Why Lean on a Sacrifice Before Offering It?

In the book of Leviticus, the Torah describes ritual semichah – the laying or leaning of hands on the head of a sacrificial animal. This is accomplished by the offerer placing both hands with full weight on the head of the animal, immediately before slaughter, in the Temple courtyard. This act is introduced in the verse:

And he shall lay his hand upon the head of the burnt-offering, and it shall be accepted for him to make atonement for him.1

The verse seems to suggest that the purpose of this semichah was to achieve atonement. How did that work? Didn’t the sacrifice itself bring atonement? What role, then, does semichah play in the process?

1. It Serves As a Base for the Verbal Confession

The Talmud2 codified by Maimonides3 teaches that semichah is accompanied by a verbal confession of sins. The offerer confesses the wrongdoing that necessitated the sacrifice, while pressing his hands on the animal. This admission of guilt is an integral part of the atonement process. For a sin-offering or guilt-offering, the specific transgression is articulated. In the case of a burnt-offering—which is generally not brought for a specific transgression—confession may still be recited if it was brought to atone for a missed mitzvah opportunity or any other sin where an offering is not mandated.4

2. It’s Part of the Repentance

Nachmanides takes this idea a step further. Not only does one verbally confess while leaning on the animal, but semichah itself becomes a central component of the repentance process, representing one of the essential faculties involved in repentance. Nachmanides explains that true repentance must engage all three dimensions of a person: action, speech, and thought. Each part of the korban ritual corresponds to one of these faculties:

He shall lean his hands upon it as a counterpart to action, confess with his mouth as a counterpart to speech, and the burning of the innards and kidneys represents the instruments of thought and desire.5

3. It Symbolically Transfers the Sin Over to the Animal

Sforno and Ralbag6 explain that leaning on the animal is a physical manifestation of the transfer of a person’s sin or guilt onto the animal. The sinner “places his hands on his offering as if praying that his sin be on the head of the sacrifice – like the scapegoat – thereby enacting a physical form of his inner repentance.”7​

4. The Animal Takes the Sinner’s Place

Abarbanel offers a similar, though slightly different, perspective. While Sforno emphasizes the symbolic transfer of sin onto the animal through a physical act, Abarbanel focuses on the idea that the animal ascends to G‑d in the offerer’s place.

“And he shall lean his hand upon the head of the burnt-offering”—this act expresses that the offerer identifies himself with the offering. Just as the animal, once slaughtered, is placed on G‑d’s altar by the priests who serve Him, and is consumed by the Divine fire—becoming a fire-offering, a pleasing aroma to G‑d—so too, the person bringing the offering is, in essence, offering himself. The altar represents spiritual ascent, hinting at the delight of the World to Come, where the soul cleaves to the Divine, for G‑d is a consuming fire. The offering becomes a pleasing fragrance before Him.8

5. It’s A Preparation for Offering the Sacrifice

Chizkuni understands semichah to simply be a common human practice: when someone is about to engage in a significant task, they often signal their intention and readiness by placing their hand on the object involved. 9

6. Semichah as Ascent

In the reading of the fourth Rebbe of Chabad, Rabbi Shmuel Schneersohn, semichah represents the symbolic ascent of the soul.

When a person brought an olah offering, it represented far more than the offering of an animal—it was an expression of offering one’s very soul to G‑d. The act of semichah, leaning one’s hand on the head of the animal, symbolized the individual’s inner yearning to ascend—using the sacrifice as a means to rise higher and higher, ultimately cleaving to G‑d Himself.

Through fulfilling the Divine command and desiring with all his heart to draw near, the offerer’s soul was spiritually uplifted. Just as the sacrifice causes all heavenly forces to be drawn upward due to the intense revelation, so the soul of the one bringing it is drawn to attach itself to the Infinite.

Today, in the absence of sacrifices, our sages instituted prayer in their place, including the recitation of the korbanot passages, so that our souls can still ascend through spiritual service.

By reciting the laws of the korbanot, we awaken the same spiritual process, for our sages taught: “One who studies the laws of the olah—it is as if he brought it.”10 In doing so, the soul is uplifted until it breaks into praise and thanksgiving, declaring: “Give thanks to G‑d, call upon His Name…” (The opening lines of the Shacharit prayer service.)11