Torah Portion: Vayikra
If a person will sin: If he is bound by an oath… (Vayikra 5:1).
It is a positive commandment to bring an “Ascending and Descending” offering for [having committed] certain types of sins. These are: “impurity of the Beis HaMikdash,” which is when a person who is a primary source of impurity unwittingly entered the Holy Temple in his impure state; “impurity of its holies,” which is when an impure person unwittingly ate the meat of a holy [offering]; “an oath of expression,” that is, when a person falsely swore to do or not do something; and “the oath of testimony,” which is when a person willfully or inadvertently [falsely] swore to his fellow that he knows no testimony that would help him.
For committing these sins the person is obligated to bring an “Ascending and Descending” offering; that is, the type of offering is set in accord with the wealth or poverty of the person, as it is explicitly written, If a person will sin: If he is bound by an oath [to testify]… if he does not testify, he shall bear his iniquity (Vayikra 5:1), and further on it says: He must bring his guilt offering (ibid. v. 6), without specifying that he had been “unaware” — this is to teach us that he is obligated in this offering whether [his withholding of testimony was done] intentionally or inadvertently.
Among the roots of the mitzvah is the aim of reminding and causing the person to internalize — through bringing the offering — that he corrupted his ways and that he needs to ask forgiveness from God for what he has done, and to be careful in the future. And since stumbling through these sins could easily happen, Hashem was lenient about the atonement needed for these sins.
This mitzvah applies when the Holy Temple stands, to both men and women, except for the case of “the oath of testimony” which does not apply to women, since women do not act as witnesses. One who transgressed this and did not offer one of these sacrifices, violated a positive commandment.
