Home

"God spoke to Moses saying: When an ox, sheep, or a goat is born it shall remain under its mother for seven days; only from the eighth day forward may it be brought as a sacrificial gift to God" (Leviticus 22:26-27).

Are we able to give gifts to God?

Rebbe Tanchuma (5th century Amorite from Jerusalem; Vayikra Rabba 27:2) quotes the Book of Job and explains the verse (41:3). "Who has preceded Me (God) and I will repay him; for all under the heavens is mine." Who was able to praise Me (God), before I gave him a soul... Who was able to place a mezuzah on his door before I gave him a house... Who was able to bring Me a sacrificial gift before I gave him an ox, sheep, or goat."

As the Mahrzu (Rabbi Ze'ev Volf Einhorn; 18th century Vilna) explains Rebbe Tanchuma's statement, man does not deserve reward for his good deeds. That is because he is not giving to God anything of his. Everything that one may give was already given to him by God and man is simply returning what was given to him. It is as though an employee is giving something to his employer that which already belongs to the employer.

"Who has preceded God," meaning nothing is personally ours, it was all given to us. "And I will repay him," since we did not create anything we cannot deserve payment for what we contributed. We are merely thanking God for what has been given to us.

And yet, the Mahrzu concludes that God does expect us to assume that we deserve recognition and payment (reward) for our deeds as if we actually gave of what was completely ours.

The proper perspective is to understand that intellectually nothing is really ours and yet we are allowed to "gift it" to God -- the one who gave it to us. This is unfathomable on the human level. It is as if we are re-gifting what was given to us to the same person who gave it to us. Yet we can only thank God for his permission to actually feel as if we are giving of ourselves.

Rabbi Chaim Lobel is the spiritual leader of Young Israel of Aberdeen
www.yiaberdeen.com.