Vayikra 08

Parshat Vayikra/trehu ,arp (24th Parsha of the Torah ) By Avraham Yehuda Tzvi Shmaryahu David, 5th generation from Yehuda Tzvi of Strettyn. Numerical Interpretation of Torah with aid of Gematria. Questions/Comments 416-628-7277 . online at www.codeoftheheart.com ©2008 Dvar Torah 5768 Study Gematria and Sharpen your Mind Sacrifice & Prayers to G-d We are now starting the third book of the Torah of Moses, known in Hebrew as trehu Vayikra , or in the English vernacular, Leviticus. After finishing the building of the Mishkan in the Book of Exodus, we now proceed to read and study the laws of sacrifices to God and the pursuit of holiness. The end result of a sacrifice is either it gets wholly consumed by the fire or the left overs are eaten by the priests or common people, depending on the type of sacrifice. The closest object that I can think of that resembles the jczn Mizbeach that sacrifices were placed upon is the barbeque grill that we will soon find for sale at local supermarkets and hardware stores. We all can smell & savor the delicious summer barbeques. In a layman’s understanding we can see that something as mundane as the Sunday barbeque can be turned into holiness. The Torah says van kt trehu , “He called to Moses” (Leviticus 1:1.) Commentators abound as to why there is a small alef. Some say it refers to Moses’s humility. Yosef Yitzchak Holtzberg says it refers to uvhkt, Eliyahu. I say it refers to ost Adam, the first man, who is mentioned in the second sentence and who Rashi interprets that we must not make a sacrifice from anything stolen. Adam is also mentioned based on the definition. Adam means earth which is comprised of dust and when a sacrifice is wholly consumed by fire , it is reduced to ashes and dust. Think of it, God does not need anything from us. He is Omnipotent and Omniscient. We are in constant need. The need to breathe, the need to eat, the need have to shelter, the need to sleep and the desire to acquire things. Sacrifices brings us to the realization that we are nothing but dust and ashes, like our Patriarch Abraham said. Perhaps that is why prayer has replaced sacrifices since the destruction of the Temple because all that we can really offer God is a special thanks for creating and taking care of us and no one put it in better words and terms than the author of Psalms, who was King David who wrote with Ruach Hakodesh or the Holy Spirit. The top news story of the week was the resignation of Eliot Spitzer, the governor of NY on March 12, 2008 based on his immoral behavior. My uncle Sholom pointed out to me that we can find a reference to this story in the Torah where it says, “ When a ruler sins and he does one from among all the commandments of Hashem, his God, that may not be done, unintentionally , and he is guilty…”(Leviticus 4:22). On a final note the phrase, van kt t rehu , the last three letters spells, vkt, eilah, meaning these are… This is also the first word of Deuteronomy. This teaches us that if we follow God’s commandments we will have double blessings as the Gematria of eilah

is 36. A refuah shlaima to my father Yaakov Zev Ben Malka Blima, who is recovering from stroke at Vanderbilt Nursing Home, SI, NY

GGood Shabbos ouka ,ca