Selfless-Selfishness

The myth is that altruism negates looking for reward. The truth is that seeking reward for the right reason is the most complete way of serving G-d.

Why is a Peace Offering Called a Peace Offering?

The opening parsha of the Book of Leviticus/Vayikra discusses the various sacrifices the Jews were commanded to offer in the Sanctuary. One sacrifice is called an Olah, a burnt offering, It was so called because all of it had to be consumed on the Altar. A second offering was called Shelamim, which means a peace offering. It was divided up into three parts. Some of it was burnt on the Altar, some of it was given to the Kohain-Priest, and some of it was eaten by the person who dedicated it.

According to Rashi the reason it is called a peace offering is precisely because it was shared by all three “parties” to the offering. It therefore introduced peace and harmony between G-d to Whom it was offered, and the one who offered the sacrifice, as well as peace between the Jew who offered the sacrifice and the Priests who were instrumental in the ritual of the sacrifice.

The “Whole” Offering

The following is another approach as to why it is called a Shelamim based on the teachings of the Chassidic work, Panim Yafos. According to this approach, the word Shelamim is related to the word “whole.” Only the Shelamim can be considered a whole offering.

What is it about the Shelamim that makes it more whole than the burnt offering? At first glance one could argue that the reverse is true. The burnt offering was more whole because there was no division in it. All of it was dedicated to one cause. It was burnt in its entirety as opposed to the Shelamim that was divided into three parts and consumed by three distinct “parties,” each of whom had a different role.

A Mitzvah to Receive G-d’s Reward!

To understand the meaning of wholeness in relation to G-d—which can then be applied to us who were created in G-d’s image and possess a G-dly soul—we must preface the words of the Mishnah in Ethics of the Fathers:

“One should not be like a servant who serves the master with the intention of receiving a reward.”

The Hebrew word for reward is usually s’char, Yet, in the foregoing citation from the Mishnah it uses the word pras, which, when translated literally, means a piece, or half of a whole thing.

In other words there are two different attitudes towards the rewards we receive for our good behavior: One is s’char which is positive and the other is pras which has negative connotations. The former is considered whole, whereas the latter is not.

Panim Yafos explains that there is really nothing wrong if one serves G-d with the expectation of receiving a reward, provided the reason we want to receive the reward is to please G-d Who loves to give. Inasmuch as G-d has a “passion” to give, it is G-d’s greatest joy when we serve Him in ways that generate reward for us. Then our Mitzvah is complete. Not only have we served G-d by observing His commandments, but, moreover, we have given Him a double source of satisfaction, because we gave Him the opportunity to reward us and bestow His kindness upon us.

This explains another saying of our Sages in Ethics of the Fathers that “the reward for a Mitzvah is a Mitzvah” in a novel way:

Receiving a reward for our Mitzvot is in and of itself a Mitzvah because it generates G-d’s attribute of kindness and unleashes tremendous forces of Divine delight and pleasure.

However, the reward is complete only when our desire to receive reward is motivated by a desire to fulfill G-d’s will that we be rewarded and not for our own selfish reasons. It is a Mitzvah to receive a reward if it is intended to give G-d the opportunity and satisfaction of being a Giver. If it is done for that reason it is a complete form of reward; not only to we benefit, but G-d benefits as well, so to speak.

This then is the difference between a reward/s’chr and a pras. Receiving a reward is understood as a desire to make it possible for G-d to be a Giver, whereas the desire for a pras is the desire for oneself, which makes the reward incomplete and defective; it is only a pras, a truncated part of something whole.

A One-Way Street

We can now understand why the Shelamim is the complete offering as opposed to the burnt offering. The burnt offering, while it is totally consumed on the Altar—and it therefore demonstrates one’s total devotion to G-d—is actually missing an important component. It is a one way street, albeit going in the right direction. But the ultimate joy that G-d derives from us is when we allow Him to reciprocate for our actions and give us a reward.

When we bring the Shelamim offering—while it is also dedicated to G-d, and part of it was actually burnt on His Altar—it nevertheless is also consumed by the Kohanim as well as by the owner of the sacrifice. This gives G-d complete satisfaction because not only have we demonstrated our own devotion to G-d and our willingness to sacrifice for Him it also gives Him the satisfaction that we are His beneficiaries. It gives G-d immense joy, as it were, that we are sitting as invited guests at His royal table. The joy of hosting is no less powerful than the joy of knowing someone is a loyal subject.

Giving and Receiving Unselfishly

The Shelamim offering expresses the ideal of being a giver and a recipient in an unselfish way. One can give for ulterior motives and one can certainly receive for selfish reasons. But when one’s giving and receiving are both motivated by a genuine desire to give G-d not only our offering to Him but to “enable” Him to give us something in return—that is the most complete exercise in serving G-d.

When we do any Mitzvah we should focus on the dual nature of the Shelmaim. To be sure, we should do the Mitzvah because G-d so desires. But we should also do the Mitzvah so that G-d could reciprocate and give us what He wants to give.

Doing a Mitzvah to Bring Moshiach

Of all the things that G-d would love to give us is an end to pain and suffering; an end to the bitter exile we have been in since the destruction of the Second temple close to 2,000 years ago.

When we do a Mitzvah just for the sake of doing G-d’s will, that is great. It is the equivalent of a burnt offering. However, what is even greater is when we do a Mitzvah so that G-d will hasten the coming of Moshiach and usher in the true and complete Redemption and give us what He wants to give more than anything else. Contrary to the popular misconception that that would be compromising the purity and integrity of the Mitzvah, according to Panim Yafos it would make the Mitzvah even more complete.

The Whole and Half Matzah

As we approach the Festival of Passover, there is a connection between what has been explained here and the tradition to have two whole Matzos at the Seder and a Matzah that we break into two.

It may be suggested, that these two forms of Matzah are needed on Passover because Passover comprises two themes, the theme of bondage and incompleteness and the theme of liberation and wholeness.

On the one hand, the whole Matzos signify that we want our Seder to be complete; we want G- d to feel good that He is able to liberate us and give us all of our needs. But we must also have a broken Matzah, a “poor person’s meal,” because it is a reminder that in exile G-d receives no satisfaction from the fact that it was frequently a one way street; we made the sacrifices and we still remained in exile.

Throughout our exile we were in effect bringing burnt offerings. But with the Exodus from Egypt—the forerunner of the future Redemption—we also need whole Matzos, the most complete experience where we give G-d and G-d gives us what we want and desperately need—the final Redemption through Moshiach.

From the book Light from the Future: Parshas Vayikra by Rabbi Heschel Greenberg, published by the Jewish Discovery Center.