Perek 12

In Perek 12 of Devarim, Hashem, through Moshe, tells Bnei Yisrael of a place in the Land of Israel where they will offer up sacrifices and worship Hashem (i.e. the Beit Hamikdash/Mishkan at Shiloh). But when the command is given about these sacrifices, a strange phrase is said: "“You shall not do as all that we do here this day; every man as he deems fit” (Devarim 12:8). Many commentators argue about the meaning of this pasuk, but the Netziv, once again, comes and saves the day with the best answer ever, since he is the best commentator ever.  The Netziv states the the korbanot that will be offered in the Land of Israel have an inherently different objectives than their counterparts in the desert. He says the up until this point in the Perek, Bnei Yisrael are being warned against being like the gentile nations. Here, however, it warns the nation to not be like how they were in the desert. The Netziv quotes Parshat Acharei Mot (17:5) where it says that one is forbidden to eat "basar ta'avah shechutah" or meat the was not brought as a Korban. In other words, one could not just cook a steak for dinner, it had to be a Korban. Because of this prohibition, the Torah permitted one to bring a Korban Shelamim to the Mishkan so one could take part in the eating of the meat as his heart desired. But, in the Land of Israel, this prohibition no longer applied and, therefore, one didn't need to bring the Shelamim just so he could eat it. One could eat recreationally but had to offer Korbanot for their own sake. In the desert, all food was considered to be "achila mishulchan gavoah"or eating from the Mizbe'ach--all was Kodesh. However, in the Land of Israel, the objective to is to live a natural life in which the holy and the mundane are joined together. Normal eating, that was now permitted, is chulin, and the korbanot that were offered at the Mishkan at Shiloh and the Beit Hamikdash were the Kodesh. We have to learn to combine the Kodesh and the Chol together to live an awesome life. Go Netiz.