A.
Our parasha continues the theme of last week’s reading, the difference being that whereas last week’s reading discussed the qorbanoth from the point of view of the person brining the qorban, our parasha considers them from the point of view of the officiant, the kohén.
At present we have no Béyth ha-Miqdash, no altar on which to offer the sacrifices whose manifest purpose is to obvious from the very word qorban: To establish a qurva (“closeness”) between man G-d, whether on the general human level, the national level for Israel, or the level of “R’ Yisra’él”, the individual. The prophets of Israel are united in assuring us that this lack is temporary, that one day the Beyth ha-Miqdash will re-established, and the holy nation will again be assembled in its holy land under its constitution, the Torah.
B.
With this in mind, our attention is drawn to a form of qorban shëlamim (a sacrifice whose meat is shared between the kohanim and the parties to the sacrifice) called a qorban toda: אם על תודה יקריבנו וגו' (“If for a matter of thangsgiving [toda] one is maqriv it....; VII, 12) begins the passage. The midrash tells us, commenting on this verse: לע"ל כל הקרבנות בטלים וקרבן תודה אינו בטל כל התפילות בטילות ההודאה אינה בטילה ה"ד "קול ששון וקול שמחה קול חתן וקול כלה קול אמרים הודו את ד' צב-אות" וגו זו הודאה. "מבאים תודה בית ד'" זה קרבן תודה. וכן דוד אמר "עלי אלקים נדריך אשלם תודת לך" "תודה" אכ"כ אלא "תודת" ההודאה וקרבן תודה (“In the future to come [i.e., the Messianic age], all the qorbanoth will be abolished and the qorban toda will not be abolished; all the tëfilloth will be abolished, and the hoda’a [“prayer of thanksgiving”] will not be abolished, as it is written: ‘The voice of rejoicing and the voice of happiness, the voice of the groom and the voice of the bride, the voice of those saying, "Give thanks to Ha-Shem Tzëva-oth”' [Jeremiah XXXIII, 11], this is the hoda’a. ‘Those bringing a toda to Ha-Shem’s house’ [ibid.], this is the qorban toda. And so did David say, ‘Upon me, G-d, are Your vows; I shall pay todoth to You’ [Psalms XLVI, 13]; toda is not written here, but todoth, [both] the hoda’a and the qorban toda”; ויקרא רבה פ"ט סי' ז' וע"ע תנחומא פרשת אמור סי' י"ד שם אמרינן כעין זה).
In other words, the various offerings intended to expiate sins will no longer be necessary, because the reign of the yétzer ha-ra‘ will have been broken, and sin in general will be a thing of the past. Similarly, we shall no longer have to beseech Ha-Shem for the restoration of the Davidic line, our return to the Holy Land, the rebuilding of Jerusalem, the restoration of the Sanhedrin, or protection from and the elimination of our enemies, for all of these things will have been accomplished. What will remain are expressions of our thanks, the hoda’a and the qorban toda.
Our midrash emphasizes the link which the Prophet makes between the bride and groom and the qorban toda, and indeed Rabbénu Bëhayé tells us, in a comment on VI, 8, that it is customary when we have a Béyth ha-Miqdash for the bride and groom to bring a qorban toda. And yet, the Talmud defines the purpose of the toda: ארבעה צריכין להודות יורדי הים הולכי מדברות ומי שהי' חולה ונתרפא ומי שהי' חבוש בבית האסורים ויצא וגו' (“Four [people] are required to give thanks: Those who go down to the sea, those who travel in unpopulated areas, one who is sick and recovers, and one who is imprisoned and released....”, all of which are derived from Psalms CVII, 21ff.; ברכות נ"ד: ).
From this it would appear that there is an actual hiyyuv of hoda’a and toda when one has come successfully out of a dangerous situation (with G-d’s help, always and of course). If so, why should Rabbénu Bëhayé think that a newly wed couple should bring a qorban toda? Are we to understand that they are in some physical danger, comparable to a deadly disease, arduous journey, or imprisonment?
C.
Rashi, I believe, provides the clue here. He tells us that the first clause of our passage (cited supra) means אם על דבר הודאה על נס שנעשה לו וגו' (“If, for a matter of thanksgiving due to a miracle [nés] which has been done for him....”), and proceeds to cite the very cases mentioned by the Talmud as obligating one in hoda’a, to include Psalms CVII, 21 in support of the entire premise: יודו לד' חסדו ונפלאותיו לבני אדם (“They should thank Ha-Shem [for] His kindness and His wonders for human beings....”). Hence, we see both that our Talmudic passage relates to the qorban toda as well as the tëfillath hoda’a, and indeed, our psalm goes on: ויזבחו זבחי תודה ויספרו מעשיו ברנה (“And they will slaughter thank offerings and tell of His deeds with joyous song”; ibid., 22).
But the implication of Rashi’s choice of words is that one ought to bring a qorban toda for any nés which one perceives, to include acts of Divine kindness which do not necessarily involve any overt danger. If so, why do Hazal emphasize (and Rashi cite) an obligation to bring a qorban toda stemming from rescue from danger?
The reason is that most people seldom perceive the nissim which surround them on a daily basis. It is a universal human tendency to consider shalom vë-shalva, peace and prosperity, to be a normal, “natural” state of affairs, and moments of great peril, pur‘anuyoth vë-sakkanoth, to be exceptional and extraordinary. If anything, the opposite is true; but we live cocooned in Divine kindness, for the most part, and are, as a rule, sensitive to the reality of the nissim around us only when our noses are rubbed in it, by being shown both the danger and the salvation.
So what Rashi is telling us is that any time one recognizes a nés being done, just as one does when one comes out of a dangerous situation successfully, it is time to bring a qorban toda. This is why our newlyweds should be alive to the miracle of their having found each other, for Hazal say, קשה לזווגם כקריעת ים סוף (“It is as difficult to pair them up as splitting Yam Suf”; סנהדרין כ"ב.), which surely means that Divine intervention, a nés, is necessary. And so is hoda’a.
D.
The Shla”h ha-qadosh tells us (עיי' פרשת וישב) that there is an intimate connection between the parashoth and the seasons in which they are read. As this Sabbath is immediately followed by the holiday of Purim, which celebrates the rescue of the Jews from the evil plot of Haman and Ahashvérosh, as told in the Book of Esther, our parasha must in some way allude to it.
One place to seek this allusion is, I believe, in this matter of the qorban toda. As the daily nissim which occur for our benefit are hidden behind the imaginary veil which we con-ceive to be “nature” and its laws, so, too, is the Divine hand not revealed in the Book of Esther; G-d’s name is not mentioned even once in the entire book. Its events are presented entirely in a naturalistic mode, precisely as it must have appeared to the people of that day. However, the midrash (אסתר רבה פ"ג סי' י') betrays His hiding place, in the 169 occurrences of the word ha-melech (“the king”) not directly associated with the name Ahashvérosh. Indeed, the very name of the great queen and of the Book, Esther, means “hidden,” derived, as it is, from the root samech-tav-réysh “secret, hidden, sheltered” (עיי' חולין קל"ט:).
The recognition of the true source of that epic salvation, and the resultant së‘udath hoda’a with which we mark it to this day, is the heart and core of the Jewish religious consciousness, in the spirit of the qorban toda.
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