If he is bringing it as a thanksgiving offering, he shall offer, along with the thanksgiving offering, unleavened loaves mixed with oil, unleavened wafers anointed with oil, and scalded flour mixed with oil. Parshat Tzav (Leviticus 7:12)
In the midst of my distress, You relieved me. Psalms 4:2
In Parshat Tzav, the Torah continues to teach us about the korbanot, the offerings. There are a few different types of offerings, and this parsha describes the korban toda, the thanksgiving offering which we bring in gratitude to Hashem. The Talmud tells us that in the time of the geula, the future redemption, all the offerings will be suspended except for the thanksgiving offering.
Rebbe Nachman explains that at that time we are not going to have any desire to be in conflict with Hashem. There is going to be no pull to move away from Him. In fact, the opposite will be true. We will naturally desire to come closer to Hashem, to connect to Him, and also to connect to each other.
During the time of the geula, because we won’t be pulling away from Hashem, and won’t have any real pull to transgress the Torah, all the other sacrifices won’t be necessary. The only relationship we’ll have with Hashem will be one of gratitude, appreciation, and love. These feelings will enable us to draw closer to our Source. As we do, we’ll begin to shine a spotlight on Hashem’s greatness. As we begin to reach new levels of appreciating His greatness and kindness, as we begin to truly understand the love He expressed when He created us and this world, our gratitude will naturally increase.
However, we don’t have to wait until that time to begin to appreciate what is good in our lives and to appreciate the wonderful things that Hashem gives us. We can start thanking Hashem now and start drawing close to Him. Even if you’re going through a hard time, even a difficult time, you can look within the challenges, within the pain, and find the sweet spots where Hashem and His kindness are clear to you. Even now we can find goodness and sweetness within our difficulties.*
Rebbe Nachman says we don’t have to submit blindly to our lives. We can look for Hashem in every moment of the day. The more we look, the more we’ll find Him. The most heartfelt and elevated feelings of gratitude may even come during these times of intense, world-wide difficulty.
May you have a day where you are able to feel connection and gratitude.
*I find that after saying the morning blessings, I pause to thank Hashem, just for being here. And then I thank Him for being home and not stuck far away, for breathing in and out, for seeing, for the electricity and lights, the phone, the water (hot and cold! Plumbing too!), friends and community, sefer Tehillim to bring comfort, the relatively stocked fridge and cabinets, the shelves full of sefarim which can keep me inspired all day long, the computer and internet connectivity, and on and on (b”ah). And for the teachings of the Tzaddik Emes and all the true tzaddikim.
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