Adam, Korbanos, and Inner Elevation

Topics

• The Meaning of Adam
• The Greatness of Becoming a Mensch
• Even Moshe Rabbeinu Waited to Be Called
• Daas Is Revealed Through Middos
• The Beis HaMikdash and Daas
• The Korban Must Come Mikem
• The Greatest Korban Is the Sacrifice of Self
• The Korban of Erev Pesach
• The Small Aleph of Vayikra

Transcript

## The Meaning of Adam

Parashas Vayikra opens with the words, “Adam ki yakriv mikem korban laShem”—“When a person among you brings an offering to Hashem” (Vayikra 1:2). Why does the Torah specifically use the word *Adam*?

Rashi explains that the Torah alludes to Adam HaRishon. Just as Adam HaRishon could not have brought a korban from stolen property, because the entire world belonged to him, so too a korban must be free of gezel (Rashi to Vayikra 1:2). But there is a deeper lesson in the word *Adam*. The purpose of a korban is not merely to place an animal upon the Mizbe’ach. The korban is meant to bring out the inner person—to reveal the Yid within and awaken him to live according to his highest aspirations.

Adam contains tremendous possibilities. A person can descend very low, but he can also rise to extraordinary heights, even beyond the malachim. Everything depends upon what he does with the gift of being an Adam.

Chazal teach, “Atem keruyim Adam”—Klal Yisrael is called by the distinguished name Adam (Yevamos 61a). Every human being belongs to the species of man, but Adam is also a title of importance. It describes a person who has developed the greatness placed within him. The avodah of mussar is to understand the maalah of Adam and then to elevate the person until he truly deserves that name.

## The Greatness of Becoming a Mensch

A German rav once traveled a great distance to visit the Chofetz Chaim. The Chofetz Chaim concealed his greatness beneath complete simplicity, and the visitor left unimpressed. He remarked dismissively that the Chofetz Chaim was merely “a mensch.”

One of the baalei mussar who heard him reacted sharply: “A mensch? Do you understand what a mensch is? A true mensch is like a malach—and greater than a malach.”

That is the entire avodah. In Slabodka, years of shmuessen revolved around one word: *Adam*. To become an Adam is not a small accomplishment. It means bringing forth the nobility, daas, middos, and spiritual greatness that Hashem placed within a person.

## Even Moshe Rabbeinu Waited to Be Called

This enables us to understand the teaching of Chazal that a talmid chacham who lacks daas is inferior even to a neveilah. Why is this lesson taught at the opening of Sefer Vayikra?

Consider Moshe Rabbeinu. He took Klal Yisrael out of Mitzrayim. He brought down the Torah. He erected the Mishkan. He was the father of the nevi’im and the greatest of the chachamim. Nevertheless, Moshe did not enter the Ohel Moed until Hashem called him: “Vayikra el Moshe” (Vayikra 1:1).

Had Moshe entered without being called, all his greatness would not have excused the breach of proper conduct. This is the force of the Midrash’s statement: Torah greatness without daas and derech eretz leaves the essential Adam undeveloped (Vayikra Rabbah 1:15).

The Torah therefore introduces korbanos with a lesson about Adam. The Mishkan and the korbanos are intended to elevate the person. Before speaking about the animal that will be offered, the Torah first asks: What kind of Adam is bringing it?

## Daas Is Revealed Through Middos

Rav Chaim Shmuelevitz draws attention to the exact language of Chazal. They do not say that a talmid chacham without good middos is inferior to a neveilah. They say that a talmid chacham without *daas* is inferior to a neveilah. But why speak about daas when the apparent failure is one of middos?

The answer is that daas and middos cannot truly be separated. Daas does not mean that a person possesses information. It means that he understands reality deeply enough for that understanding to govern his behavior. When Torah knowledge remains in the mind but does not refine the person, it has not yet become daas.

A beheima has no daas. A neveilah certainly has no daas. It did not choose its condition and cannot be held responsible for it. But a talmid chacham was given Torah, intelligence, and the capacity to develop himself. If his Torah does not produce derech eretz and middos tovos, the essential distinction of Adam has not emerged. In that respect, the neveilah is preferable: it never possessed the responsibility that the talmid chacham neglected.

## The Beis HaMikdash and Daas

This explains why Chazal connect daas with the Beis HaMikdash. The Gemara teaches that anyone who possesses daas is considered as though the Beis HaMikdash had been built in his days (Berachos 33a). The connection is exact. The Beis HaMikdash and its korbanos were not intended merely to provide an external ritual. Their purpose was to create an Adam—to refine his inner awareness, his conduct, and his middos.

The korban therefore begins with the words “Adam ki yakriv.” The question is not only what animal a person brings. The question is whether the avodah has elevated the Adam who brought it.

## The Korban Must Come *Mikem*

The Baal HaTanya explains that every person contains a beheimah within him—instincts, desires, aggression, and physical strength. Those forces are not necessarily evil. They must be placed in the service of Hashem.

Chazal teach that a person should be bold as a leopard, light as an eagle, swift as a deer, and mighty as a lion in carrying out the will of Hashem (Avos 5:20). Strength can be used for aveirah, or it can be used for avodas Hashem. Boldness can make a person an az panim, or it can give him the courage to stand for what is right. The avodah is to take the beheimah within the person and elevate it.

The Shlah reads this into the words of the pasuk: “Adam ki yakriv mikem korban laShem.” When the korban is *mikem*—when something from within the person is offered—then it becomes a korban laShem. But if a person brings only “min habeheima, min habakar u’min hatzon,” he may have slaughtered an animal without sacrificing any part of himself.

The animal did nothing wrong. The person must ask what within himself is being placed upon the Mizbe’ach. Is he sacrificing his pride, his anger, his appetite, or his resistance to change? If the korban does not reach the inner beheimah, the essential avodah has not yet taken place.

## The Greatest Korban Is the Sacrifice of Self

A korban has accomplished its purpose only when it changes the person’s ruchniyus, daas, and middos. If the person emerges more refined, more patient, and more capable of overcoming himself, then he has truly brought a korban.

Today, without the Beis HaMikdash, we cannot offer the korbanos upon the Mizbe’ach. But the inner avodah of korban remains available. The greatest korban a person can bring is to be *ma’avir al middosav*—to surrender his personal demands, restrain his reactions, and yield for the sake of peace and avodas Hashem. Chazal teach that one who overlooks offenses committed against him is treated with corresponding mercy from Heaven (Rosh Hashanah 17a).

This is a korban *mikem*. A person gives something of himself. He sacrifices the insistence that everything must proceed according to his will.

## The Korban of Erev Pesach

Pesach provides many opportunities for this avodah. The preparations are intense. People are tired, the house is under pressure, children need attention, relatives may add tension, and everyone has an opinion about how things should be done.

A person may not be able to offer the Korban Pesach while the Beis HaMikdash is absent, but he can bring a different korban laShem. He can remain calm when he wants to become angry. He can absorb a sharp word without responding. He can help rather than demand, and yield rather than insist.

That is “Adam ki yakriv mikem.” The offering comes from within the Adam. The person places his own middos upon the Mizbe’ach and thereby becomes greater.

## The Small Aleph of Vayikra

The opening word *Vayikra* is written with a small aleph. Moshe Rabbeinu was the only person permitted to enter the Ohel Moed in this unique manner, yet he approached with humility. The Torah testifies, “The man Moshe was exceedingly humble, more than any person upon the face of the earth” (Bamidbar 12:3).

The introduction to Sefer Vayikra and to the entire avodah of korbanos is therefore anavah. A person cannot become close to Hashem while remaining filled with himself. The path to kirvas Hashem begins when he makes himself smaller, refines his middos, and allows the inner Adam to emerge.

Vayikra is the sefer of korbanos, and korban shares its root with kirvah—closeness. But closeness is attained through *mikem*: through the personal sacrifices a person makes for Hashem. Pride, anger, stubbornness, and selfishness create distance. Anavah and middos tovos create a vessel for the Shechinah.

The message of the korban is not merely that an animal was offered. The message is that the Adam was elevated.