אדם כי יקריב מכם . I have already pointed out that this verse addresses itself to the awakening of the אדם attribute within us urging us that when we do offer sacrifices to G–d we should consider that it is our very selves we offer to Him. This kind of urgent advice is valid both for when we offer a total offering, or a sin offering. When the Torah introduces the details of the various categories of sacrifices with the words: זאת תורת העולה, or זאת תורת החטאת, etc., it means that what one does to the animal in question is what really should have been done to oneself, the person who now is required to offer this animal in lieu of himself. The Torah uses the same words of introduction when a peace offering is offered and no sin is being atoned for, to teach us that the owner ought to view himself as establishing harmony with the altar, harmony with the priests, and harmony with the owners (himself). If such considerations prevail the directive-promise of Exodus 19,6: "You will be for Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation" will be fulfilled. This is because the owners, too, consume part of the meat of the peace offering, שלמים.

Nowadays, when we do not have an altar or priest to perform all these duties on our behalf, the only way we can compensate for this lack is by studying the relevant sections of the Torah with a grieving heart and confessing our sins, so that at least the verse in Psalms 51,17: זבחי אלוקים רוח נשברה, "True sacrifice to G–d is a contrite spirit" can be applied to us. Our sages are on record that he who occupies himself with the portions of the Torah which deal with the sacrifices by trying to understand their deeper significance to the extent that he imposes fast-days upon himself is considered as if he himself had become a sacrifice of sweet smelling fragrance. The author of Tolaat Yaakov dwells on this on page 67 of his book. He writes as follows: "The mystical dimension of fasting is that it is viewed like an altar, ready to atone for the sins of the person fasting. By reducing the intake of food and drink one reduces one's body fat, sacrificing it to G–d combined with one's prayers. Towards evening, when such a person feels increasingly weak, he is as though the fire which is one of the basic elements man is made of becomes predominant within him so that it symbolizes the burning wood-pile on the altar of which the Torah said that its fire should never be allowed to be extinguished. This body-heat then consumes part of the fat and blood the body has accumulated. This physical process parallels what used to happen on the altar when the animals were burned. On a still more fundamental level: just a there are איברים, "limbs," i.e. individual parts of sacrifices in the Celestial Regions whose function it is to be consumed by Heavenly fire, so there are corresponding איברים in our world whose function it is to be consumed by the fire on our terrestrial altar. Just as the smoke from the altar rises heavenwards, so the spirit of man leaves his body and rises turning into ריח ניחוח, a sweet smelling fragrance for G–d. All of this takes place on the day the person who is engrossed in the study of the deeper meaning of the sacrifices observes a fast. A person must concentrate on this objective wholeheartedly with both body and soul. He must mentally pepare himself for this as if he were preparing his sacrifice for the altar. When he does this he will obtain forgiveness for the transgressions he has been guilty of. In the above mentioned manner man can transform himself into a fully fledged altar. He can "offer" all the different kinds of sacrifices on this altar.

When a person has examined himself for sins and has been unable to find such sins G–d has no fault to find with him and He will accept such a person's effort to atone with his own flesh for any shortcomings of his in the form of a peace offering, שלמים. Thus far the words of Tolaat Yaakov.

לא יבדיל . Concerning the law not to sever the head of a bird serving as a sin offering (5,8). Rabbi Menachem HaBavli reasons that seeing the sinner had been קשה עורף, stiff-necked vis-a-vis G–d when he committed the sin he now wishes to atone for, this is symbolized by the Torah specifying that he must "pinch the head of this bird at its neck without severing it."

על כל קרבנך תקריב מלח . Rabbi Menachem HaBavli sees this requirement as analogous to the covenant which G–d is reported to have made with the waters of the oceans promising that they would be used for a sacrifice on the altar. Anyone who offers a sacrifice has to cause himself some physical discomfort. Just as salt sweetens the meat, i.e. makes it more palatable, so physical afflictions make his sacrifice of himself more palatable to G–d. Our sages in Berachot 7a expressed this idea when they said: "A single self inflicted pain has more beneficial effect on one's heart than many painful blows administered by outsiders."

שלא להקטיר שאור ודבש . Rabbi Menachem HaBavli points out that the Torah's use of the expression להקטיר instead of להקריב in connection with the prohibition to offer leaven or honey on the altar (2,11) is a reminder that, in order for any offering to achieve its purpose and ensure goodwill from G–d, the owner must practice הכנעה, humility. Leaven and honey are symbols of the exact opposite. It is their nature to inflate themselves. All מנחות offerings are made of unleavened bread, i.e. flat cakes. Atonement always depends on the petitioner demonstrating submissiveness, and an agent that symbolizes the reverse cannot be used in this connection. We have the rule that אין קטיגור נעשה סניגור, "a prosecuting attorney cannot switch roles and become counsel for the defense." A real connection with the Divine can be established only after all the elements separating man from G–d have been submerged in the sense of ואד יעלה מן הארץ והשקה את כל פני אדם, "mist flooded the whole person."

אשר נשיא יחטא . Rashi comments on this that the אשר word can be read as אשרי, "hail to" a generation in which the leader acknowledges personal guilt (4,22). When the leader acts in such a way the ordinary people are encouraged to own up to their own shortcomings and to make amends. Another moral lesson to be learned from the positioning of this verse next to a verse discussing the errors of the whole community is that the sins of a community automatically reflect on its leader, because the leader should have used his authority to prevent any sin by the community.

נפש כי תחטא וגומר או הודע אליו חטאתו . Both in the Zohar and in the Tzror HaMor much has been written about these verses (4,22-23). The words או הודע אליו חטאתו are understood to refer to pre-natal knowledge, information given to the soul of the person in question prior to his being born. These commentators compare the situation to Jeremiah 1,5: "Before I created you in the womb I selected you, etc." This proves that communication with man commences before he is born. His soul is exhorted to behave in a certain way once he is on earth. The subject is explained by Rabbi Simlai in Nidah 30: "While the embryo is in the womb of its mother it may be compared to a writing book folded over, his two hands at his sides, etc.. A light is lit near his head enabling him to view every corner of the globe. He is taught the entire Torah as we know from ויורני ויאמר לי יתמך דברי לבך, "He also taught me and said to me: 'let your heart retain my words'" (Proverbs 4,4). Another verse from scripture along similar lines is Job 29,4: ואומר בסוד אלוקה עלי אהלי, "When the secrets of G–d were in my tent," i.e. I was privy to the mystical aspects of Torah while still in the womb. The baby is not born until it has been made to swear to be a צדיק not a רשע. He is told that even though the whole world may describe him as a צדיק, he must still consider himself a רשע. He should remain aware of the purity of G–d and his angels, as well as of the purity of the soul he has been equipped with. He is warned that as long as he preserves the purity of his soul all is well and good, but should he fail to so preserve its purity, his soul will be removed from him. This is the gist of Rabbi Simlai's statement.

Man was thus forewarned of the consequences of improper conduct even before he was born. This will help him to refrain from sinning. Whenever he remembers this he will hasten to make amends. This is the meaning of the words או הודע אליו חטאתו אשר חטא in 4,28. Perhaps this is also the reason the Torah continues in the paragraph following with the words: ונפש כי תחטא ושמעה קול האלה, "When a person sins and hears the voice of the oath, etc." The "oath" in question may allude to the one he himself swore before he was born as described above by Rabbi Simlai. This may also be what David alluded to in Psalms 24,4 when he described someone who has never sworn a vain oath as a person fit to ascend the Mountain of G–d. [otherwise we could ask why such a person had to swear an oath altogether, seeing our sages frown on any oath. Ed.] The remainder of 5,1, i.e. והוא עד או ראה או ידע may also be understood as applying to an experience every person had prior to his birth when he was sworn to remain free of sin. The verse concludes with the statement ונשא עונו, that a person who ignores what he was taught as an embryo will bear his guilt.

ומעלה מעל בה' . Rashi, quoting Rabbi Akiva, comments that since transactions such as loans and the purchase of something substantial always involve the presence of witnesses and the recording of the transaction in a document, we must assume that denial in the quotation means that the guilty person denies the authenticity of the document and/or the reliability of the witnesses. This is not the case, however, when someone entrusts valuables to a friend. The essence of such a transaction is its very secrecy. The depositor can only rely only on the third party [G–d] to know the true facts. Any denial of such a deposit by its recipient is a direct sin against G–d. Thus far Rashi. This teaches us what enormous dimensions a simple monetary dispute may assume. It may be equivalent to denying the very existence of G–d, G–d forbid.