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This week we learn about the procedures for bringing various types of Korbanot. The first Korban described is the Korban Olah. The Korban Olah is a Korban that is entirely burned on the Mizbei’ach. The supplicant cannot eat any of it, nor can the Kohen who brings it. It is all burned on the Mizbei’ach. This leaves a question: what exactly is the purpose of the Korban Olah - or, for that matter, any other Korbanot?
Hashem does not physically benefit from our Korbanot. He is not like the pagan deities (Yemach Shemam), whose worshippers believed that by giving sacrifices, their gods would be sated. Hashem has no physical form, and does not eat Korbanot. For other Korbanot, Hashem’s most chosen people, the Kohanim, get to eat certain parts of it. But that is not the case by the Korban Olah. Why would Hashem care about it?
Luckily, we are not totally alone when trying to figure out the purpose of Korbanot. The Torah does give an explanation: the Korban is a Rei’ach Nicho’ach LaHashem, a pleasing aroma to God. But Hashem is not physical, and so should not care for scents any more than He does for tastes. So what is going on?
In order to solve this question, we first look at the first appearance of Rei’ach Nicho’ach in the Torah: in Parashat No’ach. No’ach and his family have just emerged from the Teivah onto a ruined Earth. The first thing he does is let out the animals, and the second thing he does is bring some of those animals as Korbanot to Hashem. The Pasuk reads: “VaYarach Hashem Et HaRei’ach Nicho’ach VaYomer Hashem El Libo Lo Osif Lekalel Od Et Ha’Adamah Ba’avur Ha’Adam,” “Hashem “smelled” the Reiach Nichoach and said to himself, ‘I won’t continue cursing the Earth because of mankind’” (BeReishit 8:21). From the very beginning, a Rei’ach Nicho’ach is associated with pleasing Hashem. But why would this please Hashem?
This article began by asking what the purpose of Korbanot could be when we lose an animal and Hashem gains nothing. Hashem has everything by definition, and nothing we can give Him means anything - after all, nothing we have is really ours to give. So why does Hashem care when we give His stuff to Him? The answer is that it is the thought that counts.
We cannot give Hashem anything. But our desire to give to Hashem is still meaningful. But when Hashem has everything already, how can we do so? By trying to give Him something. By taking what we have, dedicating it to Hashem, and then burning it up completely, we show that while we cannot give Hashem anything, we will try to do so anyway. And that desire is why Hashem cares about our Korbanot.
When No’ach stepped out of the Teivah, he had just lost a year of his life. He had just spent day after day doing backbreaking labor to keep a worldful of animals alive. He walks out and sees a ruined world, destroyed by the Wrath of God. And what is the first thing he does? He takes some of these animals, that he had worked so hard for so long to keep alive, slaughters them, and burns them to a crisp, dedicating them to Hashem. Hashem sees the smoke, “smells” the aroma of the burning meat, and realizes that maybe man isn’t so bad after all.
Malbim on Parashat No’ach explains that Rei’ach Nicho’ach isn’t Hashem smelling an aroma. Instead, the text is using the other definition of Ru’ach, namely spirit, soul. What Hashem is “smelling” is not the literal smell of burning meat, but instead the good intentions of the person bringing the Korban that Hashem turns into an aroma.
This idea is also echoed elsewhere in the Torah. Back in Parashat VaYikra, the text says that when you are bringing a Korban, you must bring it Lirtzono, to please Hashem. Since your desire to please Hashem is why He cares about it to begin with, having it is pretty important. The converse is also true. There is an Issur by Korbanot of having intentions to do something wrong with a Korban, called Me’ilah. Normally, there are no sins for thinking the wrong thing. But with Korbanot, thinking is the Mitzvah, so thinking wrong can be a serious Aveirah. This is also why so many Nevi’im berated the nation for bringing so many Korbanot instead of helping the poor. All that matters are your intentions, so if your intentions are to directly violate Hashem’s Torah, your Korban will not be well received.
This is also why we are able to replace Korbanot with Tefillah now that we don’t have a Beit HaMikdash. True, we cannot bring gifts to Hashem. But in a sense, we never really could. Hashem already has the object that we are bringing. So if our thoughts are good, our intentions are good, our Kavanah is good, or Tefillah, mental prayers, Avodah SheBeLev, can be good as well.