The mitzvot of Vayikra

The commandment of the procedure of the burnt offering

Positive · Leviticus 1:3

The root of this mitzvah is what was said about building the Temple - the heart follows the deeds. A person who has sinned does not purify his heart by words alone, but when he takes the trouble to bring an animal from his flock to the Temple and performs the whole service of the offering, the evil of the sin is fixed in his soul and he guards himself from it in the future. Even a freewill offering, with no sin behind it, teaches a lesson, for the offering is an image of humbling the body and raising up the soul.

The commandment of the meal offering

Positive · Leviticus 2:1

An animal offering is a powerful image for a person - he sees a living creature like himself, only without reason, burned and consumed, and understands that so his soul would perish were he to persist in beastly deeds. An offering of flour also comes to subdue the evil inclination, as a person sees that because of his sin he must burn some of his property, but its image is weaker. Perhaps this is why it is called mincha, a gift, like the small gifts people give one another, and because many meal offerings are brought voluntarily.

To not offer leaven or honey

Negative · Leviticus 2:11

The Sefer HaChinuch writes that the roots of this mitzvah are deeply hidden, and what he says is only a hint, so that young learners will know that the words of the Torah have reasons. All the details of the offering are meant to stir the thoughts of the one who brings it, and leaven is made through long waiting, so keeping it away from the offering teaches a person zeal and swiftness in serving God. The strictness is greater for an individual's meal offering, for an individual is more prone to sloth, while the many caution one another.

To not offer a sacrifice without salt

Negative · Leviticus 2:13

The whole matter of the offering is that the heart follows the deeds - when a person takes the trouble to bring an offering, his soul is stirred and set right. So the offering must be complete, lacking nothing by human custom, and food without salt is pleasant to no one, neither in taste nor in smell, and would not stir the heart of the one who brings it.

The commandment of salting the sacrifice

Positive · Leviticus 2:13

One root of the offering is to prepare and straighten the soul of the one who brings it, so he was commanded to bring good and pleasant things that would stir his heart. Salt too comes from this root, so that the act is complete, for without salt nothing is pleasant. Salt also hints at something, for it preserves everything and saves it from spoiling and decay, and so through the act of the offering a person is saved from loss and his soul is preserved and endures forever.

The commandment of the sacrifice of the court if they erred in instruction

Positive · Leviticus 4:13

The offering is meant to subdue the craving soul and to strengthen the soul of reason. When the great sages of the generation err in a ruling, it is clear that the error came from a weakness of their reason, which must be strengthened. So they come to the Temple, the place where reason flows in abundance, and perform the act of the offering, and through the act they reflect on the lowliness of the erring animal soul and the worth of reason, and from this pure thought they will weigh all their rulings carefully forever after.

The commandment of a sin offering for an individual who sinned inadvertently in a commandment for which we are liable excision

Positive · Leviticus 4:27

One root of the offering is to humble the sinning soul. A person who has sinned does not purify his heart by words alone, but when he takes the trouble to bring an animal to the Temple and performs the whole act of the offering, the evil of the sin is fixed in his soul and he guards himself from it in the future.

The commandment of testimony

Positive · Leviticus 5:1

This mitzvah brings great benefit to people, and the matter is known to all and needs no explanation. Without witnesses who testify to what they know, it is impossible to bring judgment out in truth and to save the wronged from the hand of the one who wronged him.

The commandment of the sacrifice that varies up and down

Positive · Leviticus 5:1

The offering is meant to remind a person, through the power of the deed, that he has acted wrongly, so that he asks God's forgiveness for what he did and guards himself in the future. God in His wisdom knows human weakness, so He eased the atonement for these sins and set it according to each person's wealth or poverty. For stumbling in them is very near, and a sin of the tongue especially, such as oaths, is more common and constant than a sin of deed.

Not to sever a fowl sin offering

Negative · Leviticus 5:8

The Sefer HaChinuch offers a hint - the bird sin offering is the offering of a poor man, so it is done with the fingernail and not with a knife, so that the kohen need not search for a knife and inspect it, and the poor man is not held up and kept from his work, teaching that one must hurry to meet the needs of the poor. The ban on severing the head is to beautify the offering, for a bird whose head remains attached is more comely, and it is fitting to honour the poor man's offering with all our strength and not add to his poverty a poverty of offering. There is also a hint in the nipping being done at the back of the neck - that we not be stiff-necked.

To not place olive oil in the meal offering of a sinner

Negative · Leviticus 5:11

Oil hints at eminence and greatness - it floats above all other liquids, and kings and kohanim are anointed with it. So it is not fitting to put it in the meal offering of a sinner, who must show concern and lowliness for having committed a transgression. There is also compassion here for the poor man, not to burden him with bringing oil, for God does not overburden His creatures.

To not put frankincense in the meal offering of a sinner

Negative · Leviticus 5:11

The reason is as with the oil - frankincense, like oil, is a thing of importance and splendour, and it is not fitting to put it in the offering of a sinner, who must show concern and lowliness for his transgression. Moreover, God has compassion on the poor man and does not burden him with bringing something costly, but is content with a little flour that anyone can find.

The commandment of the addition of a fifth for one who eats from the consecrated or misappropriates it

Positive · Leviticus 5:15

The mitzvah is meant to instil in every person awe and fear of approaching holy things. And when the holy is great and awesome in people's eyes, their awe of the Temple leads them to humility and submission before God.

The commandment of the sacrifice of an undetermined guilt offering

Positive · Leviticus 5:17

The mitzvah is meant to make a person careful and fearful of sin, examining all his deeds well so as not to stumble into a transgression. So the Torah obliged him to bring an offering when he was not careful enough and a doubt arose. The proof that the offering atones for the negligence and not for the sin itself is that if it later becomes clear to him that he did sin, he must bring a full sin offering.

The commandment of a definite guilt offering

Positive · Leviticus 5:21

So that no one should think that, since returning stolen property repairs the sin, he may rob his fellow as he pleases and give it back later, as if he had never sinned - such a thought would open a door to wrongdoers. Therefore the Torah taught that even after the property is returned with the added fifth, an offering is still needed for atonement. For one who has gone against the will of his Creator is not cleared by returning the money alone.

The commandment of returning theft

Positive · Leviticus 5:23

The author of the Chinuch writes that the root of this mitzvah is known and plain to all. Reason itself rejects robbery, for one who robs someone weaker knows that when someone stronger comes he too will be robbed, and robbery destroys the settled order of the world. Therefore it is not enough to refrain from robbing - one who has robbed must right the wrong and return what he took to its owner.