One of the central elements of the Temple service was the bringing of offerings and, through this spiritual service, people could express their closeness to God. The verse that introduces the section on offerings teaches that closeness to God is dependent only on the individual and his desire to be close; there is nothing external that prevents a person from becoming closer to God.

“When any man…brings [yakriv],” when a person comes closer [yitkarev] to the divine, then because “of you” [mikem] he will become “an offering [korban] to the Lord” (Leviticus 1:2). Becoming an offering to God, being close to Him, is dependent on you. For it is known that [the purpose of] offerings is to bring a person’s faculties and senses closer [to God], and this verse comes to explain that when one wants to get closer to the Divine, it is “of you,” dependent on you. One should not say: How can I become closer to the divine? He may know his own inner self, that he is sullied and degraded as a result of negative actions, and therefore feels extremely far from the Divine. But concerning [the question: How can I become closer to the Divine], it is stated, “of you,” it depends upon you. (Rabbi Yosef Yitzĥak Schneersohn, Bati LeGani 5710, ch. 2)