Of all the parshiyot of the Torah, none is more familiar to us than Pinchas. It is from this sedra that a section is read each and every Jewish Festival. As we read of the various korbanot (sacrifices) brought in the Beit HaMikdash on the holidays, it almost seems, well, monotonous.
But hidden in the text is a powerful chidush.
On each chag, a male goat is brought as a chatat, a sin-offering to atone for a sin we may have done. But on Rosh Chodesh, when that chatat is brought, the Torah adds the words, "l'chatata l'Hashem." Some translate this as, "a sin-offering to G-d." Others, puzzled as to why the text changes and this phrase is suddenly interjected, translate this as "a sin offering forHashem." Says the Gemara in Shavuot 9: "This korban atones for a sin G-d Himself committed."
What was the sin?
G-d first created the sun and the moon as two equal lights, yet later - when the moon complained that this was wrong, that "a king cannot wear two crowns" - G-d diminished the light of the moon to but a dim reflection of the sun. Since Rosh Chodesh is based on the moon, it is a fitting day to bring this korban.
What does all this mean? What "sin" did G-d commit? And if He sinned, why should we bring the offering?
My dear friend Rabbi Aryeh Weiss explains:
The sun represents the fullness of G-d's goodness shining forth - joy, prosperity, peace. But at some point, Hashem, as it were, diminished Himself, held back the light ("tzimtzum") and allowed darkness, evil and suffering to exist. For if all was sunshine and light, how could free choice ever be exercised? How could Man demonstrate faith, and an unshakable love of G-d, if there were no hills to climb, no price to pay? True faith is only possible when there exists adversity, challenge, and a tension between "good" and "bad."
That is the symbol of the moon, which at times is full and bright, yet can also be reduced to but a sliver of light. So, too, we Jews can "ride high" in history or, chas v'shalom, we can be brought low. When this happens, G-d suffers, too. He shares our tears and our trauma. And He asks to be forgiven for having created a world in which there is so much pain. Yet by our bringing the korban, we show our resolve that we will serve G-d with our pain, in our pain, through our pain.
May we see the day when the moon once again shines as bright as the sun, when suffering ends and pure joy reigns.
But hidden in the text is a powerful chidush.
On each chag, a male goat is brought as a chatat, a sin-offering to atone for a sin we may have done. But on Rosh Chodesh, when that chatat is brought, the Torah adds the words, "l'chatata l'Hashem." Some translate this as, "a sin-offering to G-d." Others, puzzled as to why the text changes and this phrase is suddenly interjected, translate this as "a sin offering forHashem." Says the Gemara in Shavuot 9: "This korban atones for a sin G-d Himself committed."
What was the sin?
G-d first created the sun and the moon as two equal lights, yet later - when the moon complained that this was wrong, that "a king cannot wear two crowns" - G-d diminished the light of the moon to but a dim reflection of the sun. Since Rosh Chodesh is based on the moon, it is a fitting day to bring this korban.
What does all this mean? What "sin" did G-d commit? And if He sinned, why should we bring the offering?
My dear friend Rabbi Aryeh Weiss explains:
The sun represents the fullness of G-d's goodness shining forth - joy, prosperity, peace. But at some point, Hashem, as it were, diminished Himself, held back the light ("tzimtzum") and allowed darkness, evil and suffering to exist. For if all was sunshine and light, how could free choice ever be exercised? How could Man demonstrate faith, and an unshakable love of G-d, if there were no hills to climb, no price to pay? True faith is only possible when there exists adversity, challenge, and a tension between "good" and "bad."
That is the symbol of the moon, which at times is full and bright, yet can also be reduced to but a sliver of light. So, too, we Jews can "ride high" in history or, chas v'shalom, we can be brought low. When this happens, G-d suffers, too. He shares our tears and our trauma. And He asks to be forgiven for having created a world in which there is so much pain. Yet by our bringing the korban, we show our resolve that we will serve G-d with our pain, in our pain, through our pain.
May we see the day when the moon once again shines as bright as the sun, when suffering ends and pure joy reigns.