click here to jump to start of article
Join Our Newsletter

Join 400,000 Aish subscribers
 GET EMAIL UPDATES



HOT TOPICS

Vayikra(Leviticus 1-5)

Your Very Best

Parshat Vayikra discusses the "Oleh v'Yored" offering - literally the "up-and-down" offering - so called because it had three levels, based on one's financial ability: A wealthy person would bring a cow; a middle-class person brings a bird; and a poor person brings an offering of flour.

In fact, a wealthy person was not allowed to bring a lesser-quality offering. We see from here that God does not judge everyone by the same standards. Someone who has a greater natural ability is expected to do more. For why else would God have given him those resources?!

On the flip side, a poor person was not allowed to bring an expensive offering. This teaches that while we strive to improve, we must be sensitive to our own limitations, and not pressure ourselves unrealistically.

To highlight this idea, Leviticus 2:1 describes someone who brings a flour offering as a "soul." The Talmud explains that though the flour offering may be inexpensive, for the poor person it is quite significant - and God considers it as if he gave his very soul!

We must never look askance at another person's achievements, however small they may appear. Because whatever level we're on, God only expects us to be ... the best that we can be.

Published: March 25, 2006

Give Tzedakah! Help Aish.com create inspiring
articles, videos and blogs featuring timeless Jewish wisdom.

Visitor Comments: 3

(3) Anonymous, March 23, 2009 7:57 AM

Fair expectations

Good article that reminds us how and what to expect of ourselves and others. Good reminder also of what a "soul" really is.

(2) Marcy, March 23, 2007 3:18 PM

How true.

Good point.
This definitely holds water.
Thanks for another wonderful peice.

-Marcy

(1) Scott Granowski, March 21, 2007 9:57 PM

Judging Others

As usual, your column provides insights. Here I am reminded of the silliness of thinking that I can assess the performance of others. Clearly these judgments are really misguided moments that I am trying to wear God's robes. Thank you.

Submit Your Comment:

  • Display my name?

  • Your email address is kept private. Our editor needs it in case we have a question about your comment.


  • * required field 2000
Submit Comment
stub

About the Author

Rabbi Shraga Simmons

More by this Author >

Rabbi Shraga Simmons spent his childhood trekking through snow in Buffalo, New York. He holds a degree in journalism from the University of Texas at Austin, and rabbinic ordination from the Chief Rabbi of Jerusalem. He is the senior editor of Aish.com and the director of JewishPathways.com.

An expert on media bias, he was the founding editor of HonestReporting.com, and is the author of David & Goliath: The Explosive Inside Story of Media Bias in the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict (2012). With drama and a biting edge, David & Goliath is a definitive treatment, fully resourced with over 2,000 footnotes. Readers are privy to secret negotiations with CNN executives, and how a grassroots campaign was cited by the New York Times as effecting sweeping changes in Mideast media coverage.

David & Goliath has been praised by politicians, professors and journalists: Former New York Mayor Ed Koch hails it as "Invaluable for anyone wanting the inside story," and James Taranto of the Wall Street Journal calls David & Goliath "of crucial importance for the future of the Middle East."

Rabbi Simmons lives with his wife and children in the Modi'in region of Israel.

Featured at Aish.com

May 20, 2013 / 11 Sivan 5773

Sponsors

    Torah Reading: Be'halot'cha
    (Numbers 8-12)

    Sign up today!