As our parasha opens, Moshe is called to the newly erected Mishkan, where Ha-Shem instructs him in the order of sacrifice to be offered there. There are two Hebrew words which are generally rendered “sacrifice” in English, zevah and qorban. The latter is the most common and, as many different commentators have noted, is derived from the same root as qarov, “near, close,” signifying the purpose of the qorbanoth, to bring man and nation near to G-d, to establish a closeness between them.
Our parasha is concerned with the qorbanoth from the point of view of the individual on whose behalf the qorban is offered, and discusses four broad categories: The qorban ‘ola, or “elevation sacrifice,” an animal offering which is burnt up entirely on the altar; the qorban minha, or “gift offering,” which comes in several sub-categories, but generally consists of fine flour, oil, and lëvona (frankincense), shared between the kohanim and the altar; the zevah shëlamim, or “peace offering” (an animal sacrifice shared between the altar, the kohanim, and those offering it); and the hattath, or “sin offering,” brought for overt (if not necessarily intentional) actions in violation of one of the mitzvoth, shared between the kohanim and the altar.
Since the discussion of the qorban minha begins with the words נפש כי תקריב מנחה (“For a soul will offer a minha”; II, 1), as opposed to the term adam, “human being,” used in connecttion with the other qorbanoth, Hazal understand its purpose to be some sort of corrective for the soul, though they do not specify what particular condition or affliction it is intended to correct (עיי' בענין זה ויקרא רבה פ"ג סי' א'-ד'). The Nëtziv, in his Ha‘améq Davar seeks further clarification, and suggests on the basis of I Samuel XXVI, 19, in which David says to King Sha’ul, who has been persecuting him. אם ד' הסיתך בי ירח מנחה (“If Ha-Shem has incited you against me, let Him smell a minha”) שבא להשיג כפרה ורצוי על השחתת הנפש במדות (“that it comes to obtain atonement and conciliation for the ruin of the soul through [bad] qualities [middoth]”), which seems to imply that the minha is also a sort of hattath.
This, then, suggests a problem with the logical sequencing of the four categories of qorbanoth in our parasha, since it would appear that the minha and hattath should be grouped together; why does the zevah shëlamim intervene between them?
B.
As should be obvious to anyone possessed of a חוש חי לשפה העברית (“living sense of the Hebrew language”), the word shëlamim is derived from the same root as shalom, “peace,” whence its translation “peace offering.” Hazal tell us, גדול שלום שכל הברכות טובות ונחמות שהקב"ה מביא על ישראל חותמין בשלום – בק"ש "פורס סוכת שלום", בתפלה "עושה שלום", ובברכת כהנים "וישם לך שלום" ואין לי אלא בברכות בקרבנות מנין? "זאת התורה לעלה למנחה ולחטאת ולאשם ולמילואים ולזבח השלמים" וגו' (“Great is peace, for all the blessings, good things, and consolations which the Holy One, Blessed is He, brings upon Israel are sealed with peace: In reading the Shëma‘ [in the evening, it is followed by] ‘Who spreads the shelter of peace’; in the tëfilla, [it ends with] ‘Who makes peace’; and in the birkath kohanim [Numbers VI, ], ‘and He will grant you peace’; and I have only [these examples] on blessings – whence [do I see this] with qorbanoth? ‘This is the Torah concerning the ‘ola, minha, hattath, ashan, the installations [of Aharon and his sons as kohanim] and the zevah ha-shëlamim’....”; ויקרא רבה פ"ט סי' ט'). In next week’s parasha, the phrase ‘this is the Torah’ introduces each of the categories there discussed, and shëlamim come at the very end.
In his commentary on the Haggada shel Pesah, the Maharal mi-Prag observes that, from the same root as shëlamim and shalom is derived the word shalém (“whole, complete, perfect”) with its abstract noun shëlémuth, and remarks that in the above examples the bërachoth are “sealed” with shalom כי השלום הוא סוף של דבר כדכתיב "כי אחרית לאיש שלום" כי על ידי השלום הדבר הוא בשלמות והשלמות הוא בסוף כי בהתחלה אין הדבר בשלמות וכאשר הדבר הוא בשלום הוא בשלמות כי לכך נקרא שלום וגו' (“for shalom is the end of a matter, as it is written, ‘for the culmination of a man is shalom’ [Psalms XXXVII, 37], for through shalom the matter comes to be in shëlémuth, and shëlémuth is at the end [of a process], for at the beginning the matter is not in shëlémuth, and when the matter is at peace [bë-shalom] it is in shëlémuth, for it is for this reason, it is called shalom....”; מתוך דרוש נאה לשבת הגדול).
In short, the reason that the qorban shëlamim occurs at the end of the series is because it is reflective of the perfection which comes at the end of a process. This is a fine explanation concerning the order in next week’s parasha, but why, in ours, does it fall between the minha and hattath?
C.
The essence of the qorban ‘ola is expressed by its name. As the Maharal remarks elsewhere (נתבות עולם ח"ב נתיב הענוה פ"ב), a human being is elevated by the very hithma‘atuth, (“diminution or reduction of self”) implied the total dedication of this part of his capital to Ha-Shem, from which he derives no physical benefit, since it is burnt completely on the altar. This measure of dedication is the very tachlith, the purpose, of human existence, and so stands at the beginning of the beginning of the process.
As Rashi points out in comments on I, 3 and II, 1, both the qorban ‘ola and the minha are in the class of qorbënoth nëdava, “voluntary sacrifices” (as opposed to the hattath, which is a hova, an “obligation: or “debt” owed by the hoté’, the sinner seeking atonement. Rashi thus explains the use of the word nefesh, the “animal soul” of the offeror, אמר הקב"ה מעלה אני עליו כאלו הקריב נפשו (‘said the Holy One, Blessed is He, I consider it for him as though he has brought his soul as a sacrifice”).
Since the minha is not necessarily a hova, this implies that the “atonement” or kappara of which the Nëtziv writes is not necessarily occasioned by some specific failing caused by bad middoth, the hashhathath ha-nefesh to which he refers in the case of Sha’ul, but rather more generally a reference to tiqqun ha-middoth, the effort required to adjust the measures (the true translation of middoth) of the various character traits inherent in the nefesh to bring them into line with the Divine expectations outlined in the Torah, “bringing close” one’s soul to G-d, after its alienation through insertion into the body.
Only in this way can shëlémuth, in any meaningful sense of the word, be accomplished by mortal human beings. That it can be accomplished is evidenced by the Oral Torah’s insistence both that אין מיתה בלא חטא (“there is no death without sin”; שבת נ"ה.) and also, e.g., that Mt. Nëvo was so called שנקברו בו ג' מתים הללו שמתו לא בידי עבירה זה משה אהרן ומרים (“since three people were buried there who had died not through any violation: Moshe, Aharon, and Miriam”; ספרי האזינו פיסקא ל"ג). Nëvo is derived from the word nëvu’a, prophecy (עמק הנצי"ב הגמות וביאורים שם).
Our parasha considers the sacrifices from the point of view of each individual on whose behalf they are carried out. It is for this reason, I believe, that the sacrifices are ordered ‘ola, minha and shëlamim, and only then hattath; because of those rare individuals capable of achieving shëlémuth through a process of pure dedication and applied Torah, in the form of tiqqun ha-middoth.
But there are not many of them, and so when, in next week’s parasha, we go on to consider the qorbanoth from the point of view of the kohanim who officiate in the Mishkan/Miqdash and bring the qorbanoth on behalf of everybody, the hattath and asham precede the shëlamim. For the vast majority of us, the path to ehëlémuth lies through tëshuva, through repentance and return to Ha-Shem.
D.
We are now in the run-up to Passover. In this light, it is worthwhile remembering that the qorban Pesah is a special case of shëlamim.
Hazal compare the yétzer ha-ra‘ to the së’or sheba-‘isa, the “yeast in the dough” (ברכות י"ז.), because just as the leaven puffs up the dough with gases, increasing its volume without adding any substance to it all (indeed, it consumes a certain amount of the dough), so does the yetzer ha-ra‘ affect the human nefesh through such middoth ra‘oth as ga’ava (pride). Hence, whilst cleaning hamétz, leavened material, out of our homes, the sëfarim ha-qëdoshim advise that we should be striving to remove the spiritual hamétz from our souls. Hence, the entire preparation for Pesah is a process of tëshuva.
Done correctly, the resultant national shëlémuth will lead to the restoration of the Béyth ha-Miqdash and the renewal of the qorban Pesah, the shëlamim, and shalom, at the end of the journey.
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