Pensée juive sur Samuel 1 15:22

The Midrash Ne-elam in Parshat Bereshit, tells of a man who proclaimed that a son to be born should be "holy" to elokim. Thereupon Rabbi Chiya excommunicated him. When asked what wrong a man had done who sanctified his son to G'd, (similar to Hannah, mother of the prophet Samuel), his reply was that he had used the term a-d-o-na-y. Hannah's vow (Samuel I 1,11) is quoted there as the correct formula to use. The ignorance of Manoach, who was at that moment unaware that the messenger had been an angel of G'd, makes his behaviour appear even further removed from the traditional Jewish attitude to korban, sacrifice. He appears to have laboured under the delusion that Nebuchadnezzar laboured under. (Daniel 2,46.) The latter had prostrated himself in front of Daniel, and ordered a variety of of sacrifices to be offered to Daniel, treating him as the deputy of G'd. The angel's instructions to Manoach resulted in Manoach going about the sacrifice in the correct manner, as a result of which he became aware of the true identity of the messenger. Thus the proper attitude in offering sacrifices is seen to result in greater insights and greater proximity to the shechinah. A similar result occurred with Gideon. (Judges chapter 6) He too had been unaware of the true nature of who had addressed him. First, Gideon had thought that he had been talking to a prophet, i.e. a human being. When he sought reassurance that he was in fact being addressed by a Divine being, and asked for an opportunity to offer a sacrifice, the angel agreed to wait for his return, and then instructed him how to proceed with the offering. His realisation that he had been able to communicate with a Divine being, came as a result of his having offered a sacrifice in the correct manner, with the proper intent. If the accent in discussing korbanot, sacrifices, is on the free will type of offering, the reason is that though also the sin offering is acceptable, and contributes to our coming closer to G'd, it is preferable not to have to sin, than to have to atone for the sin through repentance and sacrifice. Even the objective of closeness to G'd, can be attained preferably without having to resort to sacrifice. The prophet Jeremiah (Jeremiah chapter 7) does not tire of stressing that G'd had never demanded sacrifices from the forefathers, nor even at the time of the Exodus. Rather, what G'd had demanded was obedience. There are numerous statements in the Bible along those lines. The important thing is that once used, the institution of sacrifice must not be abused, since this would be conterproductive, would thwart its objectives. The reason that non domesticated animals are not suitable for sacrifices, may be that all wildlife is ownerless, i.e. belongs directly to G'd, as opposed to domesticated animals to which man has established a claim of ownership. Presenting wildlife as an offering would not be giving to G'd of oneself, of one's own. However, G'd says (Psalm 50,9) that if it were a question of "My needs," "I would not even accept a domestic animal from your house, since I own all of them too. The reason that I accept korban is merely that I wish to acknowledge your wish to express gratitude or let you pay your vows to Me." (see verse 14 there) The first kind of offering, Todah, connected with the word viduy, confession, is usually motivated by some occurrence as described in verse 15, "a day of trouble"; "your vows," usually is preventative. You make vows in order to ward off untoward occurrences. Verses fourteen and fifteen are closely interrelated then.

PROOF THAT SUBMISSION IS FIRST AND FOREMOST
The believer cannot acquire [extra] piety until he [first] discharges his [basic] obligation, as written "Has the L-ord as much desire in burnt offerings and peace-offerings, as in obeying the voice of the L-ord? Behold, obedience is better than a peace-offering" (Shmuel 15:22).

But I would go even further and say that it is impossible for any decision of Sanhedrin to be injurious to the soul — even if they caused one to eat forbidden food by pronouncing it permissible. For the good accruing to one's soul in abiding by the decision of the sages, the teachers of the Torah (such obedience being more prized by the L-rd than anything else, as it is written [I Samuel 15:22]: "To obey is better than to sacrifice") — such good will neutralize any potential evil in the forbidden food. And the same will hold true for the body. When the food is eaten within this context, its destructive potential will be neutralized (unless it is extraordinarily potent). This is the case with one who abides by the mitzvoth of Sanhedrin. Even if they err and permit forbidden food to him, his abiding by their decision will immunize his soul to any potential evil in the food. Therefore, the Torah commanded: "Do not depart from the thing that they tell you, right or left." Thus far, the judges and what relates to them.