It is said that whoever studies the laws of the burnt offering is considered to have actually offered it.¹ 110a. [This is because] when a person develops an original insight into the [words of] Torah, he imbues those words with consciousness.², which literally means “brains,” but has the connotation of states of consciousness, such as Mochin d’Gadlus – expanded consciousness, and Mochin d’Katnus – constricted consciousness. Whereas, at first, the consciousness was hidden and enclothed in the words, he now divests it of its garments, and it becomes revealed and expanded. These are the “Ornaments of the Bride.” Likewise, when a person speaks words of Torah with fear and love [of G-d], he imbues the words with consciousness. [Therefore], whoever studies the laws of the burnt offering is considered to have offered it, for by cleaving to the words with fear and love, one gives them new life. Even though they have been damaged by sin, they are still the garments of the King.³, par. 193. However, the Baal Shem Tov may mean that even though the Temple and sacrificial order has been destroyed due to the sins of the Jewish people, the words of Torah that correspond to these mitzvos remain. They are like a garment that covers the essential spiritual energy of the sacrifices, and allows us to add vitality to that energy when we recite the words properly. When the Temple actually stood, however, and the sacrifices were offered, vitality was drawn into the physical world itself, as the Baal Shem Tov explains further. However, when the Holy Temple stood, and the [priests] would offer the burnt offering, they would enliven even the physical world.⁴ Likutey Amorim 32

footnotes: ¹ See Menachos ² The Baal Shem Tov uses the Kabbalistic term Mochin ³ The intention of this statement is not clear, and the words are not included in the version of this teaching found in Keter Shem Tov ⁴ Literally, “the world of action.”