The poor man’s offering – Vayikra
The second chapter of Vayikra begins by saying, “When nefesh, a soul, brings a meal-offering to the Lord…” (Lev. 2:1).
Nefesh – on one level – means a person. It also means a soul.
Whose soul are we talking about?
The Gemara Menachot as quoted by Rashi says this refers to the poor man. Others can afford more costly offerings but the poor man is limited in his means and can only bring something that is relatively less expensive.
The main thing about his offering, however, is that his soul is in the offering he brings. More than this, he asks God to regard his offering as symbolic. His offering denotes that if he could he would offer his very nefesh, his entire soul, his whole life, to the Almighty.
