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Why does the Midrash call "one sheep in the morning, one in the afternoon" the most important principle in Torah (תורה)? Rabbi Zweig explains that the daily Korban Tamid, like the two tablets, expresses God's love for us. Self-esteem rooted in knowing God loves us is the prerequisite for moral behavior and for fulfilling "Ve'ahavta l'reicha kamocha"—loving both God and our fellow man.
Rabbi Zweig begins by presenting a fundamental disagreement about the Torah (תורה)'s most important principle. Rabbi Akiva says it is "Ve'ahavta l'reicha kamocha" (love your fellow as yourself), but Ben Azzai challenges this: what if a person doesn't love himself? Ben Azzai responds that the key principle is "Zeh sefer toldos Adam—beyom bero Elokim Adam, bidmut Elokim asah oso" (Bereishis 5)—on the day God created man, He created him in God's image. This establishes human dignity as the foundation of morality. But then the shiur introduces a third opinion from a lesser-known Midrash: Reb Yaakov says the most important principle is "ve'es hakeves echad ta'aseh baboker, ve'es hakeves hasheni ta'aseh bein ha'arbayim" (one sheep in the morning, one in the afternoon)—referring to the daily Korban Tamid. This seems incomprehensible: how can a technical instruction about sacrifices be the Torah's central message? Rabbi Zweig then turns to the story of Yosef and Potiphar's wife. The Torah explicitly records Yosef's rational, moral arguments for refusing her: betraying trust is immoral, and it would be a sin against God. Yet the Midrash says Yaakov appeared to Yosef and warned him, "Mechoshen atah nimcha"—your name will be erased from the breastplate of the Kohen Gadol. This seems to contradict the plain text. Why does the Midrash introduce a new reason when the Torah already provides explicit ones?
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Tetzaveh (Shemos 29:38-39), Bereishis 5:1, Bereishis 39:7-9
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