Tumah-Tahara-Karbanos---The Spiritual and the Physical

The Kuzari describes the reason for  Karbanos as follows:


The Kuzari has a very innovative view on the reason for korbanos. He analogizes the korban to a human eating. There is seemingly an interesting paradox in that physical material that the physical body intakes somehow manages to keep the spiritual Neshama in the body. The interesting point about it is here you have a physical machine, somehow the spirit resides in the body (as the Rama says that is the bracha in Asher Yatzar of "Mofli La'asos" that a spirit can remain contained in a physical container is a Nes). The spirit will leave the body at its determined time. However, one can cause the spirit to leave by simply not feeding the body its physical needs. So you have a situation where a spiritual entity resides in a physical space and needs some kind of physical nourishment to keep it there.

The Kuzari explains Karbanos this way. The Karbon is physical nourishment for the Shechina and keeps the Shecina in this physical world. When we had the Bais Hamikdash and we didn't bring Karbonos the Shechina would leave the physical world. Just like the body has its physical rules as to what nourishes it so to the Shecina has rules as to what it need to nourish it to keep it in its body which is our universe


This is very similar to the Rambam at the end of Taharos (last Rambam in Mikvaos) who says as follows:

דבר ברור וגלוי שהטומאות והטהרות גזירות הכתוב הן. ואינן מדברים שדעתו של אדם מכרעתו והרי הן מכלל החוקים. וכן הטבילה מן הטומאות מכלל החוקים הוא שאין הטומאה טיט או צואה שתעבור במים אלא גזירת הכתוב היא והדבר תלוי בכוונת הלב. ולפיכך אמרו חכמים טבל ולא הוחזק כאילו לא טבל. ואעפ"כ רמז יש בדבר כשם שהמכוין לבו לטהר כיון שטבל טהור ואע"פ שלא נתחדש בגופו דבר כך המכוין לבו לטהר נפשו מטומאות הנפשות שהן מחשבות האון ודעות הרעות. כיון שהסכים בלבו לפרוש מאותן העצות והביא נפשו במי הדעת טהור. הרי הוא אומר וזרקתי עליכם מים טהורים וטהרתם מכל טומאותיכם ומכל גלוליכם אטהר אתכם. השם ברחמיו הרבים מכל חטא עון ואשמה יטהרנו אמן: סליקו להו הלכות מקואות בס"ד: נגמר ספר עשירי והוא ספר טהרה הלכותיו שמונה. ופרקיו מאה וארבעים וארבעה:

The Rambam is saying that even though Tahara in a Mikveh is a גזירות הכתוב there is a very deep underlying message to it. We must understand that there is a connection between the physical and metaphysical/spiritual. The Mikva is a physical entity. When one gets dirt on his physical body he showers it off. Why would the Torah choose such a simply physical dirt remover to remove a spiritual stain such as Tumah? Why does the Torah tell us to dip in water to become Tahor such as one would do to wash off his body if he got muddy? The Rambam says that the Torah is teaching us to respect the relationship between physical actions and spiritual consequences and vice versa. Therefore, the Rambam tells us, if one acts sinfully and transgresses the Torah by violating a commandment in a physical way how can he remove that transgression? The Torah teaches us that a man can do Teshuva. Teshuva will erase the record. What is Teshuva? Simply put, Teshuva is the feeling of regret and the resolution not to act in such a manner again. The Rambam recognizes that it is hard to understand how a seemingly non physical act (which is not even an action) of regretting and letting God know that we feel bad can erase an actual physical act. There should be a need for some other physical reality to remove the first physical reality that was performed. To this the Rambam states that the Torah gave us the Mikva concept to see that in this world it is all related and just as physical acts can remove spiritual impurities such as Tumah so can spiritual acts such as Teshuva remove actual facts on the ground created by physical transgressions.