Parshas Vayikra - Poor in Name Only

At the beginning of Sefer Vayikra, the Torah details the various ways one can bring a burnt offering (עולה). The Torah begins with offerings from cattle (Vayikra 1:3), sheep or goats (1:10), birds (1:14), and finally flour (2:1). For each of the first three sacrifices, the Torah says: “If one’s offering is from…” and then specifies the animal. However, with the flour meal-offering (מנחה), the Torah says: “When a soul (נפש) offers a meal-offering to Hashem.” (Ibid. 2:1). Why does the Torah switch its language and use the term soul (נפש) only for the meal-offering?

The Kli Yakar explains that the Torah arranges the sacrifices in ascending order of wealth. A wealthy man offers a cow, which is an expensive animal. Even today, the cost of a cow can approach $4,000. A middle-class individual would offer a sheep or goat, which is more modestly priced. A poor person would offer a bird. Finally, an extremely poor person, who could not afford to even offer a bird, would offer meal-offering. Rashi says that since only a poor person would offer such a minimal sacrifice, the Torah uses the term נפש. He adds that the exclusive use of נפש for the poor person's offering indicates that Hashem considers it as if the individual has offered his very soul (נפשו) as a sacrifice. This is puzzling. The Torah provides a graduated scale for sacrifices based on wealth. If so, each person’s offering should be considered equal, as it corresponds to his wealth. The wealthier the person, the more valuable the animal. Why does Rashi then say that only for the poor person does the Torah consider it to have offered himself as a sacrifice?

The Kli Yakar explains that ideally a sacrifice should bring a person closer to Hashem (hence the name קרבן - to come close). When a person “sacrifices” something of value to Hashem, it should impact a person and influence him to repent from his moral lapses. However, the richer a person is, the less likely this will happen. Wealth leads to haughtiness and the belief that one’s wealth does not stem from Hashem. Such a person is likely to say: “my strength and the might of my hand (כוחי ועוצם ידי) made me all this wealth.” (Devarim 8:17). For a wealthy individual, even sacrificing an expensive cow may not suffice to inspire change. However, an extremely poor person knows that his livelihood is dependent on Hashem. Such an individual brings a tenth-ephah of fine flour (Vayikra 5:11), roughly equivalent to the average amount of food one eats in a day. Thus, this extremely poor person sacrifices an entire day's sustenance in devotion to Hashem. Hashem regards his sacrifice as so significant that it is as if he has offered himself.

The Torah’s values are unlike our society, which often equates the value of a person with his wealth. Hashem operates on a different plane and can see the goodness inside a person, irrespective of his wealth. In Hashem’s eyes, a poor person can be on a higher spiritual level than the wealthiest billionaire. On Pesach, we eat matzah, known as לחם עני, the bread of a poor person. In a sense, we experience again what it was like to be impoverished and totally dependent. Thus, even if we are wealthy, matzah can facilitate us to connect to Hashem. By recognizing that everything we have comes from Hashem, we can focus on using the gifts that Hashem gives us to elevate even our smallest actions to serve Him and follow His Torah.