This week’s parsha is about being holy (it’s right there in the name!). It has lots of important laws, a recap of the עשרת הדברות, and the major בין אדם לחבירו laws: לֹא תִּגְנֹבוּ, וְלֹא תְשַׁקְּרוּ, לֹא תֵלֵךְ רָכִיל בְּעַמֶּיךָ, לֹא תִקֹּם וְלֹא תִטֹּר, and of course וְאָהַבְתָּ לְרֵעֲךָ כָּמוֹךָ. But there is a law that doesn’t seem to be about קדושה; it’s a small detail in the laws of קרבנות. That is the law of פִּגּוּל:
ה וְכִי תִזְבְּחוּ זֶבַח שְׁלָמִים לַה׳ לִרְצֹנְכֶם תִּזְבָּחֻהוּ׃
ו בְּיוֹם זִבְחֲכֶם יֵאָכֵל וּמִמָּחֳרָת; וְהַנּוֹתָר עַד יוֹם הַשְּׁלִישִׁי בָּאֵשׁ יִשָּׂרֵף׃
ז וְאִם הֵאָכֹל יֵאָכֵל בַּיּוֹם הַשְּׁלִישִׁי פִּגּוּל הוּא לֹא יֵרָצֶה׃
5 And if you offer a sacrifice of peace offering to the Lord, you shall offer it so that it may be favourably accepted. 6 It shall be eaten the same day you offer it, and on the morrow: and if aught remain until the third day, it shall be burnt in fire. 7 And if it be eaten at all on the third day, it is abominable; it shall not be accepted.
A קרבן שלמים isn’t really a “sacrifice”; the blood and fat is offered on the מזבח but you, as the owner, get to eat the meat. It’s a barbecue לשם שמים. But it has to be eaten within two days (and for a קרבן תודה, within a single day). The law of פִּגּוּל is about intention: if you shecht the קרבן thinking about saving the meat for more than two days, the entire קרבן is invalid.
What is that מצווה doing in פרשת קדושים?
A קרבן שלמים is a cow or a sheep. According to Google, you can expect 880 pounds of meat from a cow, and 200 pounds from a sheep. That’s a lot of meat! I can’t eat that much. My family can’t eat that much. I don’t have enough friends to eat that much meat in two days! I have to share my קרבן שלמים. And not just with my friends; with the entire city, with strangers, and especially with the poor. I bring a קרבן שלמים to celebrate ה׳'s gifts to me, and the Torah says I have to share my celebration with all of כלל ישראל.
When I am bringing by קרבן שלמים, if I think: “that’s a lot of meat. I could freeze that and live off it for a year!”, then I am missing the point of the קרבן. It’s not about ה׳, it’s about my stomach. The law of פִּגּוּל is about thanking ה׳ and caring about other people. It combines the essence of both בין אדם למקום and בין אדם לחבירו. As Rabbi Yitzchak Etshalom says:
This understanding of Pigul underscores another dimension of the balance and synthesis which is the desired type of Kedushah. Not only must both the “secular” and “holy” parts of our lives be informed by a desire to holiness—but those considerations must inform each other. Not only do we have to act compassionately and generously with the poor in our midst—we have to make that consideration a part and parcel of our Mikdash-experience.
That is what קְדֹשִׁים תִּהְיוּ means.
שבת שלום