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16 ‎[1] **The Lord spoke to Moses after the death of the two sons of Aaron, when they approached before the Lord and they died. **There are different allusions in the Torah as to the reason why Aaron’s sons died. 1 The explanation suggested here is that Aaron’s sons came too close to God’s Presence without receiving His permission. 2
‎[2] **The Lord said to Moses: Speak to Aaron, your brother, that he shall not come at all times into the Sanctum **that is **within, **behind, **the curtain, before the cover that is upon the ark, and he shall not die, for it is in the cloud that I will **always **be seen upon the cover, **that is, the Divine Presence is found on the cover. 3 This command alludes to the deaths of Aaron’s sons Nadav and Avihu, who died because they had approached the Sanctuary in an unfit manner. Although Aaron was the High Priest, not even he was permitted to enter the inner sanctum whenever he pleased.
‎[3] **With this shall Aaron, **or any High Priest of his descendants, **come into the Sanctum: with a young bull as a sin offering and a ram as a burnt offering. **The verse explains that the only permissible way to enter the Holy of Holies is by bringing offerings and following the procedures described in the verses that follow. Even so, it is clear from the continuation of the passage that the High Priest may not enter the Holy of Holies whenever he wants, even to perform this procedure; rather, he can enter only one day a year, on Yom Kippur. 4 Some commentaries, however, hold that Aaron was uniquely permitted to enter the Holy of Holies on any day of the year by following the procedure described here. 5
‎[4] When entering the Holy of Holies, the High Priest is not to wear his standard vestments, which were fashioned from sky-blue and purple wool and gold threads and contained precious gems. Rather,
**he shall don a sacred linen tunic, and linen trousers shall be on his flesh, and he shall gird himself with a linen belt, and he shall wear a linen mitre. **These four simple garments were worn by common priests as well, and the entire outfit was made from white linen. Most Sages maintain that the only difference between the High Priest’s vestments described in this verse and those of the common priest was in the mitre, which differed from the headdress worn by all other priests. Although they are simple, **they are sacred vestments; and **therefore **he shall bathe his flesh in water, and **only then shall he **don them. **
‎[5] The High Priest’s entry into the Holy of Holies is not a private matter; he represents all the children of Israel. Consequently, it is not sufficient for him to sacrifice the bull and ram mentioned above, as these are personal offerings.
**From the congregation of the children of Israel he shall take two **identical **goats as a sin offering **6 **and one ram as a burnt offering. **These offerings are brought on behalf of all the children of Israel.
‎[6] **Aaron shall present the bull of the sin offering that is for him, **which he purchased with his own private funds, **and **place his hands on the bull and recite a confession, 7 and thereby **atone for himself and for his household. **The term “household” refers either to his private family or to the broader household of Aaron, all priests. 8
‎[7] After confessing his own transgressions and those of his family, the High Priest performs the rite of atonement on behalf of the nation.
**He shall take the two goats **that were set aside for the people, **and he shall set them before the Lord at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting. **
‎[8] **Aaron shall place lots on the two goats, **as the destiny of each of these identical goats will be determined by the lots. **One lot **shall contain the words **for the Lord, **or, according to another interpretation, simply, Lord, **and **on **the other lot **shall be written the phrase **for Azazel. **
‎[9] **Aaron shall present the goat on which fell the lot for the Lord and render it a sin offering **by consecrating it for this purpose. 9 Alternatively, the verse means that the lot itself renders the goat a sin offering. 10
‎[10] **The **second **goat, on which fell the lot for Azazel, shall be set alive before the Lord, to atone with it **by placing his hands upon it and reciting a confession, and afterward, **to dispatch it to Azazel to the wilderness. **
‎[11] Once the High Priest has designated the goats on behalf of the nation, he returns to his own sin offering:
**Aaron shall present the bull of the sin offering that is for him, and he shall atone for himself and for his household **by placing his hands on the bull and confessing his own sins and those of all the priests; 11 **and he shall slaughter the bull of the sin offering that is for him. **
‎[12] After the High Priest has confessed, slaughtered the bull as a sin offering, and received its blood in a vessel, but before he sprinkles its blood in the Holy of Holies, he must leave the sin offering aside.
**He shall take a fire-pan, **a small shovel used for scooping and transporting embers, **full of smoldering coals **12 taken **from upon the **outer **altar, from before the Lord, and his hands full of finely ground fragrant incense, **as much incense as he can hold in his two hands cupped together, **and bring it **in a vessel **within the curtain, **to the Holy of Holies.
‎[13] **He shall place the incense on the fire, **on the smoldering coals in the fire-pan, **before the Lord, and the cloud of the incense shall obscure the cover that is upon the testimony, and he shall not die. **While the incense itself is considered an offering, the cloud it produces also serves as a screen to protect the High Priest from death, as though concealing the revelation of God. Aaron’s sons died upon entering the Holy of Holies, because one may not enter and look upon the inner sanctum as he pleases. Even their father, Aaron the High Priest, was not permitted to be exposed to God’s Presence. 13 Moses, however, according to some opinions, was permitted to enter the Holy of Holies unprotected and speak with God there at any time. 14
‎[14] After the Holy of Holies is filled with smoke, the High Priest returns to the bull that has been slaughtered as a sin offering (verse 11).
**He shall take the **vessel that contains the **blood of the bull **he had slaughtered previously, enter the Holy of Holies, **and sprinkle it with his finger upon the cover toward the east, **toward the eastern side of the cover; **and **after that, **before the cover he shall sprinkle from the blood with his finger seven times. **The Sages describe this procedure as sprinkling once upward and seven times downward. 15
‎[15] After sprinkling the blood of his bull, the High Priest does the same with the offering that is brought on behalf of the nation (see also 9:15).
**He shall **go to the Tabernacle courtyard and **slaughter the goat of the sin offering that is for the people, and he shall bring its blood **in a vessel 17 **within the curtain, **to the Holy of Holies, **and he shall do with its blood as he did with the blood of the bull, and sprinkle it upon the cover and before the cover. **
‎[16] By entering the Holy of Holies and sprinkling the blood of the offerings there,
**he shall atone for the Sanctum from the impurity of the children of Israel, **which marred its sanctity, **and from their transgressions, for **the general impurity of **all their sins **; 18 **and so shall he do for the Tent of Meeting that dwells with them in the midst of their impurity, **by sprinkling the blood of the offerings again in the same manner. 19
‎[17] The Torah adds a general comment:
**No **other **man, **including priests, who are usually permitted to enter the Tabernacle, 20 **shall be in the Tent of Meeting from **the time of **his entry to atone **by performing the rites of the incense and the sprinkling of the blood **in the Sanctum until his emergence **, 21 **and he, **the High Priest, **shall **thereby **atone for himself, for his household, and for the entire assembly of Israel. **
‎[18] This completes the Yom Kippur service in the Holy of Holies, but there are other rites that the High Priest must perform in the Sanctuary with the sin offerings.
**He shall go out **of the Holy of Holies **to the altar that is before the Lord, **the golden, inner altar, **and he shall atone for it, **purify it of the people’s sins, in the following manner:
‎[19] After placing the blood on the corners of the golden altar,
**he, **the High Priest, **shall sprinkle from the blood on it, **the golden altar, **with his finger seven times, and he shall purify it and sanctify it from the impurity of the children of Israel. **Although this altar is generally used only for incense, the blood of certain uncommon sin offerings is sprinkled on it as well. 22
‎[20] **He shall conclude atoning for the Sanctum, **by means of the sacrificial rites he performs there, **and **for **the Tent of Meeting, and the altar, and he shall present the living goat, **which is ready to be sent to the wilderness.
‎[21] **Aaron shall lay both his hands on the head of the living goat, and he shall confess over it all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions, for all their sins; and he shall place **those transgressions and sins **upon the head of the goat, and he shall dispatch it in the hand of a designated man **23 **to the wilderness **. Obviously, it is impossible for the High Priest to specify all the sins of the children of Israel; instead, he refers generally to the sins committed by the nation over the course of the year. The High Priest’s earlier confessions are made in a similar manner.
‎[22] **The goat shall bear upon it all their iniquities to a precipitous land, **mountainous, uneven terrain, such as a rocky cliff; 24 **and he shall dispatch the goat into the wilderness. **Alternatively, the verse can be understood as referring to a desolate land, bereft of all good qualities, and not necessarily to precipitous terrain. 25
‎[23] After confessing and sending the goat into the wilderness,
**Aaron shall come into the Tent of Meeting and remove the linen vestments that he donned with his entry into the Sanctum, and he shall leave them there. **The Sages explain that these vestments may not be used again, but must be buried. 26
‎[24] **He shall bathe his flesh in water in a holy place, **in a ritual bath in the Temple compound, **and don his vestments, **the eight vestments generally worn by the High Priest to perform the Temple service, which are the four basic white garments and four additional special garments. 27 **And he shall emerge and perform his burnt offering and the burnt offering of the people, and atone for himself and for the people. **
‎[25] **The fat of the **aforementioned **sin offering, **the bull and goat, **he shall burn on the altar. **
‎[26] Because the dispatching of the goat to Azazel involves some degree of contact with impure forces,
**the one who dispatches the goat to Azazel shall wash his garments and bathe his flesh in water, and **only **afterward shall he come into the camp. **
‎[27] **The **carcass of the **bull of the sin offering **of Aaron **and the goat of the sin offering **of the nation, the goat not sent to Azazel, **whose blood was brought in to atone in the Sanctum, he shall take outside the camp; and they shall burn in fire their hides, their flesh, and their dung. **This was stated in earlier chapters with regard to all inner sin offerings, the blood of which is sprinkled on the inner, golden altar rather than on the outer altar. Such offerings are not eaten but are entirely burned outside settled areas (4:1–21, 6:23).
‎[28] **The one who burns them shall wash his garments and bathe his flesh in water, and afterward he shall come into the camp. **Because he has been dealing with the remnants of a consecrated item whose level of sanctity has been reduced, he must afterward be purified.
‎[29] As stated at the beginning of this passage, the entire ceremony prescribed here had to be performed when Aaron wanted to enter the Holy of Holies. This verse adds that Aaron was not permitted to enter the Holy of Holies whenever he wished; rather, there was a set time when he was permitted to do so.
**It shall be for you an eternal statute: During the seventh month, **which later became known as Tishrei, **on the tenth of the month, **Yom Kippur, **you shall afflict yourselves. **This is not a command to cause oneself unnecessary suffering; rather, “afflict yourselves” is a technical term meaning that one must refrain from eating, drinking, and other specific forms of physical pleasure. 28 Furthermore, **you shall not perform all labor, the native and the stranger that resides among you, **that is, converts who have joined the children of Israel.
‎[30] **For on this day he shall atone for you, to purify you; from all your sins before the Lord you shall be purified. **On this day the children of Israel are granted atonement and are forgiven for their sins. This is achieved both through the offerings whose blood is sprinkled in the Holy of Holies and the Sanctuary and by means of the goat sent to Azazel, as well as through the inherent sanctity of the day. 29 The children of Israel, for their part, must prepare themselves for this atonement by abstaining from eating, drinking, and the other physical pleasures.
‎[31] **It is a sabbatical rest for you. **This is a day of rest like the Sabbath itself, when prohibited labors are completely forbidden, and, unlike on the festivals, none of the labors prohibited on the Sabbath may be performed for the sake of food preparation. 30 **And you shall afflict yourselves. **Yom Kippur is a day of cessation not only from prohibited labor, but also from attending to one’s general physical needs. **It is an eternal statute. **Even when there is no Temple or High Priest, atonement will always be granted on this day. 31 The sanctity of Yom Kippur and its attendant commandments do not depend upon the High Priest’s entry into the Holy of Holies or his performance of the sacrificial rites.
‎[32] The Torah now returns to the discussion of the High Priest’s service in the Temple:
**The priest who shall be anointed and who shall be ordained to serve in his father’s stead **as the High Priest, which is an office that is mainly inherited from father to son, **shall atone and shall don linen vestments, the sacred vestments. **
‎[33] **He shall atone for the sacred Sanctum, **for the most sacred part of the Temple, the Holy of Holies, **and for the Tent of Meeting and for the altar he shall atone; and for the priests and for all the people of the assembly he shall atone. **
‎[34] **This shall be an eternal statute for you, to atone for the children of Israel for all their sins once in the year. **When Yom Kippur came, **he, **Aaron, **did as the Lord **had **commanded Moses **. 32
Version: The Steinsaltz Tanakh - English
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License: Copyright: Steinsaltz Center