We often read about sacrifices, about offerings to the Cohein (priest), but sometimes the details feel…distant. Let's pull back the curtain a bit and explore a fascinating interpretation from Sifrei Devarim, a collection of legal midrashim on the Book of Deuteronomy.
The passage we're looking at discusses the portions of a sacrifice that are given to the Cohein. The text states, "whether ox or sheep," meaning this applies both in Eretz Yisrael (the land of Israel) and outside of it. And it emphasizes that the offering is given "to the Cohein himself." Pretty straightforward. But then Rabbi Yehudah steps in, and things get interesting. He tells us that "the expounders of metaphors" – those who delve into the deeper, symbolic layers of the text – had a unique way of understanding this. They saw these seemingly simple gifts to the Cohein as connected to the heroic actions of Pinchas.
Who was Pinchas? Well, if you remember the story in Bamidbar (Numbers 25:7), Pinchas was a Cohein who bravely stopped a plague by taking decisive action against those who were openly sinning. A pretty intense story, to say the least.
So, how do the sacrificial portions relate to Pinchas's actions? According to these "expounders of metaphors," the shoulder given to the Cohein represents Pinchas’s hand, as it says, “and he arose from the mist of the congregation and he (Pinchas) took a spear in his hand."
The cheeks, another portion of the offering? Those, they say, correspond to Pinchas’s prayer. The text references Psalms 106:30, "and Pinchas arose and prayed." So, even in his act of decisive action, prayer was involved.
And finally, the kevah, the maw or the stomach, is linked to Pinchas’s piercing the woman through her belly (kavathah), as described in Bamidbar 25:8.
Now, what are we to make of all this? It's easy to get lost in the details of ancient sacrifices and heroic deeds. But perhaps the deeper message is this: Even seemingly mundane acts, like bringing an offering, can be connected to something greater, something more profound. The "expounders of metaphors" remind us to look beyond the surface, to find the hidden connections, the echoes of heroism and devotion that resonate even in the most ordinary of rituals. And that, perhaps, is a lesson that's still relevant today.