18 Tammuz 5783 – 7 July 2023
“A constant daily burnt-offering as was offered on Mt. Sinai, for a pleasing aroma, a fire-offering to Hashem”
This verse describes what is known as the Korban Tamid – the perpetual offering. This sacrifice was brought every single day of the year; once in the morning and once in the afternoon. The question here is what the Torah is trying to tell us when stating that this sacrifice should be done like the one offered at Mt. Sinai?
Rabbi Yissocher Frand explains that when we do the same thing every day, even a divine commandment, it can become rote and stale. It’s certainly hard to keep up our enthusiasm up after the 999th time. The Korban Tamid was a prime example of a mitzvah at risk for being done routinely and habitually. It was brought day in and day out, morning and afternoon – including Shabbat and holidays.
It’s in response to this potential pitfall that the Torah urges us to bring the Korban Tamid just as we did at Mt. Sinai when we did it for the very first time (Exodus 29:38-42). It was a fresh experience then and undoubtedly we brought it with tremendous excitement. Scripture here encourages us never to fall prey to doing things on auto pilot, but to try and always see our spiritual walk like it was on day one.
By Rabbi Michael Skobac
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