Shabbat Parashat Vayikra - 5783

Rabbi Hal Miller

If he offers a sheep as his offering, he shall bring it before Hashem.

Vayikra [3:7]

Our parsha is a set of instructions for the Kohen on how to perform various

sacrifices. A dozen or so times, the Torah tells him to bring it "before Hashem" with

the words "lifnei hashem". Why is this phrase used? Wouldn't any sacrifice in the

Mishkan be "before Hashem", wherever it might be physically within the grounds?

Where specifically is "before Hashem"?

Onkelos avoids our problem by translating it as "to God", which makes sense but

does not really explain why the phrase is necessary as we would already know that.

Many of these verses give locations as well. 1:3 says "he shall bring it to the entrance of

the Tent of Meeting in accordance with his will, before Hashem." 1:11 is more specific,

that the slaughtering takes place "at the side of the Mizbeach on the north before Hashem".

4:17 speaks of sprinkling the blood "before Hashem toward the curtain". If we read these

as giving us an actual physical location, there could be some conflict here.

Rashi on 1:3 specifically addresses this. The verse tells the Kohen to bring it "to the

entrance of the Tent of Meeting", then goes on to add "before Hashem", which would seem

superfluous. Thus Rashi says that our phrase does not refer to location, rather it comes,

from this point in time forward, to exclude the use of the bamah, the personal altars that

had been in use. Sacrifices from this time on were limited to the Altar in the Mishkan. But

Rashi does not explain why this phrase is repeated so often. He goes on to say that the

phrase is referring to the leaning of the hands by the owner, not the slaughtering by the Kohen.

Ramban tells that each of these specific instances are to equate the sacrifices from the

herd (cattle) and from the flock (sheep and goats), so anything the Torah teaches us about

one kind of animal is then applied to the other as well, but also does not deal with the repetition.

The Gemora in various places in Zevachim and Yoma explains that this phrase teaches how

the one doing the slaughtering should stand relative to the animal. 1:11, for example, says

"on the north before Hashem", which is interpreted to mean that the process takes place on

the northern side of the Altar, with the animal to the north of the Kohen, rather than the animal

closer to the Altar and the Kohen to the north of it. R'Nechemiah disagrees and says that the

Kohen is off to the side, not between the Altar and the curtain, so that the animal is "before

Hashem. This would seem to indicate that "before Hashem" points to the Holy of Holies and

the Ark behind the curtain.

As he often does, Rav Hirsch gives us a different view that seems to explain clearly. Rather

than to the Kohen, these verses refer to the person making the offering. The person bringing

the animal is placing himself "before Hashem". As we know from elsewhere, the sacrifice is

supposed to be a substitute for us where we are liable with our lives for some inappropriate

behavior. This would also clarify why the phrase is repeated. It only shows up in each case

where that substitution is called for, not in cases where the person is bringing a voluntary

offering.

Hal Miller