History & destiny – Vayikra
The parashah spells out the details of the sacrifices that were to be offered in the sanctuary.
In Hebrew a sacrifice is korban, from a root that means to come near. The korbanot are history, but they are also destiny.
For both reasons we read the sacrificial data at the beginning of the daily morning prayers.
Bringing sacrifices makes us closer to God. The Netiv Binah says that the offerings “come to teach us that we have received all our possessions from Him and that we are therefore to place them at His disposal”.
Hence as each day opens we say to the Almighty, “HaShem, what can we do to serve You today?”
