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“I will lay your cities in ruins and make your sanctuaries desolate, and I will not smell your pleasing aromas. (Vayikra 26:31)
As the Jewish People decline and veer away from serving Hashem, the greater the chasm between them and Hashem will become. The parsha recounts the multiple “chances” Hashem will give us, and how we will know that’s what He’s doing. Here, we are told that Hashem will do more and more damage to us, in response to the damage we cause to the relationship.
In this posuk, Hashem informs us that our cities, including the holy places, will be laid waste, and He will not accept the aroma of our korbanos. It seems odd. Klal Yisrael is serving other gods; what korbanos are they offering? What pleasing aroma is there?
The meforshim offer different, yet similar, approaches to this. While there were some faithful kohanim, who undoubtedly offered sacrifices with proper intention, the fact that they were disconnected from the general Jewish population meant those offerings could bring no atonement which would benefit the Jews at large.
No longer were throngs of Jews ascending the Har Hashem to serve Him. The lonely men of faith were few and far between, no longer able to influence the nation. They performed the avoda, but it was disjointed. The kohanim were not buoyed by a population which needed them.
Even though Jews may have desired the sacrifices offered to Hashem, their hearts weren’t in it. Hedging their bets by serving Hashem while also chasing idols and all sorts of physical evils was not something He would accept. The more the Jews felt they didn’t need Hashem, the more distant He allowed Himself to become, until they would realize how empty their lives were.
Serving Hashem is not built on rituals or ceremonies, but on the relationship wherein we desire to be close to Him and wish to have Hashem in our lives constantly. Even if we offer pleasing aromas to Him, He will not be appeased unless they come with our devotion and dedication to Him.
When Noach failed to save his generation, he regretted it tremendously. He realized he had let Hashem down, too, and this pained him greatly. At that time, he offered korbanos, and Hashem chose to accept the pleasing aromas because Noach was trying to rebuild the relationship.
This is a lesson we all need to learn, hopefully before it comes to the troubles Hashem uses to remind us just how much He loves us, and how much He protects us when we return that love.
Once upon a time, a Kollel fellow had a fight with his wife. She was very upset by something he had said or done (or not said or not done) and she was barely speaking to him. Not knowing how to respond to this, he went to his Rosh Yeshiva who counseled him on how to restore peace in the home.
“Bring her some nice flowers. It will make her feel better.” The young man dutifully went out and got a lovely bouquet. He brought them home to his delighted wife, who became markedly less delighted as he lovingly said: “Here. My Rosh Yeshiva said these would make you feel better.”
©2024 – J. Gewirtz
