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The
Abarbanel on the Yom Kippur Service
in the Beis Hamikdash
A Chronology
Rendered into English
by Rabbi Elimelech Lepon
The
Yom Kippur service in the Beis Hamikdash was performed by the Kohen
Gadol. Because this day is the holiest of days,
the service was performed by the greatest and holiest person in the nation.
The Torah refers to Aharon throughout the portion
concerning the service,* for he represents the
position of Kohen Gadol
throughout the ages.
The Yom Kippur service is described in the first Mishnah
of Yoma: Seven days prior to Yom Kippur the Kohen Gadol was taken from
his house and sequestered in the officials' chamber.**
In the event that he could not serve, due to some disqualification or
impurity, another kohen would serve in his place,
as it says, "And the kohen who is anointed
and who shall be consecrated to serve in the priest's office in his
father's stead, shall make the atonement......"
* Vayirkra 16:1-34
** This chamber, located on
the north side of the Temple courtyard, served as
the Kohen Gadol's
private office
The service performed on this day had three parts:
- First,
the daily service (tamid),
consisting of two sheep, one in the morning and one towards the
evening.
- Second,
the additional service (musaf)
consisting of one bull, one ram, and seven perfect one-year-old sheep,
and one goat for a sin offering (chatas).
In the event that Yom Kippur fell on Shabbos,
the (musaf)
for Shabbos would also be performed,
consisting of two sheep and their meal offerings and libations.
- Third,
the special service for atonement and forgiveness, consisting of one
bull for a sin offering and one ram for a burnt offering (olah),
both belonging to the Kohen Gadol; the nation,* one of which was sacrificed
and one of which was sent to Azazel, the
wilderness.
The Yom Kippur service was performed in the following order:
On the night of Yom Kippur the Kohen Gadol did not sleep at all to avoid the possibility of
a nocturnal emission.** Accordingly, he was not allowed to eat much before
Yom Kippur, as food might put him to sleep. See how much the Kohen Gadol exerted himself on this day, not sleeping all night, eating very
little at the meal prior to the fast, fasting on Yom Kippur, and performing
the service from morning until evening, standing throughout the day without
sitting down.
* In Temple times, it was a
positive mitzvah for every Jew to contribute a silver half-shekel yearly
for the purchase of the communal offerings.
** This would disqualify him
from service in the Temple until nightfall of the
next day.
At sunrise he went to the mikveh,*
removed his clothes, and immersed himself. He put on the eight priestly
garments -- pants, tunic, sash, turban, breastplate, ephod,** robe, and gold
headband -- washed his hands and feet in the ritual basin, and went to the
slaughterhouse. The sheep for the daily morning offering was brought to
him. He would slaughter it, collect its blood, and sprinkle it on the outer
altar, known as the altar of the olah.
This was the first sacrifice of the day.
Next, the Kohen Gadol
entered the hall outside the Holy of Holies (heichal).
He burnt incense on the gold altar, cleaned the menorah, and offered the
portions of the daily sacrifice burnt on the altar (emurim),
the meal offering, and the libation of the daily offering, as were offered
every day of the year.
After this he would offer part of the musaf : the bull and the seven
sheep. If Yom Kippur fell on Shabbos, he would
also offer the musaf
of Shabbos: two sheep and their meal offerings
and libations.
The Kohen Gadol then
ritually washed his hands and feet, removed the gold garments and the rest
of the vestments, and again immersed himself in
the mikveh.
He then dressed in white garments and again washed his hands and feet.
These were not the white garments that the other kohanim
wore and that the Kohen Gadol
wore all year round. The cloth was spun, not from six threads, as were
those garments, but from a single thread of thin white linen. This is the
cloth that is specifically mentioned in the Torah for the special service
for atonement.
* Located
at Shaar Hamayim on the
south end of the Temple courtyard.
** A type of linen apron.
Dressed in his white garments, he then went to the bull, which was standing
between the entrance hall (ulam)
and the gold altar. He rested both hands on its head and confessed his sins
and the sins of his family.*
From there he walked, with the deputy Kohen Gadol on his right and the head of the priests'
division** on his left, up to the east of the Temple
courtyard, north of the altar. There he would find two goats from the
Israelite community. The oral tradition dictated that they be similar in
appearance, height, and cost, and that they be purchased for this purpose
on the same day. The Kohen Gadol
cast lots upon these goats. The one whose lot said "to Hashem" was placed near the spot where it was to
be slaughtered, and the one whose lot said "to Azazel"
had a piece of red wool tied to its head and was put in front of the gate
from which it would be sent out.
The Kohen Gadol then
returned to his bull, rested his hands on it, and confessed the sins of his
fellow kohanim, himself, and his family. He would
slaughter the bull, collect its blood in a gold vessel, and give it to a kohen who would stir the blood on the fourth row of the
pavement stones to keep it from coagulating.***
* The
Gemara (Yoma 35b) describes his prayer: "I
beg of You, Hashem, I have acted wickedly,
rebelled, and sinned before You, I and my
household. I beg of You, Hashem, forgive now the
wicked acts, rebellions, and sins, for I have acted wickedly, rebelled, and
sinned before You, I and my household, as is written in the Torah of Moshe
(Vayikra 16:30): 'For on this day he [the Kohen Gadol] will atone for
you...."
** Kohanim
were divided into "watches" each of which served its turn in the
Temple for one week at a time. Each watch was subdivided into family
groups, each serving on a specific day. Each family group chose a division
head (Rosh Beis Av) (Rambam,
Hilchos Kli Hamikdash 4:11).
*** Between the services of
collecting the blood and sprinkling it, the Kohen
Gadol had to burn the incense in the Holy of
Holies. To keep the blood from coagulating in the meantime, it had to be
stirred.
Immediately thereafter a gold shovel was brought to him.* All year long,
the kohanim would use silver shovels, but on Yom
Kippur a gold shovel was used. The Kohen Gadol scooped coals from the outer altar and put them
on the shovel. A gold ladle** and a vessel filled with finely ground
incense were also brought to him. He took a full handful of incense from
this vessel and placed it into the ladle. Holding the shovel in his right
hand and the ladle in his left, he then approached the entrance to the Holy
of Holies. The deputy Kohen Gadol
who walked on his right and the head of the priests' division who walked on
his left lifted the paroches
(curtain) and the Kohen Gadol
entered the Holy of Holies.
He placed the gold shovel between the two poles projecting from the ark.
(After the destruction of the First
Temple,
when the ark was hidden away,*** there was a stone
in the place in Holy of Holies which was three fingers high**** and the Kohen Gadol would place the
shovel on it instead.) He grasped the lip of the ladle with his fingertips
or teeth and spilled the incense into his palm, so that the ladle would be
emptied and the incense would fill his hand as before. Thus he would not
spill the incense from the ladle directly into the shovel, but rather from
the ladle into his hand and from his hand into the shovel. He placed the
incense on the coals in the shovel,
* It was a
small shovel to hold the coals for burning the incense.
** The ladle was a vessel for
holding the incense. It was called "caf,"
literally palm, because of its similarity to the palm of the hand.
*** King Yoshiyahu
hid the ark in order to prevent it from being taken to Babylon during the destruction
of the First Temple (Yoma
52b).
**** It was called Even Shesiyah (foundation stone), for from it the world was
founded, i,e.,the
creation of the world began from this point and this rock was the first
part of the earth to be created (Rashi, Yoma 54b). Some say that the great stone in the
"Dome of the Rock" is the Shesiyah
Stone (Radbaz, Responsa
639 and 691).
and
remained in the Holy of Holies until the room was filled with smoke.* He
went out walking backwards, his face to the ark and his back to the
doorway,** until he was out of the Holy of Holies. Our Sages said that the
burning of the incense on Yom Kippur was the most difficult service in the Beis Hamikdash, because it
was done differently than on all other days.
When he came out of the Holy of Holies, the Kohen
Gadol prayed to Hashem.
He would not pray while inside the Holy of Holies, but only once he left
and was in the heichal.***
There he would pray for the produce of the coming year and for the royal
House of David.****
After this the Kohen Gadol
took the blood of the bull from the kohen who was
stirring it and went into the Holy of Holies a second time. There he
sprinkled blood on the kapores
(lid of the ark) and in front of the kapores.
* The
incense mixture included a plant called Maaleh Ashan which caused the smoke to rise straight up. Only
after the smoke spread across the ceiling of the Holy of Holies and down
its walls, filling the entire room, was the Kohen
Gadol allowed to leave (Yoma
53a).
** As a sign of humility and
fear before G-d.
*** It would have been
inappropriate to pray for mundane needs in the Holy of Holies (Tiferes Yisrael). The Gemara
(Yoma 52b) explains:"He
would not prolong his prayer so as not to frighten the Jews." The
people might fear that he had died in the Holy of Holies (Rav). Indeed many
did due due to their unworthiness or because they
altered the process of burning the incense (as did the Sadducees).
**** The Gemara (Yoma 53b) describes his prayer: "May it be Your
will, Hashem, our G-d and G-d of our forefathers,
that for the year coming upon us and upon all Your people Yisrael wherever they are -- if it be hot, may it be
rainy [to counteract the heat], and may sovereignty not be removed from the
House of Yehudah, and may Your people not be
required to receive sustenance from one another, and may the prayers of
wayfarers not be permitted to enter before You [since travelers pray that
there be no rain]."
He
would sprinkle once above and seven times below, counting the sprinklings
thus: "one," "one and one," "one and two,"
"one and three," "one and four," "one and
five," "one and six," "one and seven." He left the
Holy of Holies, taking our the vessel containing
the remaining bull's blood and placing it on the gold stand in the heichal.
He then slaughtered the goat of Yom Kippur from the Israelite community,
which had been left at the slaughterhouse.* He collected its blood in
another vessel and entered the Holy of Holies a third time. There he
sprinkled the blood of the goat just as he had sprinkled the blood of the
bull. He went out and placed the vessel containing the remaining goat's
blood on another gold stand which was also in the heichal.
The Kohen Gadol then
took the blood of the bull and sprinkled it in the heichal
on the paroches
and in front of the paroches,
once above and seven times below just as he had sprinkled in the Holy of
Holies. Similarly he took the blood of the goat and sprinkled it in the
same exact manner on the paroches
and in front of the paroches,
After these sprinklings the Kohen Gadol poured and mixed the blood of the goat into the
blood of the bull. From this combined blood, he sprinkled the corners of
the gold altar with four sprinklings. All these sprinklings were performed
in an upward direction, except for the last sprinkling which was performed
in an downward direction.
* The
purpose of this sacrifice was to atone for people other than kohanim who had gone into the Temple or had eaten
sacrifices in a state of spiritual uncleanliness.
Then the Kohen Gadol
removed the ashes from the gold altar and cleaned it so that the gold top
would be visible. He sprinkled the combined blood onto this altar seven
times and poured the remainder on the western base of the outer altar. From
there the blood flowed out to the Kidron Brook.*
The Kohen Gadol then
went back to the goat that was to be sent away to Azazel,
placed both his hands on it, and confessed the sins of the people of Yisrael. Then he would send it out to the wilderness
with an appointed watchman. When they reached a certain high rock, the
watchman pushed it off with both hands and the goat was torn limb from
limb.
After he sent out the goat, the Kohen Gadol took the emurim
of the bull and the goat whose blood had been sprinkled in the Holy of
Holies, and he put them in a vessel in order to burn them on the altar. The
remaining parts of those animals were sent to the Beis Hadeshen
(the place where the ashes of the sacrifices were deposited) to be burnt.
Just as the scapegoat was sent out of the city walls, so the sin offerings
of the bull and the goat were burnt outside the walls. Those who carried
the body parts and the one who accompanied the scapegoat became impure and
were required to launder their clothes.
The news that the scapegoat had arrived at its destination in the
wilderness reached the city in a short time, even through Jerusalem was
twelve milin from that cliff.** This was
accomplished by scouts who waved cloths from towers one to another all
along the way. In this way the news reached Jerusalem
quickly despite the fact that the watchman who accompanied the goat did not
return until after Yom Kippur.* It flowed by way of a canal that ran
through the Temple
courtyard. Water was channeled through it to flush it clean. The blood was
used to fertilize neighboring fields. ** The distance from Jerusalem
to the precipice of Azazel was approximately
eight miles. Also, the Sages say there was a string of red wool tied atop
the Temple
entrance, and the moment the scapegoat reached its destination in the
wilderness the string would turn white. Thus was fulfilled the verse:
"[Even] if your sins will be like crimson thread, they will become
white as snow."
As soon as the Kohen Gadol
knew that the scapegoat had reached its destination, he went to the ezras nashim
(women's section),* took out a Torah scroll, and read the two sections in Vayikra dealing with the Yom Kippur service.** He also read the section from parashas Pinchas
describing the musaf service,*** but he would
recite it from memory so that he wouldn't have to spend time rolling the
Torah scroll in public.# He recited eight blessings on this reading.##
Then he went quickly to the mikveh
where he ritually washed his hands and feet, took off the white garments,
dipped in the mikveh,
put on the gold garments, and again washed his hands and feet.
* A large
area so called because women were commonly found there, since it was open
to men and women who were ritually unclean as a result of a variety of
causes, including the menstrual cycle.
** Vayikra
16:1-34 and 23:26-32.
*** Bemidbar
39:7-11.
# Out of respect for the
congregation. The first two readings were close together so it didn't take
much time to roll the scroll from one to the other.
## They were: 1. For the Torah;
2. For the sacrificial service; 3. For thanksgiving; 4. For the forgiving
of sins; 5. For the Temple; 6. For Yisrael (for
Jerusalem); 7. For kohanim; 8. That Hashem should accept his prayer (Yoma
68b).
He would then continue with what remained of the musaf
service, namely the goat for a sin offering and the ram, which was also
called "the ram of the nation";* and the ram belonging to the Kohen Gadol. The two rams
were both burnt as olos.
Immediately thereafter, the Kohen Gadol sacrificed the daily afternoon offering. It was
the final one of the day, just as the daily morning offering was the first.
Afterwards he went once more to the mikveh,
first washing his hands and feet, then taking off the gold garments and
immersing himself. We know that after each immersion he would dry himself.
Then he put on the white garments a second time and washed his hands and
feet. He entered the Holy of Holies a fourth time in order to remove the
shovel and the ladle that were left there from the burning of the incense.
When he left the Holy of Holies, he returned to the mikveh,
washed his hands and feet, took off the white garments, immersed himself,
dried off, put on the gold garments once more, and again washed his hands
and feet. Then he burnt the afternoon incense on the gold altar and lit the
lights in the menorah, just as he did every day of the year.
Afterwards he washed his hands and feet again and then took off the gold
garments and put on his own every day clothes. The holy white garments that
the Kohen Gadol wore on
Yom Kippur were hidden away forever, for it was prohibited to derive any
benefit from them. No Kohen Gadol
could ever wear them again, nor could any other kohen
wear them, as our Rabbis explained.
Then the entire congregation would accompany the Kohen
Gadol to his home. There he would celebrate
completing the service and coming out alive from the Temple.
* This
follows the view of Rebbi (Yoma
70b) and Rambam (Mishneh
Torah, Hilchos Avodas
Yom Hakippurim, 4:2).
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