HaMaayan/The Torah Spring Edited by Shlomo Katz Parashat Tzav Volume V, Number 23 (209) 8 Nisan 5751/March 23, 1991 Shabbat HaGadol Parasha Overview Rashi at the beginning of this Parasha notes that the Mitzvah of the "Korban Olah" is introduced with emphatic language "Tzav" ("Command!") instead of the more common "Say" or "Speak", because there is a greater need to encourage people to do a Mitzvah which involves financial loss as the Olah does. (See other commentaries for more details.) R' Yehuda Zev Segal, Shlita notes that the Torah does not truly suspect the Kohanim of neglecting this Mitzvah because of the monetary concerns. Rather, this command may be likened to a highway sign which warns of falling rocks or some other hazard, simply because the danger is sometimes present. There is no telling how money may affect a person. (Yir'ah Va'Da'at) ************************************ "This is the law of the 'Chatat' (sin offering)..." (Vayikra 6:18) Because we are no longer able to bring sacrifices to the Bet HaMikdash to fulfill our religious obligations and to atone for our sins, we have adopted the practice of reading the verses and laws of the "Korbanot" (sacrifices) every morning before Shacharit. However, there is a dispute among the "Poskim" (Halachic decisors) whether we should recite the chapter of the "Korban Chatat" before the chapter of the "Korban Olah" or vice versa. The Shulchan Aruch holds that the "Olah" should be mentioned first, while Magen Avraham would have us mention the Chatat first, supporting his view >from the Gemara's statement (Zevachim 7) that before a person can bring a gift to the king (i.e. the Olah), he must appease the king (through the sin offering). In the face of the Gemara's apparent agreement with Magen Avraham's view, the opposing opinion requires explanation. R' Meir Leibush Malbim, the noted 19th-century Torah commentator, grammarian, Kabbalist, and "Posek", observes that, notwithstanding the Gemara quoted above, there is one context in which a Korban Olah is brought before, rather than after, a Korban Chatat. This case is the Chatat and Olah brought for the sin of idolatry. Unlike a Korban Chatat which serves only one purpose - atoning for sins - a Korban Olah can serve two functions. As alluded to by the above Gemara, it can be brought as a gift, merely because one desires to dedicate a part of himself to G-d. However, it also atones for one specific sin - the transgression of harboring improper thoughts. Ordinarily, G-d judges us for our actions alone; we are not punished for the thoughts that lead us to sin. However, there are two exceptions to this rule. One is the case in which our sinful thoughts lead us to rebel against Hashem and transgress the sin of "Avodah Zarah" (idolatry), the other is where the thoughts - including heresy and immorality - are inherently sinful. For these thoughts we are punished. It follows therefore, that while repentance for most sins requires us to regret our actions alone (but not our thoughts), it is not so in the case of idolatry. There, Hashem punishes for the thoughts as well as for the actions, we must repent from both as well. Furthermore, we must repent from our thoughts first, for they came first in the "history" of our sin. We now understand why in the case of idolatry, unlike all sins, the Korban Olah - which atones for sinful thoughts - is brought before the Korban Chatat - which atones for sinful actions. This allows us to understand, as well, the view of the Shulchan Aruch that the chapter of the Olah should be placed in our prayers before the chapter of the Chatat. Although we read the chapters of the Korbanot in place of bringing sacrifices to the Bet HaMikdash (which we are unfortunately unable to do), these readings do not achieve complete atonement for us to the extent that an actual sacrifice could. [See the discussion of this point in last week's HaMaayan.] By reading about the sacrifices, we say to G-d, "Please accept our thoughts as if we had actually brought the sacrifices that we are describing." We are, in effect, sacrificing our thoughts before G- d. Could we do so if our thoughts are not pure?! As was explained above, the way to purify our thoughts is by bringing a Korban Olah, the sacrifice that atones for sinful thoughts. Therefore, hold many Poskim, the Shulchan Aruch among them, the Korban Olah should be the first sacrifice about which we read. The above analysis, writes Malbim, explains another custom found in our prayers: The practice ordained by the "Arizal" (R' Yizcha Luria) of reading the chapter of "Akeidat Yitzchak" before beginning to read "Korbanot". We stated above that our intention in reading the chapters of Korbanot is to "sacrifice our thoughts" before G-d, and thus have Him count it as if we had brought actual sacrifices. However, asks Malbim, from where do we know that this can be done? The answer, he explains, can be learned from the story of the "Akeidah". Yitzchak was not actually burned as a sacrifice. Nevertheless, his willingness to be so consecrated was accepted by G-d, so much so that Chazal tell us that to this day, the "Ashes of Yitzchak" rest before G-d as a continuing source of merit for us. Similarly, we pray that to G-d that our thoughts - expressed through our recitation of "Korbanot" - be accepted as actual sacrifices as well. (Artzot HaChaim: Eretz Yehuda, ch.1, section 5) *********************************** Rabbanan Sevorai "Rabbanan Sevorai" or "Savoraim" is the name given to the sages who led the Jewish people from the death of the last "Amorah" (Talmudic sage), Ravina II on Wednesday, 13 Kislev, 475 C.E., until the opening of the Geonic Era (589 C.E.). (The origin of the name is unclear.) Last week we explained the role of these sages in finalizing the form of the Talmud. This week we present some of the scant biographical details that are known about these sages. R' Yosei, a student of the last "Amoraim", was Rosh Yeshiva of Pumpedita from 476 (or 500) to 514. Like several other "Savoraim" who were students of Talmudic sages, R' Yosei is occasionally mentioned in the Talmud (see e.g. Beitzah 17a). Among R' Yosei's contemporaries were R' Achai of Bei Chatim (see Ta'anit 18b) and R; Huna Reish Galuta, the "Exilarch" or political leader of the Jews of Bavel (died 508). The "Sealing of the Talmud", i.e. the recognition that the death of the Ravina II, a major change for the worse had taken place in the generation's level of Torah study, occurred in this generation. R' Simona (died 540) and R' Eina succeeded R' Yosei and exerted enormous effort to share the recently completed Talmud Bavli with Jews the world over, thus ensuring that it would become the decisive Halachic source for Jews everywhere. (However, not until the period of the "Geonim" several centuries later was the preeminence of the Babylonian Talmud over the Talmud Yerushalmi clearly established.) In R' Simona's time, the Persian persecution of Babylonian Jewry became so intense that Mar Zutra bar Huna, the Reish Galuta, had no choice but to arm his constituents and rebel against his Persian masters. Although Mar Zutra succeeded for a time - even declaring an independent state - the end result was victory for the Persians and the massacre of Mar Zutra, much of his family, and many of the Jews under his rule. A son of the Reish Galuta, Zutra bar Mar Zutra, escaped and eventually became Rosh Yeshiva in Teverya (Tiberis), Israel. In the days of R' Rovai of Rov, the successor to R' Simona, the 300 plus year old Yeshiva of Pumpedita was forced to close. Thereafter, the major center of Torah learning was to be found in Peroz Shavur, a suburb of Nehardea. The legacy of this generation includes the continuing work of finalizing the language of the Talmud - Rav Rovai is quoted in some versions of Sanhedrin 43a - and the editing of the so-called "Masechtot Ketanot", additional collections of teachings of the "Tannaim" and "Amoraim" which, until this time, had remained in oral form. These include "Masechet Soferim" (laws of writing and reading from a Torah scroll), "Masechet Semachot" (laws of mourning), and other short tractates, all of which can be found in the back of the 16th volume of the standard "Vilna Shas" (the Talmud edition most commonly used today). R' Rovai died in 559. The last Savoraim included R' Giza, R' Sama, and R' Gada. With their students began the period of the "Geonim", the next phase in our history of Torah study. Note: Look for the special "Seder" issue of HaMaayan next week. ******************** Posted by Alan Broder, ajb@grebyn.com (uunet!grebyn!ajb), who should be contacted to request back issues of HaMaayan or to get on or off the direct email mailing list. Shlomo Katz can not receive EMAIL, however I will pass on any comment forwarded to me, or alternately, send your comments care of yehuda@gwuvm.bitnet