Parshat Pinchas - If a Person Did Not Say the Offerings

"The burning of the Holy Temple was merely an optical illusion!"

A person must know that when he recites the "Korbanot" in prayer, he must envision the entire Holy Temple before his eyes. The entire Holy Temple exists! It was not burned! It was not destroyed! The Holy Temple stands before our eyes; it is right in front of us! The burning of the Holy Temple was merely an optical illusion! It was an optical illusion only for the sake of the nations of the world! The "Ten Sayings" state that at the time of the destruction of the Holy Temple, spirits and demons arrived and placed burnt lime stones in place of the Holy Temple, all for the sake of the nations of the world, to satisfy the eyes of the wicked (so they would think they had burned the Holy Temple).

The Zohar says (Shemot Pekudei 240b) that the stones and foundations of the First Temple and the Second Temple are all hidden and shining! They were all hidden away! The Holy Temple was not damaged, for it is what it is! Not one stone of the stones of Jerusalem was lost! Not from the Jerusalem of the First Temple, and not from the Jerusalem of the Second Temple; everything stands in its place! "For they shall see eye to eye when Hashem returns..." When the Geulah (Redemption) comes, everyone will see that the nations of the world did not destroy any wall at all! Not a single wall! And everything the nations of the world destroyed was only those lime stones that the spirits brought with them; everyone will see that it was all just an optical illusion.

"The service of the sacrifices continues, because the Holy Temple exists"

Therefore, the "Emek HaMelech" says regarding the Gemara "I heard that sacrifices are offered even though there is no Holy Temple" (Megillah 10a) – Know this! The service of the sacrifices certainly continues! The Holy Temple exists! The sacrifices exist! The services continue! Elijah the Prophet offers sacrifices in the Holy Temple! The Angel Michael offers sacrifices in the Holy Temple! Just as it is brought about the Baal Shem Tov, that he saw Elijah the Prophet buying sheep for the service of the Holy Temple.

When we recite the "Korbanot" in the morning, we give strength to Elijah the Prophet and the Angel Michael, who are now the High Priests, to continue offering the sacrifices. By reciting the Korbanot, we are truly participating in the service of the Holy Temple. When we begin to recite the Korbanot, the priests begin the service of the sacrifices; the priests begin the work! They light the sin offering, they light the daily offering. When one recites the Korbanot, Elijah the Prophet and the Angel Michael receive the strength to continue the service of the sacrifices.

"When a person recites the Korbanot, he must direct everything toward himself"

When a person sins, there is impurity, and the impurity reaches the Foundation Stone, up to the Holy Temple! Because of the impurity, the Holy Temple was destroyed! And therefore, we say in the "Korbanot," "And its blood requires sprinkling between the staves and upon the curtain..." The impurity reached between the staves! Up to the curtain! Until it burned the Holy Temple. "And its blood requires sprinkling upon the curtain, upon the golden altar..." Why is there no curtain? Why is there no golden altar? Everything is because we defile the Holy Temple time and again. A person opened his eyes, and he defiled everything! There is no golden altar! There is no altar of burnt offering! There are no courtyards! There is nothing! And therefore, when a person recites the Korbanot, he must direct everything toward himself! "The bulls that are burned and the goats that are burned..." I deserve to be burned! I am the bulls that are burned! The whole point of the sacrifices is to subdue the animalistic nature! They burn the animal and slaughter it. When we mention the slaughter and the burning in the Korbanot... then they are slaughtering me, they are burning me.

"Reciting the Korbanot atones like offering the daily sacrifices"

Rebbe Nachman writes in Torah 22, "And he shall slaughter it on the side of the altar northward before Hashem..." When a person says "And he shall slaughter it," he must intend that now he is being slaughtered! They are slaughtering him for all the sins he has committed, and he must accept upon himself the four death penalties of the Beit Din: stoning, burning, slaying, and strangulation, and with this intention, all his sins are forgiven. The Tanna D'bei Eliyahu says – whether a non-Jew or a Jew, even a non-Jew who recites the verse "And he shall slaughter it on the side of the altar..." will have all his sins forgiven, and all the more so a Jew. When we say the flaying, the cutting into pieces, the total offering to the fire, one must direct everything toward himself! They light the sin offering, they flay the daily offering; it all applies to me! They are flaying me! They are cutting me! They are burning me! The guilt offering, the thanksgiving offering, the peace offering, everything applies to me—to burn me, to cut me, to sprinkle my blood.

When we recite the Korbanot, we begin to break through all the shells (kelipot)! We begin to break through the shells of the World of Action, everything is atoned for! And one must recite the Korbanot slowly, slowly, with self-sacrifice! When a person says "Korbanot," he breaks the shells that he created! Just as in the Holy Temple, the morning daily sacrifice would atone for the sins of the night, and the afternoon daily sacrifice would atone for the sins of the day, so too, when a person mentions the morning daily sacrifice in the Korbanot, it atones for the sins of the night, and when he mentions the afternoon daily sacrifice, it atones for the sins of the day.

"Hashem wants us to do teshuvah before we ask"

A person commits sins twenty-four hours a day; he has endless sins! He must accept upon himself slaying, strangulation, burning, and stoning. If a person did not recite the Korbanot with intention, then he has done nothing! Hashem says – Why are you coming to Me!? Give me this... give me that... First do teshuvah (repentance)! First ask for forgiveness for everything you did in the twenty-four hours! You brought impurity into the space of the world! Forbidden thoughts, forbidden sights; recite the Korbanot with intention! Intend, "In the bulls that are burned," I am ready to be burned, I am ready to be stoned; intend it! Recite the Korbanot out loud! Because the very fact that you accept upon yourself burning, slaying, strangulation, the very fact that you admit that you sinned, then everything is atoned for and the prayer is accepted.

Prayer begins with the recitation of the "Korbanot." The Zohar says – it is forbidden to skip the Korbanot! If a person did not recite the Korbanot, the prayer was not accepted! He did not break the shells! He did not break the screens! Korbanot is the highest thing! The Korbanot come from the Ancient Holy One (Atika Kadisha), from the Head that is not known, "The ascent of the sacrifice is to the Infinite (Ein Sof)," Korbanot is the Infinite! It is forbidden to skip even one word of the Korbanot! One must arrive on time for prayer and recite the Korbanot word by word, and in the merit of this, the prayer is accepted.

In memory of Rabbi Shmuel ben Sarah, of blessed memory.