Ilustration Credit: Elad Lifshitz, Dov Abramson Studio
Midrash מִדְרָשׁ
Midrashim are ideas or stories that explain the Torah. They often come from listening very carefully to what the Torah says and how it says it. Here, we will look for what clues this midrash sees in the Torah's words, and try to understand its messages.
וְזֹ֥את תּוֹרַ֖ת זֶ֣בַח הַשְּׁלָמִ֑ים אֲשֶׁ֥ר יַקְרִ֖יב לַה'׃
This is the teaching of the shelamim sacrifice that one will offer to God.
A midrash notices something unique about this pasuk. It is written with future-tense language (“that one will offer to God”), and none of the other four קָרְבָּנוֹת (korbanot, sacrifices) in the parashah is described this way.
Here’s a midrash that focuses on one kind of קָרְבַּן שְׁלָמִים (korban shelamim): the תּוֹדָה (todah, thanksgiving sacrifice). This midrash suggests that the future-tense language in our pasuk contains a special message about this kind of korban:
רַבִּי פִּנְחָס וְרַבִּי לֵוִי וְרַבִּי יוֹחָנָן בְּשֵׁם רַבִּי מְנַחֵם דְּגַלְיָא:
לֶעָתִיד לָבוֹא כָּל הַקָּרְבָּנוֹת בְּטֵלִין,
וְקָרְבַּן תּוֹדָה אֵינוֹ בָּטֵל,
כָּל הַתְּפִלּוֹת בְּטֵלוֹת,
הַהוֹדָאָה אֵינָהּ בְּטֵלָה.
Rabbi Pinhas said in the name of Rabbi Levi in the name of Rabbi Yohanan in the name of Rabbi Menahem of Gallia:
In the future, all sacrifices will be canceled,
but the todah sacrifice will not be canceled.
All prayers will be canceled,
but prayers of gratitude will not be canceled.
- The future the rabbis in this midrash are imagining is a kind of perfect world. Why do you think that, in a perfect world, there would be almost no korbanot and no prayer? What kinds of korbanot and prayers would you not need in a perfect world?
- Why is giving thanks an exception to the rule? Can you make an argument for why giving thanks is different from all the other reasons for korbanot or prayer?
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