Repaying the bulls with our lips

When the Beis Hamikdash stood, the central focus of the service of Hashem revolved around the sacrifices that were offered by the Kohanim.

Even though the Temple no longer stands, it does not mean that we no longer have the Avodah of Korbanos.

Our sages teach that whoever occupies themselves in the Torah-study of the sacrifices, it is considered as though they have offered those sacrifices. And our daily prayers were enacted in place of the Korbanos.

In our morning Davening, as we read the description of the daily Tamid offering, we quote the Posuk ונשלמה פרים שפתינו “We will repay the bulls (of the sacrifices) with our lips”, alluding to how our words of prayer are in place of the sacrifices.

The word ונשלמה can also mean to complete. This suggests that there is an advantage in our prayers and Torah study about the Korbanos, which completes a deficiency in the actual Korbanos.

The physical observance of the sacrifices was limited - in time, place and soul. They could only be performed in the Beis Hamikdash, at specific times and by the Kohanim alone. But the study of Torah transcends all of these limitations.

Every Mitzvah is eternal. Those Mitzvos that we can no longer observe physically, can be observed spiritually, through the inner lessons that they teach us. Over the next 3 weeks, we will be exploring the inner lessons from the various elements of the daily order of the sacrifices.

May our learning about the Avodah of the Beis Hamikdash and applying these lessons to our daily lives be considered as though we have offered Korbanos to Hashem. And may this hasten the restoration of the Beis Hamikdash and the daily Avodah once more.