In Parshas Achrei Mos we read the parsha of shechutei chutz; it’s the case of somebody who shechts a korban outside of the azarah. What happened? He took an animal, a kosher korban –it has no blemish and so it’s fit to be offered up on the mizbeyach – but instead of slaughtering it inside the azarah, אֶל פֶּתַ ח אֹהֶל מוֹעֵד like the Torah commands, he slaughtered it outside, in Yerushalayim.
So the Torah says, אּוָם יֵחָשֵׁב לָאִישׁ הַהּד –It will be considered for that man as blood, ךָם שָׁפָּד – he shed blood (Vayikra 17:4). It means that he’s chayav kareis but it’s explained in the Torah with the idea that he ‘shed blood’ – and that needs an explanation.
Now it’s true that he shed blood of an animal needlessly; and not any animal – it was a hekdesh animal, a holy korban – but how can you call that ךָם שָׁפָּד, shedding blood? He killed a sheep or a cow, that’s all. It’s not murder! Even if it’s done unnecessarily and even if you did it with cruelty; it’s wrong of course, but nobody would call it shefichas domim. But it says here ם יֵחָשֵׁב לָאִישׁ הַהּד – it’s considered a blood-guilt for that person. It means that the words ‘he spilled blood’ are talking about murder.
Now, that’s hard to understand. Murder?! Certainly, the Torah says שְׁחָטוֹ פֶּתַח אֹהֶל מוֹעֵדּו and he ignored that mitzvah – but how can we call it shefichas domim? He didn’t kill anyone!
It Is Opportunicide
And the answer is ךָם שָׁפָּד – He did kill a person! And that person is himself! He shed his own blood! Shefichas domim! Now, suicide, that’s a very serious matter, a very serious crime; and it needs to be explained because that we surely don’t understand. How did he spill his own blood?
So first we have to understand what a korban is; what a glorious opportunity it is when a person goes into the Beis Hamikdash to slaughter an animal and put it on the mizbeyach for Hashem. You know what is happening there? It’s not the animal you’re offering to Hashem; it’s yourself. A korban is an experience of being makriv yourself to Hashem.
That’s why if you ever read in some book where an apikoris is trying to ridicule our Torah and he says that the Temple sacrifices are reminiscent of ancient human sacrifices, so you should know that he’s absolutely right. That’s what it is.
The Ancients Knew Better
Because in ancient times people meant business. And it was a question that the pious ones asked: םהּדַמָּה אֲקַּב’– With what can I come towards Hashem? קֵי מָרוֹםֹלַף לֵאּאִכ – with what can I show how humbled I am in my gratitude? (Michah 6:6).
Now this question may not bother us, but it’s not a compliment to us that it doesn’t. The truth is we say similar words all the time, מָה אָשִׁיב לַה' – With what can I pay back Hashem, לוֹ הִיוַּגְמָּל תּכּעָלָי – for all the good that He did for me? (Tehillim 116:12) only that we don’t mean it at all. But the people of antiquity, they did.
And they said כוֹרִי פִּשְׁעִיבֵּןּהַאֶת – “Should I give my firstborn for my sin of ingratitude, טְנִיבּפְּרִיַחַת נַפְשִׁיתּ – the fruit of my body in gratitude for the life you give me?” (Michah ibid.) They wanted to sacrifice their children; they wanted to sacrifice themselves. Nothing else would suffice except for their own flesh and blood. The only thing you could do was to give back to Him what He gave you; to sacrifice yourself to Him.
And don’t think it's a silly thing, a barbarous thing. Why shouldn’t we do it? It’s only barbarous because people are divorced from the realities of the world. The truth of the world is there’s a Hashem, a Creator, and He gives us so much. And the most genuine way of expressing that we owe everything to Him – not only the details of life but life itself – would be to sacrifice ourselves to Him.
The Right Thing To Do
As horrible as that seems to our modern ears, we have to realize that intellectually that’s the right way; we enjoyed sixty, seventy years of life, whatever it is, but sooner or later the debt of gratitude to the Borei who gave us our lives requires that we should be willing to give it back to Him. We should be obligated to sacrifice ourselves as korbanos to Hashem as the ultimate expression of gratitude.
We’re fortunate only that Hakadosh Baruch Hu, in His great mercies, prohibits that. He says “מָהּוַעַשׂ לוֹ מְאּאֶל הַנַּעַר וְאַל תִָּשְׁלַח יָדְךּאַל ת – Don’t harm yourselves.” Instead take an אַיִל אַחַר, take an animal and sacrifice that in your place.
And that’s why from the very beginning of our nation we sacrificed not ourselves but rams and cattle; and the purpose was that – to show that we are willing to give our lives for Hashem. The bringing of a korban is intended to be a dramatization, a vicarious demonstration of actually seeing yourself slaughtered. You slaughter a lamb or a bull and the blood is sprinkled on the mizbeyach as if to say, “Ribono Shel Olam, I give myself back to You!”
The Therianthropy Transformation
That’s why the person who is bringing the korban first puts his hand on its head: אֶת יָדוְֹךוְסָמַעַל רֹאשׁ הָעֹלָה. You put your hand on the head of the animal because you are making it your agent, your representative. Like when Moshe put his hands on Yehoshua; from now on Yehoshua took over and was a shaliach of Moshe Rabbeinu. And so your olah is a representative of you.
So here you’re standing in the azarah with your sheep and you’re preparing your mind for the tremendous experience. You understand what’s going to happen now, and you’re expected to raise up your mind, your thoughts, to the great pinnacle of self-sacrifice. This korban is going to bring you karov, close, to Hashem. Korban means you’re makriv, you’re mekarev yourself to Hashem to feel that you belong to Him. But not only your loyalties and your ideals you’ll give to Him; mamesh your dam and your chelev and your flesh belong to Him. And you’re ready now to experience it!
So you pick up the kli shareis, that holy knife, and you cut the neck and the blood gushes out; its blood coming from your neck. You feel your own neck is being slit, shtei simanim, and your blood is gushing out.
“That’s me. That’s what I want. Hashem doesn’t let me but that’s what I want.” And your blood runs cold! It’s a tremendous thrill, a chilling experience! “My own blood is pouring out!”
The Kohen and Your Blood
And the kohen is standing there with a bowl, under your neck and catching the blood. “That’s my blood in that hekdesh keili. What’s he doing now with my life-blood?”
And the kohen runs over to the mizbeyach and sprinkles the blood on the edges. Your blood! It means ‘This is for You Hashem. My life is being given to You.”
And then they take the animal and skin it – when the skin is removed, it resembles a human body a little – and they put one at a time each limb on the mizbeyach; not the whole thing together. Each limb is brought separately onto the fires of the mizbeyach to show Hashem we’re so grateful for each part of life too. “You gave me an arm, so I’m offering up my arm to You. You gave me legs for so long; here, I’m returning my legs to You in gratitude.”
Ooh wah, was that a thrilling experience! The blood runs cold with emotion just thinking about it. We shiver! The eivarim, the limbs, and the cheilev, the fats, that’s you on the mizbeyach! And as the fire burns and goes up, the smoke of the burning korban, it’s the smoke of your own body being burned and going up to Hashem.
You’re offering your entire body in the smoke to Hashem. You’re going up now in the smoke; up and up and up to Hashem. And רַח ה' אֶת רֵיחַּי וַהַנִּי חֹחַ – Hashem breathes in, kavyachol, that pleasant savor and He has nachas ruach from the loyalty of the people who wish to serve Him with their bodies.
Bamboozled by Blood-Spillers
Today we have lost perspective in appreciating what is meant by a sacrifice. We have been propagandized and bamboozled by gentile writers and ignorant Jewish writers who have belittled offerings for the greater glory of substitute religions. ‘Judaism,’ they say, ‘was a religion of sacrifice, of slaughtering; it was a bloody religion’.
But what are they doing the last two thousand years? They slaughter Jews like cattle. The ‘religion of love’ that disdains offerings slits Jewish throats instead. Or they hacked Jews to death with axes. But to sacrifice cattle in a Temple to a G-d? Oh no, never! That’s brutal; it’s terrible. It’s bloody and antiquated.
And because the world has been poisoned by this attitude so even we lost sight of the great benefit of korbanos. The modern Jew – I mean the Orthodox Jew, the one in Williamsburg even – lost sight of the importance and the value of sacrifices.
But for the Jew of antiquity – and we look forward to that again – it was an impressive experience to bring an offering. A person who went through this was never the same again because he knew that he had given himself entirely to Hakadosh Baruch Hu. A man who brought an offering was no longer the same person.
Cry Over Spilled Blood
And that’s what it was supposed to be for the man in our parsha. It was going to be that, but instead it was nothing. You had an animal that was perfect, a tomim, fit to be a korban. And you were makdish it and now you’re ready for a great experience – you’re going to be makriv yourself on the mizbeyach to your Creator. If only you had taken it inside the azarah and slaughtered it as it should have been slaughtered, you would be changed for life when you saw how that korban was being offered up. You would have gained a tremendous iluy, an elevation of your mind that would accompany you all your life.
But you took this korban and slaughtered it outside – outside, it’s 100% a waste. It becomes ossur; it’s useless. It’s not a korban, a coming close, anymore. And so this man squandered his great opportunity.
And so whose blood did he shed? His own blood. He wasted an opportunity to fulfill his purpose in this world and therefore ם יֵחָשֵׁב לָאִישׁ הַהּד. For wasting that opportunity to gain that tremendous experience, that thrill of being devoted to Hashem with all of his life and body, ם שָׁפָּךּד – he’s chayav kareis; because he shed his own blood.
The reason why blood is coursing through your veins right now is so that you should accomplish something with yourself in this world. And if you’re taking an opportunity for perfection of your personality and throwing it away, that’s killing yourself; you’re spilling the blood of your life.
