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Burnt Offering (Olah) – to connect with God, to offer something to acknowledge that everything comes from God, to express generosity. Everything is burnt but the skin.
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Meal Offering (Minchah) – made from grain. Part of the wheat harvest, a poor person’s olah, a gift to God. Eaten by the priests.
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Well-being offering (Shlaymim) – to celebrate a happy occasion. part of the animal is burnt, most is eaten by the priests and the family of the offerer.
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Sin Offering (Hatat) – to express atonement and be purged from an accidental violation of an ethical or ritual prohibition. Some of the animal is burned on the altar and no one benefits from the rest of the meat. It is taken outside of the camp and burned on a fire, along with the hide, head, legs and tail.
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Guilt Offering (Asham) – to repair damage done in certain cases, and where reparations must be made to those who have been harmed. After restoring justice, this offering is made to God. Part of the meat is burned and the rest given to the priest.
(א) וַיִּקְרָ֖א אֶל־מֹשֶׁ֑ה וַיְדַבֵּ֤ר ה' אֵלָ֔יו מֵאֹ֥הֶל מוֹעֵ֖ד לֵאמֹֽר׃
(ב) דַּבֵּ֞ר אֶל־בְּנֵ֤י יִשְׂרָאֵל֙ וְאָמַרְתָּ֣ אֲלֵהֶ֔ם אָדָ֗ם כִּֽי־יַקְרִ֥יב מִכֶּ֛ם קָרְבָּ֖ן לַֽה' מִן־הַבְּהֵמָ֗ה מִן־הַבָּקָר֙ וּמִן־הַצֹּ֔אן תַּקְרִ֖יבוּ אֶת־קָרְבַּנְכֶֽם׃ (ג) אִם־עֹלָ֤ה קָרְבָּנוֹ֙ מִן־הַבָּקָ֔ר זָכָ֥ר תָּמִ֖ים יַקְרִיבֶ֑נּוּ אֶל־פֶּ֝תַח אֹ֤הֶל מוֹעֵד֙ יַקְרִ֣יב אֹת֔וֹ לִרְצֹנ֖וֹ לִפְנֵ֥י ה'
(ד) וְסָמַ֣ךְ יָד֔וֹ עַ֖ל רֹ֣אשׁ הָעֹלָ֑ה וְנִרְצָ֥ה ל֖וֹ לְכַפֵּ֥ר עָלָֽיו׃
(ה) וְשָׁחַ֛ט אֶת־בֶּ֥ן הַבָּקָ֖ר לִפְנֵ֣י ה' וְ֠הִקְרִיבוּ בְּנֵ֨י אַהֲרֹ֤ן הַֽכֹּֽהֲנִים֙ אֶת־הַדָּ֔ם וְזָרְק֨וּ אֶת־הַדָּ֤ם עַל־הַמִּזְבֵּ֙חַ֙ סָבִ֔יב אֲשֶׁר־פֶּ֖תַח אֹ֥הֶל מוֹעֵֽד׃
(1) And Hashem called unto Moses, and spoke unto him out of the tent of meeting, saying: (2) Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them: When any man of you bringeth an offering unto Hashem, ye shall bring your offering of the cattle, even of the herd or of the flock. (3) If his offering be a burnt-offering of the herd, he shall offer it a male without blemish; he shall bring it to the door of the tent of meeting, that he may be accepted before Hashem. (4) And he shall lay his hand upon the head of the burnt-offering; and it shall be accepted for him to make atonement for him. (5) And he shall kill the bullock before Hashem; and Aaron’s sons, the priests, shall present the blood, and dash the blood round about against the altar that is at the door of the tent of meeting.
1.3. A burnt offering may be brought by one who has intentionally committed a sin for which the Torah does not prescribe a punishment, one who failed to perform a positive commandment, one who had sinful thoughts and by everyone who comes to Jerusalem for the three Pilgrimage Festivals Similarly, it may be brought by anyone who wishes to raise her spiritual level. (Stone commentary, Artscroll, 1999)
THERE IS A PARTICULAR SPIRITUAL AILMENT THAT MANIFESTS AS AN INFLATION OF THE SELF. The mind is consumed with ME. Everything seems to depend on ME. I am obsessed by MY memories, MY plans, MY importance, MY spiritual path, MY sickness, how I might manipulate the world to MY benefit. The medicine for this condition must sometimes be drastic — namely, the complete nullification of self.
The Olah is the burnt offering that is completely consumed by fire. Through the Olah we experience the complete surrender of the self to God’s will.
In prayer, the Olah is the total surrender of “ME” into the Divine fires. When the self is entirely given in prayer, we may experience a moment of terror as the self dissolves. In that moment of dissolution, God welcomes the gift of our return and breathes in the sweet savor of our fragrance (which is the self distilled into its pure essence). God then breathes our unique essence back into us that we might be re-created. In that moment of Divine pleasure, we experience a great and sublime relief.
(1) If your offering is a sacrifice of well-being—If you offer of the herd, whether a male or a female, you shall bring before יהוה one without blemish. (2) You shall lay a hand upon the head of your offering and slaughter it at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting; and Aaron’s sons, the priests, shall dash the blood against all sides of the altar. (3) Then present from the sacrifice of well-being, as an offering by fire to יהוה, the fat that covers the entrails and all the fat that is about the entrails; (4) the two kidneys and the fat that is on them, that is at the loins; and the protuberance on the liver, which you shall remove with the kidneys. (5) Aaron’s sons shall turn these into smoke on the altar, with the burnt offering which is upon the wood that is on the fire, as an offering by fire, of pleasing odor to יהוה.
THERE IS A PARTICULAR SPIRITUAL DISEASE THAT AFFLICTS US WHEN WE ARE CORRUPTED OR INSULATED BY OUR WEALTH AND GOOD FORTUNE. It manifests as complacency and stinginess, as a lack of passion or sense of wonder.
The Sh’lamim is an offering of thanksgiving. It expresses our sense of wholeness and is given in response to the Grace we receive. Our giving allows that Grace to flow through us. This offering always culminates in a sacred meal shared with the givers, priests and God.
In prayer, the sh’lamim flows from our acknowledgement of the amazing richness of Life. Through this offering, generosity is kindled in the heart. Giving becomes the natural response to receiving. My fullness overflows into the world and goodness is multiplied as it is shared. I let my prayer express this wondrous overflow.
(יג) וְאִ֨ם כׇּל־עֲדַ֤ת יִשְׂרָאֵל֙ יִשְׁגּ֔וּ וְנֶעְלַ֣ם דָּבָ֔ר מֵעֵינֵ֖י הַקָּהָ֑ל וְ֠עָשׂ֠וּ אַחַ֨ת מִכׇּל־מִצְוֺ֧ת יְהֹוָ֛ה אֲשֶׁ֥ר לֹא־תֵעָשֶׂ֖ינָה וְאָשֵֽׁמוּ׃ (יד) וְנֽוֹדְעָה֙ הַֽחַטָּ֔את אֲשֶׁ֥ר חָטְא֖וּ עָלֶ֑יהָ וְהִקְרִ֨יבוּ הַקָּהָ֜ל פַּ֤ר בֶּן־בָּקָר֙ לְחַטָּ֔את וְהֵבִ֣יאוּ אֹת֔וֹ לִפְנֵ֖י אֹ֥הֶל מוֹעֵֽד׃
(1) יהוה spoke to Moses, saying: (2) Speak to the Israelite people thus: When a person unwittingly incurs guilt in regard to any of יהוה’s commandments about things not to be done, and does one of them— (3) If it is the anointed priest who has incurred guilt, so that blame falls upon the people, he shall offer for the sin of which he is guilty a bull of the herd without blemish as a sin offering יהוה. (4) He shall bring the bull to the entrance of the Tent of Meeting, before יהוה, and lay a hand upon the head of the bull. The bull shall be slaughtered before יהוה, (5) and the anointed priest shall take some of the bull’s blood and bring it into the Tent of Meeting. (6) The priest shall dip his finger in the blood, and sprinkle of the blood seven times before יהוה, in front of the curtain of the Shrine. (7) The priest shall put some of the blood on the horns of the altar of aromatic incense, which is in the Tent of Meeting, before יהוה; and all the rest of the bull’s blood he shall pour out at the base of the altar of burnt offering, which is at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting. (8) He shall remove all the fat from the bull of sin offering: the fat that covers the entrails and all the fat that is about the entrails; (9) the two kidneys and the fat that is on them, that is at the loins; and the protuberance on the liver, which he shall remove with the kidneys— (10) just as it is removed from the ox of the sacrifice of well-being. The priest shall turn them into smoke on the altar of burnt offering. (11) But the hide of the bull, and all its flesh, as well as its head and legs, its entrails and its dung— (12) all the rest of the bull—he shall carry to a pure place outside the camp, to the ash heap, and burn it up in a wood fire; it shall be burned on the ash heap. (13) If it is the community leadership of Israel that has erred and the matter escapes the notice of the congregation, so that they do any of the things which by יהוה’s commandments ought not to be done, and they realize guilt— (14) when the sin through which they incurred guilt becomes known, the congregation shall offer a bull of the herd as a sin offering, and bring it before the Tent of Meeting.
THERE IS A PARTICULAR SPIRITUAL DISEASE THAT IS CAUSED BY CARRYING THE BURDEN OF PAST MISTAKES. It causes us shame which cuts us off from God’s love. We become defensive and seek to blame others.
The Chatat is an offering that lifts from us the sorrow of our errors. When awareness reveals that we have acted unconsciously, and thus have unintentionally done damage to others, our remorse can be transformed into resolve. The Chatat celebrates this moment of clarity, purifying us from the obscuring effects of guilt or shame, empowering us to turn towards God, towards reconciliation and wholeness.
In prayer, the Chatat is the heart-song that sings us free from the shame of our errors, and turns our mistakes into clear instructions for repair and holiness.
This unit reads like an instruction manual, which it may have been. But note that these instructions are to be disclosed to all Israel, whereas in other cultures priests typically guard the knowledge about their professional rites of worship.
The Anthropologist Mary Douglas observes that the arrangement of the offerings on the altar recreates a movement from the outside (of the animals body) to the center and toward great holiness. A similar journey takes place as a person enters the Tabernacle or as Moses ascends Mt. Sinai.
Douglas also notes the relationship between what is offered on the altar and what a person may eat (Lev. 11): The meat that one may offer God is the same as that which one may eat. The parallels make the human body analogue to the Tabernacle: a holy place designated for serving God.
Imagine that your car has a faulty speedometer. You are caught driving at 50 miles per hour in a 30 mile an hour zone. You tell the policeman who stops you that you didn’t know. Your speedometer was only showing 30 miles per hour. He may sympathise, but you have still broken the law, transgressed the limit, and you will still have to pay the penalty.
That is what a sin offering is. According to R. Shimshon Raphael Hirsch it is a penalty for carelessness. [...] The fact that you have had to pay the price by bringing a sacrifice will make you take greater care in future.[...] The best way of putting things right is to make a sacrifice: to do something that costs us something.
In ancient times, that took the form of a sacrifice offered on the altar at the Temple. Nowadays the best way of doing so is to give money to charity (tzedakah) or perform an act of kindness to others (chessed). Charity and kindness are our substitutes for sacrifice and, like the sin offering of old, they help mend what is broken in the world and in our soul.
ואם לא תגיע ידו, “if he is financially unable, etc.” the Torah does not demand that he must borrow money in order to be able to atone for his unintentional sin, and it does not require that he use the products of his special skill and bring this as an offering. But if he owns a lamb, which is what is basically required of him as an offering, but he does not have money to cover his basic expenses, he does have to bring this lamb as his offering.
ואם לא תגיע ידו די שה, “if [one] is unable to afford the price of a lamb, etc.” seeing that people guilty of entering sacred grounds in a state of ritual impurity or swearing a futile oath, do not derive any benefit from committing that sin, the Torah made allowances for them if they found offering a lamb as sin offering a financial hardship, and offered two alternatives depending on their financial status. No such relief is granted to people who inadvertently ate forbidden fat, blood, or who ate on the day of Atonement, (thinking it was on a different date), or people performing forbidden activities on the Sabbath for their personal benefit. Anyone who had derived personal benefit by making use of sanctified animals or vessels has committed two sins simultaneously, and is also not qualified to avail [themselves] of what is written in this verse. [They are] viewed as if [they] had tried to steal from G–d. All these people have to pay for the value of the animal offered by the priest on their behalf.
While the korbanot were an expressive site for our primal means of connection, they also reflected aspirations for a just and fair society. The sacrifices were based on each person’s means—a sliding scale from cattle to grain. The text scrupulously gave each level its due, pointedly noting that the humble grain offering was given from the offeror’s “soul,” not simply his or her person. And an exacting emphasis was placed on each korban’s ethical provenance—stipulating that it not be procured through theft or even unintentional misappropriation of another’s property
It goes without saying that G-d’s omnipotence does not need animal sacrifices- rather the purpose of korbanot was used as an expression of humility and nullifying our sins. In biblical times the size of one’s herd and the amount of livestock they owned was a determination of wealth and social status.
Hence whether atoning for sins or saying thanks to the Almighty, a person would attempt to express [their] gratitude and sincerity through bringing something of value through an animal. If they were financially unable to afford a whole animal, a poor person was able to bring a sacrifice of flour or oil, often to be eaten and shared by the priests or other Israelites.
This is why till today we still read about korbanot, despite the ritual performance being inactive for 2,000 years. The central theme of a korban was for the individual to donate and contribute something of value to G-d and the wider community - a notion which is eternal.