Tish’a B’Av – The Ninth of Av
It Is the Eye of the Needle That Counts
One of the most puzzling elements of Jewish Tradition is the institution of sacrificial rites in the Temple. Although the Temple serves many purposes, sacrifices lie at the very heart of its mission. There are profound differences of opinion among the early and later commentators regarding how to understand the meaning of sacrifices. Are they really an integral part of Judaism, or simply a compromise to human weakness and something to be gradually abandoned?(1)
Even more perplexing is the Torah’s demand that these sacrifices be “rei’achnichoach LaShem” (normally translated as “a pleasant aroma to the Lord”). Commentators are troubled by this strange phrase, especially since it is repeated over and over throughout the biblical chapters related to sacrifices. What could such an expression mean? Since when does the Lord need to be approached with perfumes so as to make our requests favorable to Him? Such simplistic interpretations turn Judaism into a type of superstitious tradition not much different from pagan cults.
This question becomes even more pertinent when we realize that the expression “rei’ach nichoach LaShem” is indeed central to the sacrifices and therefore to the very essence of the Temple.
The definitive explanation of this unusual expression was given by Rabbi Eliezer Ashkenazi (1513-1586) in his work Ma’asei Hashem (The Works of God):(2)
“The phrase ‘a pleasant aroma to the Lord’ does not reflect the absolute quality of the sacrifices; on the contrary, it conveys a possible flaw in their nature. In case the worshiper imagines that he indeed has achieved atonement for his sin by just offering a sacrifice, the Torah tells him that this is far from true. The sacrifice is only ‘a pleasant aroma,’ a foretaste of what is yet to come. If the worshiper does not repent, the Almighty will then say (Yeshayahu 1:11): ‘For what purpose is the multitude of your sacrifices to Me?’ The concept of aroma is attributed to the Almighty because of its metaphoric connotation. Just as a pleasant aroma coming from afar bears witness to something good in the offing, so every time the Torah uses the phrase ‘a pleasant aroma’ in connection with the sacrifices, [the meaning is that] it should be to the Almighty as a foretaste of the good deeds that the worshiper is planning to perform. It is called a ‘pleasant aroma’ because anything that can be detected by the senses before it actually reaches the person is called a smell, as is written in the Book of Iyov (39.25): ‘He smells war from afar,’ which implies that he sensed the battle even before he actually reached it. Every human being who wants to bring a sacrifice must know that it should be done for the purpose of reconciling with God. Consequently, the sacrifice is to be brought as a foretaste of good deeds that are yet to come.”
It is in this light that we have to understand the purpose of the Temple. The Temple service is not the ultimate form of worship that Judaism dreams about; it is only the beginning, a foretaste of what still needs to come. Its purpose is to function, through metaphoric rites, as a medium through which people are stimulated to take their first steps toward an inner transformation. The Temple is to be an educational institution. As such, it offers man the first step to perfection, but it is not the culmination. That must take place within the heart of man and can be evident in his deeds only outside the Temple court.
When the Temple’s educational purpose is no longer understood, or is rejected, its existence is no longer of any value. For thousands of years, on the date of the destruction of the Temple, Jews have the custom of fasting to remind themselves that the first step to real spirituality and repentance is to renew their desire to create a foretaste.
It is not the culmination of repentance that needs to be achieved but its sincere commencement. This is what the Sages had in mind when they said, in the name of God, “Open for Me a gate of repentance the size of the eye of a needle, and I will open for you large gates in which infinite light will enter.”(3) According to this, the Temple has no inherent value. It is only a means to something that no physical object can contain. On Tish’a B’Av, we do not mourn the loss of the Temple but rather the loss of its message, which we no longer seem to grasp.
Whether or not the Temple will be re-built is not our concern, nor is it our dream. It is of little importance. What we dream of is the day when we will be able to transform ourselves and reconstruct the Temple’s message within our hearts.
1) For a discussion on these positions, see: Meshech Chochmah, the commentary of Rabbi Meir Simcha Hacohen of Dvinsk, Introduction to Vayikra. See, also, the many writings on this topic by the venerable philosopher and mystic, Rabbi Avraham Yitzchak Kook z”l; and Nathan Lopes Cardozo, “On Silence, Sacrifices and the Golden Calf,” Between Silence and Speech:Essays on Jewish Thought (Northvale, NJ, and London: Jason Aronson, Inc. 1995) pp. 4-12.
2) See also: Rabbi Yaakov Tzvi Mecklenburg, Haketav Vehakabalah, Vayikra 1:5.
3) Shir Hashirim Rabbah 5:3.
“Questions to Ponder” from the DCA Think Tank
- What feelings does the idea of bringing sacrifices evoke in you? If your answer is discomfort, what do you make of the fact that so much of our Torah is dedicated to this subject?
- Would you be happy to see sacrifices reinstated in a third Temple, or would you imagine/hope that since ultimately “the Temple is to be an educational institution,” Messianic times would bring a different form of worship? If the latter, what would or should this worship look like?
- Do you agree with the author’s contention that the actual Temple is of little importance compared to the inner transformation it is intended to stimulate? Or, do you view as devastating and irreplaceable the loss of the building itself, the physical center for worship – “God’s House,” so to speak?
- Today, when we have no Temple, what might constitute a ritual expressing our repentance and a “foretaste” of the good deeds we plan to perform, thus presenting a sweet aroma to God? In other words, how can we remember this message today?
Adah Rabbah – just the opposite is true. The Holy Temple is of Great Importance and has absolute Inherent Value precisely because “Its purpose is to function, through metaphoric rites, as a medium through which people are stimulated to take their first steps toward an inner transformation.“ Without the Holy Temple we can’t take that first step. We have education today up the wazoo. What we’re lacking is what the Holy Temple itself can provide, and of course we’re not just speaking of a pile of stones, wood, and gold when we speak of the Holy Temple, nor can we speak of mere ‘education’ when we speak of that inner transformational process that is effected through the existence of Holy Temple.
I serve as a Levi B’Tafkid researching and restoring ancient Israelite customs for the Third Temple Era. Of your four ‘questions to ponder’, the first two have been with me through 32 years of service. I can tell you that, in the last 18 years of minting pure silver Holy Half Shekels, we feature on the obverse, a vessel that has already been restored to physical reality for the Third Temple Era – and have never used any vessel related to korbanot (animal sacrifice) for the coin’s design. I just don’t see it.
Reuven ben Yosef HaLevy
Beged Ivri
You are a Rabbi? I read your blog on Times of Israel entitled “The Temple is of Little Importance”.
You mentioned a “mysterious” statement about “A pleasing Aroma to the Lord”. You’re a Rabbi and you don’t understand what this means? When the sons of Korah sinned against Hashem, what did Aaron do? He put incense on his censor and did what? He went among the sons of Korah so that the Aroma could cover their sins. Hashem does not see evil, he smells it, and evil itself gives out a horrible stench. The Aroma of a beautiful offering covers evil, it covers sin. In the Torah it states that when the Moshiach is here, he will also be able to judge through scent alone. This pleasing Aroma was always before his presence in the Temple.
But, you ask, why the temple? What is the temple, but to house the Ark of Hashem? What is the Ark of Hashem? It is the mobile Mount Horev. You are a Rabbi…a blind man leading blind students. The Ark is Mount Horev, hence wherever it resides it’s called the Mountain of Hashem. His glory cloud is above the Ark as it was Horev. The stones cut from Horev inside of it record the only commandments Hashem gave directly to the sons of Israel on Mount Horev without a mediator.
So you ask, why a Temple is needed to house the Mountain of Hashem? Are you serious? If you are its frightening.
Does the sacrifices of animals bother you? But, getting your meat from a butcher does not…the Altar elevates the animals by offering its life to Hashem who gave it thereby respecting it and respecting the giver of life. Not a butcher style killing as though it was a lifeless object, but an honorable death and a death that like an organ transplant is given to another for life.
I am a Jew. A few years ago Hashem gave me dreams that my fathers were ancient Israelites. Having had no history of ever being Jew and sometime crazy, I looked into it. My parents are from the Dominican Republic with an extremely high African and Spanish ancestry. Semitics is extremely rare on the land. So much so that I received laughter from my identical twin, until I tested my DNA and discovered that my YDNA J1 is from the land of Israel and is semitic and what more 100% of my genetic cousins were ethnic Jews.
I say this because when I hear things like this, saying that the temple of Hashem is nothing, I wonder if many of you are truly sons of Israel or just a religion like Christianity or Islam.
On Elul 10 5773 I saw the Ark of Hashem in a cave in Israel through a dream. I saw the blood on the East Face of the Ark, I touched it and called until Hashem. I saw the tablets through the golden cover and stood on the Ark with my twin.
The temple is coming, please keep your pagan thoughts to yourself.
Michael
While it is definitely an interesting approach to view the temple as a springboard towards true inner growth, I do think that the clarity of God’s existence and interaction with the world, that the temple brings to light is a culmination point for ones spiritual journey. That being said I would still think the building is necessary.
The Torah is very clear: Hashem wants us to give to Him with difficulty and effort, from the depths of our hearts. In the past, this meant giving from the best of our wealth, from the sources of material sustenance and survival on earth: our animals and our grain. Money, on the other hand, was relatively unreliable and not seen as the government-backed stable entity (stable, at least, in comparison) that it is today. Today, with our overabundance of food, it’s not clear to me that animals and grain have the same meaning for us that they once did. Which would require more effort in vanquishing of the yetzer hara: the giving of a sack of flour, the giving of a farm animal (which is almost universally purchased exclusively for sacrifice, not used by the individual for anything else), or the giving of a prized Ferrari? Just saying…