Parashat Tzav

Hope everyone had a Happy Purim!!

This week’s parasha is called Tzav. It reviews the Sacrifices that were brought to the Mishkan in more detail.  Our discussions in class concentrated on one aspect of the Korbanot.  Who got to eat them?  Most of the Korbanot that were brought only part of the food or animal was burned on the altar and afterwards most of the offerings were eaten by the Kohanim.  Two exceptions to this rule were the Korban Shlamim which was eaten by both the Kohanim and the person bringing the offering, and Korban Ha-Olah which was completely burned on the altar and no one ate it.

 

In Kitah Dalet we concentrated on the Korban Shlamim. The 3 letter root of Shlamim –shin ש lamed ל mem מ has 2 basic meanings:

 

Shalom-peace

Shalem-complete

 

So what does the word shelamim mean in the case of this Korban?

 

Rashi, who lived in France 1000 years ago, wrote that Korban Shelamim has the meaning of Shalom-peace. It is a sacrifice that one brings to say Thank you to Hashem and everyone gets to eat from it together, the Cohanim and the person bringing the sacrifice.

 

Rabbi Eben Ezra, who was a contemporary of Rashi who lived in Spain, was known as a language detective. He wrote that the word Shelamim also means complete and the person bringing the Korban was doing so with לב שלם (with a complete heart-wholeheartedly or happily).

 

As today Tefilla replaces these sacrifices. We should come to the Tefilla with feelings of peace and with our whole heart.

 

Shabbat Shalom

Morah Donna