An Offering Worth Offering

בס"ד

"... אדם כי יקריב מכם קרבן לד' ..." [ויקרא א:ב]

"…when a man from amongst you brings an offering to Hashem …"[Vayikra 1:2]

The Medrash Rabba [2:7] quoted in Rashi [ad loc.] points out that this is an allusion to the famous offering of Adam Harishon.

What was the famous offering of Adam and how is it connected to the idea of sacrificial offerings ?

The Gemara (avodah zara 8a) tells us that after Adam and Chava sinned they experienced sunset. Adam was startled and declared – "woe is me, because of my sin I have brought darkness to the world. Perhaps this is the inevitable death that Hashem decreed as a result of my sin." And they both sat and cried all night long. When the sun rose the next morning, Adam concluded that the period of darkness was part of the 'natural' order of things and did not represent any divine punishment for his misdeeds. He immediately took an ox that was created by Hashem and offered him as a sacrifice.

(Sacrifice is a poor translation of the term korban – we shall stick to korban)

There is a world of difference between a korban and a scapegoat. The latter is something that you offer up in the hope that its elimination will foster enough goodwill that any grievance will be forgotten. A korban, however, is fundamentally different. A korban is given in recognition of its intrinsic value and with the understanding that a certain amount of loss in necessitated by the circumstances. In short, the more something means to you – the less fitting it is for a scapegoat and the more fitting it is for a korban.

Now we understand why all of our korbanos should echo Adam's. Adam demonstrated an incredible attachment and responsibility for all of creation. He did this by crying all night long at the darkness and destruction that he believed were inflicted upon the world and its occupants at his expense. He clearly valued, and felt a strong stewardship over, creation. This is also evident by the timing of his korban. If Adam's korban was a scapegoat, designed to appease Hashem and rescind the darkness – he would have brought it when the darkness first fell, at night! By offering the ox with the first rays of light, Adam's actions proclaim loudly, "Hashem, I rejoice to find that you did not destroy the world because of me, let me make an offering of praise to your name!" It is this feeling of responsibility for the world and its inhabitants that we aim to echo any time we bring a korban.

In today's impoverished times we are without a temple and without the ability to ofer physical korbanos. Yet, we have the ability to offer prayers. Let our teffilos (which replace the korbanos as a temporary substitute) resonate with the same devotion and intensity as Adam's. And may we see the rebuilding of the Beis Hamikdash speedily in our days, amen.

Hatzalcha !!