THEMES of Featured Ascent Lights

"When a person brings an offering from his own" can also be translated, "from himself". The whole purpose of the offerings is to sacrifice the animal part of ourselves - our evil inclination - as an offering to G-d. In addtion, an offering to the Sanctuary should be brought "willingly". The Maggid of Mezritch explains that the most valuable part that one can offer is his own will.

We must rid ourselves of pride and ulterior motives to serve G‑d properly, becoming a loyal subject of a king. We are commanded not to include any leavening - representing haughtiness, or honey - representing pleasure, in the offerings in the Tabernacle & Holy Temple.

The Lubavitcher Rebbe says that we can apply the three steps of bringing an offering to our own divine service. First one examines the animal to ascertain it is unblemished; we too must examine ourselves, that we be without spiritual imperfections.

Second is ritual slaughtering; we too must drain our enthusiasm for the physical world and what it seems to offer. Lastly is the actual offering on the altar; spiritually offering ourselves brings all our strengths, both intrinsically holy as well as animalistic, to G-d.

The great majority of the letters in the Torah are not large or small, rather medium-sized. This alludes to the fact that we are generally not supposed to be one extreme or the other, but rather take the middle path.

Yet, in the first word of this Torah reading, the letter alef in the word "vayikra" is smaller than the other letters in the Torah. This hints to Moses' special quality of being more humble than any other person.