Illustration Credit: Elad Lifshitz, Dov Abramson Studio
Commentary פַּרְשָׁנוּת
אָדָ֗ם כִּֽי־יַקְרִ֥יב מִכֶּ֛ם קׇרְבָּ֖ן לַֽה'...
A person who offers a sacrifice mikem (from you) to God...
Our commentators notice that the placement of the word “מִכֶּם (mikem, from you)” is strange in this pasuk. Who or what does it refer to?
שִׁעוּר הַכָּתוּב הַזֶּה אָדָם מִכֶּם כִּי יַקְרִיב מִן הַבְּהֵמָה קָרְבָּן לַה'...
This is to be understood as “a person from you who offers an offering…”
Ramban thinks mikem makes the most sense if it’s about who is giving the korban–the person. In order to understand the pasuk, he says that you should read the words as saying: “A person from among you who offers…”
כִּי יַקְרִיב מֵעַצְמְכֶם, בְּוִדּוּי דְּבָרִים וְהַכְנָעָה.
“Who offers”: from your very selves, with a confession and humility.
Sforno thinks there is a lesson to be learned from the unusual order of the words. He believes it teaches us how korbanot are supposed to be offered. A korban is supposed to be truly “from your self,” which means that the sacrifice is not just made with one’s hands, but with one’s whole heart–with a humble attitude and the right intention.
- In English, when someone does something not just because they have to, but because they really want to, we say that person is doing it "wholeheartedly"--with their whole heart. What are some of the most important things to make sure we do wholeheartedly, and not just because we have to?
- Are you drawn to the way that Sforno reads the word mikem to suggest a lesson about the meaning of korbanot? Or do you prefer Ramban’s more matter-of-fact approach here? Could this one word mean more than one thing?
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שלמים. שֶׁמְּטִילִים שָׁלוֹם בָּעוֹלָם; דָּ"אַ: שְׁלָמִים שֶׁיֵּשׁ בָּהֶם שָׁלוֹם לַמִּזְבֵּחַ וְלַכֹּהֲנִים וְלַבְּעָלִים (ספרא):
שלמים PEACE-OFFERINGS — They are so called because they bring peace (שלום) into the world. Another explanation is: they are called שלמים because through them there is “peace” (harmony and lack of envy) to the altar, to the priests and to the owners (since all these receive a portion) (cf. Rashi on Exodus 29:22 and our Note thereon; see also Sifra, Vayikra Dibbura d'Nedavah, Chapter 16 2).