G‑d spoke to Moses, saying: Command Aaron and his sons . . . this is the law of the ascending offering . . . (Leviticus 6:1–2)
The expression tzav (“command”) implies an urging for now and for future generations.
(Torat Kohanim; Rashi)
The king Moshiach will arise and restore the kingdom of David to its glory of old, to its original sovereignty. He will build the Holy Temple and gather the dispersed of Israel. In his times, all the laws of the Torah will be reinstated as before; the sacrifices will be offered, the Sabbatical year and the Jubilee year instituted as outlined in the Torah.
(Maimonides)
It is an offering that ascends upon the pyre of the altar (6:2)
The location of the altar is very exactly defined, and is never to be changed. . . . It is a commonly held tradition that the place where David and Solomon built the altar, on the threshing floor of Aravnah, is the very place where Abraham built an altar and bound Isaac upon it; this is where Noah built [an altar] when he came out from the ark; this is where Cain and Abel brought their offerings; this is where Adam the first man offered a korban when he was created—and it is from [the earth of] this place that he was created. Thus the sages have said: Man was formed from the place of his atonement.
(Maimonides)
Ten miracles were performed for our forefathers in the Holy Temple: No woman ever miscarried because of the smell of the holy meat. The holy meat never spoiled. Never was a fly seen in the slaughterhouse. Never did the high priest have an accidental seminal discharge on Yom Kippur. The rains did not extinguish the wood fire burning upon the altar. The wind did not prevail over the column of smoke [rising from the altar]. No disqualifying problem was ever discovered in the Omer offering, the Two Loaves or the Showbread. They stood crowded but had ample space in which to prostate themselves. Never did a snake or scorpion cause injury in Jerusalem. And no man ever said to his fellow, “My lodging in Jerusalem is too cramped for me.”
(Ethics of the Fathers 5:5)
It is an offering that ascends upon the pyre of the altar (6:2)
Why is the word mokdah (“pyre”) written in the Torah with a miniature mem? To teach us that the fire in one’s soul should be understated; it should burn within, but show nothing on the outside.
(The Rebbe of Kotzk)
The priest shall put on his linen garment, and his linen breeches shall he put on his flesh (6:3)
“His linen garment”—this teaches us that the priestly garments must fit the priest’s measure, and must not drag on the floor or be raised above it. (The word used here for “his garment,” mido, literally means “his measure.”)
“And his linen breeches shall he put on his flesh”—this teaches us that there must be nothing intervening between his flesh and the priestly garments.
(Talmud, Yoma 23b; Rashi)
He shall take off his garments and put on other garments (6:4)
Clothes in which he cooked for his master should not be worn when serving a goblet to his master.
(Talmud, Yoma 23b)
The fire upon the altar shall be kept burning in it . . . and the priest shall burn wood on it every morning (6:5)
Although a fire descended from heaven upon the altar, it is a mitzvah to add to it a humanly produced fire.
(Talmud, Eruvin 63a)
This is a rule that applies to all areas of life: the gifts of life are bestowed upon us from Above, yet it is G‑d’s desire that we add to them the product of our own initiative.
(The Chassidic Masters)
The fire upon the altar shall be kept burning in it . . . and the priest shall burn wood on it every morning (6:5)
There is a fire of love for G‑d that burns within every soul. It is the task of the kohen—the spiritual leaders of the generation—to feed and preserve this fire.
(Alshich)
A constant fire shall burn upon the altar; it shall never go out (6:6)
“Constantly”—even on Shabbat; “constantly”—even under conditions of ritual impurity; “it shall never go out”—also not during the journeys [through the desert, when the altar was covered with a cloth of purple wool]. What did they do with the fire during the journeys? They placed over it a copper bowl.
(Jerusalem Talmud, Yoma 4:6)
Shabbat is when we disengage ourselves from all things material; “ritual impurity” (tum’ah) represents an opposite state—one of excessive enmeshment in the mundane. Yet the Torah instructs that the fire upon the altar must be kept burning “even on Shabbat” and “even under conditions of ritual impurity.”
There are times when we believe ourselves to be “above it all,” as the spirituality of the moment transports beyond the so-called trivialities of physical life. Conversely, there are times when we feel overwhelmed by those very “trivialities.” Says the Torah: the fire on your internal altar must—and can—be kept burning at all times. No moment in your life is too exalted or too debased to sustain your passion and enthusiasm in the fulfillment of the purpose to which you were created, which is to raise up to G‑d the materials of your everyday existence.
(The Lubavitcher Rebbe)
“It shall never go out—also not during the journeys.” Special care must be taken during the “journeys” of life—the times when a person ventures away from the home environment that fosters his character and integrity—so that the fire in his soul should not succumb to alien influences.
(Maayanah Shel Torah)
And the remainder shall be eaten by Aaron and his sons. . . . It is their portion, which I have given to them from My fire (6:9–10)
The kohanim receive from the Supernal Table.
(Talmud, Chullin 120a)
G‑d said to the kohen: You eat at My table and you drink at My table. This is comparable to a king of flesh and blood who gave gifts to his sons, and to one son he gave no gift. Said the king to this son: “Though I have given you no gift, you shall eat at My table, and you shall drink at My table.” (The kohanim received no land when the Holy Land was apportioned to the tribes of Israel.)
(Sifri)
This is the offering of Aaron and of his sons . . . a perpetual meal offering, half of it in the morning and half of it in the evening (6:13)
The high priest’s daily offering was a meal offering, the offering of a poor man. This, for two reasons: that a poor man bringing his pauper’s offering to the Sanctuary should not be ashamed; and to awaken humility in the high priest’s heart, with the appreciation that before G‑d he is the equal of the most impoverished of his brethren.
(Abarbanel)
The ordinary priest brought a meal offering on the day that he began serving in the Sanctuary, while the high priest brought one every day. It is a mark of greatness that a person regards his every day as a new beginning in which he strives to transcend all his previous achievements.
(Maayanah Shel Torah)
This is the law of the sin offering. . . . The kohen that atones shall eat it (6:18–19)
The kohanim eat, and the owner of the korban achieves atonement.
(Talmud, Pesachim 59b)
Every meal offering mingled with oil, and dry (7:10)
The “meal offering mingled with oil” is the donated meal offering; the “dry” meal offering is the one brought as a sin offering, or by the sotah (woman accused of adultery), which did not contain any oil.
(Rashi)
If he offers it in thanksgiving . . . (7:12)
There are four who are required to bring a thanksgiving offering: one who traverses the sea, one who crosses a desert, one who was ill and recovered, and one who was imprisoned and was released.
(Talmud, Berachot 54b)
This is the law for the ascending offering . . . (7:37)
What is the significance of the verse “This is the law for the ascending offering, for the meal offering, for the sin offering, and for the guilt offering?” It teaches that whoever occupies himself with the study of the Torah, it is as though he were offering an ascending offering, a meal offering, a sin offering and a guilt offering. . . . Whoever occupies himself with the study of the laws of the sin offering, it is as though he were offering a sin offering; and whoever occupies himself with the study of the laws of the guilt offering, it is as though he were offering a guilt offering.
(Talmud, Menachot 110a)