I walked to Chabad of East Lakeview. Serka walked me the first two miles. We met Saltzman, who was walking to Chabad of Bucktown. I got there at 10:30 AM. Alan and Izzy sponsored the Kiddush for Alan’s 30th birthday. Izzy is pregnant. Nice crowd, especially when it got closer to the Kiddush.

Kiddush was excellent. Besides the usual food, there were cold cysts. Peggy made delicious Yerushalmi Kugel. I had brought some diet coke, so I was good. Eveline was there. Her husband, Jacques, was too weak to make it to Shul. The Professor, Isaac Kalimi, also came. He usually goes to Anshei Sholem.

The Shiur started at 2:10 PM. Attendees included Professor Isaac Kalimi, Henry, Matt, Marcel, Tamar, Peggy, and Ray.

I started the Shiur by talking about the need for sacrifices. I stated that we had no sacrifices for two thousand years and that if the Bais Hamikdash were to be absent for an additional two thousand years, we would still be fine. I also said Jerusalem, when there was a Bais Hamikdash, was the cultural center of Israel, the monarchy, and most importantly the Sanhedrin. When people went to Jerusalem at least three times a year, they also visited the great sages of the people of Israel, Hillel and Shammai, and thousands of others. It was the Torah center of the Jewish people.

I feel that overstating the need for a Bais Hamikdash encourages mishugayim, that the Jews must pray on the Temple Mount and build vessels for a future Bais Hamikdash. We had a lively debate in the Shiur.

However, as the weeks progressed, I am wrong. The temple was a magnificent structure and was the cultural center of the Jewish people at the time. I also said previously that when the third Bais Hamikdash is built, not only will they have two places for wine and water, but there will also be a third opening for Coke/Diet Coke. I am not a Cohen, but I will supply the Coke for it.

I presented the following chart of Korbonos at the Shiur, and it received a warm reception.

At 5:00 PM I walked back home. Tamar accompanied me to the corner of Lincoln and Addison. I sat down at a bench for 30 minutes to rest my back. An Ann Leibovitz was walking by, wearing a Chicago Marathon T-Shirt, and we talked about running the marathon. I made it home at 7:30 PM and davened at Bais Ment.

My questions on the Sedra:

Rabbi Breitowitz:

Does the below make sense? I did take some liberties. I am not an articulate writer, but I believe in the basic principles I have laid out.

Rabbi Breitowitz

In looking at this Sedra, several thoughts come to mind.

1 – I would assume that the laws of Korbanus were given at Mount Sinai, not in the Ohel Moed after the Mishkan was put up. How are we to understand the first Pasuk?

2 – We have the disagreement between the Rambam and Ramban on the idea of sacrifices. I believe both statements are true, and I offer the following explanation:

I have always wondered how Adam, Cain, Hevel, Noah, Avrohom, etc. knew to sacrifice animals to Hashem. God is unseen and does not really need our sacrifices. Did they suddenly wake up one day and decide, “Well, I believe I will sacrifice an animal to God today”? I answered that God instilled in human nature a natural instinct, an understanding that worshiping Him in this way is the proper thing to do. The entire idea of why the original generations knew to offer Korbanos was the divine plan and this extends to why Hashem commanded the Jews to offer Korbanos.

Why did Hashem choose to run the world this way? I have no clue. Perhaps a society requires people to not only believe in something but also to do a physical act. Without belief accompanied by a physical act, anarchy would prevail. Although the ancient world was a brutal world, even with korbanos. The world became corrupted with power.

This is what Rabbi Sacks writes about the unity of the Jews in building a Mishkan to create a unified nation. Belief alone is not enough.

The Mishkan makes sense. God could have let individuals have their own altars and have a Mishkan for communal sacrifices. This was the model in the pagan world. Why did Hashem centralize everything in a Mishkan and then in the two Bais Hamikdash’s temples? Its purpose is to create unity among people. The Jews would have to come together. In addition to the sacrifices, the Sanhedrin, the center of Torah, was right next to the temples to create a centralized location that is to be the heartbeat of the nation of Israel. The source of Hashem’s divine presence in this world and the Torah.

Once the Torah was given, there was probably no need for human sacrifices. The Torah could be the sole unifier. However, I would answer that this was not enough at that time.
Rabbi Yitzchok Breitowitz’s response

jjudge5@aol.com March 21, 2026

1) Moshe Rabbeinu received these commandments at Sinai but was not authorized to communicate them to Bnei Yisrael until the Mishkan was set up .This is true for many, many mitzvos of the Torah that were given to Bnei Yisrael over a period of 40 years. We did not get the whole Torah at Sinai; only Moshe did.

2) Your thoughts are very true and I agree with you . Much bracha and hatzlacha ,yb

My niece Tzipporah Schwartz’s response:

On Fri, Mar 20, 2026 at 12:01 PM Tracey Nitzani \<tzipora.schwartz@gmail.com> wrote:

I do not know Rambam and Ramban’s opinions on korbanot – please can you share?

In my opinion, offering sacrifices seems like it would come from 2 inherent places

(1) the idea of giving up something you value greatly for the sake of proving fealty/submission to the Gd makes sense to me. Cattle and livestock were the currency at the time so that would make sense as the thing to choose and say here is our expression of total devotion to You.

(2) it was a prevalent practice at the time in other cultures/religions so I’d assume some influence, hope that’s not kfira to say lol

(3) another thought that comes to mind is that preparing an animal for cooking was a way of bringing people together and welcoming guests, as we see when Abraham welcomed the angels and instructed Sarah to get a few cattle ready. I wonder if that instinct of extending that same kind of offering to Gd felt natural since that was also how you showed people you valued and welcomed them?

Eliott Baral’s answer:

Good questions.

I thought Cayin invented it. He of course knew that Hashem created him as well as his parents. And that everything he had, including the ground he walked upon and the air he breathed, came from Hashem. Cayin was so grateful to Hashem for providing food with which to sustain himself and his family, that he couldn’t hold himself back from trying to connect with Hashem, and to thank Hashem. He refrained from connecting by shechting himself “to Hashem”, and instead thanked Hashem in the same terms that Hashem had blessed him. Namely, by offering some of those G-d-given vegetables as a korbon to Hashem.

Why burn them? Perhaps because fire was the first thing a human being ever invented. Maybe Cayin reasoned, “Let me combine G-d’s gift — vegetables — with that crazy thing Pop invented — fire.” He was trying to give of himself. Without, of course, doing any damage to the body Hashem had given him.

I would say, it is this that is instinctive in human beings. The need to connect with Hashem, to express one’s love for Hashem, to thank Hashem, and to offer of oneself to Hashem, something of the greatest value one could possibly offer. Hashem created human beings with this instinct, this need, because Hashem loves each of us and wants the closest possible relationship with each of us.

If one is realistic with oneself, one wouldn’t think of trying to help out Hashem (“Here, G-d, would you like some wine with your asparagus souffle? I think you’d like a nice dry red.”).

– Elliott

Jay Orlinsky’s response, which I completely disagree with.

Rambam states the exact same thing in his Hakdama to Mishneh Torah
and explains it explicitly in Moreh Nevuchin
There is no oi vey there
If we look at the Torah and what it relates as children then you need to receive
‘stories’ as answers otherwise you need to think things through

On Fri, Mar 20, 2026 at 12:42 PM Mitchell Morgenstern \<mitchellamorgenstern@gmail.com> wrote:
Oh vey.

Mitchell A. Morgenstern
773-647-8097

On Fri, Mar 20, 2026 at 11:33 AM Jay Orlinsky \<shamein@gmail.com> wrote:
Lol
Re your question about how Adam …. knew to offer Korbanos
Not sure you’ll like this answer
Am not a believer of accepting the story of Adam and Chava and Gan Aden literally
So let’s start with Avraham Avinu and why di
d he offer Korbanos
to Hashem
Society at that time viewed sacrifice as an acceptable way to appease the ‘spirits’ and the
Gods they believed in…it was an upgrade from offering sacrifices to Avodah zarah to
sacrifices for Hashem…thats the basis of why Rambam says the origin of our Korbanos
was to alleviate the desire for Avodah Zarah

On Fri, Mar 20, 2026 at 11:53 AM Mitchell Morgenstern \<mitchellamorgenstern@gmail.com> wrote:
Less? I say this with a smile.

On Fri, Mar 20, 2026 at 10:46 AM Jay Orlinsky \<shamein@gmail.com> wrote:
Reb Mitchell
All that you’ve said I agree with – more or less.
What comforts me most is the thought of Rav Kook o”h
that sometime in (the near) future we will not have Korbanos
because inherently they are a brutal way to worship a
Transcendent God. Korbanos in our modern world makes no sense.
Rambam explains the sole reason for Korbanot was to assuage the
the desire for bloodlust and Avodah zarah
A Lichtige Shabbos
jay