Midrash מִדְרָשׁ
Learning Torah is one of the most meaningful and important things we can do. Check out how powerful Torah study can be according to a midrash on our parashah.
(לז) זֹ֣את הַתּוֹרָ֗ה לָֽעֹלָה֙ לַמִּנְחָ֔ה וְלַֽחַטָּ֖את וְלָאָשָׁ֑ם וְלַ֨מִּלּוּאִ֔ים וּלְזֶ֖בַח הַשְּׁלָמִֽים׃
This is the Torah (teaching) for the olah (burnt), for the minhah (gift), for the hattat (sin), for the asham (guilt), for the milluim (inauguration), and for the shelamim (peace) offerings.
“Torah” literally means “teaching.” So, in theory, any single mitzvah or group of mitzvot could be called a Torah. They all had to be taught to Benei Yisrael. But still, we know that “Torah” usually doesn’t mean a particular set of mitzvot; it means all of them—the words Moshe wrote down from God are all, as one big collection, the Torah!
- So why does this pasuk call the teachings of these korbanot “the Torah”?
אָמַר רָבָא כָּל הָעוֹסֵק בַּתּוֹרָה אֵינוֹ צָרִיךְ לֹא עוֹלָה וְלֹא מִנְחָה (וְלֹא חַטָּאת) וְלֹא אָשָׁם.
Rava said: Anyone who studies Torah needs not an olah, not a minhah, not a hattat, and not an asham.
Rava thinks the sounds in our pasuk give us a clue, and hint at a different meaning!
In the pasuk, each korban is introduced with the letter lamed: “la-olah, la-minhah…”
That means, “for an olah, for a minhah…”
But Rava notices it sounds a lot like: “lo olah, lo minhah…”
That means, “not an olah, not a minhah…”
Rava teaches a new and perhaps surprising idea: Learning Torah is so powerful that it can even substitute for doing these korbanot.
- Now that we can no longer do these korbanot (because there’s no Beit Ha-Mikdash), how can learning Torah help?
- Can you think of ways that Torah learning is like a korban? What sacrifices do people make for learning?
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