The Power Of Humility In Prayer
When I played little league baseball, we were in a competitive league that engaged in stealing bases. During one game, I was hit and the first base coach told me not to steal the base because the catcher was known for his fantastic arm. I agreed, but in my mind, I was sure I was the fastest and thought it was a good challenge. So, a few pitches later, I ran, and was caught three feet away. It was not even close! It was a humbling experience, coming from a place of ga’avah, and I learned an important lesson.
In this week’s parashah, Vayikra, according to the Daas Zekeinim from the Baalei Tosafos on Vayikra1:2, “Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: When a man from among you brings a sacrifice to Hashem; from the domesticated animals, from cattle or from the flock you shall bring your sacrifice.” In this pasuk, the term “min ha-beheimah (from the domesticated animals) is used to exclude certain animals from being brought as a korban (offering). This teaches us that a korban must come from a domestic animal, which excludes a chayah (a wild animal or beast). Hashem, in his humbleness, does not require that a wild animal be brought, which would require hard work and danger. Traveling to the mountains and far places to trap a wild animal was both dangerous and hard. Instead, He requests that we bring a beheimah, which could be procured from every farm and were readily available.
In Vayikra 2:1, the Torah states “when a soul will bring.” The Torah here uses the word nefesh for soul. In other places, it does not. Rashi points out that it states nefesh here when bringing a korban Minchah (flour and oil), which is the cheapest korban to bring. It was discussing a poor person (in the most common case) who could not afford to bring an animal or bird. When a poor person brings a Minchah offering, it is as difficult for him as if he had brought his own nefesh (his own soul).
It’s interesting that a poor person has the chance to be moser nefesh to bring a korban, yet above we stated that Hashem did not want us to toil to find wild animals. Why not give us a chance to do something harder for Hashem? Without toiling, how can a person hope to achieve success with his korban?
The Ramban teaches that during the Avodah of bringing a korban, a person who sinned due to his actions, thoughts, or speech, brings a korban as an atonement for his wrongful actions. He engages in Semicha (leaning) on the korban (animal), whereby he places both hands on the animal’s head before its slaughter to symbolize transferring his personal responsibility or sins onto the animal before the animal is slaughtered. He also uses his words to admit his wrongdoing (which is using speech to correct any improper speech he may have uttered), then the innards of the animal are burned to atone for any improper thoughts and desires he may have had. The whole time he has in mind, as the blood is being scattered, that it should have been him getting punished and not the animal. This is a kindness of Hashem to help him achieve atonement. This is the main Avodah of the korban, so the individual can submit his heart and will to Hashem. We see here that Hashem gives everyone a chance to achieve atonement, not just the poor person bringing the Minchah offering.
But how do we achieve this state of humility? It’s possible that after catching a wild animal, a person would experience the thrill of victory. We see a remez to this in the pasuk “Nefesh ki takriv” (Vayikra 2:1), which opens the laws of the Minchah offering, which the Ramban teaches is an allusion to the individual connecting the offering to his soul, that it should have been his life that was sacrificed. I saw in the Nesivos Shalom on Parashas Vayikra, that the Slonimer Rebbe, Rabbi Shalom Noach Berezovsky, zt’l, offered a profound Chassidic interpretation of the korbanos (sacrifices) that connects them to the inner spiritual life of every individual, particularly focusing on the idea that “sacrifices to Hashem are a broken spirit.”
It states: “Adam ki yakriv mikem korban LaShem—When a man among you brings a korban to Hashem.” The verse literally says “When a man brings from you an offering,” rather than “from his cattle.” This hints that the true sacrifice is not just the animal, but of oneself—offering one’s energies, thoughts, and emotions to Hashem. The combination of his thoughts and the actions done to the beheimah lead to an atonement with the korban. Nowadays, without the holy Avodah of korbanos, we have tefillah. According to the Gemara in Taanis2a, the avodah shebalev (service of the heart) is prayer (tefillah). The main way to achieve atonement with a korban was with our humbling thoughts. The Gemara in Berachos (10b) teaches that a person should not stand on a high place to pray. Rather, he should stand in a low place and pray. Since there is no haughtiness before Hashem, we should not stand in a high place (by thinking we are high and mighty). To prove this, it quotes Tehillim (130:1) “From the depths I call you” and Tehillim (102:1) “Prayer is for the poor person when he wraps himself in pain.” This teaches us that for our prayers to be proper, we should state it like a poor person: in a humbling manner. So, here we see a beautiful connection between korbanos and tefillah, and the success of both is by humbling ourselves.
Have a great Shabbos!
R’ Mordechai Young can be reached for comments at [email protected].
