I'm Feeling Sheepish Today

 I’m in the mood for a little mysticism today, let's do it.

The Torah tells us in this week’s Parsha about the community offerings in the Holy Temple. There were many kinds of offerings. Oxen, sheep, goats, flour with olive oil, and libations of wine.

Why Hashem needs us to offer animals and flour on the altar in the first place is another whole discussion. I want to focus on the specific choices of animals for certain days.

(Pardon the interruption - Dena and I are planning to go to Israel in March with JLI, a most amazing experience, and we’d love for you to join us. Find out more here.)

There was a sheep offered in the Temple every morning and every afternoon, every day of the year including weekdays, Shabbat, holidays and even Yom Kippur. Every week on Shabbat there was an additional offering of two sheep.

Then there were the special offerings for Rosh Chodesh (beginning of the month) and holidays. These included goats and oxen. Why not oxen every day? It would seem appropriate for the entire community to give the biggest and best for Hashem?

It seems there is something special about the sheep that is related to the constant ongoing service - daily and weekly, and oxen that are more appropriate for the occasional offering. 

This is a huge subject, let’s touch on one little part of it. Come with me on a little journey. 

There is the path of Torah. Doing Mitzvot, refraining from violating the Torah’s prohibitions, studying Torah diligently. A person following all of this will live a righteous life, following the path of goodness and kindness.

But there are temptations and we stray. We may hurt someone or violate other laws of the Torah. All is not lost, though. There is Teshuva, return. Rather than beating ourselves up and feeling bad about ourselves, we resolve to fix the problem and change our ways. Then we go forward with joy and excitement in the knowledge that Hashem loves us and forgives us, and we strive to do the right thing from now on.

While it is ideal to always follow the right path, when a person has strayed and then corrected the error, this adds to the strength of observance. Like someone who grew up in a city and always had water in the faucet, and then goes into the desert and lacks water. His or her relationship with water will forever change and he or she will appreciate water so much more.

The same is true when a person has been in a spiritual desert and then feels the thirst for goodness and holiness. Their relationship with Hashem becomes more powerful and they observe Mitzvot with more vigor and excitement. Our Sages taught that a Tzadik - a perfectly righteous person - cannot stand in the holy place of one who has done Teshuva.

Nevertheless, we should not live that way, messing up and then doing Teshuva. Teshuva is good when necessary, from time to time. But even though it brings more intensity to our service, what makes us consistently better people and the world a better place is the steady practice of Mitzvot, steadily following the path of goodness and righteousness day-to-day. Our Sages call this "clothing ourselves" in the Mitzvot.  Thought, speech and action are referred to in Chassidus as the "garments" of the soul.  How we appear to others depends on our clothes, and how our soul expresses itself in the world is through the Mitzvot.

Here is where we get to the mystical message of the sacrifices. An ox is a powerful animal, representing the power and excitement of Teshuva. The sheep is quiet and unassuming, but provides us with wool for clothing, representing the steady, humble observance of Mitzvot. The Torah teaches us to offer an ox at special occasions, but the ongoing daily and weekly offerings are sheep.

It is important, the Torah is teaching, to strive to do Mitzvot every day, to try to live a righteous life, dressing ourselves in "fine wool garments," like the sheep.  And if we mess up once in a while, find our way back to the right path with increased strength and powerful connection, like the ox.

May we soon merit the true redemption and, as Rambam says, the resumption of the offerings in the third Holy Temple.