Parshat Vayikra
Learning Group– Parshat Vayikra
(Leviticus: 1:1-5:26)
(Haftara: Isaiah: 43:21-44:23)
1. [Leviticus 1:1…] Why are the details of every type of sacrificial offering so different? What type of personality is the Torah trying to develop by forcing us to focus so much on details?
2. [Pesach] Our rabbis tell us that chametz (leaven) represents arrogance. The removal of chametz from our lives is a metaphor for removing arrogance from ourselves. If so, why do we only remove the chametz for 1 week every year? Shouldn’t we distance ourselves from arrogance all year?
3. The Pesach seder is the main ceremony that we have for passing on our religious and historical tradition. Why is it so effective to teach the tradition around the dining –room table?
4. [Haggadah of Pesach] The passage in the haggadah about the 4 sons teaches us that each son should be taught in a way which is suitable to his understanding. This is a model of Jewish education, as it says in the book of Mishle, “Teach the youth according to his way (Mishle 22:6)”. Where in our religious tradition do we see this principle applied?
5. The month of Nissan is the first month of the Jewish year. Therefore, Pesach is the first festival of the Jewish year. Why is it appropriate that Pesach should be the first festival of the year?
Commentary
[1:3] “…he will offer it, for his good will, before God.”
The main purpose of a sacrificial offering is that a person should subjugate his will to the service of the Creator in such a way that all of his spiritual and physical powers should be used only for the will of God.
One should read the pasuk in the following way: “…he should offer his will for God”—his own will should just be an extension of the will of God”
–“Haktav Ve’hakaballah”—Rabbi Ya’akov Tzvi Mecklenberg (1785-1865) -Koenigsburg, Prussia.
This study page is dedicated to the memory of Sarah Bella bat Yitzchak Kummer, Chaim Yosef Yechiel ben Eliyahu Kummer and Eliyahu and Margaret Kummer
Copyright © Kef International 2012. All Rights Reserved.
Kef International Shipping, Realty, and Relocations Services since 1979
