Parshat Vayikra Zachor 5782
Rabbi Jablinowitz
We read in this week’s parsha the laws of the Karbanos. One of the Karbanos brought is the sin offering known as a קרבן חטאת . When the Torah introduces this sacrifice, it begins with the words (Chapter 4, Pasuk 2), נפש כי תחטא, if a soul shall sin. Why does the Torah introduce the sin offering by referring to the individual as a “Nefesh”? If anything, it’s the physical body of a person that desires and causes him to sin, not his holy soul.
The Gemara in Berachos 61B describes the life long struggle one endures between his physical body and his soul. This struggle is something one should hope to experience, for the Gemara tells us that the wicked are totally ruled by their physical desires. Yet for the average person, the בינוני, זה וזה שופטן. He is ruled both by his body and his soul, by his יצר הרע and his יצר הטוב. Sometimes one side is victorious and other times the opposite side wins.
The Medrash Rabbah on our parsha (4,2) quotes the pasuk above and brings a pasuk from Koheles (Chapter 6, Pasuk 7), וגם הנפש לא תמלא. The soul can never be filled up in this world. And the Medrash compares the soul within the physical body to a simple city dweller who marries a princess. All the gifts he showers his wife with won’t please her. He comes from a very different world than she does. She is not impressed or satisfied with any worldly items. So too the soul can never be satisfied with or feel fulfilled by any pleasures the body will impose on it.
The Sfas Emes points out that the word חטא which means sin essentially means to fall short or be lacking. The reason the Torah says נפש כי תחטא when describing a sin is because when a sin takes place, it’s because the soul lost this particular round in its ongoing struggle with its host body. The sin is an indication of one’s lacking and inability to overcome his physical desire. When one sins, his soul fell short.
The soul is strengthened by performing Torah and mitzvos. The pasuk in Acharei Mos states (Chapter 18, Pasuk 5), אשר יעשה אותם האדם וחי בהם. Mitzvos gives a person spiritual and eternal life. It enables the soul to grow and expand its sphere of influence. צדיקים אפילו במיתתם קרויים חיים. Even after he leaves this world physically, one lives on through his legacy and accomplishments in the realm of Torah. His pleasures, however, exist for a fleeting moment. רשעים אפילו בחייהם קרויים מתים. Nothing of substance remains of it afterwards.
The only time the soul is truly complete is on Shabbos. This is when it receives reinforcements; the נשמה יתירה. The additional dose of holiness one’s body is infused with on Shabbos, enables him to make sure the soul is victorious in its struggles. It enables the person to make correct decisions and focus on matters of true value and essence.
This ongoing struggle between one’s soul and body is also expressed in the ongoing struggle with Amalek. The pasuk says in parshat Beshalach (Chapter 17, Pasuk 8), ויבא עמלק וילחם עם ישראל ברפידם. Chazal teach in the Gemara in Bechoros 5B that the place רפידם where the battle took place teaches us that רפו ידיהם מן התורה. The reason Bnei Yisrael fell prey to battle with Amalek was because they became weak in their observance of Torah. In a similar vein, the Gemara in Megillah 11B teaches that the Jewish people were under serious threat from Haman, a descendant of Amalek, because they took part and enjoyed the feast of Achashverosh. When the soul is weakened and the body is strengthened, then we must fear from ויבא עמלק.
The only way to overcome this threat is to strengthen our resolve in strengthening our souls and ensuring it remains victorious over our bodies. And the formula is described in the continuation of the parsha of the battle with Amalek. והיה כאשר ירים ידו וגבר ישראל. And as Rashi teaches from the Mishnah in Rosh Hashanah, it wasn’t dependent on the actual hands of Moshe Rabbeinu. Rather, our victory over Amalek and the victory for our souls is dependent on subjugating ourselves to our Father in heaven. Only then will we attain the life and eternity we seek, as the pasuk says (Devarim, Chapter 4, Pasuk 4), ואתם הדבקים בד' אלוקיכם חיים כולכם היום.
Good Shabbos
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