פָּרָשַׁת וַיִּקְרָא

Parshat Vayikra opens the third book of the Torah with the korbanot (the offerings) through which a person comes close to Hashem; the word korban comes from karov, near. Hashem calls to Moshe from the Ohel Moed (the Tent of Meeting). The olah (burnt offering), burned entirely on the mizbe'ach (the altar), from cattle, flock or birds. The minchah (meal offering) of fine flour, oil and frankincense, never leavened and always salted with the salt of the covenant; a handful is burned and the kohanim (the priests) eat the rest. The shelamim (peace offering), whose fats are burned on the altar, with the eternal law that no chelev (forbidden fat) and no blood may be eaten.

The second half of the parsha is about sin and atonement. The chatat (sin offering) for a prohibition done by mistake, which differs by who sinned: the kohen gadol (the high priest), the whole community, the nasi (the leader), or an ordinary person. Perek 5: the offering that rises and falls with a person's means, a lamb, two birds or a tenth of an eifah (a dry measure) of flour, for the witness who does not testify, for one who became tamei (ritually impure) without realizing it, and for a broken oath; then the asham (guilt offering) for misusing holy property, for a doubtful sin, and for one who denies what he owes his fellow and swears falsely, who must repay the owner with a fifth added before his ram atones.

The parsha teaches that every Jew, from the kohen gadol to the poorest, can bring an offering to Hashem and has a way back from sin, and that wronging one's fellow is a betrayal of Hashem Himself.