Vayikra (parsha) - Summary

Summary

God called to Moses from the Tabernacle and told him the laws of the sacrifices. (Leviticus 1:1.)

• Burnt offerings (עֹלָה, olah) could be bulls, rams or male goats, or turtle doves or pigeons, which the priest burned completely on wood on the altar. (Leviticus 1:3–17.)
• Meal offerings (מִנְחָה, minchah) were of choice flour with oil, from which priest would remove a token portion to burn on the altar, and the remainder the priests could eat. (Leviticus 2:1–10.) Meal offerings could not contain leaven or honey, and had to be seasoned with salt. (Leviticus 2:11–13.) Meal offerings of first fruits had to be new ears parched with fire, grits of the fresh grain. (Leviticus 2:14.)
• Sacrifices of well-being (שְׁלָמִים, shelamim) could be male or a female cattle, sheep, or goats, from which the priest would dash the blood on the sides of the altar and burn the fat around the entrails, the kidneys, and the protuberance on the liver on the altar. (Leviticus 3:1–16.)
• Sin offerings (חַטָּאת, chatat) for unwitting sin by the High Priest or the community required sacrificing a bull, sprinkling its blood in the Tent of Meeting, burning on the altar the fat around the entrails, the kidneys, and the protuberance on the liver, and burning the rest of the bull on an ash heap outside the camp. (Leviticus 4:1–21.) Guilt offerings for unwitting sin by a chieftain required sacrificing a male goat, putting some of its blood on the horns of the altar, and burning its fat. (Leviticus 4:22–26.) Guilt offerings for unwitting sin by a lay person required sacrificing a female goat, putting some of its blood on the horns of the altar, and burning its fat. (Leviticus 4:27–31.)
• Sin offerings were required for cases when a person:
  • was able to testify but did not give information,
  • touched any unclean thing,
  • touched human uncleanness, or
  • uttered an oath and forgot. (Leviticus 5:1–4.)

In such cases, the person had to confess and sacrifice a female sheep or goat; or if he could not afford a sheep, two turtledoves or two pigeons; or if he could not afford the birds, choice flour without oil. (Leviticus 5:5–13.)

• Guilt offerings (אָשָׁם, asham) were required when a person was unwittingly remiss about any sacred thing. (Leviticus 5:14–15.) In such cases, the person had to sacrifice a ram and make restitution plus 20 percent to the priest. (Leviticus 5:16.) Similarly, guilt offerings were required when a person dealt deceitfully in the matter of a deposit or a pledge, through robbery, by fraud, or by finding something lost and lying about it. (Leviticus 5:20–22.) In such cases, the person had to sacrifice a ram and make restitution plus 20 percent to the victim. (Leviticus 5:22–26.)