In the event that there happens to be blood from a korban olah and blood from a korban chatas that require zerikah, application, on the Mizbayach, Altar, that of the Chatas, sin offering, is applied first, since the zerikah, application, on the Mizbayach, Altar, that of the Chatas, sin offering, is applied first, since the Chatas atones for more grievous sins than does the Korban Olah. Furthermore, Chazal (Zevach 89A) liken the sin offering to an intercessor who appeases someone who has been wronged, and the olah is like a gift given to a person after the fact, as a gesture to restore good relations with him.
In the Kedushas Levi, Horav Levi Yitzchak Berditchever, zl, explains this based on an esoteric principle of the Zohar HaKadosh. We are aware of two types of Divine Light: Ohr Yashar, direct light; and Ohr Chozer, reflected light. Ohr Yashar refers to direct light whose source is in the Heavenly sphere and descends downward. Ohr Chozer, however, refers to spiritual emanations that begin in this world as the result of man’s service to Hashem. While direct light emanates from a holier spiritual plane, the reflective light touches a more profound level, since it is the product of man’s service. The light that comes from us down here has a greater Heavenly impact, because it indicates our desire to reach up to Heaven.
A sin-offering precedes a Korban Olah, because the sin-offering corresponds to the Ohr Yashar, direct light, that shines down from the upper world into our lower world. In contrast, the ascent/burnt offering represents reflective light as it shines upward from our world. This is why the Korban Olah is consumed completely on the Altar.
Thus, the Korban Chatas, representative of Ohr Yashar, precedes the Korban Olah in the sacrificial sequence. On the other hand, only the Korban Olah, reflective of Ohr Chozer, is entirely consumed on the Mizbayach. Reflected light reaches places which the direct light cannot. It is a light born of effort, sanctified by the penitent, made and elevated through yearning. It is the product of struggle, overcoming challenge and resistance. It is for this reason that the service that ascends from man to Heaven often leaves a deeper impact.
The baal teshuvah who rises from sin and returns home to the Heavenly embrace brings with him, not only the scars of his challenges, but also the satisfaction of having made the correct choice. No one can better represent the transformation from living a successful secular life, devoid of Torah and kedushah, from being an icon of the Israeli film industry and its pervasive culture to becoming a full-fledged talmid chacham and inspirational kiruv leader who inspired thousands to return, than Horav Uri Zohar, zl.
He lived the vacuous lifestyle that is part and parcel of a life without Torah. He had reached the pinnacle of his field, idolized by Israeli secular society. Then, one day after meeting Horav Shlomo Zilberman, zl, at a party, he turned his back on everything. The reflective light was about to be illuminated. He progressed in stages, first wearing a yarmulke and tzitzis in public, to the shock and consternation of the secular crowd. Then came Shabbos, followed by enrolling in a yeshivah. It was not long before the turnaround was completed, and his wife and three children joined him in his journey of teshuvah. He never stopped learning; he never stopped shteiging. It was constant personal growth which was the precursor to a life of kiruv to thousands.
When he became frum, he sold his mansion by the sea and moved to a modest apartment in Kiryat Mattesdorf. He had seen everything this temporal world had to offer. Now was the time to focus on Olam Habba, which can only be done once one negates Olam Hazeh. He did not sever his connection with his old buddies from the film industry. He asked for their mothers’ names, so he could daven for them also to become baalei teshuvah. Whenever one of them passed away without leaving someone to recite Kaddish for them, Rav Uri became that someone. He was a man on a mission who realized that Hashem expected him to use his skills and talents for Torah.
One erev Pesach, Horav Chaim Pinchas Scheinberg, zl, was preparing to burn his chametz. He met Rav Uri who had also come to burn his chametz. Besides food, Rav Uri brought along a very unique commodity which he was about to burn: he had purchased some of the reels of film in which he had played a leading role or had produced. Once they were his, they were not allowed to be copied or shown. The reels in his bag were valued somewhere between one and two million dollars! He threw then into the fire along with his chametz! When Rav Scheinberg was given to understand what had just taken place, he was so overwhelmed with joy born of admiration, that he went over to Rav Uri and they danced together in front of the fire. This was an image of m’ein Olam Habba, a taste of the pristine joy that can be found in Olam Habba.
As successful as he was in kiruv rechokim and kiruv kerovim, outreach to those who were not yet practicing, observant Jews and those who either were disenchanted and thinking of leaving or those who sadly had left the fold, his first love and greatest desire was to sit and learn Torah, to absorb its profundities. He traveled to America on occasion to speak to groups and somehow play a role in bringing Jews closer to religious observance. The first time he was scheduled to travel to America, he was concerned that he would miss tefillah b’tzibur, davening with a minyan. He turned to Horav Yosef Shalom Elyashiv, zl, for a ruling. Rav Elyashiv replied, “Who says that you are permitted to daven with a minyan? Maybe you should be spending your time working non-stop with Hashem’s children! Rav Uri Zohar represented ohr chozeir, reflected light at its apex. Indeed, at the levayah, funeral, for Rav Uri, it was remarked that no baal teshuvah in Eretz Yisrael over the last few decades did not owe his return in some way to this icon of teshuvah.
