This week's Parshah discusses the concept of sacrifices.

Chassidic thought teaches that there are two components to a person's spiritual make-up:  the Nefesh Elokit or "G-dly soul," and the Nefesh Habahamit, the "Animal Soul."

The G-dly soul, as it's name suggests, is the spiritual, "soul" part of a person which is constantly striving to come closer to its' Creator and to elevate the physical and material.

The Animal soul, on the other hand, represents the basest and most animalistic of desires.  It is the materialistic drives, the quest for instant gratification.

The Torah tells us (Leviticus 1:2), "When one should offer, of you, a sacrifice to G-d."  The "of you" tells us that the sacrifice has to come from within, from the Animal Soul.  The Hebrew word for sacrifice, korban, comes from the same verb as karev meaning "to come close."

By "sacrificing" our Animal soul, by channeling its energies into more G-dly pursuits, we can truly "become close" to our Creator.  As the verse tells us, of you.  It depends on you and you alone.  No one else can do it for you.  On the other hand, no other person or thing can stand in the way.