Withholding One’s Blessings

The Alter of Kelm, zt”l, discusses the awful consequences of being penny-pinching. “Miserliness is a reprehensible middah. Rabbeinu Yonah teaches that this defect is the source of all bad middos, since a person afflicted with it is liable to do any evil to avoid paying money. One who is enthralled with making money will eventually fall into very low places. His greed will make it easy for him to lose touch with what is important, as Rabbeinu Tam writes in Sefer Hayashar.
“Kayin was one of the first human beings and was clearly very spiritually developed. He understood why we bring korbanos from his own intellect and he brought a sacrifice. In addition, Kayin knew that only Hevel’s sacrifice was pleasing to Hashem.
The Alter continued, “Nevertheless, despite all of his advantages, Kayin killed his brother. What caused this? His lack of open-handedness, since if he had been generous, his korban would have been accepted. Kayin reasoned that beauty in serving Hashem was unnecessary, since the main thing is one’s intention. If what Hashem wants is what is in a person’s heart, why waste resources?
“Although this is true regarding someone who has nothing or very little to give, it is an error for one who has more means to use this an excuse. He should give what he has, in accordance with his means, to Hashem. It is only by bringing the best we can that we show that we are willing to give anything we have for Hashem.”
This is the meaning of Moshe’s words to Yisrael: “When you ascend to the land, sacrifice yashrus, not chovos.” This teaches that one should bring a sacrifice which is fitting, not a cheap offering that is below his means.
But the Bamidbar Yehudah, zt”l, explains differently. “Moshe was telling them the right way to approach Hashem. We must always focus on yashrus, what is righteous about the Jewish people. Never chovos, their sins or deficiencies.”

The Dread of Death

Rabbeinu Yonah, zt”l, writes that one who is happy only on people’s birthday but is deeply saddened for the deceased on the day he dies lacks true understanding. Rav Moshe Shmuel Shapiro, zt”l, explains, “Why should one be sad for the departed? We believe that every person has a mission to fulfill in this world and when it is done he is recalled. Rabbeinu Yonah alludes to a famous parable to illustrate this concept. Once there a merchant who sent his son out to do business in a distant land. When the son has completed his time abroad and returned home to his father, is the departed to be pitied? Surely not! On the contrary, it is good that the son returns to his father since the purpose of his leaving in the first place was to make a profit and return home.”
So we should not feel that death is a great loss for the one who dies. But sometimes people take this too far, as Rav Zalman Sorotzkin, zt”l, explained regarding the purpose of melikah as opposed to shechitah. “Why does shechitah suffice for he rich man’s sacrifice but the poor man’s must have melikah? Why not do shechitah on bird korbanos like we do for animals? To understand this we must consider why sacrifices are slaughtered. This is to break the heart of the sinner since he will contemplate that it is fitting to kill him instead of the animal. That is enough to break the heart of a wealthy man who brings an animal, but what about a poor man? He has such a hard life that he may literally prefer death. After all, once it’s over he will stop suffering and eventually enjoy his eternal reward. This is why we do melikah which is much more painful. This is to show that until one dies things can also be very bitter. And death itself can also be very painful. It is only in this way that the poor person will also break his heart and do teshuvah.”

The Avodah of Korbanos

Rabbeinu Yonah, zt”l, explains the way in which the avodah of korbanos relates to us during our lengthy exile. “When they slaughtered the sacrifice, the man who brought it would feel a powerful identification with the offering and would cry tears of pity while praising Hashem and declaring, ‘Master of the world! If not for Your great mercy it would have been me who was slaughtered just like my sacrifice. This would have been fitting since I have transgressed Your commandments. May it be Your will Hashem, my G-d and the G-d of my fathers, that slaughtering this sacrifice should be considered as if I myself had been killed for my sins. For is revealed to You that I would do this to myself to atone for my sins if this was Your will...’
“The penitent would react the same way when the blood was sprinkled, since he would feel as though it were his blood that was sprinkled. And the same was true of all avodos. The kohein was likened to the ministering angels who offer the nefashos of the tzaddikim on the supernal altar.
“Know that when we pray we are like one who brings a sacrifice to Hashem. Our souls are bound to the supernal world of neshamos and the shaliach tzibbur parallels the ministering angels who offer sacrifices to Hashem. Like Chana in her famous prayer, we must pour out our nefesh to Hashem, as the verse states, 'ואשפך את נפשי לפני ה''. She prayed with her entire heart and this was considered by Hashem as if she sacrificed herself to Him.
“This is the meaning of the verse, 'ה' צלך על יד ימינך'—‘Hashem is your shadow upon your right hand.’ Just as a shadow mirrors our actions, so too does Hashem act toward us as we act toward Him. If we cry to Him, He is right there crying alongside us. If we distance ourselves from Him, He distances Himself from us. And when we draw near to Him, He draws close to us.”