Vol. 19   No. 24

Parshas Vayikra
Parshas Ha'Chodesh

"These are the reckonings of the Mishkan, the Mishkan of the testimony, which was counted at Moshe's bidding, the service of the Levi'im under the authority of Itamar the son of Aharon the Kohen" (Sh'mos 38:21).

Here are the additional fifteen comparisons between the Mishkan and the Creation that Rabeinu Bachye adds to the eight presented by the Medrash.

The Creation	The Mishkan
1. "These are the generations of the Heaven and the earth" (2:4)	"These are the reckonings of the Mishkan" (38:21).
2. " ... when He created them -be'hi'bor'om" (the acronym of 'be'Hey bor'om', the 'Hey' of Hashem, which represents the Glory of the Shechinah))	"And the Glory of Hashem filled the Mishkan" (40:35). Indeed, the word 'Mishkan' is a derivative of 'Shechinah'..
3. As is well-known, the world was first created in thought (Machshavah) before it was actually created.	"Lachshov machashavos, la'asos … " (31:4).
4. "The world was created with Chesed" (Tehilim 89:50)	" from every man whose heart is willing" (25:2). See also 38:5..
5. Throughout the creation, the Torah employs the Name 'Elokim', and at the end it adds the Name 'Hashem' (2:4).	"And the Kavod of Hashem (= Elokim) filled the Mishkan" (40:35) … "Because the Cloud of Hashem was on the Mishkan" (40:38).
6. The world, as is well-known, was created with a combination off Rachamim and Din (as is hinted in the two Names of G-d that we just mentioned).	The chief architects of the Mishkan were Betzalel (from the tribe of Yehudah [whose name contains the letters of the Name Hashem, which corresponds to Rachamim]) and Ohali'av (from the tribe of Dan [whose name is a derivative of Din]).
7. "And it was on the day that G-d created …" (2:4).	"And it was when Moshe finished erecting the Mishkan …" (Bamidbar 7:1).
8. "And G-d saw all that He had made, and behold it was very good" (1:31).	And Moshe saw all the work and behold they had done it" (39:43)
9. "And He rested on the seventh day" (the creation did not override Shabbos) 2:2.	"Six days you shall do work" (35:2) - in connection with the Mishkan
10. The world is destined to become nullified and to be re-created (Sanhedrin 97a).	.The Mishkan and the Mikdash were destined to be destroyed and rebuilt.
11. "And Hashem … commanded Adam …" (2:16).	" … Moshe commanded, and they spread the word (to stop the donations)" 36:6.
12. G-d became known as 'Shakai; because He said to the expanding world 'Enough!' (Medrash).	Moshe too, issued a similar command (See previous Pasuk).
13. The creation of Heaven and earth serves as a testimony to encourage them to keep Torah and Mitzvos, as the Pasuk writes in Devarim (30:19)	"I call as witnesses today Heaven and earth. The Mishkan too, is called 'the Mishkan of testimony' (35:21).
14. There were seven days of Creation.	There were seven days of consecration.
15. The Name "Elokim" appears thirty-two (Gematriyah Leiv) times in the Parshah of the creation.	"He filled them with Chochmas Leiv (wisdom of the of the heart)" 35:35..

" … from the cattle and from the flocks you shall bring (takrivu - plural) tour Korban" (1:2).

This teaches us, says Rashi, that two people can bring a joint Korban.

The Riva queries Rashi however, from a Gemara in Menachos, which learns the same thing from the Pasuk in Emor (22:18) " … for all their Nedarim and Nedavos which they will bring (asher yakrivu) to Hashem" (in spite of having written earlier in the very same Pasuk "Ish asher yakriv" (singular). Why, he asks, do we need two Pesukim to teach us the same thing?

" … and it (the Korban Olah) shall be acceptable for him to atone for him" (1:4).

Rashi explains that the Korban Olah comes to atone for an Asei and a La'av she'nitak la'Asei (a Lo Sa'aseh which can be rectified by an Asei which is not subject to the Malkos that most Lo Sa'asehs are subject to).

The Riva however queries this with the same Kashya as the Gemara in Shavu'os asks with regard to the Kaparah of Yom Kipur: Mah Nafshach, if one did Teshuvah, why does one need an atonement (seeing as Chazal have said that for a Mitzvas Asei Teshuvah itself atones); whereas if one did not to Teshuvah "The Korban of a Rasha is an abomination", as the Pasuk says in Mishlei (21:27)?

The Riva answers that the Gemara's question applies to Yom Kipur, which grants a formal Kaparah, and which is therefore too important to atone for such 'relatively' light sins as a Mitzvas Asei and La'av ha'Nitak la'Asei.

It does not however, apply to an Olah which is brought voluntarily, irrespective of whether a person sinned or not, rendering the atonement informal. That being the case, it may well be that a person is forgiven with Teshuvah alone, but in order to attain a complete pardon, it is befitting that one brings a Korban Olah.

" … If one's Korban to Hashem is a burnt-offering of birds (min ho'Of)" (1:14).

"min ho'Of" (some of the birds), the Chachamim extrapolate, but not all the birds. This was to preclude a Mechusar Eiver (a bird with a missing limb) from being brought on the MIzbe'ach.

And they Darshen this based on the knowledge that a Ba'al-Mum (a bird that is blemished) is eligible.

But why do we need a Pasuk to preclude it, seeing as a bird with a missing limb is disqualified from the Mizbe'ach even to a gentile, as we have learned in Maseches Avodah-Zarah, how much more so to a Yisrael?

And he answers, based on the Chidush that there are two kinds of Mechusar Eiver, one whose eye (for example) has actually been removed from its socket - and that is the Mechusar Eiver that the Torah forbids a gentile from bringing. The other, is one that has been detached but is still there (likewise a wing that has dried). And that is the one that we are talking about here. It is forbidden to a Yisrael but not to a gentile.

Alternatively, he cites the Gemara in Sanhedrin, which teaches that any Mitzvah that was said to the B'nei No'ach and not specifically repeated on Sinai is ultimately forbidden to Yisrael but permitted to the B'nei No'ach. Based on that principle, the Torah had to write "min ho'Of", to teach us the prohibition of Mechusar Eiver on a Yisrael, because otherwise, we would have said that the Isur pertains to a Yisrael, but not to the B'nei No'ach (despite the fact that, before Matan Torah, it was forbidden to them.