Vayikra: Chapter 2

"I came to my garden"

Synopsis

Rabbi Chiya and Rabbi Shimon discuss the title verse and give several explanations for it. Having chosen Yisrael for His own, God wished to separate them from others and to protect them. The very day that the tabernacle was erected on earth, another tabernacle was erected on high, but Moses could not enter the newly built tabernacle until sacrifices were offered. The title verse also refers to the Upper Garden of Eden, since all are sustained by the flow of the river that issues from there.