Ascent-offerings: An example of transgressing an active commandment that it is no longer possible to perform is neglecting to recite the Shema during its prescribed time. An example of a passive commandment reparable by an active commandment is stealing: If a person steals something, it is possible to atone for the theft by returning the stolen item. If the stolen item has been lost, or the person from whom it was stolen has died, then this option is no longer available and atonement can only be achieved via the ascent-offering.
In the case of these types of transgressions, God forgives us for our misdeeds as soon as we have repented properly, i.e., regretted having committed the misdeed, confessed our guilt, and resolved not to repeat our mistake. (If we have wronged another person, God’s forgiveness is contingent upon our first righting the wrong done to that person.) However, in order to not only be forgiven, i.e., absolved from God’s punishment, but also to be reinstated in His good graces, i.e., to be as beloved by Him as we were before the transgression, an ascent-offering is required. Spending money on an animal that we then watch be consumed in flames on the Altar helps us to both de-materialize and spiritualize our lives.
When the Temple is not standing and it is therefore not possible to offer up sacrifices, the reinstatement into God’s good graces that the sacrifices would have effected can be achieved through fasting, or if fasting is not possible or practical, through giving charity. (It is for this reason that in the past two centuries, charity has all but replaced fasting as a substitute for sacrifices. Recent generations are no longer strong enough to fast frequently while continuing to function at full mental, emotional, and physical capacity.) In each of these cases, we are giving to God some part of our physical selves—in the case of fasting, the body mass we lose, and in the case of charity, the money we could have used to buy food—similar to how in offering up a sacrifice, we were destroying part of our physical property for the sake of spiritual restoration.
According to Rabbi Menachem HaMe’iri, an ascent-offering is required also to atone for having inadvertently neglected to perform an active commandment or for having neglected to perform the active commandment that compensates for transgressing a passive commandment, and in addition, for having inadvertently committed a sin for which the punishment is lashes or death by the court. According to Nachmanides, a person may also bring a voluntary ascent-offering simply as a means of spiritual growth, unoccasioned by a sin.
