[This blog post is a copy of the Torah class that Rabbi Feld gave at our 2023 Innovators Retreat, which focused on the theme of helping our students develop intrinsic motivation.]
Experts in second language acquisition value the student skill of “learning a new word from context” over their memorizing new words to ensure both better recall and correct use in sentences. Transforming this wisdom into an exercise in Tanakh class allows students to learn more about a particular Bible word than its mere definition. To implement this strategy, the class would receive multiple examples of a particular word in several locations in the Tanakh. Through regular context clues and scaffolding, a student, or a group of students, could gather information to discover the meaning or meanings of the target word. In the case of the word mincha, its various uses suggest a core point of intrinsic motivation.
The word mincha is used 113 times in the Torah. In modern Hebrew, the term “mincha” refers to afternoon prayer. In several examples in Sefer Bereishit, mincha describes a person’s gift to a more powerful force to mollify or make peace with that individual. For example, Bereishit 32:14 says:
וַיָּ֥לֶן שָׁ֖ם בַּלַּ֣יְלָה הַה֑וּא וַיִּקַּ֞ח מִן־הַבָּ֧א בְיָד֛וֹ מִנְחָ֖ה לְעֵשָׂ֥ו אָחִֽיו׃
After spending the night there, he (Yaakov) selected from what was at hand a mincha for his brother Eisav:
Or in Bereishit 43:26, where Yosef’s brothers have, at Yaakov’s behest, brought a gift to ingratiate themselves with the foreign viceroy:
וַיָּבֹ֤א יוֹסֵף֙ הַבַּ֔יְתָה וַיָּבִ֥יאּוּ ל֛וֹ אֶת־הַמִּנְחָ֥ה אֲשֶׁר־בְּיָדָ֖ם הַבָּ֑יְתָה וַיִּשְׁתַּחֲווּ־ל֖וֹ אָֽרְצָה׃
When Yosef came home, they presented to him the mincha that they had brought with them into the house, bowing low before him to the ground.
The word mincha, in over 100 of its appearances, also describes a sacrifice made of flour, frankincense, and oil, such as this source in Vayikra 2:1:
וְנֶ֗פֶשׁ כִּֽי־תַקְרִ֞יב קׇרְבַּ֤ן מִנְחָה֙ לַֽה' סֹ֖לֶת יִהְיֶ֣ה קׇרְבָּנ֑וֹ וְיָצַ֤ק עָלֶ֙יהָ֙ שֶׁ֔מֶן וְנָתַ֥ן עָלֶ֖יהָ לְבֹנָֽה׃
When a person presents a korban mincha to God: The offering shall be of choice flour; the person presenting shall pour oil upon it, and lay frankincense on it.
One may explain, based on context, that a mincha expresses a special gift. Further examination discloses a deeper idea.
The word mincha, when joined by the word korban or by its verb format l’hakriv, has its essential meaning changed. The word korban indicates from its root word K-R-B that the giver wants a close, mutual relationship with the Divine. The ingredients God requests for this offering constitute the least expensive of the materials a guest could choose in the Beit HaMikdash, the Temple. Open to everyone, the motivation of the offering stems from a desire to draw close to God. Without the root K-R-B, a mincha describes a payoff to a seemingly feckless thug, like Yaakov to Eisav, like the brothers to Yosef (disguised as a viceroy), and like, surprisingly, Kayin to God.
Bereishit 4:3 states:
וַֽיְהִ֖י מִקֵּ֣ץ יָמִ֑ים וַיָּבֵ֨א קַ֜יִן מִפְּרִ֧י הָֽאֲדָמָ֛ה מִנְחָ֖ה לַֽה’׃
In the course of time, Kayin brought a mincha to God from the fruit of the soil;
Kayin sought to bribe God, the source of the crops, with a gift to ensure future favors. In contradistinction, Hevel, on his own, gave of the best of his flocks as a form of gratitude offering with no strings attached.
וְהֶ֨בֶל הֵבִ֥יא גַם־ה֛וּא מִבְּכֹר֥וֹת צֹאנ֖וֹ וּמֵֽחֶלְבֵהֶ֑ן וַיִּ֣שַׁע ה' אֶל־הֶ֖בֶל וְאֶל־מִנְחָתֽוֹ׃
and Hevel, for his part, brought the choicest of the firstlings of his flock. God paid heed to Hevel and his mincha.
Not only is Hevel’s offering not described as a mincha in the first part of the verse when Hevel gives the offering, but it is God who assesses, first, the intentions of Hevel as worthy of paying heed to, and second, that the gift was a proper mincha. Since God could not accept Kayin’s offering without setting a precedent for the rest of history that God can be bribed, God explained the issue empathetically to Kayin. The text demonstrates that Kayin in his act of giving to God lacks the intention indicated by the root word K-R-B in the giving of the mincha in the Mishkan, the Tabernacle. The use of mincha with K-R-B indicates the use of intrinsic motivation to forge a closer relationship with someone.
The Torah guides our behavior by means of narratives that give a framework for the 613 laws. In the case of mincha, we see the difference between extrinsic motivation, the goal to placate a war lord, versus the satisfaction of relatedness, purpose, and significance, all elements of intrinsic motivation. While one use of a mincha offering to God treats the Holy One as a vending machine or a tool to amass scarce products, the other use of mincha speaks to our goal of intrinsically motivated ways of becoming close to God. The sacred wisdom models behavior for our students, and indeed, for all of us.