Vayikra: expiation

I do not understand the sacrificial rite.  I am usually drawn to the approach that it has something to do with expiation.  Certainly some of the sacrifices: Chatath, Asham are directly involved in the process of emergence  from the tainted state;  and the phrase וְנִסְלַח לוֹ , translated by JPS as "and he shall be forgiven," is often repeated in relation to many of the rituals.  But where does the expiation come form? 

Does it come form the drama of the act, witnessing death?   This does not seem likely.  In the days of the temple, I think that people were very familiar with the slaughter of animals for food.  They were not removed, as we are, form the killing process, by an industrial curtain. For them, the slaughter probably had little in the way of drama. 

But this slaughter often  did not provide food for the owner of the animal.  There was a component  of  another purpose in the killing of this animal.  Part of it went up in smoke, part was given to the Cohen.  This touches on the idea that sin has an element of misappropriation.  The sin may have been an ordinary act, but the intended benefit was misdirected ( often selfish). 

The monetary loss is very likely a part of the expiation.  Some rituals ( Asham)  require a minimum expenditure.  This is a cancellation of the dream of ill gotten gains. 

There is also an appeal to the national stories.  The Chatath of the High priest and that of the nation as a whole is a bull, a grown ( golden) calf. The carcass does not ascend the altar, it is burned outside the camp, like the dust of the golden calf -  the great sin  of conspiracy between the high priest and the people as a whole. 

The Chatath of the prince is a goat, like the goat whose blood was substituted for Joseph when his brothers turned against him, when democracy showed its ugliest side. This ritual reminds the leader to respect the minority. 

But the sacrificial rite remains a mystery ( as it should) and thus preserving it is part of my expiation