On Second Thought: Delving Into the Sugya with Rabbanit Yafit Clymer
Sources:
Zevachim 88
Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi say: There are two matters that we do not find for them an atonement with offerings, but we find for them an atonement from another place, and they are: Bloodshed and malicious speech.
…with regard to malicious speech, its atonement comes from incense, as Rav Ḥananya teaches in a baraita: From where is it derived that the incense effects atonement? As it is stated after the Israelites spoke slanderously against Moses and Aaron and a plague was sent against them: “And he put on the incense, and made atonement for the people” (Numbers 17:12).
And similarly, the school of Rabbi Yishmael teaches: For what does incense effect atonement? It effects atonement for malicious speech, in order that an item that is offered in private, i.e., the incense, which is offered by a priest acting alone, shall come and atone for an action generally occurring in private, i.e., malicious speech.
זוהר פרשת ויקהל
Rabbi Shimon said, “If people knew how great the act of incense is before God, they would take every word of it and place it on their heads like a crown of gold. And whoever strives for it and must contemplate the act of incense, and if he reads the section of incense every day and meditates on it, He has a share in this world and the world to come, and death will depart from him and from the world, and he will be saved from all the laws of the world and from all evil and from the law of hell and the kingdoms of other kingdoms.
שמות ל (כי תישא)
וַיֹּ֩אמֶר֩ ה’ אֶל־מֹשֶׁ֜ה קַח־לְךָ֣ סַמִּ֗ים נָטָ֤ף ׀ וּשְׁחֵ֙לֶת֙ וְחֶלְבְּנָ֔ה סַמִּ֖ים וּלְבֹנָ֣ה זַכָּ֑ה בַּ֥ד בְּבַ֖ד יִהְיֶֽה׃
And ה’ said to Moses: Take the herbs stacte, onycha, and galbanum—these herbs together with pure frankincense; let there be an equal part of each.
וְעָשִׂ֤יתָ אֹתָהּ֙ קְטֹ֔רֶת רֹ֖קַח מַעֲשֵׂ֣ה רוֹקֵ֑חַ מְמֻלָּ֖ח טָה֥וֹר קֹֽדֶשׁ׃
Make them into incense, a compound expertly blended, refined, pure, sacred.
וְשָֽׁחַקְתָּ֣ מִמֶּ֘נָּה֮ הָדֵק֒ וְנָתַתָּ֨ה מִמֶּ֜נָּה לִפְנֵ֤י הָעֵדֻת֙ בְּאֹ֣הֶל מוֹעֵ֔ד אֲשֶׁ֛ר אִוָּעֵ֥ד לְךָ֖ שָׁ֑מָּה קֹ֥דֶשׁ קׇֽדָשִׁ֖ים תִּהְיֶ֥ה לָכֶֽם׃
Beat some of it into powder, and put some before the Pact in the Tent of Meeting, where I will meet with you; it shall be most holy to you.
וְהַקְּטֹ֙רֶת֙ אֲשֶׁ֣ר תַּעֲשֶׂ֔ה בְּמַ֨תְכֻּנְתָּ֔הּ לֹ֥א תַעֲשׂ֖וּ לָכֶ֑ם קֹ֛דֶשׁ תִּהְיֶ֥ה לְךָ֖ לַה’׃
But when you make this incense, you must not make any in the same proportions for yourselves; it shall be held by you sacred to ה’.
אִ֛ישׁ אֲשֶׁר־יַעֲשֶׂ֥ה כָמ֖וֹהָ לְהָרִ֣יחַ בָּ֑הּ וְנִכְרַ֖ת מֵעַמָּֽיו׃ {ס}
Any party who makes any like it, to smell of it, shall be cut off from kin.
מורה נבוכים חלק ג פמ”ה
Since many beasts were daily slaughtered in the holy place… the smell of the place would undoubtedly have been like the smell of slaughter-houses, if nothing had been done to counteract it. They were therefore commanded to burn incense there twice every day, in the morning and in the evening (Exod. 30:7, 8), in order to give the place and the garments of those who officiated there a pleasant odour… This provision likewise tended to support the dignity of the Temple. If there had not been a good smell, let alone if there had been a stench, it would have produced in the minds of the people the reverse of respect; for our heart generally feels elevated in the presence of good odour, and is attracted by it, but it abhors and avoids bad smell.
ספר החינוך מצוה קג
And it is also from the roots of this commandment to aggrandize the glory of the [Temple] and to have its loftiness and awe upon the face of every person. And it is only possible to aggrandize something in the heart of people and their thoughts with things that one [associates with] greatness, and in which he will find delight and joy. And it is known that a good smell is a thing that the spirit of a person enjoys and desires and [that] it draws the heart much. And the smell of the incense was the best that can possibly be made by a man..
יומא לט במסכת
goats that were in Jericho would sneeze from smelling the fragrance of the incense that burned in the Temple; the women that were in Jericho did not need to perfume themselves, since they were perfumed by the fragrance of the incense, which reached there; a bride that was in Jerusalem did not need to adorn herself with perfumes, since she was perfumed by the fragrance of the incense, which filled the air of Jerusalem.
מסכת ברכות מג
Rav Zutra bar Toviya said that Rav said: From where is it derived that one recites a blessing over scent? As it is stated: “Let every soul praise the Lord” (Psalms 150:6). He explains the verse: What is it from which the soul derives benefit and the body does not derive benefit from it? You must say: That is scent.
מסכת כריתות דף ו
- The Sages taught in a baraita: How is the blending of the incense performed?…
The Sages taught in a baraita: The incense was prepared from ingredients amounting to the weight of 368 maneh, . Of these, 365 of them correspond to the days of the solar year. The additional three maneh are those from which the High Priest would bring in to the Sanctuary his handful required on Yom Kippur (see Leviticus 16:12).
ויקרא טז א, יב-יג
וַיֹּ֨אמֶר ה’ אֶל־מֹשֶׁ֗ה דַּבֵּר֮ אֶל־אַהֲרֹ֣ן אָחִ֒יךָ֒ וְאַל־יָבֹ֤א בְכׇל־עֵת֙ אֶל־הַקֹּ֔דֶשׁ מִבֵּ֖ית לַפָּרֹ֑כֶת אֶל־פְּנֵ֨י הַכַּפֹּ֜רֶת אֲשֶׁ֤ר עַל־הָאָרֹן֙ וְלֹ֣א יָמ֔וּת כִּ֚י בֶּֽעָנָ֔ן אֵרָאֶ֖ה עַל־הַכַּפֹּֽרֶת׃
ה’ said to Moses: Tell your brother Aaron that he is not to come at will into the Shrine behind the curtain, in front of the cover that is upon the ark, lest he die; for I appear in the cloud over the cover.
וְלָקַ֣ח מְלֹֽא־הַ֠מַּחְתָּ֠ה גַּֽחֲלֵי־אֵ֞שׁ מֵעַ֤ל הַמִּזְבֵּ֙חַ֙ מִלִּפְנֵ֣י ה’ וּמְלֹ֣א חׇפְנָ֔יו קְטֹ֥רֶת סַמִּ֖ים דַּקָּ֑ה וְהֵבִ֖יא מִבֵּ֥ית לַפָּרֹֽכֶת׃
and he shall take a panful of glowing coals scooped from the altar before ה’, and two handfuls of finely ground aromatic incense, and bring this behind the curtain.
וְנָתַ֧ן אֶֽת־הַקְּטֹ֛רֶת עַל־הָאֵ֖שׁ לִפְנֵ֣י ה’ וְכִסָּ֣ה ׀ עֲנַ֣ן הַקְּטֹ֗רֶת אֶת־הַכַּפֹּ֛רֶת אֲשֶׁ֥ר עַל־הָעֵד֖וּת וְלֹ֥א יָמֽוּת׃
He shall put the incense on the fire before ה’, so that the cloud from the incense screens the cover that is over [the Ark of] the Pact, lest he die.
רש”י לויקרא טז פסוק ב
כי בענן אראה means, for I constantly show Myself there with My pillar of cloud, and because the revelation of My Shechinah takes place there he should take care not to make it his habit to come there. This is the literal meaning of the verse. The Halachic explanation is: He shall not come into the Holy of Holies except with a cloud of incense on the Day of Atonement. (Yoma 53a).
מסכת יומא מד עא
“And have made atonement for himself, and for his household, and for all the assembly of Israel.” Which act of atonement is the same for him, and for his household, and for his brethren, the priests, and for the entire community of Israel? You must say this is the burning of the incense.
העמק דבר (הנצי”ב)
And the main benefit of incense is to bring to mind an act of kindness. The act of kindness itself is likened to incense.
צרור המור, רבי יעקב סבע
And for this very reason we say the incense every day, morning and evening, after all the prayers, since the incense is the seal of everything and the connection of everything.
מסכת כריתות ו ב
Reish Lakish says that this halakha can be derived from the word incense itself: What is the meaning of the term incense [ketoret]? It means an item that produces smoke [koter] and rises.
הכלי יקר, שמות ל
And you shall make an altar of incense. It seems that both of these altars were made to atone for the sinful soul, because the altar of bronze came to atone for the parts of the material and the body that was struck by the stone of sin, and on it the animals that come in exchange are sacrificed. But the soul also needs atonement… and it is not atoned for in the soul of an animal because there is no resemblance to each other… Therefore, G-d commanded to make an altar of incense, raising smoke and a sweet-smelling fragrance to atone for the spirit of men, which ascends upward like the smoke of incense…
מסכת כריתות ו ב
Rav Ḥana bar Bizna says that Rabbi Shimon Ḥasida says: Any fast that does not include the participation of some of the sinners of the Jewish people is not a fast, as the smell of galbanum is foul and yet the verse lists it with the ingredients of the incense. Abaye says that this is derived from here: “It is He Who builds His upper chambers in the heavens and has established His bundle on the earth” (Amos 9:6), i.e., when the people are united as a bundle, including their sinners, they are established upon the earth.
רש”י, שמות ל לד
וחלבנה — This is a malodorous spice which is called galbanum. Scripture enumerates it among the spices of the incense to teach us that we should not regard as a light thing the duty of associating with ourselves when we band together for fasts and prayers Israelites who are transgressors — that they should be counted as ourselves (Keritot 6b).
פרי צדיק לפרשת תצוה סימן יא (רב צדוק הכהן מלובלין)
And here in this verse, we recall all of Aaron the Priest’s preparation so that he could bring the souls of Israel closer by planting in their hearts the illumination of holiness for every soul, in accordance with the value of his preparation and desire to draw closer to holiness with the light of the mitzvah and the Torah… And it concludes with the altar of incense, and we mean the purpose of approaching holiness, even for souls who have already fallen into evil and whose hearts do not turn to holiness. They have hope of turning to good by joining themselves to holiness.
