What is the Deal with these Korbanot?

Am I the only one who seriously does not get Korbanot?
I mean, I think I get them, but they seem absolutely absurd to me.
I'm not saying that I don't appreciate symbolism, but symbolism is not to be taken too seriously or acted in real life. Therefore, just because I sinned and I should be punished, doesn't mean I should punish an animal because it symbolizes that it should really be me being punished.
I just don't get how somebody could in any way benefit from Kobranot (besides getting food, if they're allowed to eat it. Are they allowed to eat it? That would be weird. Like, eating the symbol that stands for you and your sins. What is that supposed to mean?).
Korban comes from the root word קרב which means close. Essentially, Korbanot are supposed to be a means of bringing us closer to Hashem. Please, if anyone has a sufficient answer as to how burning an animal and/or incense would make you feel closer to God.

I am satisfied with what the Rambam has to say. He, like me, is not a fan of Korbanot. He said, as many of you have already posted/commented about, that Hashem allowed Bnai Yisroel to give Korbanot as a compromise because Hashem understood that it is difficult to go from one extreme to another. Okay, fine; so they gave Korbanot because it was almost like they couldn't help it- it was normal to them. I still don't understand how Korbanot became so big- why like people were rushing to give Korbanot or why the Mizbeach was a huge part of the Beit Hamigdash, but that's a different story. I feel like they should have slowly gotten off of Korbanot. Since Hashem let them keep it because it was hard to switch from one extreme to another, maybe there should have been a gradual process of using korbanot less and less until they eventually died out. Or some sort of replacement. Something typical of quitting a bad habit like smoking.

What I am not satisfied with is the idea of giving Korbanot in the future. During Navi/Ketuvim class, our teacher has stated that he would give Korbanot and he thinks that one day we will resume with that tradition. I do not mean to seem like I am saying that only he believes this, because apparently a lot of other people think that too. However, I can not even begin to wrap my head around the idea that one day people would give Korbanot again. Forget from a religious perspective- we're in the 21st century (and moving up!)- nobody gives korbanot! We start building alters and bringing Korbanot and the world will look at us like we're loony (even more so than we were before).

So what do you think? Would you ever consider the idea of giving a Korban? Why?

( ^ I don't know what religon this is or what exactly they're doing, but it looks like they're sacrificing something. For lack of a better word, I think Korbanot are weird)

Korban..Karov?

Today we talked about how the roots of the word Korban meaning Karov, "closeness". I still don't fully understand how sacraficing an animal can bring one close to God? I would not feel anything if I would kill an animal on a mizbeach. I also don't think that people who Shecht feel particularly close to God when they kill an animal, so why does it change when you do it on a Mizbeach?
I don't know if it is because we live in this modern time, but if anyone has a suggestion for why this can bring us closer to God, feel free to comment.

Korbanot

My dear fellow classmates,

Today, I had the pleasure of doing my chavruta work with Jamie. Together, Jamie and I read what Rambam had to say about Korbanot in the Moreh Nevuchim. Rambam states that the reason why Hashem gave Bnei Israel the permission to sacrifice animals was not because he needed the Korbanot, but rather because the people needed to give the Korbanot. All the other nations around Bnei Israel were sacrificing animals to their gods and therefore the people of Israel needed that as well in order to connect to god. My question is the following: Why would Hashem give the people the permission to do something that all the other nations do? If we are different from all the other nations to begin with then why must we be like them in that one area? Wouldn’t it be more special if we had a different way to connect to god and to repent rather than giving Korbanot like all the other nations? We are supposed to fight that influence, then why is Hashem permitting their influence?

Korbanot

Today while working with Zahava in our chavruata, I began to wonder what the world would be like if people today were still pagans and worshipped idols. According to Rambam's reasoning for why Korbanot were instituted in the first place, Hashem only allowed Bnei Yisroel to bring sacrifices basically because the rest of the world was doing it. So if this is true, maybe that means that today we would also still bring korbanot if the rest of the world does, despite our lacking of the Beit Hamikdash. It is interesting to think about how different the world would be today if people still brought sacrifices..

Sade- I'm Challishing.

Dear all,
Today we got into groups and read different opinions about why korbanot existed. My partner, the great Sade of the title, and I both liked the first two opinions by Rambam (pretty sure). One said that they were there because the 3 animals that are sacrificed were the 3 that people worshipped and didnt kill. So the Jews slaughtered them to show them that, hey! these aren't gods!

The second opinion, which I like alot, says that korbanot aren't really something G-d needs or wants, but G-d gave them to the Jews because they were living in a world where everyone brought korbanot. It would seem so unbelievable to the Jews if they didn't bring korbanot. It was just how they thought things should be, so G-d gave it to them. (kind of like with a king) Really, korbanot aren't esential.

Sade brought up the following, which is such an amazing point:
Then why does the Torah have so much focus on korbanot?!

So let me hear your thoughts... why do you think this would be? It's a fantastic question, truly...

My own answer- perhaps it is the same thing as with a king. G-d told them they shouldn't have one, but He knew they would ask so She gave them rules about the king. So, the Almighty also gave the Jews korbanot. But, if they still thought they needed to bring korbanot after witnessing G-d's greatness, perhaps they weren't really so bright and 100% "WE LOVE HASHEM!!"

REPETITION

As everyone from my previous chumash class knows, I love to complain about repetition. It always seems that whatever we learn is constantly being repeated in different words. So, of course, I am going to say that I am not sure what to expect in sefer Vayikra besides repetition. It is difficult for me to think of many new things that we will learn from this sefer considering that my class has already gone through sefer Bamidbar and Devarim. We have seen Moshe's final speech to the nation and all of the specific details included in the way that the nation must construct their new lives in the land of Eretz Yisroel. We have learned all about how Bnei Yisroel must become a Goy Kadosh and Mamlechet Kohanim. We even did a project in which we had to read an article all about holidays and Korbanot, which was based on concepts from sefer Vayikra. So, this is what I am expecting to find in the sefer: Korbanot which relate to keeping the nation a Goy Kadosh which will be brought to their national center, the Mishkan or Beit Hamikdash (obviously). I do not know what else can be found in the sefer but repetition, so if anybody can help make what we are about to learn more clear to me, that would be truly exciting to me!

Mamlechet Kohanim v'goy kadosh

So far we have learned that sefer vayikra will deal with how to instruct Bnei Yisroel on how to be a Mamlechet kohanim v'goy kodesh. Since it is only the first week of school, we still are not sure what exactly this means. However this phrase reminded me of other areas in the chumash where Bnei Yisroel are given a certain title such as an Am Segulah. If they have all these different titles, what is the point of each individual one? What sort of values and ideals does each title encompass? And even more so, why do they even need such titles? Why can't Hashem just instruct them on how to act instead of regarding the nation with all these various titles and phrases?

WHY?!

Hello to all. Before I begin I would like to thank Sharon Soleman for helping me work this thing! After learning about the structure and topics of Sefer Vayikra, I've been wondering why this Sefer is here. It makes more sense that it would come before Bnei Yisrael go into the land of Israel. The next sefer, Bamidbar, discusses the ideal mission (going into the land) and Bnei Yisrael's slave mentality that forces another generation in the desert. Vayikra should come next to teach the people how to be a 'holy' nation in order to ensure their success in Israel. However, this is also the point of Sefer Devarim. So, what is the difference between the themes/goals of these Sefarim?

Also, as I learn new things each year, I realize how 'stereotyped' T0rah is. Why is it that any time you ask someone what Sefer Vayikra is about their immediate response is 'korbanot?' Why is it that the majority of people think that Rashi is a 'pashtan?' Are we really so uneducated? Do you think that this has something to do with the way we are taught things in elementary school? There just seems to be so many misconceptions!

Vayikra

In class, we already talked about how a big subject in Vayikra is going to be about "Mamlechet Kohanim and Goy kadosh", I was wondering about many things:
-what else could possibly be in this book of Vayikra?(is it possible that it is just about this one subject?!
-Why was it even named Vayikra?
-What should it have been named? (you can possibly only answer this after we have actually studied the sefer)

If anyone has any comments to enlighten me now or throughout this course that we are taking, i will gladly listen to your ideas!

Hello my dear fellow classmates,

This week we got started on our topic about what it means to be a Goy Kadosh and as we all know we had to write a dandy essay about what we think must be done in order to establish a Goy Kadosh. Personally, I wrote some of the things that we learned from our awesome Chumash class last year. Moshe told the people in his farewell speech that the people will go into the land and will, unfortunately, be surrounded by other nations who do not follow the word of God, but instead do Avodah Zarah. Moshe told the people that in order not to stray from the path that Hashem has set up for them they must follow some rules. Firstly, he obviously told them not to get influence by the other nations and do Avodah Zarah. Secondly, Moshe commanded them to follow the laws of Kashrut; the reason for this is because food is often associated with socializing and Hashem wanted to prevent Bnei Israel from socializing with the Jews by making it impossible for them to eat together. The people also had to cultivate their relationship with God and therefore they had to set up a national center in which they can do so. Lastly, Moshe wanted the people to set up a society based on justice and fairness. In order to accomplish that, the people were ordered to take care of the indigent people in their midst. The reason for this is because if the downtrodden are not aided, they will feel abandoned by Hashem and will stray off the derech for eternity.

Now I would just like to point out something that I noticed. Don’t you guys find it absolutely striking that in our history that we learned the people had to be careful not to be influenced by other people when they were in the land of Israel? Isn’t it ironic that when Bnei Israel were outside the land of Israel they had to be less careful for possible influences since they were all alone in Israel?

In addition, think about in our day and age (yes I’m an old lady who says that. Don’t hate Zahava rubbed off on me…) although we are surrounded by Arabs in Israel it is much more difficult to be influenced by them since we are surrounded by so many Jews. Isn’t it interesting that now Europe and America(and all the other places where Jews reside) are the main source of threat for us to leave the derech of Hashem?

Wholly Holey

For the past two days in Chumash, we have been thinking about what it means to be a nation of priests and a kingdom of Kohanim [Goy Kohanim and Mamlechet Kohanim]. People have talked about the Jews ridding themselves of slave mentality, having social justice, implementing a Torah life, being an example of moral behavior for other nations, and how to wholly be holy.

However, I was wondering if anyone had thought of the odd wording. Goy Kohanim and Mamlechet Kohanim. Kohanim are from the tribe of Levi. How can the rest of the nation be a nation of Kohanim? I'm very interested in what you guys think about this.

-Zahava

Welcome to the 11/12 GHS Chumash Blog!

In an effort to encourage collaboration, communication, creativity, and critical thinking, each week you will be responsible to write one new blog post and to respond to one blog post from your classmates.  In order to hold you accountable, you will be graded on these posts!

If there is a prompt on the blog, you will be required to respond to that particular prompt in your post (the prompt could be a video, article, question, cartoon etc.). If there is no prompt, you can be creative in your post and can bring in your own thoughts or resources concerning the topic that we are studying during that particular week.

I look forward to using this blog as a means to share ideas and reflections as we embark on our study of Chumash.