Our parasha appears to repeat many of the details which we read last week concerning the ‘ola, minha, shëlamim, and hattath, but there is often a twist, in that last week we dealt with these qorbanoth mi-tzad ha-bë‘alim, from the point of view of the owners on whose behalf and at whose expense the qorban is brought, whilst our parasha deals with them mi-tzad ha-kohanim, from the point of view of those officiating in the Miqdash (as their title proclaims) and actually performing the act of sacrifice.
This difference is reflected in the way each parasha relates to the kohanim. Last week, for instance, we read that after the kohén has burnt a handful of the minha on the altar, והנותרת מן המנחה לאהרן ולבניו קדש קדשים מאשי ד' (“...and what remains [vëha-nothereth] of the minha [belongs] to Aharon and his sons, a holy of holies from Ha-Shem’s burnt offerings”; III, 3), after which the kohanim are not mentioned again. On the other hand, our parasha states explicitly: והנותרת ממנה יאכלו אהרן ובניו מצות תאכל במקום קדש בחצר אהל מועד יאכלוה (“And what remains of it Aharon and his sons will eat; [as] matzoth it shall be eaten in a holy place, in the courtyard of the Tent of Appointment shall they eat it”; VI, 19).
Similarly, in last week’s account of the hattath we find no mention of kohanim eating anything, but rather ואת כל חלבה יסיר כו' והקטיר הכהן המזבחה לריח ניחח לד' וכפר עליו הכהן ונסלח לו (“And all its tallow he shall remove... and the kohén will burn [it] on the altar as a savory aroma for Ha-Shem, and the kohén will atone for him and it will be forgiven him”; IV, 35). On the other hand, our parasha reads: הכהן המחטא אתה יאכלנו במקום קדש תאכל בחצר אהל מועד (“The kohén who makes it a hattath will eat it; in a holy place will it be eaten, in the courtyard of the Tent of Appointment”), followed by כל זכר בכהנים יאכל אתה קדש קדשים היא (“Any male amongst the kohanim will eat it; it is a holy of holies”; VI, 19, 22; ועיי' פי' המשניות לרמב"ם, אהלות פי"ח שאכילת קדשים מ"ע לכהנים ורא"ש בשבועות פ"ג דאיכא נ"מ בין יאכלנו לבין יאכל אותה בענין עיקר החיוב לאכילתם ואין כאן מקום להאריך).
If we examine the one qorban which is eaten by the bë‘alim, the qorban shëlamim, we similarly find no mention at all of the qorban’s consumption in last week’s parasha, and in ours is referred to in an oddly passive sense, e.g. ובשר זבח תודת שלמיו ביום קרבנו יאכל כו' ואם נדר או נדבה זבח קרבנו ביום הקריבו את זבחו יאכל וממחרת והנותר ממנו יאכל (“And the meat of the zevah of the thank-offering of his shëlamim, his qorban, will be eaten.... And if a vow or gift is the zevah of his qorban, on the day he sacrifices his zevah it will be eaten, and on the next day what remains [vëha-nothar] of it will be eaten”; VII, 15-16; zevah refers to the slaughtered meat).
However, the mattënoth këhunna, the portions awarded to the kohanim, are clearly spelt out: כי את חזה התנופה ואת שוק התרומה לקחתי מאת בני ישראל מזבח שלמיהם ואתן אתם לאהרן הכהן ולבניו לחק עולם מאת בני ישראל (“For the breast [hazeh] of waving [tënufa] and the foreleg [shoq] of donation [tëruma] have I taken from the bënei Yisra’él, from the zevah of their shëlamim, and I have given them to Aharon ha-Kohén and his sons for an eternal law from the bënei Yisra’él”; ibid., 34).
Why is the consumption of the zevah shëlamim by the bë‘alim indicated only in this vague, passive way, but the mattënoth këhunna are clearly spelt out, and emphasized as they are?
B.
We begin by defining a few terms.
The Hebrew word translated “what remain” in the above citations is nothar. We can glean some understanding of the word’s actual meaning from a famous dërasha which the Ponevezher Rav, Hrh”g R’ Yoséf Kahaneman זצ"ל, gave shortly after the Second World War to refugees in London: “We are notharim!” he cried, and went on to explain that he and they had all been slated for immolation in the war’s mass sacrifice, spared only bë-hasdei Ha-Shem for His holy purposes. Thus, nothar or nothereth in our context means that portions awarded to the kohanim possess the same sacred nature as the portions of the minha and hattath consigned to the altar. It is awarded to the kohén, as it were, mi-shulhan gavoah, “from the exalted table” of Ha-Shem.
It is in acknowledgment of this fact that tënufa, “waving,” is mandated for these sacred portions. The kohén physically holds them aloft, recognizing and acknowledging their exalted status.
If we examine our parasha carefully, though, we discern that this exalted sacrificial status, mi-shulhan gavoah, should only apply to the hazeh: ידיו תביאינה את אשי ד' את החלב על החזה יביאנו את החזה להניף אתו תנופה לפני ד' (“[The kohén’s] hands will bring the burnt offerings of Ha-Shem, the tallow on the hazeh; he will bring it with the hazeh to wave it, a tënufa before Ha-Shem”; VII, 30). So what of the shoq?
The shoq is termed a tëruma, commonly translated “donation,” and derived from the root of the verb taram, “to donate.” But herein we see the true genius of the Holy Language, for this root is itself derived from a primal root réysh-vav-mem, which signifies a “high” or “exalted” status. It is by donating something for a noble or holy purpose that the object, and the donor, are ennobled and exalted (עיי' א"ז ישיר, פר' תרומה, לשנת תשנ"ט ).
So the shoq and hazeh are not the same, even though, it turns out, both are exalted and subject to tënufa (cf. X, 15); one is handed down from on high, mi-shulhan gavoah, as we have seen, and the other is mërumam, “raised up” by Israel at Ha-Shem’s command. What does this mean?
C.
The Maharal mi-Prag again comes to our aid in trying to understand the sublime profundities of the qorbanoth. The main thing to note about the hazeh, he tells us, is כי החזה מחבר ומקשר הצלעות (“that the hazeh connects and binds the ribs”). There are twelve ribs in an ox, sheep, or goat, apposite the twelve trines of Israel, and it is the institution of the këhunna which binds Israel together and holds them in essential unity in Ha-Shem’s service, ודבר זה הוא התעלות והנפה לישראל (“and this matter is an exaltation and ‘waving’ for Israel”).
To understand why it is so that Israel unified are a more exalted entity than as separate individuals, consider that the Torah has 613 mitzvoth. The most spiritually ambitious member of Israel cannot possibly keep them all, Some, as we see, are reserved for kohanim; and yet there are others, such as the preparation of the dead for burial, for which no kohén need apply. We are all necessary, together, if the exalted mission of actualizing Torah in this world is to be carried out.
So the kohén, says the Maharal, is Divinely mandated to unify Israel in Ha-Shem’s service; hence the award from Above of the hazeh. But it is up to Israel to ratify, as it were, the kohén’s exalted appointment, ולפיכך שוק התרומה, כי השוק הוא דבק בחזה והשוק עוד מרומם את הגוף מן השפלות, שעל ידי השוק עומד הגוף בהתרוממות, וזה חזה התנופה ושוק התרומה (“And therefore [there is] the shoq ha-tëruma, for the shoq is attached to the hazeh, and more: The shoq raises the body up from lowliness, for by means of the shoq the body stands elevated [bë-hithromëmuth] and this is [the relationship between] the hazé ha-tënufa and the shoq ha-tëruma”). Hence, the passive for eating; what is important, even for the bë‘alim, is not who eats it, but that it is eaten, so the shoq is genuinely nothar from Israel’s portion.
These two awards, he goes on, are made specifically from shëlamim, כי הקרבן שלמים הוא הקשור אל השם ואינו בא על חטא , וזה דכתיב בשלמים "אשר יקריב לד' ", כי קרבן זה בלבד הוא הקרבה כמו שאמרנו ולא בא על חטא, וכל שלום הוא על ידי אמצעי אשר הוא רודף שלום כו' ולפיכך הי' מדתו של אהרן לרדוף שלום גם כן בין המתנגדים ולקרב את הבריות לשמים (“for the qorban shëlamim is the one bound to Ha-Shem, and it does not come because of a sin, and this is what is written: ‘which you will bring close to Ha-Shem’ [VII, 11], for this qorban alone is an approach, as we have said, and does not come because of a sin; and all shalom comes about by means of someone in the middle who pursues shalom... and therefore Aharon’s major characteristic was to pursue peace [עיי' אבות פ"א מי"ב], both between antagonists and to bring Creation closer to Heaven”; פירש על הגש"פ, דרוש נאה לשבת הגדול). Shëlamim signify shelémuth, “perfection” resulting in shalom (as noted last week) and are the vehicle to establish that peace-making focal point for Israel and, indeed, the entire world.
D.
Pesah is nearly upon us, and it is worthwhile noting once again that the qorban Pesah specifically falls into the category of shëlamim. We are unable to bring this qorban (though we act in remembrance of it at the séder), or any of the other qorbanoth mandated by the holiday, because we have no Béyth ha-Miqdash. It was destroyed, Hazal tell us, because of the outbreak of sin’ath hinnam, “groundless hatred” (יומא ד:), amongst factions in Israel which undermined and subverted the unity which the kohanim were tasked with cementing and maintaining.
If we wish to merit the restoration of that unity, and of the Béyth ha-Miqdash and the shalom it can bring about, we must strive toward shëlémuth. The first step is the elimination of the proximate cause of the destruction. Each of us must take a good look at himself, as we finish cleaning the hamétz from our souls as from our houses, and see what can be done to bring the sin’ath hinnam to an end, re-establish the unity of Israel in actualizing Torah, and inaugurate the Bayith Shëlishi, in time for next Pesah.
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