Why Serving Avoda Zara Requires Special Korbanos

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June 19 2019
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לזכות אבי מורי ואמי מורתי שיחיו


 


 


 


(כב) וְכִ֣י תִשְׁגּ֔וּ וְלֹ֣א תַעֲשׂ֔וּ אֵ֥ת כׇּל־הַמִּצְוֺ֖ת הָאֵ֑לֶּה אֲשֶׁר־דִּבֶּ֥ר יְהֹוָ֖ה אֶל־מֹשֶֽׁה׃


 


(כג) אֵת֩ כׇּל־אֲשֶׁ֨ר צִוָּ֧ה יְהֹוָ֛ה אֲלֵיכֶ֖ם בְּיַד־מֹשֶׁ֑ה מִן־הַיּ֞וֹם אֲשֶׁ֨ר צִוָּ֧ה יְהֹוָ֛ה וָהָ֖לְאָה לְדֹרֹתֵיכֶֽם׃


 




 




 




 


When you shall err, and not observe all these commandments, which Hashem has spoken to Moshe, 


 


 


even all that Hashem has commanded you by Moshe, from the day that Hashem gave commandment, and onward throughout your generations;




Rashi: 




 


וכי תשגו וגו׳ – בעבודה זרה הכתוב מדבר, או אינו אלא באחת מכל המצות, תלמוד לומר: את כל המצות האלה, מצוה אחת שהיא ככל המצות. מה העובר על כל המצות כולן פורק עול ומיפר ברית ומגלה פנים, אף מצוה זו פורק בה עול ומפר ברית 


 



ומגלה פנים, ואיזו זו? זו עבודה זרה.


 







 


AND IF YOU HAVE ERRED etc. – The pasuk is speaking of the sin of idolatry. Or perhaps not, but of the transgression of any of all the commandments? It, however, states, "[And if you have erred, and not done] all these commandments" which implies "one command that is the same as (the equivalent of) all the commands". What is the case of one who transgresses all the commandments? He throws off the yoke of the Law, breaks the covenant and bids defiance to the Torah. So, too, must this single commandment referred to here be of such a nature that by transgressing it one throws off the yoke, breaks the covenant and bids defiance to the Torah. And which is this? It is idolatry (Sifrei Bamidbar 111:1).


 


 




 


We see these 3 - פורק עול ומיפר ברית ומגלה פנים, in the gemara in Shvuos [13a]


 


 




רבי אומר על כל עבירות שבתורה בין עשה תשובה בין לא עשה תשובה יום הכפורים מכפר חוץ מפורק עול ומגלה פנים בתורה מפר ברית בבשר שאם עשה תשובה יום הכפורים מכפר ואם לאו אין יום הכפורים מכפר


 




Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi says: For all transgressions that are stated in the Torah, whether one repented, or whether one did not repent, Yom Kippur atones, except for one who divests himself of the yoke of Heaven, and one who reveals facets of the Torah that differ from its true meaning, and one who nullifies the covenant of circumcision of the flesh. For these, if one repented, Yom Kippur atones, and if not, Yom Kippur does not atone.


 



 


 


 


We have to understand: It makes sense in the Gemara that it should enumerate those aveiros that Yom Kippur doesn't atone for without teshuva. But why are these three aveiros emphasized here in the context of the איסור of Avoda Zara and the special korbanos it requires? [It could have just said that when one serves idols it is like he transgressed the whole Torah.]


 


 


 


We also have to understand the repetition in the pasuk: 


 


 


 


1] אֵ֥ת כׇּל־הַמִּצְוֺ֖ת הָאֵ֑לֶּה אֲשֶׁר־דִּבֶּ֥ר יְהֹוָ֖ה אֶל־מֹשֶֽׁה


 


 


 


2] אֵת֩ כׇּל־אֲשֶׁ֨ר צִוָּ֧ה יְהֹוָ֛ה אֲלֵיכֶ֖ם בְּיַד־מֹשֶׁ֑ה


 


 


 


3] מִן־הַיּ֞וֹם אֲשֶׁ֨ר צִוָּ֧ה יְהֹוָ֛ה וָהָ֖לְאָה לְדֹרֹתֵיכֶֽם


 


 


 


It seems like it is saying the same thing three times. The Gemara in Horiyos [8b] derives from here that the psukim are talking about Avoda Zara - see there. But according to Rashi we already know that it is talking about Avoda Zara from "וכי תשגו ולא תעשו את כל המצוות" which brings back the question why the repetition. [See Ohr Hachaim]. 


 


 


 


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It appears that we can explain as follows: What it says in Shvuos that Yom Kippur doesn't atone for these three aveiros is based on the Mishna in Avos [1-2] that the world stands on three things - Torah, Avoda [korbanos and davening] and Gemilus Chasodim. The world exists in the merit of Torah as Rashi says on the first pasuk in Chumash - בראשית ברא - בשביל התורה שנקרא ראשית. It also says there that the world was created for the Jewish people - בשביל ישראל שנקראו ראשית. There are two aspects to this. 1] The connection between Hashem and the Jewish people. 2] Because of this connection the world exists. The way to create a connection is through Avodah. Then there is Gemilus Chasodim. The Gemara says that there are three middos that characterize Jewish people, רחמנים ביישנים and the major one is Gomlei Chasodim. If one is not a person of chesed [or the other two middos mentioned there] it puts his genealogy in question.  


 


 


 


The reason that Yom Kippur doesn't atone for the 3 aforementioned aveiros without teshuva is because even though Yom Kippur usually atones without teshuva, nevertheless when a person commits a sin against the very foundation of the world, teshuva is necessary. These are not merely aveiros against Hashem where based on the pasuk ביום הזה לפני ה' תטהרו one receives atonement but they are much more than that. They are against the foundations of existence removing one from the status of "לפני השם" - he is no longer in front of Hashem and therefore he needs teshuva in order to atone. [See the drasha in Yoma 85b that interpersonal aveiros aren't included in לפני השם and therefore one has to ask his friend for forgiveness]. 


 


 


 


Let us see how this works: 


 


 


 


פורק עול is according to Rashi a כופר בעיקר. That means that he detached himself from Hashem, thus uprooting the foundation of Avoda which connects us to Hashem. 


 


 


 


מפיר ברית [nullifies the Bris] removes from himself the sign that demonstrates that he is Jewish. That blemishes the foundation of the existence of the Jewish people which the world needs on order to survive. 


 


 


 


מגלה פנים בתורה שלא כהלכה is someone who with great chutzpah distorts the Torah [Rashi]. This uproots the foundation of Torah.   


 


 


 


So we understand why Yom Kippur doesn't atone without teshuva for these three aveiros for they uproot the very foundations of existence. 


 


 


 


Now we can say as follows: The Zohar Hakadosh famously says   קודשא בריך הוא ישראל ואורייתא חד  - 1] Hashem 2] the Jews and 3] the Torah are one. When one serves Avoda Zara, he detaches himself from all three and thus must bring a special extra korban.


 


 


 


That would explain the three statements:


 


 


 


1] אֵ֥ת כׇּל־הַמִּצְוֺ֖ת הָאֵ֑לֶּה אֲשֶׁר־דִּבֶּ֥ר יְהֹוָ֖ה אֶל־מֹשֶֽׁה


 


The Torah is named after Moshe [Malachi 3-22]: "זכרו תורת משה עבדי". By serving Avoda Zara they rejected the Torah, as Rashi in Shvuos explained that serving ע"ז is מגלה פנים בתורה שלא כהלכה.


 


 


 


2] אֵת֩ כׇּל־אֲשֶׁ֨ר צִוָּ֧ה יְהֹוָ֛ה אֲלֵיכֶ֖ם בְּיַד־מֹשֶׁ֑ה



The pasuk emphasizes "אליכם" to you. By serving idols we negate our unique Jewishness. Serving ע"ז destroys our connection with Hashem corresponding to מיפר ברית. 


 


 


 


3] מִן־הַיּ֞וֹם אֲשֶׁ֨ר צִוָּ֧ה יְהֹוָ֛ה וָהָ֖לְאָה לְדֹרֹתֵיכֶֽם



When they serve idols they are acting against Hashem [קודשא בריך הוא] because even though the Torah was given at Sinai, its message reverberates for all the generations. This corresponds to כופר בעיקר that the Gemara stated. 


 


[עפ"י תורת מו"ר הגאון הגדול רבי ד"י מן זצ"ל]


 


 


 


 


 


 

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