The Dwelling of Peace Offerings

Parashat Hashavua - Shabbat Parashat Vayikra 5785

Rabbi Eliezer Haim Shenvald

In prayer for the success and protection of IDF soldiers, that no harm shall befall them, for the healing of all the wounded, and the return of the hostages. 

In memory of my dear brother, Staff Sergeant Meir Shenvald, may G-d avenge his blood, on the thirtieth anniversary of his fall. 

Israeli society is divided on the issue of whether to establish an inquiry commission to investigate the failures that led to the great disaster we suffered in the war, the greatest in the country’s history. It seems that everyone agrees on the necessity of an independent commission to examine what happened and that the investigation should extend to the years leading up to the war, not just the days preceding it. The main debate is about who should establish the commission and whether its members and conclusions can be trusted. Another disputed issue is how far back in time the investigation should go to identify the roots of the failure. Many believe that the inquiry should start with the Oslo Accords of the 1990s, as that was when the seeds of disaster were sown. 

The people of Israel long for peace more than any other nation in the world; peace is part of their spiritual values. However, during the Oslo period, some were tempted by the false promise of a "peace process" that was nothing but an illusion, leading the country into a bloody adventure. They claimed that Israeli society had weakened in its belief in the righteousness of its path and its willingness to struggle and take risks for its survival. Therefore, they argued, there was no choice but to entrust security to others -"without the Supreme Court and without B'Tselem." They expected us to place our trust in the peace gestures of a terrorist organization seeking our destruction. Their fundamental approach denied the religious and cultural roots of the conflict between us and our enemies, attempting instead to analyze their mindset through a condescending Western lens. 

Thirty years ago, on Sunday, the 9th of Nisan, 5755 (April 9, 1995), there was a bombing of a soldier bus at the entrance to Kfar Darom in Gush Katif. A suicide bomber from the Islamic Jihad waited for the bus in an orchard near the only access road to Kfar Darom. He was in a vehicle loaded with explosives, concealed under crates of agricultural goods. The terrorist knew exactly who was on the bus. An escort jeep drove ahead of the bus, with another jeep behind it. At a certain point, the terrorist drove along a dirt path parallel to the road, and when the front security jeep passed him, he accelerated, rammed into the side of the bus, and detonated. The explosion killed seven soldiers, most of them from the Givati Brigade, along with one civilian woman, and wounded thirty soldiers. Among the fallen was my dear brother, Staff Sergeant Meir Shenvald, HY'D, a Hesder Yeshiva student from Kiryat Shmona and a Givati fighter. In the weeks leading up to his death, Meir warned of an impending disaster. Commanders and soldiers observed suspicious activity in the nearby orchard, but their hands were tied—they were not given authorization to conduct searches or take preventive measures because, under the Oslo Accords, it was scandalously determined that the orchard and the adjacent dirt path would be under Palestinian Authority control. Their initiatives were dismissed on the grounds that "they might harm the peace process." 

This attack, along with many others, did not bring about a reckoning among the country’s leaders and the architects of Oslo, who remained captive to their vision of a "New Middle East." They referred to those killed in the attacks by the spine-tingling name of "victims of peace." In their blindness, they rationalized the attacks as the work of "rejectionist organizations," completely ignoring the Palestinian Authority’s behind-the-scenes support for these groups. The true face of the Palestinian Authority was fully exposed five years later with the outbreak of the terror war known by the sanitized term "the Second Intifada"—the Al-Aqsa Intifada (انتفاضة الأقصى), which exacted a heavy toll in thousands of deaths and injuries. The Oslo Accords were a tragic illusion that ultimately led to the disengagement from Gaza and the establishment of Hamastan*1 in Gaza, resulting in recurring and escalating rounds of conflict every few years, the misguided belief that "Hamas is deterred" in the months leading up to the war, and finally, the horrific disaster of Simchat Torah 5784 (October 7, 2023). 

At Meir’s funeral, the Chief Rabbi of Safed, Rabbi Eliyahu, cried out: "We do not want victims of peace! We want a life of peace, a life of goodness, a life of blessing!" Indeed, peace is a supreme value in Judaism, but there is no peace achieved through human sacrifices. True peace comes from strength, divine wisdom, and a sincere desire by both sides to end bloodshed. Only such peace brings wholeness, blessing, life, and hope to the world. 

The section on sacrifices in the Book of Vayikra follows the completion of the construction of the Tabernacle, the "Sanctuary of Peace," teaching us the obligation to bring divine, true, and lasting peace to the world:

עַד שֶׁלֹּא הוּקַם הַמִּשְׁכָּן הָיְתָה תַחֲרוּת בָּעוֹלָם, אֲבָל מִשֶּׁהוּקַם הַמִּשְׁכָּן נעשה שָׁלוֹם בָּעוֹלָם

"Until the Tabernacle was established, there was strife in the world. But once it was established, peace was brought to the world" (Pesikta Rabbati 5).

The Tabernacle was meant to connect man with G-d, whose name is Peace. Peace within individuals, between fellow men, and among the nation, thereby spreading peace in the world, was intended to be part of the service:

כִּי בֵיתִי בֵּית⁠ תְּפִלָּה יִקָּרֵא לְכׇל⁠ הָעַמִּים

"…for My house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples". (Yishayahu 56:7)

Only in the Tabernacle are there "peace offerings" that bring peace to the world:

ואם זבח שלמים קרבנו – ר' יהודה אומר כל המביא שלמים מביא שלום לעולם

"And if a sacrifice of peace-offerings (shelamim) is his offering": R. Yehudah says: Whoever brings shelamim brings shalom (peace) to the world". (Sifra Vayikra). This is because everyone benefits from it -

שלמים – שיש בהן שלום למזבח ולכהנים ולבעלים

They are called שלמים because through them there is “peace” (harmony and lack of envy) to the altar, to the priests and the owners (since all these receive a portion). (Rashi Vayikra 3:1)

However, not only the peace offering, but all sacrifices aim to establish peace:

הא כל קרבן שהוא מביא – מביא שלום לעולם

"…all who bring an offering bring peace to the world". (Sifra Ibid)

For this reason, iron tools were forbidden in its construction:

וְאִם⁠ מִזְבַּח אֲבָנִים תַּעֲשֶׂה⁠ לִּי לֹא⁠ תִבְנֶה אֶתְהֶן גָּזִית כִּי חַרְבְּךָ הֵנַפְתָּ עָלֶיהָ וַתְּחַלְלֶהָ

"And if you make for Me a stone altar, do not build it of hewn stone, for if you wield your sword over it, you will have desecrated it". (Shemot 20:21)

Iron is used to make weapons of war and cannot be used to establish peace:

שֶׁהַבַּרְזֶל נִבְרָא לְקַצֵּר יָמָיו שֶׁל אָדָם, וְהַמִּזְבֵּחַ נִבְרָא לְהַאֲרִיךְ יָמָיו שֶׁל אָדָם, אֵינוֹ בַדִין שֶׁיּוּנַף הַמְקַצֵּר עַל הַמַּאֲרִיךְ

"Since iron was created to shorten man's days and the altar was created to prolong man's days, and it is not right therefore that that which shortens should be lifted against that which prolongs". (Mishnah Middot 3:4)

Thus, in the Second Temple as well, it was strictly maintained: וּמַקָּבוֹת וְהַגַּרְזֶן כָּל כְּלִי בַרְזֶל לֹא נִשְׁמַע בַּבַּיִת

"…and there was neither hammer nor axe nor any iron tool heard in the house while it was being built". (I Kings 6:7)

The Tabernacle highlights the centrality of peace: “Peace offerings”.

גדול השלום שכל הברכות והתפילות חותמין בשלום

“Great is peace, for all benedictions and prayers conclude with ‘peace’.” (Tractate Derech Eretz Zuta Section on Peace)

In days of war, let us all pray for true peace - one that comes from strength and the eradication of evil in the world:

ה' עֹז לְעַמּוֹ יִתֵּן ה' יְבָרֵךְ אֶת⁠ עַמּוֹ בַשָּׁלוֹם

"May Hashem give strength to His people; May Hashem bless His people with peace.⁠ (Psalms 29:11).

*1 – Hamastan is a pejorative neologism, blending Hamas, and stan, a suffix of Persian origin meaning: home of / place of. The term Hamastan generally relates to the Hamas administration of Gaza.