Service To The Creator
T

his week, the portion 
discusses the pro-
cedure for various 
sacrifices. 
One such sacrifice was 
the sin offering. A person 
was obligated to bring a sin 
offering if he unintentional-
ly transgressed a command-
ment whose intentional 
violation would be punished 
by death. There was a slid-
ing scale for this sacrifice. A 
rich person brought an ox; 
middle class, goat or sheep; 
poor, two pigeons; destitute, 
flour and oil. The Rambam, 
Rabbi Moshe Maimonides, 
writes that if a rich person 
were to bring an offering of 
flour and oil, his obligation 
would not have been met. It did, 
however, suffice for a poor person 
to bring an ox.
The Alter Rebbe, first 
Lubavitcher Rebbe, writes in his 
Letters of Repentance, that in this 
time, when we can no longer bring 
sin offerings, a person should 
increase in his service to HaShem. 
If one learns one chapter daily, he 
should increase to two. If one gives 
one penny to charity, let him give 
two, etc.

Even in Temple times, the 
sacrifice did not provide 
a magical formula for sin 
removal. There has never 
been a quick fix for repen-
tance. The main emphasis 
was and is on the person 
increasing in his Avodas 
HaShem, service of the 
Creator. By sinning, a per-
son puts a blemish or dent 
in his soul. This blemish has 
a direct effect on his con-
nection to God. By doing 
teshuva, repenting, one fills 
in those dents and fissures 
and repairs the attachment. 
The Rebbe explains that 
poverty is only in knowl-
edge. When we first start 
learning, we are poor. As 
we grow in Yiddishkeit, we attain 
wealth. A wealthy person, one 
who is well developed in Judaism, 
cannot suffice with doing simple 
things. A poor person, one who is 
not as knowledgeable, is commend-
ed for extending himself beyond 
what is expected. ■

Rabbi Herschel Finman is co-director (with 
his wife Chana) of Jewish Ferndale and 
host of “The Jewish Hour” radio on WLQV 
1500 AM - Sundays 11-noon; contact 
www.rabbifinman.com.

Parshat 

Vayikra: 

Leviticus 

1:1-5:26; 

Deuteronomy 

26:17-19; 

I Samuel 

15:1-34. 

(Shabbat 

Zachor)

Rabbi Hershel 
Finman
Contributing Writer

spirit

torah portion

POINTS TO PONDER:
• Do you have a “dent” in your soul from sinning? What is it? 
• Have you repaired the “dent”? If not, how will you do so? 

30 March 14 • 2019
jn

Purim Fun
Purim Fun

Wednesday
March
20

Evening Festivities

hosted at Adat Shalom Synagogue

5:30 pm - Megillah Mania

A Family Purim Experience

6:00 pm - Free Carnival
with a Star Trax Dance Party

with a Sensory Friendly Room (NEW!)
Dinner available for purchase

8:00 pm - Minchah/Maariv Service
& Megillah Reading
Dessert reception

Morning Minyan & 
Megillah Reading

followed by Breakfast

Thursday
March

7:00 am - hosted at B’nai Israel Synagogue
21

Purim Partners:

Questions? Contact one of the participating congregations.

Help Yad Ezra! Bring unopened 
boxes of pasta to use as groggers!
PASTA SHAKE UP

Community
Community