Vayikra (Part 2) - Lev. 1:1-5:26

It Smells So Good!

Picture this:

You have the special "Tent of Meeting" where the Ark is sitting, atop of which are the golden cherubs, and between them the presence of God sits or dwells. At the beginning of this portion (1:1), we have YHVH calling to Moses from that spot.

At the entrance of the tent is a special altar, a mizbeach.

This portion begins by telling us all about the korban, a general term for an offering, just as zevach is a general term for any animal that is to be sacrificed (ritually slaughtered to be made sacred), before God.

One can bring a bull, a ram (goat or sheep), or birds, depending on your financial situation (don't try to be cheap, because that's a sin too!), and if you are really poor, then bring the finest of grains that will be mixed with oil, salt, and frankincense.

Now, remember that altar? Well, for animals, their blood is captured and dashed on all sides of it. For the birds, their bodies are squeezed against the altar to ensure that all of their blood is spread upon all the sides, and the "horns" of the altar.

If you have hundreds of thousands of people with you, and only 1% of them does some unintentional sin, or have a feeling of gratitude to God, or anything else, you are going to have rivers of blood pouring out.

According to the Jewish sages, one of the miracles of the Temple was that it never smelled, and another is that there were never any flies.

Speaking of smells, this brings us to an often occurring theme in the Torah, which is "a pleasing aroma Yahweh". ריח ניחח ליהוה 

This phrase occurs 16 times in the Torah, as we see below:

It also occurs a number of other times as simple "a pleasing aroma", inferring that it is for God, but let's just consider, for a moment, "an aroma that is pleasing to Yahweh".

Remember, this is YHVH saying to Moses that it will be pleasing.

Given all of the blood congealed on that altar a few feet from where His Presence is sitting, it is likely to be pleasing!

If you recall the story of Noah, after "YHVH smelled the pleasing aroma" (one of the other instances of God smelling things) in Genesis 8:21.

The idea of God liking certain smells that He dictates to be provided for Him is uncomfortable with many who reject such anthropomorphisms. The Targumist, Onkelos, changes it to "it is a pleasure before YHVH". In fact, throughout Leviticus, the Targum diverges frequently from the narrative and even obscures the differences between sacrificial offerings.

So how does YHVH smell?

With all of that burnt meat and frankincense, pretty good, I suppose.

Except for all of that blood.

But then, as the Jewish Sages wrote, "It's a miracle!"