all types of sacrifices. And also nedarim and nedavot, but you do not accept from them peace offerings and not guilt offerings. So now we need to understand, and we are going to go back to our question that we asked before. Why we exclude the non-Jews from peace offerings. He says that there is, with all the inclusion and with all this welcoming approach, there is a fundamental distinction between a Jew who brings a Qurban and his attitude towards the entirety of his relationship with God and to a non-Jew. What is this fundamental difference? Says Rapshim Sho-Nafaiosh the following. What is the nature of the peace offering? The nature of peace offering is basically you bring a Korban, you bring an animal, you sacrifice it, and in a way, it's almost a barbecue dinner. You bring a little bit to the Mizbeach to the altar, and most of the meat is being eaten by the family, by the person who brought the Qurban, the sacrifice, and his family and his friends. Basically, you eat the Qurban that you brought to God, and you are the one to eat it. Which means, what's the idea behind the peace offering? The peace offering is what is basically the focus or the emphasis of this unique relationship that we have with God, that we can eat meat and partner with Hashem at the same time. That our meal is a holy meal, that our table is a misbehag. That we can see God in our daily lives, in the most physical thing, eating. This is a Qurban. Rapshim Shan-Lepha'alish wanted to claim that Enanju cannot see this type of relationship with a God. For Enanju, says Rapshim Shon-Lefa Al-Sh he can bring an elevation offering. He can bring a sacrifice that will be consumed by the fire, by all go to God. He cannot bring himself to the idea that you can eat and at the same time celebrate God. And therefore, the Nuhri, a Nanju, can understand how to dedicate himself to God. We, unlike any other religion, believe that God present, God's presence in everything we do in life, when we celebrate, when we enjoy, even something very physical like eating, and when we do a mitzvah, all of it, everything we do is part of Avodat Hashem. So it's not about that they are better, that we are better, we are different, we are unique. We are unique in our approach towards our daily lives. We see our daily lives as serving God when I drink, when I teach, when I go to work, when I help a person to cross the street, when I do the most mundane things, I serve God. The non-Jewish perspective on religion is that it's more related between me and God where we are in the spiritual realm. But when it comes outside of the spiritual realm, then the shlamim idea, the peace-offering idea, does not include that type of relationship with God. That's what Rapsim Shon Rafa Leosh wants to suggest in understanding why, even though we are allowing and even encouraging non-Jews to be part of the celebration in the Betam'dash and being part of serving God, there is a fundamental difference that basically its reflection is the peace offering, which symbolizes our understanding of our relationship with God, that our entire life is a Vudat Hashem is serving God. The Midrashtan Huma has an additional insight. What does that mean? This is an incredible midrash. The midrash says when you bring a Qurban, you need to do it like Adam did. What does that mean? Adam was the only person on earth. So obviously, when he brought a Qurban, when he brought a sacrifice, he didn't steal it from anyone. Everything was his. So when you bring a Qurban, when you bring a sacrifice, you need to make sure that it's not stolen. Now, think about it for a second. This is a very strange midrash. Why on earth you would think that you can bring a stolen animal as a sacrifice? Do you really think that Hashem will be interested in you bringing something that you stole from someone else? You are not allowed to steal. So even more so, you are not allowed to steal and to bring it as a Qurban, as a sacrifice. So what's the idea of this midrash? And I would like to suggest to you the following idea. Sometimes people think that the Qurban, that bringing a sacrifice, is just part of a some kind of a ritual. And God does not care, obviously, about the sacrifice, right? He doesn't eat it, he does not enjoy it. It's for us. And therefore, if it's for me, I can even steal it. In the name of religion, maybe I can steal things. Or maybe I can think I can bring lousy things, things that are not that important, or things with blemishes. If you remember, the first ones to bring a sacrifice, which was documented in the narrative itself in Sephar Bereshit, was Kain. Cain. And then Hevel, Habel. What was the reason that Kain's sacrifice was rejected? So most of the commentators basically claims, they claim that what? That he brought the most lousy fruits that he found, the rotten ones. And Hevel, on the contrary, brought the best of his flock. And you can ask, if God does not eat it, if God does not really care about it, so who cares? What do you bring? The most important thing is that I just need to bring it. And the answer is none. What you bring reflects what you feel. It reflects your approach, your attitude towards this entire process of coming closer to Hashem. If you bring the most lousy fruits or the most lousy animal, you basically show that you don't really care. You just do it because you need to do it, but you don't really care. Bringing a stolen animal to Hashem is like saying to Hashem, Oh, you probably don't care, even though you said not to steal, I can steal because I do something religious. The midra says, Thank you so much. I'm totally not interested. The Qurban is not in lieu, is not instead, it's not a replacement of a moral and ethical behavior. The Beta Mikdash is not a quote unquote a laundry machine for your sins, just sending a sacrifice. The sacrifice is just a way, a tool, an instrument, a conduit for you to do chuva, to repent, to change your life, and to transform yourself to someone who is worthy to come closer to Hashem. So take a look. How many things we learn from the word Adam. First, we learn that the word Adam, which is basically the opening statement for Sephiroth, comes to include even non-Jews. So the first message, the first lesson of the opening statement of the book of Leviticus is that this book is probably the most universal book from among all the Hamishachu Mashim, the five books of Moses. This is a book that basically called out, encouraged the non-Jews to join the Jewish people. You don't need to be Jews, but you need to believe in God. You need to believe in kindness. You need to believe that we can fight evil. You can believe, and you should believe, that you can live your life in a moral and ethical way. So that's the invitation for the non-Jews to come and join us. At the same time, we understand that even though, and maybe even despite the fact that we welcome everyone, we also understand our uniqueness. Judaism. Judaism's approach towards religion is that everything we do, from the most mundane thing to the most spiritual thing, it's all part of serving God. Some of the Njus cannot understand it or do not want to accept it. And this is fine. We are not going to impose it on them. We will continue to encourage them to do as much as they can to be part of what we will call the civilization of Adam. And the last part was that you need to be careful. The temple, the sacrifices, can sometimes be dangerous. People can think that they can do whatever they want to be immoral, to be unethical, and then they just send the Korban, they send the sacrifice, and everything will be fine. I pray that the temple says God, I am not interested in sacrifices like that. I am not interested in a temple like that. What I am interested in is your behavior, the way you live your life, the way you lead your life, the way you approach other people. You can't steal something and bring it to me. Because don't forget. To understand that God is expecting us to be Adam. We say it to be a mensch, but it's much more than a mensch. It's to be someone who understands clearly what God wants from him, and to understand that the path towards closeness to Hashem is filled with what? With sincerity, with sensitivity, with morality, with keeping and guarding God's word, keeping the Torah and the mitzvot, not only between us and God, but also between us and our friends, between society, between us and non-Jus. This is the idea of Sefer Vaikha. So, this Shabbat, when we open up this book, it's very relevant to us. It's not only for the priests and the Levites, it's for all of us, Am Israel, and it's really for the entire civilization. Thank you.