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The
Abarbanel on the Yom Kippur Service
in the Beis Hamikdash
Burnt Offerings
Rendered into English
by Rabbi Elimelech Lepon
QUESTIONS:
1.Why did the daily
offerings consist of two sheep, and not a bull, a ram, or a goat as did all
the musaf offerings mentioned in parashas Pinchas?
2. Why were one bull, one ram, and seven
sheep, plus one goat for a sin offering, offered for musaf?
Why not simply offer one type of animal?
3. Why did the musaf
of Yom Kippur consist of seven sheep but only one bull, one ram, and one
goat? Why not just one sheep?
COMMENTARY:
The three types of Yom Kippur sacrifices -- daily (tamid), additional (musaf),
and special for atonement -- can be understood in two ways.
The First Way:
The two sheep for the daily offering symbolize the recurring cycle of day
and night, a continuous succession caused by Hashem.
Therefore, one sheep was burnt in the morning to represent day and one
towards evening to represent night. They were both sheep (kevasim)
because this cycle conquers (kovesh) the world and acts upon all that
exists. The meal offering and libation symbolize the produce that comes
forth due to this cycle, produce of the threshing floor and wine press.
Bread, oil, and wine were used in these offerings, since they are the
staples needed by mankind more than any other. This explains why the tithes
are taken from these products alone.*
The daily offering would be totally burnt up, to make known that the
heavens belong to Hashem and He alone governs the
movements of the upper sphere. As the Psalmist says, "Yours is the day
and even the night; You have established the moon and the sun."
Since Shabbos teaches about the creation of the
world, the musaf
offering of Shabbos was identical to the daily
offering, telling us that the cycle and its movements are the handiwork of
the Creator from the start of creation. But Yom Kippur, being a day
consecrated to God, had a special musaf. On this day a
bull was offered to represent the uppermost sphere, which encompasses
everything, just as the bull is the master of beasts and the cause of
bountiful harvest, as it says, "Abundant produce comes through the
strength of the bull."** The word for bull (par) is derived from the
word for fruit (pri).
Similarly the uppermost sphere is the greatest sphere, and it causes the
growth of all fruit and produce.
* Rabbinic
law requires tithes to be taken from all fruits and vegetables.
** Through his plowing of the
field.
The ram (ayil)
symbolizes the system of stars which includes the constellations. For the
ram has the greatest strength and power (ayloos) despite the
fact that it is physically smaller than the bull.
The seven sheep symbolize the seven planets that control the lower world
and function within it.
These offerings were totally burnt up to teach that all the spheres are
servants of Hashem, the work of His hands from
the very beginning of Creation. It also shows that all these forces are
destined to be extinguished. As the psalmist says, "From the beginning
You founded the earth and the heavens were Your handiwork; they shall
perish and You shall endure."
The goat of the sin offering symbolizes the lower world where sins are
found. Therefore, this offering was not completely burnt up, as were the olos,
but rather was eaten by the kohanim, without an
accompanying meal offering or libation.
The Rambam explains that since the olos
were totally burnt up, the Torah says, "a burnt offering to Hashem." However, in relation to the sin and peace
offerings (shelamim),
the phrase "to Hashem" is not used
because some portions were eaten. Moreover, the phrase is not used with
respect to those sin offerings that were completely burnt, for it is not
proper to say "a sin offering to Hashem."
While burning an olah
is pleasing to Hashem, burning a sin offering
emits a disgusting odor and was therefore not called "a sin offering
to Hashem." This is why those sin offerings
which were totally burnt, were burnt outside the
camp and not on the altar. Only the olah was burnt on the
altar, for it is called a "pleasant fragrance to Hashem."
An exception was the goat of musaf of Rosh Chodesh,
which is called "a sin offering to Hashem"
This is to prevent us from thinking that this offering was being made to
the moon at the start of its cycle, in the manner of the Egyptians who made
offerings to the new moon. Thus the Torah states clearly that the goat
offered on Rosh Chodesh, although it was a sin
offering, was "to Hashem" and not to
the new moon.
The Rambam's explanation is clear and true to any
understanding person, and in a sense it concurs with my hypothesis that the
sin offering symbolizes the lower world, where there are wicked and sinful
people. This is not so in the upper worlds, which are perfect. They are
symbolized by the olos.
These symbols cause man to reflect on the awesomeness of Hashem and this is why they were brought on this holy
day.
The Second Way
The two sheep
of the daily offering symbolize the nation of Yisrael,
who are called sheep, as it says, "Yisrael
are scattered sheep.:
Pesikta Rabasi
explains, " 'Two sheep [kevasim], one year
old and perfect.' Beis Shammai
says that these are the people of Yisrael who
conquer [kovshim]
their sins. Beis Hillel says that this refers to
the mercy of Heaven that conquers [kovesh] the sins of Yisrael, as it says, 'He shall return and have mercy on
us and conquer our sins.'
The daily offerings were like a prayer to Hashem
that He remember His mercy to Yisrael
every morning and evening and that He bless our grains, wine, and oil.
These are symbolized by the meal offerings and libations which accompanied
the tamid.
Thus the daily offerings belonged communally to the community so that the
entire nation would have a share in them.
For the musaf
of Yom Kippur a bull and a ram would be sacrificed to recall the merits of
our fathers. The bull represents Avraham, as it
says. "Avraham ran to the cattle. The ram
represents Yitzchak because of the ram that was sacrificed in his place at
the Akeidah.
The bull was three years old, for three nations descended from Avraham: Yishmael, B'nei Keturah, and Yisrael. Similarly, the ram was two years old to
represent the two nations that descended from Yitzchak: Esav
and Yaakov.
The goat represents Yaakov, to whom it was said, "Go now to the flock
and take for me from there two young goats, The goat was one year old,
representing the one nation, Yisrael, that
descended from Yaakov.
The Rabbis, however, explain that the seven sheep represent Avraham and Sarah, Yitzchak and Rivkah,
Yaakov, Rachel, and Leah, for the patriarchs and matriarchs numbered seven.
They explain that the seven sheep were all olos to express the
great holiness of our forefathers and mothers. The sheep had to be perfect
without blemish (tamimim),
for it says in connection with Avraham, "And
be perfect [tamim]"; and Yitzchak, "a
perfect [temimah]
offering" and Yaakov, "a perfect [tam] man. Their wives were surely equal to them
in perfection. It was about such great forebears that Bil'am
said, "For I see them from the tops of rocks and from the hills I will
gaze at them.*
* "I
gaze at their beginning and at the first of their roots, and I see them
established and strong as these rocks and hills through the patriarchs and
matriarchs" (Rashi, Bemidbar
23:9).
One could also suggest that the sheep stand for Levi, Kehas,
Amram, Moshe, and Aharon
and his two sons, Elazar and Itamar,
who were the first kohanim. They were all
perfect, and their merit should be called upon together with the merit of
the forefathers.
The goat for a sin offering atoned for the unintentional sin of defiling
the Beis Hamikdash and
the sacrifices. Our Rabbis explain that although it is mentioned at the end
of the list of musaf
offerings, it was actually offered first, immediately following the tamid,
on Rosh Chodesh and all the other Festivals
besides Yom Kippur, as it says, "And one young goat for a sin offering
to Hashem should be offered immediately following
the daily offering and its libation." It is only proper that the
atonement for sins effected by the goat should precede the pleasing
fragrance of the olah
offering.*
Now we can understand why a goat -- which atoned for unintentional
defilement of the Beis Hamikdash
-- was not offered on weekdays or Shabbos, but
only on Rosh Chodesh and holy days. Great masses
of people would come to the Beis Hamikdash on these days, and consequently there was a
greater chance that an unclean person would enter and eat from the
sacrifices. Therefore, because the possibility of defilement was greater it
was necessary to sacrifice a goat as a sin offering to atone for this
unintentional sin. However, on weekdays and Shabbos,
where there were fewer people coming to the Beis Hamikdash. The Torah did not anticipate such
defilement.
This answers questions 1, 2, and 3.
* The Abarbanel does not give an explanation as to why on Yom
Kippur the goat was offered at the end of the musaf
service.
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