From: Weekly Torah To: parsha@torahzone.com Subject: Weekly Dvar Torah B"H "Path Markers" Pinchas: By: Yaacov Silverstein e@mail: hm16@popeye.cc.biu.ac.il HomePage: http://faculty.biu.ac.il/~hm16/ Year: 5762 This Years Parsha Series is prepared in the memory and merit of my grandfathers: Rav Yitzchak Zev Ben Yisroel Mordechai Hakohen Solomon Z"L Rav Chaim Meir Ben Yakov Silverstein Z"L *****^^^^^^^***** Did you tell your friend or relative how to subscribe to this Parsha List?? It's simple, just tell him to send a blank E-mail to: parsha-subscribe@torahzone.com And it is and always will be (B"H) FREE!! Purchase discounted Seforim online at: http://www.artscroll.com/torahzone Download the free DafYomi Calendar - http://faculty.biu.ac.il/~hm16/downloads Pasuk: (28:3-28:8) "And you shall say to them: This is the fire-offering that you are to offer to Hashem...The one lamb you shall make in the morning...The second lamb you shall make in the afternoon." These Pesukim deal with the commandment to offer the Tamid offering. This offering was brought every day, twice a day. This Parsha starts off with Moshe Rabbeinu being told by Hashem to direct this commandment to the entire nation of Israel, not just to the Kohanim. The Kohanim are the ones who bring the offerings in the Temple, yet the responsibility rests on the nation as a whole. The word Korban (offering) comes from the word Kareiv - come close. Through the bringing of a Korban, the Jewish nation comes closer to Hashem. Since nowadays we have no more Korbanos, the way for us to come close to Hashem, is through prayer. Prayer is a substitute for Korbanos, yet it cannot bring us as close to Hashem as a Korban can. By bringing the Korban Tamid, which is the first and last Korban of the day, Klal Yisroel dedicates itself to Hashem by the symbolic offering of a lamb. The Vilna Gaon explains that while prayer and Teshuva for a sin are accepted by Hashem as an atonement, the sin still exists. However, the Korban completely eradicated the sin, as if it never existed. The Tamid offerings of the morning, would eradicate the sins of the previous night, and the Tamid of the twilight eradicated those which were done during the day. When the Torah describes the Halachos of the Korban Tamid, it adds that it should be like the one "made at Har Sinai". What are we supposed to learn from the first Tamid offering brought at the foot of Har Sinai? Rav Yosef Salant points out that not only are we to learn the Halachos from the first Tamid offering, but we are also to learn a very important philosophical point. Remember the first time you did a Mitzvah? The first time you put on Tefillin, the first time you lit Shabbos candles. How you cherished the moment, how you felt more than the physical action performed, but also something spiritual. After a while, this first moment is forgotten and everything turns into rote. When doing something day in, day out, the initial thrill is gone and it becomes automatic. Unlike other Korbanos which were brought during a festival or even Shabbos, the Tamid offering had a pitfall, that the original enthusiasm would disappear, and the original feelings and inspiration would be lost. The Torah therefor reminds us that you should bring the offering daily just like you did at Sinai, with inspiration and excitement of the important task. This is why Rashi explains that "in its appointed time" (b'Moado), that every day is the Moed of the Tamid offering. Rashi is showing us that just like when a festival comes around, we are able to feel some extra inspiration and excitement, since it only comes once a year, the same by the Tamid offering, we are to have a similar level of excitement as by the festivals, even though it is brought daily. (Adapted from - Artscroll Chumash, Rav Schwab, Rabbi Frand on the Parsha, Shemen ha'Tov vol3, ) --------***********-------- A special Thank You to my mother for checking & correcting the first DT draft. A special Thank You to Project Genesis - http://www.torah.org for hosting this list. If you ever want to remove yourself from this mailing list send a blank email to the following address: --------***********--------