Distinction

As I was reviewing Rabbi Leibtag's article, I thought of an interesting topic for a blog post.

Parshat Tzav and Parshat Vayikra both discuss korbanot. However, the focus that the each parsha puts on korbanot is very different. Parhat Vayikra serves as a "halachic catalogue" guiding different types of individuals as to which korban to bring. Parshat Tzav serves as an "instruction manual"- teaching the KOHEN HOW to offer each type of korban.

I think that this distinction is really important. It's a distinction like this that changes the way you learn and understand Torah. These distinctions also help combat generalizations and stereotypes on the Torah. As we talked about earlier in the year, Sefer Vayikra is NOT just about korbanot. Korbanot are only a small portion. People always say "Vayikra is just about korbanot" or "the Torah always repeats information about korbanot." In reality, this is not true at all! (as we've learned from this distinction) This is why it is so important not to just read the pesukim. You actually have to delve into it. Everything in the Torah was put there for a reason, it's not just random. Just look deeper!

p.s. Think about all of the other distinctions we have learned during this chavruta assignment! For example, How Sefer Vayikra is divided into korban nedava (voluntary korbanot) and korban chova (obligatory korbanot).

Something about Vayikra

Right now we are learning about Vayikra. What do we know about Vayikra?

Vayikra gets right into it right from the fist passuk,     וַיִּקְרָא אֶל מֹשֶׁה וַיְדַבֵּר when Hashem tells Moshe to speak to the people of Bnai Yisroel about the korbanot. 

Doesn't this seem a bit abrupt? It just kind've starts talking about Korbanot out of nowhere.

When last the Torah left off - "For the cloud of the Lord was upon the Mishkan by day, and there was fire within it at night, before the eyes of the entire house of Israel in all their journeys. (Exodus 40:38)"- it was talking about the Mishkan. I suppose, then, talking about korbanot isn't totally random now. 

Okay, I really don't know what to write about. This post is so off that I couldn't even pick good colors. Well, I shall leave some questions for you people if you wish to comment: 

________________________________________________________________

How do you think this Sefer should have started off?

Do you think the Torah goes into too much detail about korbanot? How much is too much?

Why do you think the haftorah for Vayikra is Isaiah?   

The Ideal Korban

Good evening everyone!

I would like to share an interesting point that I learned through Rabbi Leibtag’s article that we read for our project. He mentions how man’s desire for meat is “animalistic” and by bringing a korban shlamim (my korban!) we are channeling those animal-like behaviors in order to enhance our relationship with Hashem.
I would first like to point out that it is pretty cool how bringing this specific korban is reenacting the same ceremony that Hashem and the nation had at Har Sinai. This makes it the ideal korban nedava!
We learn that when we bring the korban shlamim, nobody is to eat the “chaylev” or “dam,” the specific fats from the animal or the blood. This is not only a rule for the korban back then, it is a law that was taught to be passed down for future generations.
This interested me a lot because it gave me some reason for all of those people who “hate” korbanot so much to have at least one positive thought about them. Even though we do not have the mishkan or beit hamikdash today, we are able to feel a certain sense of kedusha nowadays by knowing that every time we eat meat, we are not eating the specific fats and blood that we were commanded not to eat from the korbanot. When eating meat, we should remember that we are eating it in a different way in order to maintain that kedusha. If we stop and think about it once in a while, it could even help some of us feel a certain sense of closeness to Hashem as well. (which is the main purpose of the korban in the first place.)

Chavruta Learning

I am having difficulty thinking of something to post about because I think the topic of korbanot has been more than exhausted on this blog. Therefore I would like to discuss our chavruta learning in class. Usually when I hear Mrs. Perl say that we are going to be working in chavrutas, I get a little nervous because that implies that we won't have her to guide us in the pesukim and we will actually have to rely on ourselves to figure out the meaning and interpretations of the pesukim. That was how I felt when she announced this huge assignment that we're currently in the midst of completing. But although it's been frustrating because korbanot are probably the most difficult concept in the Torah, I have loved working with Carmit and I think that we work very well together! We each have different skills that when combined, make for very good teamwork! Chumash is truly the one class where chavrutas are an essential part of the class, and I am very grateful for having the opportunity to rely on ourselves for knowledge. Although, like I said, it is very very frustrating at times.

Important Message for life

I have asked myself, why one must bring a korban Asham even if he is not sure if he committed a sin or not. The simple answer is, just to make sure that if he sinned, he brought a Korban (like saying sorry to someone even if you're not sure if you actually hurt them- but you want to do it just in case.)

The other reason, given by Sforno is that the person actually brings the sin offerining because he is uncertain if he committed the sin since one must always be aware of their surroundings and doings.

I really think this was an important message and therefore I want to give it over to you aswell. It is important to always be aware of oneself and of the people around you since you can hurt someone so easly, or yourself with just one simple act.
That simple act can just take one second, but the resulting pain of it can sometimes last forever.

Stop. Think. Act

Korban Nedava vs. Korban Chova

What is the difference between the two?

A Korban Nedava is a Korban that one brings voluntarily. The Ola, Mincha, and Shlamim all fall under the category of a Korban Nedava. These are for people who just want to bring a korban to Hashem; they didn't sin and don't have an obligation to bring one, but they want to (perhaps they want to feel more of a connection towards Hashem).

A Korban Chova is a mandatory offering. The Chatat and Asham fall under this category. The Korban Chova is for people who have sinned and therefore they're obligated to bring a sin offering (either a Chatat or Asham). In order for the person to be forgiven for their sin, they must bring a Korban (hence the word obligated).

What do I do?

Alexa and I have the sin offering, and while learning we came across some things that were a little confusing. We read that if a person swears and then he breaks it unknowingly, he must bring a sin offering. We also read that if a person sees someone commit a sin and they do not testify, they shall bear it for a sin. We focused on understanding what this meant and it became quite clear to us.
However, I want to challenge you and see what you think this means! I can post the answers after you comment if you would like, but you might actually get the answers to begin with! If you want more challenging and stimulating questions, ask, because Alexa and I have a lot to discuss!
Good luck!

Challenge Round: 2 Bonus Questions!

• Up until Vayikra, the Torah is mostly narrative. Sefer Vayikra is different because it contains primarily mitzvot and very little narrative. However, Sefer Vayikra does contain two interesting narratives. What are they?
• Show how the parshiot progress in topical order and not chronological. Explain why the 2 narratives belong in this sefer.
  

*Hint- for further reading go to http://www.tanach.org/vayikra/vayik/vayiks1.htm
This is actually an interesting article, not at all dry and boring. I actually read it, so you can too! It was very easy to read through.

Hello my dear fellow classmates,

This week I continued to work with Sade. Just to keep you in the loop of our teamwork, I would like to inform you that we finished reading the Pesukim on Parashat Vayikrah and Tzav. Then we moved on and read Rabbi Leibtag’s article. Correction: Sade sped through the packet with her speed reading while I was sitting there shocked at how fast she can move her lips to formulate words… =/ Anyway, in Rabbi Leibtag brought forth a very important question: does Hashem need Korbanot? I know everyone is probably so sick of that question but I would like to think what you guys have to say. Rabbi Leibtag claims that Hashem doesn’t need Korbanot but that we need to bring them to Him in order to show our loyalty and love for Hashem. What do you think about that?

Korban Asham

While reading through the source sheet with my partner Sharon, I ran across something I found interesting.

Why is the korban nedava mentioned before the kroban chova? Most people would have put the things that they had to do before the optional things.

One possibility could be that the parsha is introducing man's aspiration to establish a relationship with Hashem, and then follows it with the korban chova which would be man repairing that relationship after it was affected by sin.

However, there is another opinion that is even more realistic. The two korbanot represent the 2 purposes of the mishkan. 1) to continue the experience at Har sinai, and 2) to make up for the chait ha'egel. So therefore the korban nedava, the olot and shlamim, would stand as the things that they did at har sinai, and the korban chova would stand as the b'nei yisrael trying to atone for the chait ha'egel.

Do you agree with either of these? If not, what would your suggestion be?

Rav Hirsch

Rav Hirsch offers another opinion on the reason that we bring Korbanot.

Since Rav Hirsch lived post-Enlightenment, he is writing in order to make the Torah relevant. If the root of the word Korban is Karov which means to come close or to draw near, then bringing Korbanot isn't about a pagan activity, but about bringing us closer to Hashem and strengthening our relationship with him.

He points out that it's not a gift, because that implies that Hashem needs or wants our gift and that it could help Him. Hashem doesn't need our help, because He has everything that He needs. Rav Hirsch also says that it's not an offering either, because that implies that we are giving something of value up to help Hashem. A Korban isn't an offering or a gift, it is used to strengthen ones relationship with Hashem.

The Korban isn't for Hashem, it's for us. It's a way that we can achieve a higher level of spirituality. Rav Hirsch also says that it's more than just bringing a Korban, it's about going to the Beit ha'Mikdash to do it; because when we are in the Beit ha'Mikdash we feel the presence of G-d and it's easier to establish a stronger connection with Him.

I agree with Rav Hirsch's opinion the most. To me, this is just what makes the most sense. Why would Hashem need our animals? He doesn't. Hashem wants us to have a strong relationship with Him, and therefore it makes sense that he would command us to bring Korbanot in order to establish that relationship.

Do you agree with Rav Hirsch?

Sefer ha'Chinuch

The Sefer ha'Chinuch give us reasons as to why we bring Korbanot.

The Sefer ha'Chinuch says that Korbanot are animals because they lack a divine purpose, they only live to fill desires; and our desires and lack of following Hashem's commandments and our tendency to give in to our animal-like instincts is what causes sin.

Our reflection needs to be an understanding that our sin is acting like animals act, and we must understand that if we can't overcome our instincts then we will also deserve death, just like the animal we sacrifice dies.

Korbanot are designed to get rid of our animal instincts.

Although I don't completely agree with the Sefer ha'Chinuch, I think his explanation is logical. Often times we need something physical to represent something spiritual so we can fully understand the spiritual aspect of our life. By seeing the animal, that represents our own desires and instincts, die we begin to understand what could potentially happen to us if we continue to act on our desires and instincts.

Do you think that what the Sefer ha'Chinuch has to say makes any sense?

Rambam

While going through the reasons for the Korbanot, we read the view of the Rambam.

The Rambam holds the opinion that the reason for bringing Korbanot was simply because it would be too hard to get rid of this pagan practice completely. Instead of commanding the Jewish people to stop bringing sacrifices altogether, Hashem transformed the practice into something that worshipped Hashem. They used it as a vehicle to pardon since, and they channeled Korbanot in service of Hashem

Rambam is the least in favor of Korbanot. But I don't agree with his opinion at all. I think that this isn't so because there were other practices that Hashem commanded us to stop completely that were a part of the pagan world.

Do you agree with the Rambam? Why or why not?

Not Korbanot (Again!)

Another post, another struggle to find something to talk about aside from Korbanot. Oh, the suffering. So, what shall it be today?

Well, I realized that I could not think of anything off the top of my head, so I was left with no choice but to go on the shelf and look into the text of Vayikra and see if I could find something interesting to write about. 

So here it is: The Small Alef in th Word ויקרא:

Apparently, we can learn something about Moshe from this. 

As you may have heard, Moshe was a very humble guy. I mean, it only took him forever to finally say yes to Hashem when Hashem first appeared to him. So it should come as no surprise that many people attribute this little alef to yet another sign of Moshe's humility. According to the Baal HaTurim, Moshe wanted to describe Hashem's revelation to him in the least complimentary way possible. 

 Backtrack a little bit. ויקר without an alef has negative connotations. It is seen in Hashem's prophecy to Balaam and is there to present chance and spiritual contamination. The implication of this is that even though Hashem had a reason to talk to Balaam, H' did it not so lovingly.

Back to Moshe. Moshe wanted to describe Hashem's appearance to him with the same uncomplimentary word used for Balaam, but Hashem wanted him to use an alef as a sign of love. But Moshe was just toooo humble and so, finding that he had to put it in because God requested it but was still so humble, he compromised by making hte alef tiny. 

Moshe should really be a model to us all on the value of humility. According to  R'Bunam of P'schish'cha Moshe was the humblest person who ever lived. Pretty cool stuff.  

More Korbanot!

So as Carmit and I have been learning the wondrous details and fun facts behind the korban olah and korban minchah, Mrs. Perl has kindly advised us that we pay close attention to the ostensibly minor details behind the procedures because they actually matter. This seemed odd to me at first because if we're not using the korbanot today and they were only an ancient practice, why does it matter today that we know the seemingly trivial facts of each korban? Although each korban has distinctly different processes of actually bringing the korban, they seem so foreign to us today, and most of us probably find the process "nauseating" (in the words of Zahava). Therefore I pose the following question: Why on earth do the details matter?

Korban Chatat

Zahava and I were assigned to the korban chatat. As we were reading through the pesukim, I noticed something very strange.
The first case of a sin offering is when a cohen sins and it results in the guilt of the people because they are dependent on the cohanim to atone and pray for them. The rest of the cases of the (non-cohen) Jews basically have the same procedure of bringing the korban chatat as the cohanim. This is where I become confused. The cohanim are on a much higher level and are the leaders of the nation. If so, why then is their 'punishment' the same as the rest of Bnei Yisrael. We learn throughout the Torah that in general leaders of the nation, like Moshe, usually get a harsher punishment than the rest of the people. For example, Moshe hits the rock so he can't go into the land of Israel?!? I know that bringing a korban should not necessarily be classified as a 'punishment,' but shouldn't a cohen have to go through a more tough procedure than everyone else? Also, these cohanim are the ones atoning for the rest of the nation's sins when they bring korbanot, so surely a cohen's sin should be dealt with in a more severe and stringent way.

Korban Asham

My beautiful partner, Jamie and I learned about the Korban Asham.

There are different possibilities of why one must bring Korban Asham:

It could be because one sinned by mistake or was uncertain if he sinned but another reason is because one stole from others.

If one has stolen something, he must bring the Korban asham and give it back plus a fifth extra for penalty.

My question to you is:

1.Do you think a person who stole should have the option to do tshuva so easily? Shouldn't there be a harsher punishment for these people? Why do they bring the same Korban as people who sinned by mistake?

Hello my dear fellow classmates,

Im currently in the middle of my little project with Sade in which we had to learn about the Korban Mincha and Olah. I actually read quite a few of the posts that many different people in our class wrote. I find it so interesting to see how different certain things were from what I learned and how some things actually seem familiar. This brought me to think about a few questions.

1. Why are there so many different kinds of Korbanot-is it really necessary to have so many different kinds?

2. Why do we have to learn about all the different processes that they had to go through when bringing each individual Korban? We don’t use Korbanot today so how is that applicable to our everyday life?

3. Why are there differences when describing the Korbanot in Parashat Zav and Parashat Vayikrah?

Holy Dead Bodies?

Hi guys!

So, as Racheli and I were reading through the pasukim about the korban shlamim today, I recognized many of the steps that were taken when bringing the korban. The person has to bring the animal to the opening of the Ohel Moed, give it to the Kohen to put on the altar etc. But, then we came upon one pasuk which stated that the blood and the animal itself are holy, and if one touches them, they become holy as well. This seems quite odd to me. Bringing an animal as a sacrifice to God is already a strange concept that I have learned to accept, but how is touching the blood or the animal going to make you holy?! I recall learning in chumash some time ago that touching a dead body makes one impure. Doesn't it seem to be the same kind of thing here? If I touch a dead animal's body, I will feel gross and violated, like I am touching a dead human body. Even though the korban is a special sacrifice to God and could be a holy act, I cant grasp how touching the dead body will cause one to become holy! Is anybody else bothered by this?

7th Times a Charm

Hello.
This week I have had the great opportunity to work with the esteemed Alexa Wender. We have been studying the sin offering and we were learning in depth about it. We talked about how the kohen brings a young bull and he puts his hand on it, then at one point he dips his fingers into the blood and sprinkles it onto the alter.

There's that number again! 7! I wonder why 7 is such an important number in Judaism. I was hoping you guys could tell me your thoughts or even bring me some answers! Here is your mission-

1. Name 4 or 5 other times that the number 7 appears in some Jewish concept.
2. Give me your thoughts about the number 7.
3. Is there any rabbi or someone who says why 7 was important?

Good luck!

A Tad repetitive...Tefilla and Korbanot

So as everyone has seemed to stated in their own blogs, we are sick of posting about korbanot. Therefore I will try to be original! When I was considering what to post, I began thinking about korbanot in our day - essentially tefilla. After we have learned so much about korbanot, including many differing opinons explaining the entire notion of korbanot and the reasoning behind them, we are surely experts in this field. Now how do we connect these ideas to our everyday lives? The rabbis have seemed to indicate that tefilla is our contemporary version of the ancient tradition of korbanot.

Therefore, I ask you all, if we are all experts in korbanot which we are, do you think that tefilla is a proper and appropriate replacement for korbanot? Is tefilla truly the best possible equivalent of bringing korbanot? What differences slash similarities can be found between these two concepts?

Who Is The Real 'Copycat??'

Before I begin, I would like to thank Carmit for giving me my topic for my post this week. Carmit discussed the Rambam's answer to why we bring korbanot which is because other nations did. It was part of the pagan ways. People were so used to korbanot being part of religion that Hashem couldn't just fully take it away. They couldn't just stop bringing korbanot cold turkey. One may be disturbed that we are 'recycling' customs of other nations in to our own. If this is the case or not, is for another blog. However, I would like to get everyone to realize the following: Think of how much Judaism has played a role in shaping other religions. Just about all of christianity is based off of Judaism. From Judaism came both Christianity and Islam. They both took the Monotheism of Judaism and then adapted it to their own beliefs. For example, Easter, probably one of the most important and biggest holidays of Christianity, is based off of Pesach. Muslims observe their faith to one G-d through their five daily prayers, while Jews pray three times daily. Just as we have laws of Kashrus, so do the Muslims. Realizing this makes me so proud to be a Jew. Yes, we might be a small nation, but our impact on the world is insurmountable. Whether people believe it or not, today's leading religions are based off of Judaism. Our commandments are G-d given and not based off anything else. We are the chosen nation. BE PROUD.

Not Korbanot

In an effort to not be so repetitive with the posting, I shall try to blog about something aside from Korbanot but still having to do with Chumash and possibly Vayikra.

Something that I've been wondering that is relevant to blog about is the issue of how the Egyptians are perceived. This year, the whole school is learning World History, so as you guys should all know, the Egyptians were a pretty cool, interesting people. They treated their own people more than okay, and their whole thing that they had going on was pretty awesome. So what I want to say, is I think our perception of the Egyptian people is a little harsh. I mean, maybe it's just me, but I used to think that the Egyptians were such 'bad guys'. But when you think about it- we were slaves, were they really supposed to invite us over to a cup of tea? Slaves don't typically have the best time ever. I understand that we weren't expecting to be slaves, Yosef was important there, blah-blah-blah, but did it really come as such a surprise? I don't know, I  feel like we may be looking at this a little one-sided sometimes and develop a bias. I could be wrong- feel free to disagree.

Okay, if somebody is not satisfied with that, then you can go click on this link from RavKookTorah.org if you really want to and tell me what you think about korbanot and stuff. I was going to post about the Midrash on it, but then I decided not to. But yes, I would love to hear about what you think about the midrash. Interesting stuff. 

Also, I hope the changing fonts colors encouraged you to keep reading this post. If you made it to the end, congratulations!

My dear classmates and Mrs. Perl,

Every single person so far has written about korbanot on this blog, so I am not going to do so as well. Rather, I would like to discuss an important lesson that I have learned in the class. After we finally finished learning about the lovely opinions of the different meanings and reasons for korbanot, we began a new worksheet which was so beautifully color coded. (even though our copies were only black and white or gray) My partner, Racheli and I jumped right into learning. We were a little bit intimidated at first as we began to read the few pasukim we were able to cover. We were stuck on one pasuk for the majority of class because we could not figure out the meaning of the words. The wonderful lesson that Mrs. Perl taught me in class was that we need to look up these words on our own. We were forced to open up the actual chumash and look in Rashi to find the meaning. This was not very easy, and it did not end up helping because he did not comment on the word we were looking for, but it was the fact that we went and tried to search for it on our own that helped us. This could apply to other things in life as well. We are not always handed everything we want, we must go out in the world and search for answers and whether we find it or not, it will always help us and make us stronger!

Hello my dear fellow classmates,

As always, Zahava is a great inspiration to my blog question that I will pose today. We have learned numerous interesting opinions as to why Bnei Isreal sacrificed Korbanot. My personal favorite is the Rambam’s reasoning. I like the fact that he states that it is because of the past culture that Bnei Isreal felt the need to bring Korbanot because that’s how all the other nations served their gods(I talked about this in my previous post and asked a different question.) However, this week I want to pose a different question. Can you think of any other reason as to why you think we brought Korbanot? Do you completely disagree or agree with the Rambam? Can you think of any other aspects of Judaism that were only done in the past because that was what other nations did and Bnei Isreal couldn’t give that cultural aspect of their lives up? Do you think that is all right that Hashem allowed them to “mimic” what other nations did and channel that to their servitude to Hashem? Do you think that any of those Mitzvot still exist today?

The Quest of finding the best Meforesh

After having learned all these different Mefarshim in detail, I once again thought about which one most appealed to me. Upon commenting on Zahava's post, I came to the realization that maybe some meforshim's ideas on the Korbanot could be combined!

Can someone enlighten me with their reasons for their likings of one meforesh?
Or can you tell me why and if it is possible that an idea of a Meforesh can be comined with another one?

This will be very helpful for my quest in finding my favorite meforesh on the idea of what a Korban is. Please do not hesitate to state your opinion.

Rav Hirsch and PETA

Today, I will be advocating animal rights. While talking about korbanot, we read the opinion of Rav Hirsch on why korbanot were brought. Supposedly Rav Hirsch is supposed to be a more modern guy, but what he said struck me as very odd and cruel.
He said that we bring korbanot to become closer to G-d. A korban is not a gift or a sacrifice, because 1) we do not want to imply G-d needs a sacrifice 2) we don't want to give gifts and sacrifices because this is the relationship man has with man, not the relationship man should have with G-d. The shoresh of the work korban is karov, which means close. So we bring korbanot to become closer to G-d.
Well, this is the upsetting part. Why does killing an animal bring you closer to G-d? It doesn't make sense. Forget about other meforshim we read who talked about the symbolism etc. Why would an animal being killed bring you closer to G-d? G-d isn't the one who needs the sacrifice- right? And a good Jew/person shoudn't go around killing animals, because why would G-d want His creations destroyed if HE doesn't require it? Why isn't there a different way to become closer to G-d?
I think the only thing that makes sense is to say korbanot were brought by the jews because they were so used to it that they couldn't go from one extreme to the other (no korbanot).
So why is this modern person saying killing an animal brings you closer to G-d? how does this benefit you? From G-d's side it doesn't mean anything, because G-d doesn't need it. So why should we, as humans, do it?
So, someone who would not normally ever really take a stand on animal rights, I will be a PETA person and say that this is cruel...

Anyone care to change my mind?

Action Then Feelings?

Before we started the lovely source sheet about korbanot, I always thought that bringing an animal as a sacrifice was pretty random. I certainly did not think that the animal had any symbolism or importance behind it. However, the Sefer Hachinuch, a book explaining the 613 mitzvot, changed this. The Sefer Hachinuch explains that animals lack a divine purpose. They only live to fulfill their desires. What causes us to sin are our desires and lack of ability to refrain from giving into base animal instincts. Therefore, if a person continues to act like an animal, he too will deserve death. The Sefer Hachinuch concludes that it is symbolic to have an animal as a korban because the reflection needs to be an understanding that sin is acting like an animal. So, we 'squash' this animal instinct. This fits the 'theme' of the explanations that the Sefer Hachinuch gives: "Acharei Ha'Peulot Namshech Ha'levavot" which means first take action and then the feelings will come. After one gives the animal as a sacrifice, his desires are 'burned' and then he can reflect on his mistakes and strive to improve on himself. I find this 'pitgam' very interesting. I don't agree with it fully. Sometimes I do believe that the action must come first, however, sometimes you need the feelings to do the action. For example, if you don't have the 'feelings' or inspiration to do a mitzvah then when you do it, it's not rewarding at all. It's like doing a mitzvah without really wanting to do it. This is why sometimes I need some sort of motivational experience to help me preform the action to the best of my ability. So, maybe we need the 'feelings' first to ensure that the sacrifice (action) is as successful and meaningful as it can be?

The Rambam

Hello world,

So, everybody is writing about korbanot...obviously! Well, I decided that it was pretty much my only option of things to write about, so here I go! We learned the opinion of the Rambam on these lovely Korbanot and why we bring them. He definitely did not seem too thrilled about the idea of bringing Korbanot, like some of the students in our class. He mentioned that Korbanot were a way for the Jews to take some sinful Pagan practices, and turn them into a way of worshipping Hashem. This is obviously not such a great approach to the idea of something so spiritual that is supposed to connect us to Hashem because the Jews should be focusing solely on Hashem, not their old sinful practices! But, anyway, I just found it quite interesting that such a great and spiritual man like the Rambam would refer to korbanot as something that is not such an exciting idea because he himself was such a righteous man. Wouldn't he of all people like the idea of korbanot or at least feel some sort of connection to them?!