Divine calling to choose and be free
Rabbi Eliezer Shenvald – The Parasha in our everyday life - Vayikra – 5781
A week of elections is upon us. For the fourth time in two years. One of the benefits of the Holy Shabbat is that it keeps us away for a day, from the electronic media and social networks and keeps us away of the heated discourse that a man throws at his brother and one political party to another. Shabbat and the "additional soul" allow us to observe what is happening, from afar, without the background noise of the election campaign.
Free elections, for our own government, in the developed sovereign Jewish state, on the eve of the Festival of Freedom and our commemoration of the Exodus from Egypt, is supposed to be a joyful and exciting event. This is a special privilege that reflects the dramatic redemptive change of our time, which gained momentum following the establishment of the State and the return to Zion. After two thousand years of exile, where the Jews lived under other nations rulers, whose lives depended on their arbitrariness, we are 'a free nation in our land', who chooses the leaders who direct their lives. Despite the way politics are conducted in Israel today, we must not ignore this dramatic significance.
It is not for nothing that it is called the 'right to vote', to choose for oneself who the leaders are, basic individual's human freedom. It shows the man as an independent entity, with a choice, for better or for worse. He can decide true or false and make mistakes choosing. This fact was highlighted with 'Adam HaRishon' who could choose and failed, he sinned by eating from the fruit of the tree of knowledge.
The 'free choice revolution' is usually attributed to the eighteenth century, and to a short period BC in Athens, but this principle had been established many years before in our Torah:
אֵין מַעֲמִידִין פַּרְנָס עַל הַצִּבּוּר אֶלָּא אִם כֵּן נִמְלָכִים בַּצִּבּוּר,
"One may only appoint a leader over a community if he consults with the community and they agree to the appointment…" (Berachot 55a)
This was taught regarding the election of Bezalel. "He should be appointed by the public, and even appointed by the king" (Beer Eliyahu, p. 40).
Parashat Vayikra opens with a Divine "call" to Moshe to enter the place of the Shechinah:
וַיִּקְרָ֖א אֶל־מֹשֶׁ֑ה וַיְדַבֵּ֤ר ה' אֵלָ֔יו מֵאֹ֥הֶל מוֹעֵ֖ד לֵאמֹֽר׃ דַּבֵּ֞ר אֶל־בְּנֵ֤י יִשְׂרָאֵל֙ וְאָמַרְתָּ֣ אֲלֵהֶ֔ם אָדָ֗ם כִּֽי־יַקְרִ֥יב מִכֶּ֛ם קָרְבָּ֖ן לַֽה' ...
"Hashem called to Moshe and spoke to him from the Tent of Meeting, saying:
Speak to the Israelite people, and say to them: When any of you presents an offering …to Hashem…" (Vayikra 1:1-2)
בעבור שלא היה משה יכול לבא אל אהל מועד להיותו נגש אל המקום אשר שם האלקים רק בקריאה שיקרא אותו
"Moshe could not come to the Tent of Meeting" - when the Divine Presence rested upon the Tent of Meeting. Only when called to approach" (Ramban ibid).
This is a 'calling' and an invitation to ascend and approach the Holy. From this 'call' G-d commands the order of sacrifices that is closely related to 'human free choice'. It begins with the choice of the first man (Adam HaRishon):
אָדָם כִּי יַקְרִיב מִכֶּם קָרְבָּן. לָמָּה אָמַר אָדָם וְלֹא אָמַר אִישׁ. יִרְצֶה לוֹמַר, כִּי יֶחְטָא הָאָדָם, כְּמוֹ אָדָם הָרִאשׁוֹן שֶׁהִתְחִיל לַחֲטֹא, יַקְרִיב קָרְבָּן.
"A man from you that brings a sacrifice": Why does it state, "a man (adam)" and it does not say, "eesh?" It wants to say, when a man sins like Adam (the first man) started to sin - he should bring a sacrifice. (Midrash Tanchuma Vayikra 1:8)
Initially, the Parasha deals with the laws of the different 'Voluntary offerings' (Korban Nedava), which come out of 'choice' for the purpose of communing with G-d and becoming closer to Him, and not as an obligation:
כְּשֶׁיַּקְרִיב; בְּקָרְבְּנוֹת נְדָבָה דִּבֵּר הָעִנְיָן:
"If a man of you offer [an offering] — This means, when he offers: Scripture is speaking here of free — will offerings" (Rashi ibid).
These are also in the category of free will offerings: The Korban Mincha (Tributary gift) - perek 2, the Korban Shelamim (Peace offering) or Shelamim: the payment of a vow that a person has taken upon himself, Perek 3, etc.
"The term shelamim derives its meaning from 'he vowed and needs to pay (le-shalem) for his vow' - that is, from the language of payment." (Rashbam ibid 3:1)
Then, the laws for the Korban Chatat are mentioned - Perek 4: A 'Sin offering' to atone for a sin. It is a transgression that comes because of a wrong choice.
פֵּרְשׁוּ רַבּוֹתֵינוּ אֵין חַטָּאת בָּאָה אֶלָּא עַל דָּבָר שֶׁזְּדוֹנוֹ לָאו וְכָרֵת
"Our Rabbis explained that a sin-offering (of which this chapter speaks) is brought only for such a thing the wilful committal of which is forbidden by a לאו (a negative command) and is subject to the penalty of excision". (Rashi Vayikra 4:2)
It could be an individual's wrong choice or a public figure's mistake: The Priest and the President, and whether it is a mistake of the entire public. The same is true of the 'Guilt offering" (Korban Asham) - Perek 5.
The Festival of Freedom is a holiday that shapes the Jewish people's national DNA. A nation that has grown from slavery to freedom, "a Nation whose freedom is its eternal destiny" (Olat Reiyah Part II). Many Commandments come as a reminder of the Exodus from Egypt. For it is a cornerstone of the Jewish faith. Freedom is a fundamental component of our worldview. And so, in our Nation's teachings there is a negative transmission about the slavery to flesh and blood.
כִּֽי־לִ֤י בְנֵֽי־יִשְׂרָאֵל֙ עֲבָדִ֔ים עֲבָדַ֣י הֵ֔ם אֲשֶׁר־הוֹצֵ֥אתִי אוֹתָ֖ם מֵאֶ֣רֶץ מִצְרָ֑יִם... – עֲבָדַי הֵם וְלֹא עֲבָדִים לַעֲבָדִים
"As it is written: “For to Me the children of Israel are slaves; they are My slaves whom I brought forth out of the land of Egypt”, which indicates: They are My slaves, and not slaves of slaves, i.e., of other Jews (Bava Metzia 10a) and limited the duration of the worker's subordination to his employer. (Rabbi Moshe Isserles, "the Rama" - הרמ"א Choshen Mishpat).