Faith when it’s tough
The Pasuk says צַו אֶת אַהֲרֹן וְאֶת בָּנָיו לֵאמֹר זֹאת תּוֹרַת הָעֹלָה - Command Aaron and his sons, saying, This is the law of the burnt offering. (6:2)
But there is a problem with this – the Pasuk is not talking about the olah at all! It’s talking about burning the cheilev (fats) etc, that are not burnt with the rest of the korban, and this is done at night. It is hardly תּוֹרַת הָעֹלָה !
R’ Moshe Wolfson quotes the Satmar Rav in the name of his father, who said a midrash. The students of R’ Yosi bar Kisma asked him when ben-David (Mashiach) was going to come, and he answered them “ זֹאת תּוֹרַת הָעֹלָה “.
We need to understand the Pasuk before we can understand the answer. The task of burning the parts at night seems mundane and unappetizing, and it’s just something that has to be done. The Pasuk is telling us this is wrong. It is not mundane at all, it’s תּוֹרַת הָעֹלָה – and therefore kulo lashem! It’s actually a lot more chasuv than we think, we just don’t understand its chashivus.
R’ Yosi was telling his students that the question they asked was fundamentally flawed, as it assumed that galus is a fundamental waste of time, something that just has an end. His answer was that galus is not a waste of time at all, it’s also an avodah, just in a different form. (By getting a date as an answer, it would remove the purpose of galus, and then it really would be waste of time!) If we attempt to value things above our comprehension, we will always be undervaluing it.
The Sfas Emes in Vayetzei discusses the origins of tefila (prayer) – is it to symbolise the 3 times the avos prayed, or is to symbolise the korbanos? If we say it is due to the avos, we are left with a conundrum. Avraham instituted shachris, Isaac mincha, and Yakov maariv.
However, this too results in a problem. Yakov is referred to as “bchir” – the best – of all. However, maariv is without question the least favoured of all the prayers, as it is not even a clear-cut obligation, and possibly a reshus – surely as the best of the Avos he should have the prime choice of prayers – shachris?
This has been discussed here, but Yakov is the embodiment of the Jew in galus – exile. We know that מעשה אבות סימן לבנים – that history repeats itself for further generations. What Yakov did in Egypt was show that a person can be a devoted Jew in a bad situation. Yakov was שלם בגוף וממון and this is in spite of being the first to leave Israel. Yakov was able to show that one can be the best even when the situation one finds oneself isn’t the best, and perhaps even in a bad place, like Egypt.
The bad we started with is the חלב – the impure fats of the animal that are burned at night. There are several things worth pointing out. Firstly, the fats represent a lack of faith – an animal eats to store food as it does not know when it will eat next – it does not trust that it will be looked after. It is interesting that someone who eats these fats is חייב כרת (- ostracised).
But moreover, the obligation is to burn this lack of faith at night, when things seem unknown, cold, dark, and when we feel most alone. As we say in Tehillim: להגיד בבוקר חסדיך, ואמונתך בלילות .