Why are specifically the Cheilev, the kidneys and the lobe of the liver of a Chatas burnt on the Mizbe'ach?
R. Bachye: Because these three limbs are responsible for man's sins: the Cheilev is the source of conceit (arrogance), 1 the kidneys, of advice, 2 as the Pasuk indicates in Tehilim 16:7 and 26:2, whereas the liver is the seat of desire and the root of anger, the desire to rule and to seek worldly pleasures. All of these the Kohen burnt on the north side of the Azarah because 'evil will come from the north'. 3
R. Bachye: As the Torah writes in Devarim 32:15 "Vayishman Yehurun Vayiv'at Shamanta Avisa Kasisa .. !" See also Iyov15:27.
B'rachos 61a.
