Torah · Weekly Parasha VideoParashat VayikraRabbi Uri Nahum · June 19, 2017 · Vayikra · ויקרא · 15 Min Parasha RoundupSave⌄ShareParasha class with Rabbi Uri Nahum, from BSD Productions’ 15 Min Parasha Roundup.Transcript0:06Parashat Vayikra. This week's parasha has 1110:09pesukim, and we begin a new sefer, a new theme.0:12As Chazal tell us, this is called Torat Kohanim,0:14the laws of the Kohanim. Most of the books in this sefer, as the Ramban explains,0:19speak about the mitzvot that are unique to the Kohanim0:22and, of course, wherever it's applicable to the rest of the Jewish nation.0:25In our particular parasha, the Torah tells us about the order of the different types of korbanot,0:32as we will discuss, be'ezrat Hashem.0:33We divided the parasha into five parts.0:35The first part of the parasha, the Torah tells us about the korban0:38olah. The second part, the Torah tells us about the different types of menachot.0:43The third part of the parasha, the Torah tells us about korban0:47shelamim. The fourth part of the parasha, the Torah tells us about korban chatat.0:50And finally, the Torah concludes with some details about the korban asham.0:54In this week's parasha, we have 16 mitzvot,0:5711 mitzvot0:59aseh, five mitzvot1:01lo ta'aseh, and in Sefer HaChinuch, they number from mitzvah number 115 until 130.1:07Let's get to the parasha.1:08We know that this parasha is a very complicated parasha.1:12Most people tune out by this parasha because of the difficulty of the parasha.1:16What makes it hard is because there's so much detail,1:19and in 15 minutes we're obviously not going to be able to provide you with all the detail.1:24But be'ezrat Hashem, hopefully we'll give you some headings that can make it a little bit simpler,1:29that when you go through the parasha, when you read through the parasha,1:32you'll hopefully simplify it a little bit more.1:34Of course, this 15 minutes won't satisfy the complete knowledge of the full parasha.1:41Let's begin with a little bit of introductions to korbanot.1:45Number one is that you have to know that there's two types of korbanot.1:50There's a type called a zevach, and there's a type called a1:54minchah. A zevach means, from the word of slaughtering.1:56There's a type where we actually slaughter and bring an animal as an offering.2:00It could be an animal or a bird.2:01And the other type, which is called a minchah, is brought from flour-based korbanot,2:07which means there's got to be flour and olive oil somehow over there.2:10Most of the time there's olive oil, that is,2:12and those we'll discuss later on in the2:14parashah. Regarding the zevach, we have to know the korbanot that come from animals.2:18We have to know certain things.2:19If they come from animals, they come from four choices,2:24and they are either cows, sheep, rams, or goats.2:29That could be either male or female.2:30If they come from birds, you could also bring a korban from a bird.2:34It could come from only two types of birds,2:37either doves or pigeons.2:40Those are the two types of korbanot that could be brought into the Beit HaMikdash,2:46either animals or birds.2:47That's when it says2:49zevach. In the zevach itself, when you're slaughtering an animal,2:52there are two categories.2:53There's a category called kadashim kalim, which are the lighter ones,2:59and kadshei kadashim, which are more stringent or holier.3:06They're treated a little bit holier.3:07What we have to know, for our sake, we have to know three things.3:11Number one is, which are all mentioned this week's3:14parashah, there's three types of kadshei kadashim.3:18The three types of korbanot which are in the category of kadshei kadashim,3:22and they are either korban olah, chatat, or asham.3:27Any of these three are kadshei kadashim, nothing else.3:33The other thing that we have to know is that there are two main differences3:37that we are going to need to know for this week's3:39parashah between kadashim kalim and kadshei kadashim.3:42And what are they?3:43Number one is the location where one would slaughter the animals.3:48If it's kadshei kadashim, then it must be slaughtered in the northern part of the3:55azarah. That means if I'm walking to the Beit HaMikdash from the eastern gate,3:58walking towards the west, it'll be to my right.4:03The kodshei kodashim kalim could be slaughtered anywhere in the4:07Azarah. The other difference that we have to know between the kodshei kodashim and4:13kodshei kalim is the parts of the animals.4:15When we do eat parts of the animals, the kodshei kodashim would be eaten only by the male kohanim.4:24That's what we need to know in order,4:27just as a general introduction for all korbanot for this week's4:30parashah. Now, the next introduction that we have to give, that we should understand,4:36are four rules when it comes to korbanot.4:38Number one is all korbanot must be offered at daytime.4:42Once the sun sets, you cannot bring any more korban.4:47Also, most people make the mistake and they think that4:50when we say korban, we burn the whole thing on the mizbeach, on the altar.4:53That's not correct.4:54The korban, actually, the main part of the korban, we will see soon,4:56is actually the throwing of the blood on the mizbeach,4:59and not all parts of the animal were burnt on the mizbeach.5:02There were at least certain fats that were burnt on the mizbeach,5:05and that's called the5:08emurim, but different types of animals, different parts were burnt on the mizbeach.5:12And the last thing we have to know is there are four steps to every korban.5:15I'm going to say them first in Hebrew,5:17and then we'll translate and explain quickly in English.5:19The four steps are: number one5:22is shechitah. Next, then we have kabbalat5:25hadam. The third step is holachah, and the fourth is5:28zerikat hadam. What that means is, the first step is slaughtering the animal.5:32Then the animal's blood, which comes out after slaughtering, must be received in a basin.5:39Then it must be carried over. The blood must be carried over to the mizbeach, the altar,5:43and then zerikah, then the actual throwing of the blood.5:46And those are the four essential steps of the korban.5:50Any mistake in thought or in action in these four steps would disqualify the korban.5:56With that, we can now move on to this week's parashah5:59and discuss it a little bit more in detail with those introductions.6:03Let's begin with the first part of the parashah, korban6:06olah. The korban olah, we need to know five things.6:07Number one is that korban olah is kodshei kodashim, which means it's slaughtered in the north.6:11Also, the korban olah, if it's a korban olah, it can only be male.6:16There's no female korban olah unless it's coming from a bird.6:21Birds could come from male or female, but not the animals.6:27Olah, also like its name, which means it goes up.6:29It means it's completely burnt on the mizbeach.6:32And also, all korban olah must have6:35semichah. Semichah means not that it's an ordination,6:38but semichah means that you place your full weight on the animal before you bring it.6:45Also, the korban olah, the blood that's thrown,6:50Chazal say, shetei matanot shehen arba. You apply, the kohen will throw the blood only twice,6:54but in these two times he'll hit all the four walls of the mizbeach.6:58How is that so?6:59He goes to the northeastern corner,7:01throws the blood by the corner,7:02and this way he hits the two walls, the north and the eastern wall.7:05And then he goes to the southwestern corner7:08and he throws the blood again, he applies the blood again,7:10and there it will also hit the two walls, thus hitting all the four walls.7:14The Torah tells us,7:16of all the different types of animals or birds that you can bring as a korban7:19olah, it begins with the bull, as it says, the7:24min habakar. The bull, in order to qualify as a korban,7:27has to be between the ages of one to two years old.7:31And after zrika, after throwing the blood, the animal is skinned,7:35and then the imurim, the inside fats, are taken,7:39rinsed, flushed, and burnt,7:41and then the rest of the animal is cut up into many different pieces.7:46The bull itself, for example, is cut into many, many different pieces.7:48It takes about eighteen kohanim7:50just to carry the animal, the cow itself, on the mizbeach.7:53Now, before anything is burnt on the mizbeach,7:56you have to salt it first and then burn it on the mizbeach.7:58Then, Torah tells us about the...8:00Process of sheep or goats. These animals must be within a year,8:06and also they have the same process as a bull, which means semicha, you put your full weight on it,8:10and the shechita. Everything that we said beforehand is the same thing.8:12The difference will be when a person is bringing a bird as a korban offering.8:16In that case, it's a little bit more complicated. There are six steps.8:19First of all, the kohen goes up on the mizbeach halfway on something called the sovev, where he's able to walk,8:24and he stands by the southeastern corner.8:27There he does melikah. Melikah is not shechitah; he doesn't slaughter it,8:30but rather there's a special process where he cuts off the neck from the back of the bird.8:40He cuts off the back of the neck of the bird, and he separates the head.8:45Then he presses the blood out of the head and out of the body of the8:50bird. Then he removes and gets rid of the crop plus the innards of the bird.8:55That's called the zefek, together with the8:57nota. And then he tears apart the bird with its feathers, but still keeping it intact.9:02Means he just rips it; he keeps them intact, but he breaks them into two.9:07And then he salts the body, and he burns it on top of the9:13mizbeach. That is the order of korban olah, where just like the animal, they're both burnt completely on the9:20mizbeach. Next, the Torah tells us about the korban9:22minchah. Korban minchah is, like we said, it's based on flour and oil,9:29even though there are exceptions, but those are not discussed in this week's9:32parashah. Let us talk about a general introduction for korban9:37minchah. Number one is that you have to know there are twelve different types of korban9:41minchah. There are three that are unique to the tzibbur, which means on behalf of all the Jewish people,9:47and nine for an individual, which means an individual brings.9:52Five of these nine are discussed in this week's9:55parashah, and they are as follows.9:56These are the names:9:58the minchat solet,9:59then the challot, the rekikin, which are in the subcategory of10:04ma'afeh tanur, then you have the machabat and the10:06marcheshet. We'll discuss this a little bit more.10:07Also the Torah discusses minchat bikurim, but that's the korban of the10:12omer, which is a korban tzibbur, which is spoken about in parashat Emor.10:17In this week's parashah, the korban minchah that is mentioned... are pledged,10:23can be given as a donation or pledge,10:26and they must be at least10:29a issaron. A issaron means about 3.7 pounds of flour, of fine flour,10:35together with a log of olive oil.10:40A log is about a little bit more than 23 liters of olive oil,10:43and each one also must come with a10:47levonah. Levonah is a spice called the frankincense,10:50and there's a kemitzah of levonah, which is three fingerful of10:55levonah. How are the menachot brought?10:57First, just like the zevach, just like when you slaughter an animal,11:00there are parts which are burnt on the mizbeach, there are parts which are eaten.11:03So too, the same thing happens over here.11:05The flour, or as we'll see later on, the pieces of bread and the11:11levonah, plus the oil, is brought to the kohen.11:15The kohen takes it to the southwestern corner of the mizbeach over there for11:20kemitzah, and then after he does kemitzah, which means he picks up three fingerful of the flour11:24together with the oil, he places it in one of the utensils of the Beit HaMikdash11:29called the kli sharet,11:30and then he places the levonah on top of it.11:32Afterwards, that part which is the kemitzah, which he just placed in the kli sharet,11:38is salted and then burnt on the11:41mizbeach. The rest of it is usually distributed to the kohanim,11:43unless the person offering the minchah himself is a kohen,11:47then any time a kohen brings a11:50korban minchah, it is completely burnt on the11:53mizbeach. The five menachot I'll discuss in this week's11:57parashah. We'll talk about them in short detail right now.12:01The minchat solet, the flour, that's done. That's the reason why it's called flour offering,12:05because it's the only one that comes as flour.12:09I'm not going to be able to go so much through all the details because of the time that we have,12:13but we'll just tell you that this is what's unique about it.12:15First, you place the oil, then the flour, then the oil again,12:18and you mix it.12:20After you mix the flour and oil together,12:22then you put in the kli sharet,12:24and then you apply the rest of the oil,12:26and then the kohen does12:27kemitzah, like we said beforehand, and it continues.12:31The next, all the other ones12:33are actually a little bit baked beforehand in different ways.12:36For example, let's go to the next category,12:39the ones which are called12:41ma'afeh tanur. There are two types, either challot or12:43rekikin. Challot, like its name, sounds like a little bit more fluffier,12:46and rekikin a little bit thinner.12:48The way it works is as follows:12:50the challot, you take oil and flour12:52and you mix them together with lukewarm water,12:55make it into a dough.12:57Then the dough is baked and broken into small pieces13:01and placed in a kli sharet,13:03and then it's brought to the kohen to do13:06kemitzah. Rekikin is a little bit different.13:08You mix the flour with lukewarm water first,13:11and then you smear the oil on it,13:14and then you bake it.13:15After baking it, you smear it again with oil.13:19The other ones, the last two korban minchah that13:23we're going to discuss are the machavat and13:25marcheshet. These happen in the following way:13:28the same thing as we found by the flour offering,13:31which is first you put oil,13:33and then you put flour,13:35and then you put oil again.13:36You mix all that together.13:38Then what you do is—13:41You mix, you make it into dough by adding a little bit of lukewarm water,13:44and then you bake it13:46in either a13:49machabat. What's a13:49machabat? A machabat is a shallow, wide pan,13:54which means that the bread, after baking on it,13:55will come out to be hard and flat.13:58If you're baking it in a14:01marcheshet, marcheshet, like Rashi points out,14:03it's something that's14:05deep-fried, like from the sound, hash.14:07That's what happens when you hear something frying.14:09So basically it's a deeper pan,14:11and therefore what comes out of it,14:13the bread will come out of14:14it, will be soft, narrow, and deep.14:16And like we said,14:18the Torah also discusses14:19the minchah bakurim in the category of menachot.14:21We move on now to the third part of the14:23parashah. Torah tells us about the korban shelamim.14:25More details are going to come in next week's14:28parashah, Parashat Tzav,14:28but we'll just tell you that Torah tells us14:30that there are three types of14:31animals that come for korban shelamim:14:32the cow, the sheep, and the goats.14:34Also, you should know the korban shelamim14:39is kodashim kalim,14:41like we mentioned in the introduction,14:44and this everybody benefits from it.14:46The mizbeach gets its part,14:47the kohanim eat from it,14:48and also the owners eat from it as well.14:50Move on now to the fourth part of the14:54parashah, korban chatat. Chatat also, unlike what people think14:58also, not every sin you bring15:01korban chatat. A korban chatat is only brought for specific sins,15:04and those sins have to be done only by accident15:07and not intentional.15:07If a person commits a sin15:09and he knows he's committing a sin,15:10that's called mezid, intentional.15:12For that he cannot bring a15:14korban chatat. Also the chatat, like we mentioned in the15:15beginning, is15:17kodshei kodashim, and the blood of the15:19korban chatat is placed on the horns of the outside mizbeach,15:23unless it's a unique15:25korban chatat like Yom Kippur or in this week's15:27parashah. Now Torah tells us over here15:29regarding the15:30korban, four different types of15:32korban chatat. Number one is when the kohen gadol sins.15:34How does that work?15:35If the kohen gadol,15:36who is the acting kohen gadol,15:38rules on a specific15:42halachah where the— Torah would have forbidden it15:44by the punishment of karet.15:47He rules15:48that mutar, and he also commits the sin,15:50later realizes that,15:52you know what,15:53I made a mistake in the ruling.15:55Then he has to bring a cow for a15:57korban chatat, and that korban chatat is not.16:00Not in at all, because usually korban chatat is eaten, or parts of it are eaten.16:04Over here, it's not eaten at all; it's completely burnt.16:05The same would apply when the Sanhedrin rules about a specific halacha,16:12and the majority of the Jewish people follow their ruling.16:14If they rule about a halacha where the punishment would be16:17karet, they permitted it, and then they later realized that they made a mistake,16:21they also must bring a korban chatat on their behalf.16:24Three members of the Sanhedrin do semicha on it,16:27and then just like the korban chatat of the Kohen Gadol,16:30the animal is completely burnt afterwards outside of the Jewish camp.16:35Then the Torah tells us if a king would make a sin.16:37If a king makes a sin, he also brings a korban16:40chatat. But his korban chatat is nothing unique.16:43It means to say that the same sin that a regular Jew would bring a korban chatat for,16:47the king will also bring.16:48Torah only singles out the king to tell us that unlike a regular korban16:53chatat, the regular korban chatat, he'll bring a female sheep or goat.16:57Here, the king only brings a male goat.17:01Then the Torah tells us about the fourth type of korban17:04chatat that is called korban17:06oleh v'yored. There are three specific sins that Torah, listen this week's17:10parashah, where the Torah tells us that a person who commits these three specific sins17:15brings a korban chatat based on his income.17:17That means if he could afford, then he brings the top of the list.17:20If he cannot afford it, then he brings something lower.17:23What are the three sins?17:26Number one is when a witness denies any knowledge of a monetary case17:29and they make him swear about it and he swears about it,17:32of course falsely.17:33Also, number two, when a person who is tameh17:37either eats something that's kodesh17:39or he enters the Beit HaMikdash without knowledge.17:42Number three is when a person swears falsely about doing or not doing something17:48and then he doesn't act that's against what he swore.17:51For these three, the Torah says he brings a korban17:54oleh v'yored. It means if you're rich, you bring a more expensive part.17:57What are these three different categories?17:59Number one is the regular korban chatat that we always bring,18:02and that is a female sheep or goat.18:04If you can't afford that, then you can bring two birds.18:07Two birds, like we said before, could be either pigeons or doves,18:10and if you can't afford even that, then you bring a korban18:13minchah, and that is a flour offering.18:14The Torah then concludes with the last part of this week's18:17parashah with korban asham.18:19Korban asham that's mentioned in this week's18:22parashah, there are two types: either asham vadai,18:24where it's basically very similar to korban18:27chatat, means a person sins specific sins18:29and he knows for sure that he sinned, then he brings a korban,18:32or asham talui, where he knows something happened,18:34he's not sure if he actually committed the sin or not,18:37then he brings an asham talui in case he did the sin or not.18:40And you can't just do it on any sin; there are specific sins that are brought.18:44The difference between asham and18:46chatat, although they're both18:48kodshei kodashim and both of them, parts of it will be eaten by the kohanim,18:51the difference is the types of animal, the way it's brought,18:54and the throwing of the blood.18:57That's what differentiates between the korban asham and korban19:01chatat. That is the end of this week's parasha.19:04A lot of detail, like we said,19:06but we hope that with our little bit,19:08although we went a little bit over time,19:10with our 18-minute discussion,19:13hopefully we gave a little bit of petach, an introduction,19:16that, be'ezrat Hashem, we should be zocheh to understand19:19and to learn more about the words of the korbanot,19:22which Chazal tell us this is what keeps the world running.19:25And now that we don't have a Beit HaMikdash,19:27our learning of these subjects is considered in the eyes of Hashem19:31as if we have personally brought our korbanot to the Beit HaMikdash,19:36or we've performed them as well.19:39Shabbat shalom.