Parshat Vayikra From Aish HaNER

Posted on July 16, 2008

In this week’s Parsha, Parshas Vayikra, the primary focus is the karbanot, (sacrifices). In it, the Kohanim (priests) are instructed how to do many of the common sacrifices not specific to a given day. Throughout the Parsha, though, the Torah switches between various phrases to describe the priests. The first “lashon” (expression) is haKohen, meaning the priest, such as “The priest shall then do this and this?”. The second phrase used is B’nei Aharon haKohanim, meaning “the sons of Aharon, the priests”. The third term is B’nei Aharon, HaKohen, literally “the sons of Aharon, [who is/was] the Priest.” Why the difference?

Rav Moshe Feinstein z”l., explains that the Torah defines three levels of kehunah (priesthood), each one specific to a different function. For basic, pre-prepared sacrifices, the sacrifice may be offered by anyone whom the Torah qualifies as a Kohein. The source of his qualification is irrelevant. When the sacrifice requires additional preparation, then the Kohanim must keep in mind that they are the sons of Aharon, and that their position is one that demands exemplary behavior; that their behavior serves as a standard for others to emulate. Last, we note that the Kohanim who place the fire on the mizbeiach, (altar), in order to prompt fire to descend from Heaven, are consider equivalent to Aharon HaKohen himself. They must learn to perform this sacred act in the same manner that Aharon, their grandfather, did. 

Indeed, the idea can be tracked through the text. The term Kohen is used regarding the burnt offering of the fowl only, and the term “the sons of Aharon, [who is/was] the Priest” is used only with regard to placing the fire. 

Gematria of the Week

NCSY and Aish love you, so sometimes we give you more than one gematria, like this week. 

The following gematria is brought down by the Tosafot, taught to Elie Wolfe by Rabbi Kahn, the principle of the Hebrew High School of New England. The common source for the 39 prohibited types of work on Shabbat comes from the commandment to rest from building the Mishkan. This is Rashi’s choice. However the Tosafot disagree, claiming that the work is learned from what we were forced to do as slaves in Egypt. The term for the slave-work we did was “Avodat Parech” “Very hard labor”. The word Parech is spelled “Pay-Raish-Chaf”. When we apply the technique of ATBASH to these letters, the numerical value becomes 39. (ATBASH reverses all the letters in the Aleph-Bet, it’s like counting backwards.) 

The following gematria was told by Rabbi Pinchas Stolper, world renowned scribe. The primary opinion of Jewish tradition holds that the world was created on Rosh HaShana. What is a gematria for this? The text reads “B’reishit”  “In the beginning.” However the “reishit” part can be rearranged to yield “aleph Tishrei”, or the first day of Tishrei, Rosh HaShana. Put this back in context, and one obtains “B’aleph Tishrei bara Elokim et HaShamayim v’et ha’aretz.” “On the first day of Tishrei G-d created the heavens and earth.”