Symbolism of the offering by the Rebbe

 

Friday: The Inner Sacrificial Altar Sixth Reading: Leviticus 8:22–29 Translated and Adapted by Moshe Wisnefsky As was the case with most sacrifices, parts of the sacrifices of the installation rituals were burned on the Outer Altar. The Inner Sacrificial Altar וַיִּקַּח מֹשֶׁה אֹתָם מֵעַל כַּפֵּיהֶם וַיַּקְטֵר הַמִּזְבֵּחָה וגו': (ויקרא ח:כח) Moses took [specific parts of the slaughtered sacrifices] from the hands [of Aaron and his sons] and burned them up on the Altar. Leviticus 8:28 The procedures for the sacrifices all allude to inner, psychological processes that we must undergo in order to draw close to G‑d. (As mentioned above, the Hebrew word for “sacrifice” [korban] means “drawing close.”) Slaughtering the animal alludes to how we slaughter – i.e., renounce – our animalistic orientation toward life. Sprinkling the blood on the Altar alludes to how we then re-orient our enthusiasm (signified by our warm blood) toward G‑dliness. Placing the fat of the slaughtered animal on the Altar alludes to how we re-orient our sense of delight (signified by fat, which results from indulging in eating foods that trigger feelings of delight in our brain) toward G‑dliness. Burning the animal by fire on the Altar alludes to the consumption of our animal nature by Divinity, meaning that our formerly animalistic drives become drives for goodness, as we transform the world into G‑d’s home.1 FOOTNOTES 1. Reshimot 108.