This is the ritual of the burnt offering (6:2). The Rabbis understood the burnt offering as a sacrifice brought for sins of the heart or mind, hirhur halev. According to Vayikra Rabbah 7.3, this notion was derived from Job’s explanation of his burnt offerings on behalf of his children, when he said, “Perhaps my children have sinned and blasphemed God in their thoughts” (Job 1:5). In an ongoing midrashic discussion as to which sacrifice is divinely preferred, Vayikra Rabbah 7.4 maintains that God favors the burnt offering because it is the only sacrifice that remains on the altar at night as well as during the day. A parable compares the situation to that of a king traveling in the desert. He stops first at one inn and eats and drinks, and then at another inn where he not only eats and drinks but also stays overnight, showing that he favors the latter. Conversely, Vayikra Rabbah 3 argues that God most esteems the meal offering because of its association with poverty.
He shall then take off his vestments (6:4). The medieval commentator Rashi explains that this verse is a lesson in etiquette (derech eretz), teaching that a servant should change clothes between preparing food and serving it.
One who offers it for thanksgiving (7:12). Vayikra Rabbah 9.4 asserts that God favors the thanksgiving offering because it is a freewill offering, rather than an obligatory one brought for the expiation of a sin. According to the Rabbis, the thanksgiving offering is the only sacrifice that will remain in the world-to come (Vayikra Rabbah 9.7). Rashi comments on this verse (based on BT B’rachot 54b) that the thanksgiving offering is an appropriate response to the following “miraculous” deliverances: a safe journey across an ocean or desert, release from imprisonment, and recovery from a serious illness.
Such are the rituals of the burnt offering…and the sacrifice of well-being (7:37). Vayikra Rabbah 9.9 suggests that the sacrifice of well-being, the sh’lamim, is last in this list of sacrifices because of the importance of shalom, peace, a theme which also appears at the end of many prayers. The Midrash lists a number of examples where the value of peace is deemed higher than the value of truth. Many of these situations involve women and endorse the value of peace in marriage. The most famous biblical example is that of Sarah and Abraham: When Sarah laughs at the possibility of conceiving a child, she says that it is impossible because of her husband’s age. However, when God repeats Sarah’s words to Abraham, God reports only that she complained of her own age (Genesis 18). This “lie” is understood by the Rabbis as a sign of the greater importance of marital harmony over truth. A story is also told about Rabbi Meir and a woman who came to hear him preach one Friday night and ended up staying so late that she angered her husband. When her husband swore that she must spit in Rabbi Meir’s face, Rabbi Meir miraculously understood this and pretended that he needed her to spit in his face for medical reasons, thereby restoring marital harmony (also Sifrei B’midbar 42; B’reishit Rabbah 48).
Take Aaron (8:2). The Rabbis connect this “taking” of Aaron for his priestly duties with another biblical use of the word “taking” with respect to Aaron—his taking of the people’s gold and silver to make the Golden Calf in Exodus 32:4. As Vayikra Rabbah 10.4 puts it, “Let this ‘taking’ come and atone for that ‘taking.’”
anointing oil. Vayikra Rabbah 10.8 relates that the original 12 logs of oil (72 rabbinic “eggs’” worth) prepared by Moses miraculously sufficed not only to anoint the sanctuary and its vessels, and Aaron and his sons on each of the seven days of the sanctuary’s consecration, but also to anoint future generations of high priests and kings.
You shall remain at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting day and night for seven days, keeping יהוה’s charge (8:35). Midrash Tanchuma connects this seven-day seclusion of the priests to the customary seven days of mourning after a family member’s death: Aaron was unknowingly in mourning for the future death of his two oldest sons on the eighth day—the day of the final consecration of the Tabernacle (see the next parashah). Aaron’s period of pre-mourning is compared to the pre-mourning that God is said to have done for seven days prior to the Flood (Tanchuma, ed. Buber II, 21–22).
—Rachel Anisfeld