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The
Abarbanel on the Yom Kippur Service
in the Beis Hamikdash
Sprinkling
the Blood
Rendered into English
by Rabbi Elimelech Lepon
QUESTIONS:
13.The Kohen
Gadol would sprinkle the blood of the bull and
the goat separately in the Holy of Holies and on the paroches,
but on the gold altar he would sprinkle the two bloods mixed together. Why
weren't all the sprinklings consistent - in other words, either all mixed
blood or all separate blood?
14.Why is it that all the
sprinklings on the paroches and the kapores were performed one above and seven below, but
the sprinklings on the corners of the gold altar were performed three times
in an upward direction and the last one alone in a downward direction?
15. Why
did the Kohen Gadol
count the sprinklings with the words "one," "one and
one," "one and two." "one and
three." and so on? Why not count the numbers in their order, one, two,
three, four, five, six, seven? Wouldn't it be
easier to say each number on its own
COMMENTARY:
Sprinkling the blood is the fifth service of
Yom Kippur.
The bull was the sin offering of the Kohen Gadol, and the goat the sin offering of the
congregation. The Holy of Holies was the place of the Divine Presence and
the Torah. It was also the source of prophecy. The sprinkling of blood in
front of the ark of Hashem symbolizes clinging to
Hashem, accepting His Torah, and believing in
prophecy, which emanates from it. Therefore, both the blood of the bull and
the blood of the goat were sprinkled in the Holy of Holies to show that the
nation and the Kohen Gadol
must be united in loving Hashem, clinging to Him,
and believing in Him, the greatest of the generation together with the
least. The entire congregation is holy, Hashem is
in their midst, the Torah was given to all, and prophecy applies to all of
them.
Similarly the Kohen Gadol
would sprinkle the two types of blood on the paroches,
which faced the ark, for the paroches
symbolized the performance of mitzvos and service
to Hashem. This sprinkling showed that every
person in Yisrael will be held accountable for
performance of the mitzvos, the least of them
like the greatest. Thus is says, "With all your heart, with all your
soul...."1
Just as the paroches
was a sign of the holiness of the ark which stood behind it, so deeds and mitzvos done in accordance with the Torah are a sign of
the deep belief rooted inside a person.
The Kohen Gadol would
not sprinkle mixed blood on the paroches;
rather he would sprinkle each type of blood separately. This blood was
sprinkled from the heichal,
which contained the table - symbol of wealth and honor - and the menorah -
symbol of wisdom and knowledge. These qualities are not possessed by
everyone equally. Each individual attains them according to his ability.
The Kohen Gadol was on
one level and the people of Yisrael on another.
Therefore the sprinkling there was done with separate bloods, the blood of
the goat representing the congregation of Yisrael
and the blood of the bull representing the Kohen Gadol. However, mixed blood was sprinkled on the golden
altar of incense, for this altar symbolized belief, which all of Yisrael, small and great, are equally obligated to
possess. This answers questions 13.
When the Kohen Gadol
sprinkled the blood on the kapores
in the Holy of Holies and on the paroches
in the Holy of Holies and on the paroches
in front of it, he sprinkled once above and seven times below. These
sprinklings showed that closeness to G-d, Torah, and prophecy are
fundamentally rooted in Hashem, the One who gives
all and influences all. These three spiritual achievements come to us from
above, and no human can possibly attain them solely with his own searching
and effort.
The Kohen Gadol would
always begin by sprinkling one above to represent Hashem,
the One who gives, for there is no multiplicity with respect to Hashem. Then he would sprinkle seven below, for seven
represents multiplicity, the multitude below that receive His abundance.
The sprinklings in the heichal,
however, were all done in an upward direction except for the last one,
which was sprinkled in a downward direction. This can be understood as
follows: The heichal
symbolizes those qualities which an individual can acquire through his own
initiative and effort. This is especially true of the gold altar, which
represents belief. The sprinklings done in an upward direction represent
the efforts one exerts in attaining riches, wisdom, or belief. Only after
one prepares himself below will the abundance that he seeks flow down to
him from above. And so, the final sprinkling on the gold altar was done in
a downward direction from above to below. This answers question 14.
The Kohen Gadol would
count the sprinklings as follows, one, one and one, one and two, one and
three, etc. This was to show that everything comes from Hashem.
Those things that come directly from Him without an intermediary are called
"one," the first level. That which comes by way of the first
sphere are called "one and one" meaning
"one" from Hashem and "one"
by way of that intermediary. Similarly all the other intermediaries
function together with the abundance that flows from the Original Source,
may He be blessed. Therefore the Kohen Gadol would mention the word "one" together
with every number. The count did not
exceed the number seven for the following reason. There are those things
which come directly from Hashem without an
intermediary and there are those that come from Him by way of an
intermediary and there are those that come from Him by way of an
intermediary. This intermediary may be one of four powers, which are
represented by the four camps of angels. When the Kohen
Gadol says "one" he is referring to
those things that come without any intermediary. When he says "one and
one" he is referring to those things which come from Hashem through the first power. When he says "one
and two" he is referring to that which Hashem
does through the first power of the second camp. Similarly with the third
and fourth camps, which make up the four camps of the spiritual angels that
are referred to by the words "one and one," "one and
two," "one and three," "one and four." After this
the Kohen Gadol
mentions blessings brought down by way of the heavenly bodies. When he says
"one and five" he is referring to the uppermost sphere that that
encompasses everything. When he says "one and six" he is
referring to the system of stars. And when he says "one and
seven" he is referring to those things which are activated by way of
the seven planets. This teaches us that all forces, spiritual and heavenly,
function only through the power of Hashem that
activates them. This answers question 15.
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