This week’s parasha starts with the commandment to Aharon about the “Torah” of the sacrifices.
What does תורת העלה mean? We use the word תורה in a few related ways, to mean the physically written Word of G-d, or the sum of G-d’s will (the “Oral Torah” as given on Sinai), or the מסורה, that Oral Torah as transmitted and understood through the generations. But how does that fit here?
Our understanding of תורה as the totality of G-d’s word comes from ספר דבדרים. Moshe uses it that way multiple times, for example:
But throughout ויקרא and במדבר is seems to have a different connotation. The word is always connected to a specific ritual, of sacrifices or of purification. A few examples:
So תורה means “procedure”; I would translate it in context as “ritual”. It presumably comes from the root להורות, to demonstrate or teach, and that’s a little bit of a stretch from “teaching” to “the thing taught”. And why does Moshe, in his book of דברים, extend that meaning to the entire corpus of Jewish Law?
Actually, תורה in the general sense does occur before ספר דברים. It is used in this way, as part of our remembrance of יציאת מצרים (relevant to this time of year!):
So how should we understand תורה, in a way that puts these two usages together? I understand תורה like the Seforno: not so much the ritual, but the symbolism and meaning behind it:
And he continues to propose meaning for all the details of the קרבנות.
The idea that there are the rituals and also the meaning behind the rituals is implied in the text itself . The Torah (you know what I mean) clearly distinguishes between חקים and משפטים and תורת:
And every commentator has a different perspective on what that means. The Seforno is consistent (commenting on an earlier pasuk):
And this is one explanation of the gemara (יומא כח,ב) אברהם אבינו קיים כל התורה: he kept the concepts, not necessarily the details:
This obviously does not mean that the ritual is unnecessary, but it gives us something when we no longer have the ritual. We do not have העלה המנחה והחטאת והאשם, but we still have התורה לעלה למנחה ולחטאת ולאשם:
And learning that תורה gives us a glimpse into the mind of ה׳: