A Day In The Holy Temple – Part 5

A Day In The Holy Temple - Part 5

The Second Lottery

Upon returning to the Chamber of Hewn Stone after the wood piles have been arranged atop the altar, the kohanim once again gather before the overseer for the second daily lottery. This drawing would determine the distribution of a number of various assignments pertaining to the offering of the tamid, the daily sacrifice.

The overseer called out to the kohanim to draw for the following tasks:

Which kohen would slaughter the offering;
Who would receive its blood and dash it upon the altar;
Who would remove excess ashes from the inner (golden) incense altar within the sanctuary;
Who would attend to the wicks of the menorah, cleansing the cups of used oil and ash;
Which kohanim (this involved 6 kohanim) would bring the parts of the offering to the altar's ramp;
Who would bring the fine flour for the accompanying meal-offering up to the altar;
Who would bring up the Kohen Gadol's (High Priest's) meal offering;
And who would pour the wine libation.

13 Individual Kohanim Received Tasks in this Lottery

All told, 13 different kohanim received appointments in this lottery, for it was conducted in this way:

The kohen upon whom the pre-determined number fell was the original, primary winner of the lottery... he receives the first duty, which is the actual slaughtering of the offering.

Following his appointment, the distribution of each of the subsequent tasks are then determined according to the participants' proximity to the winner in the circle, in a fashion that could be compared to the concept of first, second, third prizes, etc.

Thus, the primary winner of the lottery will slaughter the offering, and the kohen in the circle standing immediately on his right will receive the blood in the mizrak, and dash it against the altar; and so on. The third in line receives the next assignment, that of removing the ashes from the incense altar; the fourth merits the privilege of cleansing the menorah.

The details of each of these duties will be discussed in due course. Let us examine each aspect of the service, step by step.

Initial Preparations

Immediately following the lottery, the last two kohanim mentioned above - those of the incense altar and the menorah - hurry to prepare themselves and the vessels they will require to carry out their respective services. These vessels are a golden basket which holds 2 1/2 kavim, (about 5 1/2 liters); an oil container, shaped like a large wine goblet and also fashioned of gold; and two keys. They give these keys to the Levite gatekeeper on duty; the Levites are the ones who are entrusted with guarding all of the Temple gates. They are appointed by a supervisor called "Ben Gever," who is in charge of opening the gates in the morning and closing them at night (Sheqalim 5,1).

 

Unlocking The Sanctuary Gates

Background: The Southern Opening

"This gate shall be shut"

These are the two keys to the great gate of the Sanctuary. However, they do not open the Sanctuary gates themselves. On either side of these doors, there were two small openings, similar to the openings which led from the Place of the Fire into the Court ; one from the north (on the right-hand side of the gates) and one from the south (on the left). The southern opening was never opened, and no man ever passed through it. It was concerning this entrance that Ezekiel prophesied (Ez. 44:2), "And HaShem said to me, this gate shall be shut, it shall not be opened and no man shall enter in by it, because HaShem, the G-d of Israel, has entered in by it, therefore it shall be shut." This gate was to remain closed in order to show that not every doorway is needed solely for the purpose of the entrance and exit of men; the Holy One needs no gate to be opened for Him. This one remained closed, but yet the Shechina, the Divine Presence rested within.

These were the keys to the entrance on the north side of the gate. The Sanctuary gates were locked from the inside, and therefore it was necessary to go through these smaller doors and around to the gates from within. The Levite who has been appointed to open the Sanctuary takes these keys from the kohanim and, opening the small door to the right, enters first into an antechamber and then into the area of the Sanctuary itself. Reaching the great gates, he removes the door-bolt and the locks and opens wide the gates.

The Daily Offering Cannot Begin Until the Gates are Open

The act of opening the Sanctuary gates has great significance, for the morning tamid offering cannot be slaughtered and prepared for offering upon the altar until the gates have been opened. In fact, the kohen who has been assigned to this task will not commence until he actually hears the sound of the great gates opening. For with regard to the peace offerings, the verse indicates (Lev. 3:2) "... and he shall slaughter it opposite the door of the Tent of Meeting," and the sages have derived that the same applies to every offering: it must take place while the door are open, and not while they are closed, in order to fulfill the requirement of "opposite the door."

Jerusalem and Jericho: A Unique Spiritual Connection

The Mishna (Tamid 3,8) relates that the sound of the Sanctuary gates opening could be heard in Jericho - a distance of about 25 kilometers from Jerusalem! But it is not taught that this is because the sound was particularly clamorous or deafening. On a mystical level, they are connected, for they are the two cities in which the Israelites' conquest of the Land of Israel began and ended. Joshua entered into the Land through Jericho; it was necessary that he conquer Jericho first. David's conquest of the Jebusites who dwelled in Jerusalem was the action which completed the establishment of the Land of Israel as the seat of G-d's glory.

In addition to the sound of these gates opening, the Mishna also lists eight other sounds which were made in the Holy Temple and heard all the way in Jericho - including the muchni of Ben Katin, the sounds made by some of the musical instruments and the Levites' song, and the voice of the Kohen Gadol (High Priest) on the Day of Atonement. It is even recorded that the fragrance of the incense offering could be smelled in Jericho... and it caused goats in that locality to sneeze! (ibid.)

Although we are provided here with but an allusion, these passages have great depth of meaning. What occurred in the Holy Temple reverberated in Jericho, for on a spiritual plane, Jericho is the mirror image of Jerusalem and thus they are related in many ways. More importantly, Jericho is called "the lock of the Land of Israel" (Bamidbar Rabbah 15:15) and thus it was imperative for Joshua to enter through her and conquer her first. When one is strong, the other is weak, and when Israel's enemies are in possession of Jericho, it is impossible for Israel to be in full possession of her land (R. Zadok HaCohen of Lublin, Dover Tzedek 73:A).

Determining the Exact Time for the Daily Offering to Begin

The overseer now declares to the kohanim: "Let one go up to a high place in the Temple, to see whether the time has arrived to offer the morning offering!" For Scripture specifies (Lev. 19:6) "In the day that you offer it... " - and the sages' tradition interprets this to mean that the butchering of the offerings may not be done at night. Therefore it was important to ascertain that the time of night was officially over, and that the day had begun according to the definition of Torah law; namely, at dawn (since the commandment of offering the daily offerings becomes practical as soon as day begins, the diligent and zealous kohanim of the Temple did not want to be hasty and prepare the offering too soon, while it is yet night; but neither did they want to tarry even momentarily once the proper time had arrived).

 

 

"The Day Has Dawned!"

If night has indeed begun to wane, the watchman cries out "Barkai! The day has dawned!" But it is still too early to commence with the daily offering. After the initial declaration of barkai, signaling the first moments of day, the kohanim must wait for the second announcement: he in the high place will call out "the entire eastern horizon is illuminated."

Invoking the Merit of the Patriarchs

Like some consecrated and rarified code whose inner meaning is known to but a chosen few, the exchange continues between the watchman, at his elevated station, and those below in the courtyard. The feelings of anticipation swell within the priestly circle, as these men whose lives are sanctified to G-d wait for the first possible moment for the honor of fulfilling His will.

Once the eastern sky begins to shimmer, one of those down below will call up to his colleague: "Does the glow extend all the way to Hebron?" "Yes," the watchman replies.

The sages of the Jerusalem Talmud stated that the true design behind this part of the exchange was simply to mention Hebron, the city of the patriarchs of the Jewish people - Avraham, Yitzchak and Yaakov. For the very name "Hebron" is in itself synonymous with these righteous spiritual giants who are buried there in Ma'arat HaMachpela, the famed double cave which Avraham purchased from Ephron the Hivite (see Gen. 23). The name Hebron is derived from the Hebrew chaver, "friend," for Avraham was the beloved of G-d, the first true believer, who blazed a trail for every spiritual seeker who would follow in his footsteps and likewise embark upon a quest for a relationship with the one true G-d... as Ezekiel testifies, "Avraham was one" (Ez.33:24).

The lives led by these great men were so virtuous that their merit lives on forever, as echoed by the sages of the Talmud (BT Berakhot 18:A) who enigmatically stated that "even in death, the righteous are called alive." To invoke their name, to allude to their identity - even to mention the name of the city in which they lie - is to recall their merit before the Holy One. "Does the glow extend all the way to Hebron?" That merit is strong enough to provide protection and grace for their children forever. "Yes," replies the watchman.

The Machpelah Cave in Hebron.

An Abundance of Caution

On a simple level of interpretation, there was another cause for waiting until the entire eastern sky was lit, until Hebron. It once transpired that the kohanim in the Holy Temple actually did make a mistake in determining the day's commencement - and the daily offering was offered too early, unintentionally violating the Biblical requirement.

The Mishna in Yoma 2:2 relates that upon that occasion, it was a cloudy day, towards the end of the month (in the Hebrew calendar, lunar months are observed. At the end of the month, the moon rises in the sky close to dawn). The moon's light, which broke through the clouds and lit up patches of the sky, gave the impression that the dawn was at hand and that the eastern sky was aglow with the sunrise. The daily tamid offering was slaughtered, and afterwards the kohanim realized that this had been done while it was yet night - and was therefore invalid.