By Alan Imar
When I was a child, one of the TV shows we watched was What Would You Do. The premise of the show is as follows: The producers engineer a social dilemma to observe how people react when they think no one is watching. In one case, a patron rudely yells at his waiter – both actors – as bystanders look on. In another case, a preteen bully harasses her defenseless victim as the producers test how an ordinary child reacts. Unbeknownst to the subjects, the cameras are rolling the entire time. We, the viewers, curiously watch and evaluate each person’s response to the social experiment. We see every moment. As the scene concludes, host John Quiñones emerges from behind the curtains to interview the subject: “What were you thinking at that moment,” he asks. “Why did you do what you did?” The message is clear: Even when a person thinks that no one is paying attention, there are עיניים רואות ואוזניים שומעות – eyes that see and ears that hear.
This message has important implications for our parsha. In this week’s parasha – שלח – the Torah states (Bamidbar 15:28):
וְכִפֶּר הַכֹּהֵן עַל הַנֶּפֶשׁ הַשֹּׁגֶגֶת בְּחֶטְאָהֿ בִשְׁגָגָה לִפְנֵי יְ־הֹוָה לְכַפֵּר עָלָיו וְנִסְלַח לוֹ.
“The priest shall make expiation before YHVH on behalf of the person who erred, for having sinned unwittingly, making such expiation that forgiveness is granted.”
Chapter 15 deals, in part, with the korban chatat, the purification offering. The Torah instructs the Kohen to atone for the sinner “before Hashem.” One wonders, what does “before” mean? Luckily, the Torah deals with the korban chatat in another place, Vayikra 4. There, it provides a more comprehensive description of the rite (4:30):
וְלָקַ֨ח הַכֹּהֵ֤ן מִדָּמָהּ֙ בְּאֶצְבָּע֔וֹ וְנָתַ֕ן עַל־קַרְנֹ֖ת מִזְבַּ֣ח הָעֹלָ֑ה וְאֶת־כׇּל־דָּמָ֣הּ יִשְׁפֹּ֔ךְ אֶל־יְס֖וֹד הַמִּזְבֵּֽחַ׃
“The priest shall take with his finger some of its blood and put it on the horns of the altar of burnt offering; and all the rest of its blood he shall pour out at the base of the altar.”
Whereas in Bamidar the verse states, “before Hashem,” Vayikra says that the Kohen pours it “at the base of the altar.” Why?
Biblical scholar Jacob Milgrom points to the biblical theology that underlies this ritual. The korban chatat serves as a means for the Temple’s purification (in the desert, the Mishkan). In biblical theology, an individual’s sin infects God’s house and disrupts the connection between the nation and its God, which is symbolized by the altar. In other words, there is a direct impact of human actions on God’s house. If the Temple is defiled by the sins of Israel, the Shekhinah (God’s presence) abandons Her dwelling. The only remedy is the korban chatat, which purges the tainted Temple of human sin.
In this sense, What Would You Do is an apt metaphor for the impact humans have on God’s relationship with His people. John Quiñones reveals that the cameras were recording the subject’s response from every angle. So, too, in biblical theology, human actions are endowed with significance. Every sin, even an unintentional one, has direct repercussions. Quiñones asks, “What would you do?” He assumes most people will behave better if they go through the world thinking someone is watching. The korban chatat teaches us that we should be mindful of each action we take as we encounter every moment in life – for those are inevitably encounters with life’s ultimate audience, Hashem.
