Have you ever worked very hard on a family project, like painting the fence, cleaning out the garage, building new shelves...? When you are focused on the work, everyone pitches in, rolls up their sleeves, and gets the job done. You have to sacrifice the fun stuff for a few hours and work toward your target. And when you make this sacrifice of your time, energy and effort, you feel really dedicated to the cause. You feel connected to the project and those working on it with you.

This is the meaning of the sacrifices in the Torah. A person may want to thank G-d for a happy occasion, or may feel distant from G-d and wants to feel closer - so he takes some of his property, which he earned with his hard efforts, and brings it to Jerusalem to sacrifice it in the Beis Hamikdash. It means leaving the game boy, computer or football game and making a sacrifice in order to feel closer to the One who gave you the game boy, the computer and the ability to play football. He then feels more focused, dedicated and connected to G-d.

The sacrifices which are brought in the Temple in Jerusalem are called a "Reyach Nichoach L'Hashem" - a sweet-smelling offering to Hashem. Rabbi Isaac Bernstein, z'l, once quoted a Torah commentator that the purpose of our sense of "smell" is to anticipate and yearn for that which is coming next -the food. You know if you have a cold and a blocked nose it is very hard to taste the food, so a sweet smell allows you to yearn for and look forward to what's coming next -the food delicacies which excite out palates and satisfy our hunger. When we make a sacrifice to G-d, we are saying: "I am dedicated to doing something NEXT for you, G-d. I am going to be a better person, I'll be more sensitive, I'll be more careful, I'll try harder. This is my "sweet-smelling" aroma before you G-d -just wait and see what I am going to do next."

This is what our prayers do today. Prayers replace the sacrifices that we used to bring. In prayer we review our past day, week, or year, and say: "I'll try harder. I'll keep working on myself. Here are my plans, G-d -please give them a bracha. These are my yearnings and aspirations of what I am going to do NEXT. Please give me the strength and wisdom to keep growing as a person -and to keep working for You." This is the sweet aroma of our prayers -our plans to remain focused on our goals and mission in life, and connected to the One who sent us on this mission... May your next prayer be a sweet "Rayach Nichoach" before Hashem.