No Substitutes Allowed: What a Sacrifice Teaches Us About Being Irreplaceably You

Just as there is no substitution in a sacrifice, so too the Holy One will not exchange Israel for another nation. The Source Of The Teaching We find this teaching written explicitly in the commentary of Rabbeinu Bachya on Numbers, chapter 1, verse 1. The reason this portion of the census is juxtaposed with the earlier portion on substitution is explained in the Midrash to teach that just as the Holy One is singular and has no substitute, as it is said in I Samuel 2:2, "There is none holy as the Lord, for there is none besides You," so too Israel should not be exchanged for another nation. This is what is written in Song of Songs 2:16: "My beloved is mine and I am His" — I am holy and you are holy; do not exchange Me, just as I do not exchange you. You are called "flock" — just as one does not substitute one animal for another, so I do not substitute you. Understanding The Midrash In Minchat Ani, sermons and explanations on the Torah by the author of HaAruch LaNer on Parshat Bamidbar, he raises a difficulty with this Midrash: what purpose is served by prefacing with "to teach you that the Holy One is singular and has no substitute," since this seems to be an unrelated matter not connected to the juxtaposition? It seems quite simply that this comes to teach us that the foundation of the idea that the sanctity of Israel has no substitute is because a sanctity resembling God's own sanctity rests upon Israel — a sanctity in the category of "for there is none besides You." This is in the spirit of the verse "You shall be holy, for I am holy" — meaning that God sanctified us with His own sanctity. The Sanctity Of Sacrifices Having arrived at this point, one can add further: it appears from the words of the Rambam at the end of Hilchot Temurah that were it not for the verse "it and its substitute shall be holy," it would in fact have been possible to exchange the inherent sanctity of a sacrifice's body — but Scripture decreed that this should not be effective. Based on what was explained above, another reason can be suggested: since the Midrash compared it to the fact that one does not substitute one animal for another, so too there is no substitution for Israel, who are called a flock. One can say this comes to teach that even the sanctity of a sacrifice consecrated to the Unique Name carries within it the sanctity of "there is none besides You," and therefore substitution does not apply to it. The Personal Meaning Of Sacrifice One might add further depth to this, based on what Rav Samson Raphael Hirsch writes in Parshat Bechukotai in his explanation of the prohibition against substitution. One who brings an atonement offering is forbidden to relate to his sacrifice as a mere animal. Rather, he must see in it an expression of his own personality, and he must dedicate all his drives, powers, goals, and actions to God and His Torah. Treating an ordinary animal as i