Offering Sacrifices Today

. The Minchas Chinuch, zt”l, explains that even those who argue nevertheless admit that the makom hamikdash retained its holiness since Dovid purposely did not conquer it. Instead he bought it, sanctifying it for all time.
Rav Shlomo Ulman, zt”l, the author of Yerios Shlomo, asked the Chasam Sofer, zt”l, if there was any way to permit offering korbanos on Har Habayis in our times.
“Presumably this is not possible,” the Chasam Sofer replied. “It is not feasible to offer korbanos there nowadays either because the government will not allow this or due to our defilement. Since we are all tamei mes, someone who goes on har habayis is liable to the punishment of kareis. So until the hidden cache of the ashes of the parah adumah is found, this is apparently forbidden.
“However, the Kaftor V’ferach, zt”l, records a fascinating story regarding this question which seems to teach that there are leniencies in this regard. When the author of Kaftor V’ferach journeyed to Eretz Yisrael he merited to make it to Yerushalayim. While there he showed his sefer to Rabbeinu Boruch who learned through the entire thing and offered a critique.
“When the Kaftor Vaferach mentioned that presumably one who enters the makom habayis today when we are tamei mes is liable for kareis, Rabeinu Boruch agreed but qualified this with a story. ‘In the year 5017, Rabbeinu Chananel of Paris wished to come to Yerushalayim and offer korbanos.’ I was in such a rush to go through the entire sefer that I was unable to ask him two obvious questions on this. Firstly, what about our tumah? Secondly, how can we be sure that the kohein designated to perform the sacrifice is truly a kohein, since we no longer have absolute assurances of the lineage of kohanim?
“But then I realized that at least tumah is not a problem since we are all temaim...”

The Breads and the Lambs of Shavuos

The Rema, zt”l, explains why we bring the breads and two sheep on Shavuos.
He wrote, “The two sheep brought on Shavuos represent the shnei luchos habris as well as the dual declaration, נעשה ונשמע, through which we merited them. The two breads brought along with them allude to the oral Torah which corresponds to every element of the written Torah.
“This explains the halachah that if the shtei halechem are brought without the two lambs they are accepted, but not vice versa. This teaches that the main thing is the oral Torah. One who delves in the oral torah and neglects the written Torah is considered to be in a post facto state of completion. But the person who delves only in the written Torah is compared to one who has no G-d, as our sages revealed. This is also why the two lambs must be alive while they are waved together with the breads. Yet the lambs are also waved since one who does not know the written Torah is sorely lacking. Clearly the written Torah is truly essential, otherwise why did Hashem give it to us?
“Since the sacrifices brought on Shavuos symbolize the intrinsic wholeness of the Jewish people when we delve into the written and oral Torah, there is no sin offering brought in the mussaf of Shavous. The reason we wave the lambs and breads in all six directions is to allude to the revelation at Sinai. On that great day Hashem’s voice was heard resonating from all directions. This is why the chest and foreleg of the lambs were waved again; this alludes to the waving of other sacrifices.
He concluded, “We wave both the foreleg—which alludes to actions—and the chest, which is called the חזה in Hebrew. The chest is where the heart is. It is called חזה, which also means vision, to teach that one perceives the Divine through a pure heart. We wave both to teach that a talmid chacham has to be תוכו כברו—his actions and his heart must both be directed only to Hashem.”

Never Forget the Tachlis

It was motzei Shabbos and Rav Yosef Dov Soleveitchik, zt”l, known by most simply as “the Rav,” needed a minyan for ma’ariv. He wandered into a Modzhitzer shtiebl where, despite the lateness of the hour, the chassidim were singing with intense dveikus. After waiting a time he asked when they would daven ma’ariv. “What, you want to bring in the week already?” was the indignant reply.
The Modzhitzer chassidim worked hard for their livelihood often with physical labor, as water carriers and the like. It would certainly be fair to wonder where they got the strength to be so involved in spirituality despite their heavy involvement in materialism the entire week. The following words of the Divrei Yisrael of Modzhitz, zt”l, answers sheds light on the question. “The olah offering represents Torah and prayer, as we can learn from Menachos 110. It is kodshei kodshim, unlike the shelamim which is kodshim kalim and alludes to making a living. Through this we can understand the Mishnah we say during davening that Shelamim are kodshim kalim and their blood must be applied in a double application that is really four. The word damim, blood, can also refer to money. One must work and make money to enable him to learn Torah and daven, both of which are double-fold. Torah is doubled because there are two elements to Torah—written and oral—and they each contain both positive and negative mitzvos. Prayer is also doubled since we daven day and night. These are the two applications that are four to which we must apply our money.
“We must know that the time we spend learning and davening does not cause us a financial loss since the purpose of working is to learn and daven!”

The Laws of the Future

Many people wonder why there are so many halachos which don’t seem to have any application today. Of course on a simple level they explain the halachos of what used to be, and we can certainly learn various halachos from how these cases where dealt with. Nevertheless, why learn what is mostly not applicable today? The Chasam Sofer, zt”l, answered this question while dealing with a different query.
“Once a certain Rav asked me to explain what will happen to the parshah of Amalek in the ultimate future. Surely this evil nation will be eradicated, so why have verses discussing this in the Torah? To me this did not present a problem since there are many parshios in the Torah which will not apply in times to come on a simple level. Take Parshas Terumah, Tetzaveh and the like, which discuss the halachos of building the Mishkan. How could this possibly apply in the ultimate future?
“The answer can be understood through of our sages. They wonder why we learn the tractates dealing with sacrifices; after all, these halachos will not apply until Moshiach arrives. The gemara responds that although they are truly laws that will only apply with the coming of Moshiach, we should still learn and expound them since we will be rewarded for their study.
“The same is true regarding all other parshios that apparently no longer apply. We will receive reward for learning them since we can learn many lessons in the realm of derech eretz, mussar, and yiras Shamayim from them even if do not apply right now in the simple sense. Is learning lessons of midos tovos, derech eretz, and yiras Shamayim any less important than learning actual halachos?”

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.”