Nachmanides on Leviticus 1:9: It is more fitting to listen to the reasons they provide, for as human actions culminate in thought, speech, and action, God commanded that when one sins, he should bring a sacrifice. He is to lay his hands upon it, corresponding to his action, confess with his mouth, corresponding to his speech, and burn upon the altar the sacrifice and the organs, which are the vessels of thought and desire, corresponding to his hands and feet that perform all his work. He is to sprinkle the blood upon the altar corresponding to his blood, his life. This is so that a person will consider, as he performs all these actions, that he has sinned against his God with his body and his soul, and it is fitting that his blood be spilled and his body burned were it not for the mercy of the Creator, who accepted payment from him and atoned through this sacrifice, so that the animal’s blood stands in place of his blood, his soul in place of his soul, and the organs of the sacrifice in place of his own. Some portions are designated to be consumed by the priests, who pray for him and offer the daily sacrifice, so that the multitude may not profit from constant sinning. All these matters are accepted and draw the heart, like the words of agadah.
Sacrifice, thinking that the sacrifice is me—that really, they should have been slaughtering me for atonement—then the sacrifice is not complete. In passing, let us mention that it might be that this is why we do not have sacrifices today. Perhaps nowadays people are not able to experience the intention that when I bring a sacrifice, it is I, myself, that is being sacrificed.
Given that this is the intent in bringing a sacrifice, what does placing the hands on the animal’s head and pushing down symbolize? Why is it so important? Nachmanides explains that placing the hands is an act of infusing my soul into the animal—placing myself within the animal. Obviously, there can be no more intense use of an animal than this. It is an important mitzvah to insert myself into the animal. Now, when the animal is about to be slaughtered, I will experience that it is I that is being slaughtered. In fact, I won't just feel it, it will happen.
This is the benefit to be had in building a Temple and bringing sacrifices. If you want to advocate for having a Temple, you need to understand the reasoning behind it. In light of this idea, the entire Temple is a unification of “man and beast.” The beasts, the animals, are given the opportunity to do good for man, by being offered in his stead. Now we somewhat understand what the first dispute was about: Is it permissible to infuse oneself into an animal on Yom Tov or not?
Returning to ordination, it is easy to understand that ordination accomplishes the same thing. The Rabbi who gives ordination to his disciples imparts of himself, he transfers himself, infuses his essence, into his disciple. This is why ordination in ancient times was performed despite being many times an act of self-sacrifice, as recounted in the Talmud about ordination during times of decree. It is an act of giving oneself that has almost no equal. When a Rabbi performs ordination, a true Rabbi, just as Moses ordained Joshua, it is like infusing himself into his successor. And like ordination to the rabbinate, ordination upon an animal in the Temple is to infuse oneself within it.
(From a class given on 1 Tamuz, 5779)
