Vayikra

The passuk statesיקריב אותו לרצונו לפני ה’ , he shall offer it for his favor before Hashem. There seems to be a contradiction: the wordיקריב  means he shall offer, whether he wants to or not, even forcefully; however the word לרצונו  means for his interest, willingly. Rashi answers: this teaches us that if one does not want to bring a korban that he is required to, we force him until he says “I want.”  The Gemara adds another example of this idea: someone who is required to divorce his wife and he doesn’t want to, the beis din hits him until he says, “I want.”

What is the reason that the korban is brought and why can a get be written, after all he is forced? The Rambam explains that in these instances his evil inclination forced him to do bad; to do an aveirah or to refrain from fulfilling a mitzva. When he is beaten it weakens the yetzer hara and returns him to being as a Yid should be, wanting to fulfill mitzvos. Therefore when he says “I want,” he indeed wants and the korban can be offered or he can divorce his wife.

Onkelos does not translate the wordלרצונו  for his favor, but rather asלרצון לו  for favor for him. What does the passuk mean, “he shall bring a korban for favor for him?”

The Gemara brings: Hashem says, “I did not say to you to slaughter in order that you will say, ‘I will do His will and He will do my will’ as though I need korbanos, and you will bribe Me so that I should do what you need. It is not for My personal benefit that you are slaughtering, and I am not forcing you against your will to do this, rather it is for your interest.” Hashem doesn’t need the pleasure of korbanos; they are for one to fulfill Hashem’s mitzvos, to be a forgiveness for the person. Onkelos translates to be for him for favor to reflect this message: it is not for Hashem, it is for us.

The Rabbeinu Yonah in Sefer Sha’arai Teshuva brings that one who sins and repents needs to daven for Hashem’s רצון, in order that Hashem should show affection towards him. True the sin is erased, but one has not yet come close to Hashem; he first needs to appease Hashem in order to return to the level of closeness with Hashem which he had before sinning. According to the Malbim, Onkelos translatesלרצונו  which means to be for Hashem’s favor for him, since bringing a korban in essence brings one closer to Hashem and enables His love to return.

May we all weaken our yetzer hara which blinds us to the truth, and return to the affection we lost through sin, and may Hashem bring the Beis HaMikdash speedily in our days!