Vayikra: Laying the Foundation For Our Children’s Education

The Midrash states:4

Rabbi Assi asked, “Why do young children begin their Torah study with Toras Kohanim5 [i.e., the Book of Vayikra,] and not [the Book of] Bereishis?”

He answered,6 “The young children are pure and the sacrifices are pure. Let the pure ones come and occupy themselves7 with pure matters.”8

What is meant by the statement, “the sacrifices are pure”? Several commentaries9 explain that the intent is that the sacrifices must be brought in a state of purity rather than impurity. Other commentaries10 explain that the intent is that, through offering sacrifices, one becomes pure from sin.

Both interpretations are not entirely satisfactory. The wording of the Midrash, “the sacrifices are pure,” implies that the intent is that the sacrifices themselves are pure, not that those who bring them must be pure or become pure by bringing them.11

On the other hand, interpreting the term as “pure matters” in a straightforward manner – that it refers to the sacrifices themselves – is also problematic. Nowhere in the Torah are the sacrifices categorized as “pure matters.” There is a requirement that the sacrifices be unblemished, that they be of choice quality, and the like,12 but they are never categorized as having to be “pure.”

On the surface, it is possible to explain that the Midrash’s categorization of sacrifices as pure matters is appropriate according to our Sages’ statements13 concerning the sacrifices offered before the Giving of the Torah:

All [animals] were fit to be sacrificed: a domesticated animal, an undomesticated animal, or a fowl; males and females; unblemished and blemished [animals. All the sacrifices were brought from species] that were pure, i.e., kosher, but not from impure [species].

Thus, before the Giving of the Torah, sacrificial animals were categorized as “pure.”

The connection between the sacrifices offered before the Giving of the Torah14 and the Torah study of young children is that children are not obligated to bring sacrifices.15 Their situation parallels the sacrifices brought before the Giving of the Torah, for then there was no mitzvah or obligation to bring sacrifices.

Nevertheless, that explanation is untenable regarding the issue at hand. The Midrash is explaining the reason young children begin studying Toras Kohanim, a term that refers to the Book of Vayikra, which contains the laws pertaining to the sacrifices brought after the Giving of the Torah. Thus, the comparison of children to the sacrifices brought before the Giving of the Torah does not appear to be appropriate.

After quoting the above-mentioned teaching, Midrash Tanchuma16 proceeds to state:

Therefore, I [G‑d] consider it as if they are standing and offering sacrifices before Me. Let it be known to you that although the Beis HaMikdash is destroyed and the sacrifices are no longer practiced, were it not for the young children who recite the order of the sacrifices, the world would not be maintained.

The Midrash continues,17 “Therefore, the Holy One, blessed be He, tells Israel, ‘My children… if you involve yourselves… with the passages [describing] the sacrifices, I will consider it as if you are offering a sacrifice….’ ” That statement applies not only to children but to any Jew who occupies himself with the passages describing the sacrifices; he is considered as if he actually offered a sacrifice.

This is somewhat puzzling, for how can this statement be reconciled with the Midrash’s previous teaching that highlights the study of the sacrifices by young children specifically, stating that, were it not for their reading of “the order of the sacrifices, the world would not be maintained”?

We are forced to say that, although both adults and children who study the laws of the sacrifices are considered to have offered sacrifices, even so, there is a virtue and an advantage to the study of Toras Kohanim by young children that surpasses the study of that subject by all others. Young children’s study specifically possesses a consummate quality that enables the world to be maintained.

The above concepts can be clarified by first explaining our Sages’ statement mentioned previously – that before the Giving of the Torah, it was possible to offer sacrifices from all pure, i.e., kosher, species. This concept is derived from the Torah’s description18 of the sacrifices brought by Noach as coming “from all the pure animals.”

The Talmud19 questions that statement, “Were there pure and impure species at that time?” – i.e., “the Torah was yet to be given”20 and this categorization was yet to be established. According to one version,21 the Talmud answers that this reference is to those species that would ultimately be categorized as pure, as Rashi states in his commentary on the Torah.22

Thus, the sacrifices Noach brought before the Giving of the Torah represent a paradox: On the one hand, the offering of the sacrifices by Noach did not involve the observance of a mitzvah.23 Indeed – in contrast to the Patriarchs – Noach is not described as having observed the entire Torah before it was given. His sacrifices resembled those that would regularly be brought, even before the Torah was given. People, for various reasons – beginning with Adam, the first man24 – felt motivated by their own feelings to bring sacrifices to G‑d.

On the other hand, the fact that Noach offered only animals from species that would in the future be categorized as pure indicates that then was no distinction between pure, i.e., kosher, animals and impure ones – as the Talmud asks, “Were there pure and impure species at that time?” However, this applied only with regard what man could eat or the like. Nevertheless, the fundamental distinction between species that would ultimately be defined as pure, i.e., kosher, and those that would be defined as impure already existed.25

Thus, from Noach’s time onward,26 the existence of the distinctions established by the Torah had already begun. True, this was before the Giving of the Torah, and furthermore, even before the era of the Patriarchs, who observed the entire Torah before it was given,27 conducting themselves in a manner similar to that required after the Giving of the Torah. However, inherently there already existed distinctions between species. For that reason, Noach brought a sacrifice specifically from pure species, i.e., those species that would ultimately be categorized as pure.28

The connection between Noach and the distinctions established by the Torah is found only with regard to the sacrifices. Accordingly, it is possible to say that it is specifically the concept of sacrifices that is of unique relevance to man even before the receiving of the Torah, i.e., before the Giving of the Torah in a general sense and also before the beginning of each individual’s direct connection with the Torah.

It is possible to offer the following explanation: Even after the Torah was given – and the sacrifices were counted among the 613 mitzvos of the Torah – the effect they bring about, and thus, their inner nature, transcends the Torah and its mitzvos. Therefore, they can atone and compensate29 for a lack generated by a deficiency in the observance of the Torah and its mitzvos.

Stated slightly differently: When a Jew brought a sacrifice to G‑d,he expressedhis closeness to G‑d and the bond he shared with Him. This bond was, and continues to be, an inherent dimension of every Jew; he possesses it by virtue of his birthright as a Jew, regardless of his standingapropos his observance of the Torah and its mitzvos. Just as this bond is not achieved through the observance of Torah and its mitzvos, it cannot be diminished through the lack of such observance, for the essential bond a Jew shares with G‑d transcends the Torah and its mitzvos. In that vein, building on the verse,30 “You are the children of G‑d your L‑rd,” our Sages31 explain that it is as if G‑d says, no matter what the Jews’ level of observance, “even though they sin, they are My children.”

This is the reason why sacrifices atone for sin and transgression. When a Jew, Heaven forbid, violates G‑d’s will, he creates a blemish in the oneness with G‑d that is established through the observance of the Torah and its mitzvos.32 When the Beis HaMikdash stood, he could repair this bond by offering sacrifices. Doing so aroused and revealed the essential connection he shared with G‑d that can never be tarnished. The revelation of this essential bond brings about atonement; i.e., it washes away the blemish33 created by sin and transgression.34

Based on the above, it is possible to gain a more complete understanding of the entire concept of sacrifices. On the surface, a question can arise: Offering sacrifices represents the primary dimension of the vector of avodah, “service,” one of the means G‑d established to enable the Jews to bond with Him. How is it possible that this service is achieved by slaughtering an animal and offering it on the altar? On the surface, it would be more fitting to attempt to achieve this goal through a spiritual endeavor, through prayer – described by our Sages35 as “the service of the heart” – and the like, which express the bond between the Jews and G‑d in a more apparent manner.

In particular, this is true because offering sacrifices is not a form of service exclusive to the Jewish people. Non-Jews may also offer sacrifices36 and may even bring them in the Beis HaMikdash,37 as is well known.

Based on the above, it can be said that this paradox is self-explanatory. The connection between the Jews and G‑d transcends any bond that they could possibly establish through their own Divine service of observing the Torah and its mitzvos; rather it stems entirely from G‑d’s free choice. Thus, although it is written,38 “Esav is Yaakov’s brother,” i.e., seemingly, a Jew and a non-Jew are alike, G‑d made a choice,39 as the verse continues, “I love Yaakov,” bonding Himself with the Jewish people in a manner that is not at all dependent on their righteousness or desire to connect to Him. For this very reason, the relationship between G‑d and the Jews is expressed specifically through the service of offering sacrifices, anact in which their spiritual virtue is not obviously recognizable, nor is it possible to distinguish between a Jew bringing a sacrifice and a non-Jew doing so. Nevertheless, it is only the Jews’ offering of sacrifices that arouses the essential bond that stems from G‑d’s choice.

To cite a parallel: G‑d’s choice of the Jews manifests itself specifically in their bodies, which physicallyappear to resemble the bodies of the non-Jews.40

On this basis, it is possible to understand why the sacrifices brought by Noach before the Giving of the Torah relate to the sacrifices offered afterwards, i.e., they were categorized as pure because of their future status.

Noach offered sacrifices as a gesture of thanks to G‑d for saving him from the Flood, as it is written,41 “G‑d remembered Noach.” This verse is one of those included in the Zichronos blessing recited in the Musaf service of Rosh HaShanah; i.e., it is connected with “the remembrance of you” – the Jewish people – “com[ing] before Me in a positive light.”42 As is well known,43 the reason that “G‑d remembered Noach” is because of “the essential virtue of the souls of the Jews.” For this reason, in that blessing, we relate that “You recalled Noach with love,” i.e., referring to the essential, inner love existing between G‑d and the Jews that transcends any virtue resulting from their Divine service.

Noach lived before the Giving of the Torah – i.e., before the time when G‑d “chose us from all nations and tongues.”44 His relationship to the Jewish people does not even resemble that of the Patriarchs who, as that title implies, are the forefathers of the Jewish people.45 Nevertheless, He shares a connection with the souls of the Jewish people. As a result of that connection, because of “the essential virtue of the souls of the Jews,” G‑d “recalled Noach with love.”

On this basis, we can understand why the sacrifices Noach offered in appreciation of G‑d remembering him and saving him from Flood are related to the sacrifices Jews brought after the Giving of the Torah.46 This also explains why the Midrash cited initially describes the sacrifices mentioned in the Book of Vayikra as “pure,” using the wording that categorizes sacrifices brought even before the Giving of the Torah, as mentioned above.

As mentioned,47 the inner theme of the sacrifices is to reveal the essential love G‑d has for the Jewish people that transcends His love for them that results from their observance of the Torah. This essential love was expressed to a greater degree through the sacrifices brought by Noach before the Giving of the Torah – before the sacrifices were commanded – than afterwards. After the Giving of the Torah, offering sacrifices became a mitzvah. As such, their transcendence over acts mandated by the Torah is not manifest in an apparent manner.

On this basis, it is possible to understand why the Midrash states that “young children should begin their Torah studies in Toras Kohanim, the Book of Vayikra that describes the laws of the sacrifices,so that the pure ones come and involve themselves with pure matters.”

Three inclusive periods in the evolution of the Jewish people were mentioned above: a) the period following the Giving of the Torah, when the Jews accepted the Torah and its mitzvos, observing them as Divine commandments; b) the period beginning with the Patriarchs, who observed the entire Torah before it was given; and c) the period beginning with Noach, who merely shared a connection to the Torah, relating at least to its concepts of purity and impurity.

It is possible to see that parallels to these three periods exist within every Jew’s personal life: a) after a youth reaches bar- or bas-mitzvah age and is obligated to observe the mitzvos; b) from the time children reach an educable age,48 when their observance of mitzvos serves as a preparation for the time when they become obligated to do so; c) before a child reaches an educable age, when the child has no association with the actual observance of the mitzvos. Nevertheless, since he or she is a Jewish child, even then he or she shares a connection to the Torah.49 Moreover, the entire Torah was given to him or her as an inheritance, as it is written,50 “The Torah Moshe commanded us is the inheritance of the congregation of Yaakov.” And an heir – even an infant on the day of his birth – inherits all his father left him.51 Thus, he or she shares a connection with the parameters established by the Torah.

Before a youth reaches an educable age, the concept of Divine service through the actual observance of the Torah and its mitzvos is not relevant. Accordingly, the essential characteristic such a child possesses by virtue of being Jewish is more evident. The inner, essential love with which G‑d loves every Jew is revealed to a greater extent by Jewish children who have not yet reached educable age.52

This is the intent of the Midrash’s teaching, “Let the pure ones come and involve themselves with pure matters.” The sacrifices express G‑d’s essential love for the Jewish people – a love that transcends the love stemming from their study of the Torah – and it is because of that inner love that the sacrifices bring about atonement. Thus, the sacrifices are intrinsically pure, for they relate to a level of G‑dliness that entirely transcends the concept of impurity.Therefore, it is fitting that the passages concerning them be studied by “pure ones,” children who are intrinsically pure, having no connection with impurity, in the words of the Midrash, “who do not know” – i.e., are entirely removed from – “the taste of sin and transgression,” because the essential bond of love between G‑d and the Jewish people shines forth within them in an apparent manner.53

Based on all the concepts explained above, it is understood why it is specifically “the pure ones [who] involve themselves in pure matters” – the young children who study Toras Kohanim – that enables the world’s existence to be maintained.

When adults involve themselves with “the passages concerning the sacrifices,” they do not perform any action; their involvement engages merely their thought and speech. As the Alter Rebbe explains,54 “A person is obligated to observe all the mitzvos in thought, speech, and action.With regard to the sacrifices: thought corresponds to prayer, service of the heart, which parallels offering the sacrifices and speech corresponds to Torah study concerning the sacrifices.” These two “garments” of the soul, thought and speech, primarily reveal a person’s thinking processes or his feelings and emotions.

Although thought and speech involve letters that enclothe thoughts or feelings, the letters are not of primary importance. What is fundamental is the thought or the feeling that is enclothed in them. Since it is the person’s own thoughts and feelings that are being revealed, the essential virtue of the Jews that stems from G‑d’s choice of the Jews is not so evident.

By contrast, when children read and study the book of Vayikra, Toras Kohanim – specifically in the initial stages of their study, when they are merely learning to read, before they reach an age when they are capable of understanding what the mitzvos are – they do so without intermingling what they read with their own conceptual processes.

This is particularly true according to the prevailing Jewish custom that young children only begin their study with the Book of Vayikra. Afterwards, however, they study other matters, each place following the local custom.55

Thus, they are merely reading, and the meaning of what they read is not that significant, only the movement of their lips. This evokes the essential love of G‑d because – as explained in sec. 6 – G‑d’s choice is focused on the Jews’ bodies. Consequently, it is their study that – in a consummate matter56 – maintains the world’s existence.

Likkutei Sichos, Volume 22, p. 1ff.
Adapted from a sichah delivered on Shabbos Parshas Vayikra, 5740 [1980]