Among the other exciting components of marriage, is the joy of furnishing one’s own house. A young couple full of ambition and anticipation to begin their married life seek to create within their house an aura of comfort. Furniture is purchased, pictures are hung, and the little apartment begins to feel like ‘home’. But the task is not complete until the home is enveloped by the scent of a home-cooked meal. The young wife seeks to impress her new husband with all sorts of delectable dishes. Indeed, in a wry sort of way the young wife takes a certain pride in the burgeoning stomach (referred to in the Yeshivish world as the infamous, ‘boych’) of her husband. The buttons on his once comfortable shirt scream out, "behind here lies a satisfied stomach due to the successful efforts of a new wife." His friends begin to quietly murmur amongst themselves, "Have you seen him recently? Oh boy! She must be a good cook. I hope they invite me for a Shabbos seudah sometime soon."
     Klal Yisroel had finally completed the overwhelming task of constructing the Mishkan to serve as a residence for the Shechinah. But, as previously mentioned, what home is complete without home-cooked meals? Thus, in Chumash Vayikra, the Torah begins a lengthy discourse on how to prepare G-d’s meals. You see G-d doesn’t like just any type of meat. It had to be from specific animals, the process can only be performed by a priest, and the meat is only tasty if its blood is first sprinkled on the corners of the altar. Such a meal may not stimulate our taste buds but G-d likes his barbecues differently. So all this makes perfect sense. Well maybe it makes sense to a complete simpleton with a naïve appreciation of who G-d is. But we understand that G-d is Omnipotent, Infinite, Almighty, completely Spiritual etc. What fool would entertain the notion that G-d needs our sacrifices? If so, what then, is the underlying theme of Korbanos and how does bringing a Korban obliterate the blemish of a sin from our conscious?
    The Ramban (1:9) explains that offering a korban was mentally a very moving experience. A man who sinned inadvertently would go to his local farmer and purchase the appropriate animal. Then he would begin his journey from his home to Yerushalyim. All along the way he would tend to the needs of his animal. He would feed it and make sure it had an adequate supply of water. He would ensure that it had a comfortable place to rest at night so it would be able to continue traveling the next day. Inevitably he would develop a subconscious bond with his animal. Finally he would arrive in the Bais Hamikdash and would find a Kohain to offer his Korban. The owner then leaned on his animal with all his might and recited his confession to G-d. All of a sudden his animal was taken away and in front of his eyes (if he does not wish to do so himself) the animal’s neck was sliced off with a sharp knife. As its blood gushed forth, the Kohain grabbed a vessel to catch the spurting blood. Then he proceeded to rush over to the Mizbayach and sprinkle the blood all over the corners of the Mizbayach. Depending on the Korban, the skin was then ripped off and sliced into small pieces. At times part of the meat was salvaged for the Kohain an/or the owner while the rest was burnt to a crisp on the pyre atop the Mizbayach. Meanwhile the owner stood from a distance and viewed the proceedings. He couldn’t help but feel pangs of guilt well up inside of him. The animal had done no wrong. He had removed the innocent animal from its home environment and ultimately had it killed. But he had sinned and he was the one who should have been more careful in regard to the mitzvos. The owner sees the animal’s blood landing on the Mizbayach and he can’t help but think that it is his blood that should really be sprinkled on the Mizbayach. He watches the smoke billow out of the pyre atop the Mizbayach from the burning limbs of his animal and he can’t help but think that it is his limbs that should be up there. The owner is forced to do some sincere soul searching as he watches his animal being offered. Rest assured the owner will be more cautious and meticulous in his observance of mitzvos when he returns home.
    Rabbi Dovid Orlovsky relates a moving parable to illustrate the idea of Korbanos. A young five-year-old boy is playing with his toys one afternoon when he notices his father return home from work with a bouquet of flowers in his hand. He watches with fascination as his father hands the flowers to his mother and a deep smile spreads across her face. Immediately the mother runs into the kitchen and pulls out an expensive vase, fills it with water, and jovially places the flowers in the vase and puts it on display on the dining room table. The young boy decides that he too wants to make his mother happy. So he saunters outside and finds an old plastic cup with a crack down its side. He puts some mud inside and then picks some weeds and places them in the cup with a couple of rocks. Then he finds a pretty ladybug and places her on top and he gives the entire concoction to his mother. One can only imagine the thoughts that immediately go through the mothers mind. But she understands that her young child doesn’t know any better and he is trying to bring her joy. So she takes his little mess, cleans it a little and places it on the dining room table right next to her husband’s beautiful flowers. Now imagine for a moment if that young boy would come back into the house with his ‘flowers’ and instead of handing them to his mother with a cute and innocent smile, he would shove them at her and say, ‘Here Ma! Take it! I don’t care much about this but you obviously do, so here’s your stupid flowers!" It would seem pretty obvious that the mother will pick up the cup and throw it right into the garbage.
    In our morning prayers we describe the inimitable way that the angels sing praise to G-d. "May You be blessed, fashioner of ministering angels; all of Whose ministering angels stand at the summit of the universe and proclaim- with awe, together, loudly- the words of the living G-d. They are all beloved; they are all flawless; they are all mighty, And they all open their mouth in holiness and purity, in song and hymn- and bless, praise, glorify, revere, sanctify. Then they accept upon themselves the yoke of heavenly sovereignty from one another, and grant permission to one another to sanctify the One who formed them, with tranquility, with clear articulation, and with sweetness." We understand that the pure song of the angels somehow and in some manner creates a spirit of joy before G-d. We see their perfect prayer and we too desire to have our own G-dly service to perform. So Hashem granted us special services to perform in His Bais Hamikdosh. We try to recreate the lofty service of the angels. But we of flesh and blood can barely create a pitiful imitation of the angelic song. However G-d sees our efforts and sees how we want to close with Him so He values our efforts like the songs of the angels. However one who appears before G-d and proclaims, "Here G-d take your Korban" or "Here I prayed before you, I hope You’re satisfied now!" has not done G-d any favor with his efforts and maybe it’s even worse.
    The Korbanos were offered to cause the sinner to stop and reflect. All too often we rush through life and have no time to think about what we are doing and the ramifications of our actions. Judaism does not believe in performing superficial acts just to occupy time and space. Hitler ys’v once stated, "What good fortune for those in power that people do not think." An entire nation was swept away by his captivating and luring speeches because they did not stop to think about what he was really about. Though in exile we cannot offer Korbanos we still have prayer. Chazal explain that prayer is tantamount to Korbanos and in certain ways even paramount. We must appreciate that prayer is not merely an exercise of religion. Rather it is a chance to do some serious self searching and to beseech G-d for the Divine Assistance we need to have a connection with Him.