CHOCHMAS NASHIM: TZAV: THE ROAD TO HELL
By: Suri Davis
They say: The road to hell is paved with good intentions, i.e., he meant well, but the execution fell short, or he was sidetracked in his actions.
Intent: Kavanah.
In this week torah’s portion, Tzav, Leviticus 7:18, there is a discussion of pigul: “And if when the peace-offering is slaughtered, the slaughterer articulates his intent that some of the flesh of his peace-offering be eaten on the third day [when by law, it must be eaten only in the first two days after slaughter], the offering will not be accepted by G-d, it will thereby rather become contemptible, and the person who eats of it will bear his sin[even if he does not actually eat the peace-offering on the third day, but eats it within the law-prescribed two days.]
Glory be, just this morning, as I am reviewing my notes for my Shaar Habitachon shiur, it discusses efforts, intent and trust in G-d as follows:
There are three parts to an action, two of which are in human control:
- Our desire to do a good act;
- Our efforts towards doing a good act; and
- Whether the act was performed
An example is wanting to do the mitzvah of lulav and esrog on Sukkoth, when you live in a city which doesn’t have a Judaica store. You say to yourself, I want to do this mitzvah, part one. You go online to Eichlers.com and order a lulav and esrog set, part two. But the third part, the execution of the plan is not in his unique control, G-d needs to show up here and have the lulav and esrog arrive on time and in tact. Does he get a reward as if he has done so? Shaar Habitachon, Part 4: The Tov Halevanon states that man does get reward for his intent and effort to do a mitzvah/good deed, even if it does not come to fruition.
On the other hand, what if man intends to sin, is he charged with that sin, if he does not execute on his plan to sin? Says the Nedar Bakodesh, no, there is no charge for sinning, merely by intent with no execution, except for those who wish to commit the sin of idolatry.
While having thoughts of sin while sacrificing is not a sin, it invalidates the sacrifice and takes the meat which was holy and desanctifies it. Why this emphasis on intent?
For that we recall Jeremiah 1:14: “Your new moons and fixed seasons fill me with loathing; they have become a burden to Me, I cannot endure them.” As we sinned, we brought sacrifices, and we said how great we were for performing this good deed. G-d says our acts of interaction with Him are meaningless if there is no intent to live within the laws of Torah. So as to worship of G-d, intent is supreme, don’t bring me sacrifices saying you want to be close to Me, G-d, when there is no intent to have a real relationship with G-d. Conversely, as stated above, there is no charge for intent to commit a sin, other than the intent to worship idols, which is core antithesis to belief in G-d.
The idea of Pigul, intent while sacrificing is carried over to prayer. When the Temple was destroyed, Jews wanted a way to supplicate to G-d, to interact with Him, and so G-d gave us the ability to reach Him with prayer.
The Baal Hatanya in the Tanya is clear. If we pray with no intent/kavanah, the prayer goes to heaven and is stopped at the gates, until such time as there is a prayer with intent, at which point, all the prayers held at the gate are released to enter the gate and to G-d.
Our sages tell us that we must remove chametz not only from our homes, but from our hearts as well, which is a more difficult removal. It is an avodah, an act of interaction with G-d. Keep it in mind, as you want to spend your time cleaning your basement of all the toys and clothes that are no longer used.
Have a good Shabbos.
-Suri