For the week ending 5 April 2025 / 7 Nisan 5785
The Book of Vayikra (Leviticus), also known as Torat Kohanim — the Laws of the Priests — deals largely with the korbanot (offerings) brought in the Mishkan (Tent of Meeting). The first group of offerings is called a korban olah, a burnt-offering. The animal is brought to the Mishkan's entrance. For cattle, the person bringing the offering sets his hands on the animal. Afterwards, it is slaughtered, and the kohen sprinkles its blood on the Altar. The animal is skinned and cut into pieces. The pieces are arranged, washed and burned on the Altar.
A similar process is described involving burnt-offerings of other animals and birds. The various meal-offerings are described. Part of the meal-offering is burned on the Altar, and the remaining part is eaten by the kohanim. Mixing leaven or honey into the offerings is prohibited. The peace-offering, part of which is burned on the Altar and part eaten, can be from cattle, sheep or goats.
The Torah prohibits eating blood or chelev (certain fats in animals). The offerings that atone for inadvertent sins committed by the Kohen Gadol, by the entire community, by the Prince and by the average citizen, are detailed. Laws of the guilt-offering, which atones for certain verbal transgressions and for transgressing laws of ritual purity, are listed. The meal-offering for those who cannot afford the normal guilt-offering — the offering to atone for misusing sanctified property, laws of the "questionable guilt" offering, and offerings for dishonesty — are detailed.
“It’s easier to take the Jew out of Egypt, than Egypt out of the Jew.”
Every year with the Seder, we experience the liberation from the slavery of Egypt. Egyptian society was celebrated immorality. You don’t have to look far to see the parallels in our day and age. And yet our generation has the power to bring the final redemption: “the last as the first.” What is that power? And how do we unlock it?
When Rabbi Nosson Wachtfogel (1910–1998) was the Rosh Yeshiva of Lakewood, one of the students told him the following dream: “I was walking through the dormitory of the Yeshiva and someone came up and told me that Moshiach is sleeping in a room in the dormitory. We went in and I saw Rabbi Akiva Eiger pushing the Moshiach. He’s pushing and pushing him, trying to wake him up, but the Moshiach wouldn’t wake up.
“And then the Chasam Sofer comes in and he also starts to push and shake the Moshiach, and he still won’t wake up. One Gadol after another comes into the room, and despite all their pushing and shaking, the Moshiach won’t wake up.
“Finally, Rabbi Aharon Kotler comes in the room, and he pushes and pushes the Moshiach but he won’t wake up The Moshiach sleeps soundly through the whole thing.
“Then, in the next scene in the dream, I’m playing basketball during a recess with some friends. One of them is holding his gemara and he says, “Okay, we have to finish up now and go learn.” As we walk through the dormitory, we go into the room where Moshiach is sleeping, and I give him a gentle shake, and he wakes up and smiles.”
Rabbi Wachtfogel told the student that his dream had a deep meaning. The Moshiach didn’t come to the generations of the Tanaim. He didn't come to the Amoraim. He didn't come to the Geonim and to the Rabonei Sevoroim, to the Rishonim or the Acharonim. But he will have to come to us, and if not to us, then to a generation of even a lesser spiritual stature than ours.
Why is that? How is it that they did not merit the Moshiach but we can?
Rabbi Wachtfogel said that we don’t understand how great is the power of dominating our evil inclination.” When an American boy brought up with everything revealed around him turns around and says ‘No!’, this creates a power that even the previous holy generations could not generate. We look at our illustrious and holy forebears - we see how great was their Torah and good deeds - but they still couldn’t bring Moshiach. The Vilna Gaon in Aderet Elyahu says about the Gemara at the end of Uktzin, “In the World to Come, Hashem will give each Tzadik 310 worlds – this is learned from the verse in Mishlei, “to bequeath to the ones who love Me ‘Yesh’.” Yesh means ‘existence,’ but its numerical value is 310. Says the Gaon, of those 310 worlds, only ten are for positive mitzvos, and 300 are for controlling yourself and not doing what your evil inclination wants you to do. Thirty times as many worlds when you turn away, when you control yourself.
You may think I’m just a regular Joe. You’re not a Joe, you’re a Yosef – with the incredible power to finally wake up Moshiach from his millennia of slumber.
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