Vayeira 5774:  Hold the Garbage

By Rabbi Joshua (resourcefully known and The Hoffer) Hoffman

In memory of Rabbi Moshe Kushner, who passed away in Chicago this past week. Rabbi Kushner, an early musmach of Rav Aharon Soloveitchik zt”l, served for many years as the director of Camp Moshava (“Rosh Mosh”) in Wild Rose Wisconsin, and, most recently, as executive director of the Chicago Rabbinical Council. May his memory be a blessing. 

After Avraham is told not to bring Yitzhak as an offering at the Akeidah, he sees a ram caught in the thicket, and proceeds to bring it as a burnt offering in place of his son (Bereishis 22:13). There is a midrash which says that nothing in that ram went to waste.  Each part of it was used in some mitzvah process, whether it was the horns on Rosh Hashanah, or the wool on the kohen gadol’s garment, or the legs for flutes in the Beis HaMikdash. Why is it important for us to know this about that ram? What message is this midrash conveying? 

One obvious message of the midrash is that since the ram was brought as an olah, which is totally burned on the altar, Avraham’s service of God in bringing the ram was done in a complete way, and this was reflected by the fact that each part of the ram was later recovered and used in further service of God. Additionally, it may reflect Avraham’s attitude to all the possessions that he had. When he went down to Egypt at the time of the famine, the Torah tells us he took all of his possessions with him. Why? Rabbi Yirmiyah Guggenheim explained that Avraham believed that whatever he owned was given to him by God to be used in a way that promoted recognition of Him in the world, and, therefore, he took those possessions with him to Egypt to serve that purpose there, as well. Similarly, then, we can suggest that he believed that the ram he found was provided by God, and, thus, in consonance with his approach to what God gave him, that ram became an olah, and was, later, used completely in the service of God, in the form of various mitzvos. 

Beyond these explanations, it is interesting to note that another midrash, cited by Rav Meir Simcha of Dvinsk in his Meshech Chochmah, says that Avraham at the Akeidah, served as a kohein gadol, a high priest. The Meshech Chochmah explains that the level of divine revelation that Avraham experienced at the Akeikdah was equivalent to that experienced by the kohen gadol on Yom Kippur, which is the highest level of holiness attainable in this world. We have mentioned in the past that the definition of holiness is, actually, more prosaic than is commonly thought. The Torah tells us, in parshas Mishpatim, “People of holiness shall you be to Me; you shall not eat flesh of an animal that was torn in the field; to the dog shall you throw it” (Shemos 22:30). According to Targum Onkeles, the verse is dealing with flesh mauled from an animal while it is still alive. This flesh is seemingly worthless, fit only for the garbage, and, yet, the Torah tells us to throw it to the dogs. Rashi explains that this is a reward to the dogs for not barking when the Jews left Egypt and this practice is described by the Torah as an example of holiness. This seemingly worthless piece of flesh is being utilized to inculcate within us a sense of gratitude, which, according to the Mechilta in parshas Yisro, and as elaborated upon by Rabbeinu Bechya Ibn Pekudah in his Duties of the Heart, is the foundation of our service of God. Avraham, in fact, brought people to a recognition of God through the trait of gratitude, by providing them with sustenance and then telling them to thank, not himself, but God, the true provider. Holiness, then, is brought out in this world by utilizing everything we have, no matter how mundane, in the service of God. When Avraham reached the highest level of holiness possible, at the Akeidah, he proceeded to bring a ram as an olah sacrifice, and that ram, as a reflection of this holiness, was subsequently used completely for mitzvah purposes.