Offer Yourself
Pearls of Wisdom from the Parshah
ה' (ויקרא ב, א)
ַה לָחְנִן מַּבְרָיב קִרְקַי תִּ כׁשֶפֶנְו
A soul that brings a grain offering to Hashem. (Vayikra 2:1)
It does not say the word “soul” in reference to any other voluntary offerings; only in reference to the grain offering. Who usually brings grain as his voluntary offering? It’s the poor person. Hakadosh Baruch Hu said: I consider it for him as if he offered his soul. (Rashi)
Let’s say you were standing by the entrance to Beis Hamikdash and saw a rich man walk in with a nice, fat bull to offer to Hashem. Then you saw a poor person walk in carrying a bag of wheat flour. His offering wouldn’t look very impressive at all.
But Hakadosh Baruch Hu sees it quite differently. The small amount of flour that was brought, despite all the difficulty and self-sacrifice involved, is immensely significant to Him, as if the poor man offered his very life, his “soul.” And in fact, that is what the poor man did. He brought the last pennies he had, to offer them on the altar of ahavas Hashem.
Nowadays, we don’t have korbanos. We have no altar to atone for us. But we can still express our love for Hashem in various ways.
And the best of them is learning the Torah Hakedoshah. This is more significant in Hashem’s eyes than all the korbanos. And here, too, we have the poor man’s korban and the rich man’s korban. How so?
Let’s say a man drags himself into shul after a hard day’s work, sits down at his regular Gemara shiur, and tries with his last ounce of energy to keep his eyes open and concentrate on the Rav’s explanation of the daf. If you were standing on the side and watching him, it wouldn’t seem very impressive at all. That’s not what shpitz learning looks like.
We may not think much of it, but Hakadosh Baruch Hu does. To Him, it is significant as if this man offered his very soul. And in fact, it is so. He gave his last ounce of energy for Torah and ahavas Hashem.
This applies as well to a talmid chacham who learns at night when he is tired and worn out. He devotedly keeps on learning more and more, despite the pain and strain involved. It is significant to Hashem as if he poured out his blood and fat on the Mizbeach. From it arises a pleasing fragrance to Hashem, opening for him the Heavenly gates of berachah, for him and for the whole Jewish people.
