A Smell of Gan Eden – Tetzaveh
וְעָשִׂיתָ מִזְבֵּחַ מִקְטַר קְטֹרֶת עֲצֵי שִׁטִּים תַּעֲשֶׂה אֹתוֹ. (שמות ל, א)
What is the connection between the Shulchan Lechem Hapanim and the Mizbeach HaKetoret? Is there any connection?
There is undoubtedly a connection between the Shulchan and the Menorah. They always appear together in the psukkim, for example, in last week's parsha Truma וְשַׂמְתָּ אֶת הַשֻּׁלְחָן מִחוּץ לַפָּרֹכֶת וְאֶת הַמְּנֹרָה נֹכַח הַשֻּׁלְחָן (שמות כו, לה). The Shulchan and Menorah are both in the same "front row", directly in front of the Parochet - they are a pair. According to the Rokeach, the passuk שְׁנֵי שָׁדַיִךְ כִּשְׁנֵי עֳפָרִים תָּאֳמֵי צְבִיָּה (שיר השירים ז, ד) is referring to the Menorah standing alongside the Shulchan in the Heichal. A large portion of my sefer Meir Panim is devoted to discussing this umbilical connection between the Shulchan and the Menorah.
Unlike the Menorah, however, the Mizbeach HaKetoret is never mentioned in connection with the Shulchan in the psukkim and even its geographical location in the Heichal, seems to indicate that it is a separate entity entirely. The Mizbeach HaKetoret is positioned further away from the Parochet and closer to the entrance of the Heichal and stands in the middle of the Heichal, approximately midway between the Menorah and the Shulchan.
In this shiur we are going to discover that there is indeed a close, deep connection between the Shulchan Lechem HaPanim and the Mizbeach HaKetoret, which, incidentally, also has a direct connection to Purim (which we will be celebrating this coming week b"H). So, fasten your seatbelts, clear your nostrils and hold onto your Mitznefets, as we embark on an amazing voyage of olfactory discovery.
If you are a Kohen or a Levi, the first thing that "hits" you as you enter the Heichal (only Kohanim and Leviim are allowed in the Heichal - the Kohanim to do the Avodah and the Levi'im to open the main doors at the entrance of the Heichal) is the visual splendor.
In our workshops we have a special room with a display of life-size models of the Menorah and Shulchan built to scale and the reaction of everyone that enters is exactly the same – WOW!!! Ours is just a small room, nothing remotely approaching the authenticity or grandeur of the real Heichal. When someone encounters the visual impact of the actual enormous, ornate Heichal and the three keilim made from shimmering, real gold (not gold paint like ours), in front of the Parochet, the sight is indescribably stunning.
After you have recovered from the initial shock of visual awe, something else "hits" you – the smell. The air in the Heichal is imbued with one of the most heavenly fragrances on earth. It is a mixture of two distinct smells – incense and freshly baked bread.
The fragrance of the Ketoret is so pervasive that it oozes out of every "pore" of the Heichal. Not only inside the Heichal, it permeates outwards, throughout the city of Jerusalem, all the way down to Jericho. In the time of the Mikdash, women in Jerusalem never needed to use perfume – the delicious fragrance of the Ketoret was better than the best perfume.
As you proceed further into the Heichal, the second aroma becomes more noticeable, the Lechem HaPanim on the Shulchan. The miracle of the Lechem HaPanim is that they remained fresh and warm (even steaming, according to the Ritva) on the Shulchan the entire week, as if they had just come out of the oven. I can personally attest to the fact that freshly baked loaves, straight out of the oven, have a heavenly aroma and 96kg of Lechem HaPanim straight out of the oven (12 loaves of 8kg each) packs an olfactory wallop.
Unlike the Ketoret, however, the aroma of the Lechem HaPanim did not exit the Heichal, except on Shabbatot of the Shloshet HaRegalim when the Kohanim would carry the Shulchan with the fresh Lechem HaPanim out of the Heichal for everyone to see … and smell.
So, here we have the first connection between the Shulchan and the Mizbeach HaKetoret – they both exude unique and heavenly fragrances.
There is another direct connection between the Shulchan and the Ketoret, both these korbanot have a common component – Levonah. Levonah (frankincense) is one of the eleven ingredients of the Ketoret and also, the entire week that the Lechem HaPanim are on the Shulchan, they are accompanied by two bowls, "bazichim", of Levonah (located in the center of the Shulchan, between the two stacks of bread).
On Shabbat, after the Lechem HaPanim is switched with a new set of twelve loaves, the Levonah that was on the Shulchan together with the previous week's bread, is offered/burned on the outer Mizbeach – the Mizbach HaOlah. Only after this may the previous week's bread be eaten by the Kohanim.
This is the second connection – both involve burning of Levonah.
There is, however, a third, deeper, more symbolic connection, but before we can understand what this is, a short introduction is necessary.
The Gemara says –
ר' יוֹחָנָן וְר' אֶלְעָזָר דְּאָמְרִי תַּרְוַיְהוּ בִּזְמַן שֶׁבֵּית הַמִּקְדָּשׁ קַיָּם מִזְבֵּחַ מְכַפֵּר עַל אָדָם וְעַכְשָׁו שֶׁאֵין בֵּית הַמִּקְדָּשׁ קַיָּם שֻׁלְחָנוֹ שֶׁל אָדָם מְכַפֵּר עָלָיו. (מנחות צז, ע"א)
When the Mikdash existed, the Mizbeach would atone for Am Yisrael's sins. However, now that we do not have the Beit HaMikdash (yet), a person's table takes the place of the Mizbeach and atones for him.
There are two Mizbachot - the outer Mizbeach, the Mizbach HaOlah and the inner Mizbeach, the Mizbeach HaKetoret. The question is "Which Mizbeach is the Gemara referring to?"
The Rema (אורח חיים קסז, ה) says -
וּמִכָּל מָקוֹם מִצְוָה לְהָבִיא עַל כָּל שֻׁלְחָן מֶלַח קֹדֶם שֶׁיִּבְצַע כִּי הַשֻּׁלְחָן דּוֹמֶה לַמִּזְבֵּחַ וְהָאֲכִילָה כְּקָרְבָּן וְנֶאֱמַר עַל כָּל קָרְבָּנְךָ תַּקְרִיב מֶלַח (בֵּית יוֹסֵף בְּשֵׁם שִׁבֳּלֵי הַלֶּקֶט) וְהוּא מֵגֵן מִן הַפֻּרְעָנִיּוֹת.
The halacha is that before you eat bread at your table, you must first make sure there is salt on the table. Why? asks the Rema - because the table resembles a Mizbeach and the food resembles a korban and the passuk (Vayikra 2, 13) says that you must salt all the korbanot.
According to the Rema, it seems that the Mizbeach we are referring to is the outer Mizbeach, the Mizbach HaOlah, where the animal korbanot were salted (either on the ramp, or at the top of the ramp), before they were offered.
The Shulchan Aruch (אורח חיים קפ, ה) says –
נוֹהֲגִים לְכַסּוֹת הַסַּכִּין בִּשְׁעַת בִּרְכַּת הַמָּזוֹן...
The halacha is that one should cover the knife on the table before saying Birkat HaMazon (This is referring to during the week. Some have the custom to leave it uncovered on Shabbat/Chag).
The Rokeach asks "Why do we need to cover the knife?" and answers that it is because our table resembles a Mizbeach and the passuk (Devarim 27, 5) says you are not allowed to have any iron on the Mizbeach. Rashi (ibid.) says that a knife is something that shortens life and this is incompatible with the Mizbeach which prolongs life.
So, both according to the Shulchan Aruch and the Rema, it appears that the Mizbeach in question is the outer Mizbeach, the Mizbach HaOlah. So far so good.
However, along comes the Vilna Gaon and says – No! The "table" mentioned above is not referring to the outer Mizbeach, the Mizbach HaOlah, but to the inner Mizbeach, the Mizbeach HaKetoret!
The Vilna Gaon (פירוש הגר"א, שיר השירים ג, ו) says –
וְהִנֵּה בִּקְטֹרֶת נֶאֱמַר בַּפָּסוּק (שמות ל, לד) - ד' מִינִים. נָטָף. שְׁחֵלֶת. חֶלְבְּנָה. לְבֹנָה. שֶׁהֵם ר"ת שֻׁלְחָן וְלָכֵן נִקְרָא מִזְבֵּחַ שֻׁלְחָן.
According to the Gemara (כריתות ו, ע"א) there are eleven ingredients in the Ketoret, as we say every day in Pitum HaKetoret. However, in the passuk (in next week's parsha Ki Tisa), only four ingredients are mentioned – Nataf, Shechelet, Chelbena and Levonah. If you take the rashei teivot of these four, it makes the word – Shulchan.
The Vilna Gaon says that these four mentioned in the passuk were the essence of the Ketoret and that the other seven were just additions to give the Ketoret a nice smell. One of the explanations of the word Ketoret is that it comes from the word קִיטוֹר meaning steam/smoke.
The essence of the Ketoret was to make smoke and these four ingredients in the passuk make smoke when they are burned. The Vilna Gaon says that the first four ingredients mentioned in the Gemara above match the four ingredients in the passuk צֳרִי/נָטָף, צִפֹּרֶן/שְׁחֵלֶת, חֶלְבְּנָה, לְבוֹנָה.
According to the Vilna Gaon – a person's table today is like the Mizbeach HaKetoret.
So, we have two opinions. The first says that a person's table today (when we do not have the Mikdash) substitutes for the Mizbach HaOlah and the second opinion says it substitutes for the Mizbeach HaKetoret. Which is right?
That was the introduction, we can now begin the shiur.
Both are right. The Shulchan Lechem HaPanim (and our table today when we do not have the Mikdash) are connected to the Mizbeach HaOlah and also to the Mizbeach HaKetoret. They both atone for sin, but for different types of sin.
The Kli Yakar (Shmot 30, 1) says that when a person sins, there are two culprits – the neshama and the body. When HKB"H asks the neshama "Why did you sin?", the neshama says "Me? sin? It was not me - it was the physical body!" When HKB"H asks the body "Why did you sin?", the body says "It's the neshama's fault! If the neshama would have spoken up and stopped me, I would not have sinned".
We therefore have two different Mizbachot, one to atone for sins of the physical body and a second to atone for sins of the neshama.
The Mizbach HaOlah comes to atone for sins of the physical body. The primary use of the Mizbach HaOlah is to sacrifice animals, physical bodies, to atone for sins of the physical body. The Mizbeach HaKetoret, on the other hand, comes to atone for sins of the neshama, a higher level (and severity) of sin. This is why the Mizbach HaOlah is in the outer courtyard (Azara), while the Mizbeach HaKetoret is inside the Heichal.
The Bnei Yissachar says that when Adam and Chava sinned, they sinned with all the senses except one. The psukkim refer to sight (וְכִי תַאֲוָה הוּא לָעֵינַיִם), taste (וַתִּקַּח מִפִּרְיוֹ וַתֹּאכַל), sound (הַנָּחָשׁ הִשִּׁיאַנִי), touch (וְלֹא תִגְּעוּ בּוֹ). There was only one sense that was not involved, says the Bnei Yissachar, and that was smell. All the other senses were damaged as a result of the sin, except for the sense of smell, which has remained untouched since HKB"H first created man.
For this reason, the sense of smell has a "higher functioning" than any of the other senses, it is not obstructed by any "obstacles" along the way and travels directly to neshama. The sense of smell is closely connected to the neshama. This is why, on Motzei Shabbat, when our neshama yeteira of Shabbat does not want to leave us, we make havdala on בְּשָׂמִים, targeting the sense of smell, to calm the neshama.
The Midrash (תנחומא תצוה טו) says that the reason the Mizbeach HaKetoret was not mentioned together with the other keilim in parshat Truma, the Aron, Shulchan, Menora … but here at the end of all the components of the Mishkan, is because it is HKB"H's favorite, אַחֲרוֹן חָבִיב.
We do not bring korbanot for HKB"H chas vechalila, we bring them for ourselves. Our korbanot are not like those brought for avodah zara, where the korban is brought for the various gods. HKB"H does not "eat" the korban chas vechalila, not the animals and not the bread (this was the lack of understanding of the Mekalel who cursed HKB"H – Vayikra 24, 11).
The only thing HKB"H "derives pleasure from", kiveyachol, is from the smell. As it says when Noach brought a korban after the flood, וַיָּרַח ה' אֶת רֵיחַ הַנִּיחֹחַ (בראשית ח, כא). As it says with the korban Tamid רֵיחַ נִיחֹחִי תִּשְׁמְרוּ לְהַקְרִיב לִי בְּמוֹעֲדוֹ (במדבר כח, ב).
This is reflected in the dimensions of the Mizbeach HaKetoret, which are all whole (integer) dimensions, unlike the other keilim. In the Aron all the dimensions are half (fractional) dimensions, in the Shulchan the height is fractional (1½ amot), in the Menorah the height is also fractional (not exactly 18 tefachim, but 17 and a "bit"). The reason is because the Mizbeach HaKetoret is the most elevated of the keilim in the Mishkan.
The purpose of the Mizbach HaOlah is to atone for the physical body. We atone by raising the physical from the lowest level to the highest level. A plant (צוֹמֵחַ) grows by absorbing inanimate minerals/water from the earth (דּוֹמֵם), it elevates the דּוֹמֵם one level. An animal (חַי) eats the plant, thus elevating it one level higher.
We then sacrifice the animal on the Mizbach HaOlah and the Kohen (מְדַבֵּר) eats parts of the animal and raises it another level up. The smell of the animal on the Mizbeach raises it up to the highest level. According to Kabbalistic sources, when people sin, they sometimes return to this world in a gilgul in the form of an animal, Rachmana litzlan. By the Kohen, or us eating the animal we raise it up a level and do tikkun for that neshama.
Similarly, on the Shulchan Lechem HaPanim and on our own table. The Kohanim and we, eat the food and thereby raise it up to a higher level.
The purpose of the Mizbeach HaKetoret is different, it is to atone for lashon harah. Also, the מְעִיל, the coat of the Kohen Gadol, mentioned in this week's parsha, atones for lashon hara. It has on the hem of the coat פַּעֲמוֹנִים, little bells, interspaced with little pomegranates, רִמּוֹנִים (another opinion says the bells and pomegranates were two parts of one integral unit). The bells, which make sound, come to atone for the "sound" made when someone speaks lashon hara.
Why do you need two things to atone for lashon hara? Chazal say that the coat of the Kohen Gadol comes to atone for lashon harah that was public, heard by many people, while the Mizbeach HaKetoret comes to atone for lashon harah uttered in private, between two people.
According to the Mefarshim, the Mizbeach HaKetoret comes to atone for the sin of selling Yosef to Egypt.
There are two "cardinal" sins that have not fully been atoned for, that repeatedly come back to haunt Am Yisrael throughout the generations. One is the sin of selling Yosef (בֵּין אָדָם לַחֲבֵרוֹ) and the second is the egel (בֵּין אָדָם לַמָּקוֹם).
Both of these sins are referred to by the word זֶה. In the case of Yosef, when Yosef went to meet his brothers in Schem, he met an angel who told him נָסְעוּ מִזֶּה (בראשית לז, יז). When the brothers saw Yosef coming, they said וַיֹּאמְרוּ אִישׁ אֶל אָחִיו הִנֵּה בַּעַל הַחֲלֹמוֹת הַלָּזֶה בָּא (שם, יט). In the case of the egel, when Moshe was "late" in returning, Am Yisrael (the erev rav?) said כִּי זֶה מֹשֶׁה הָאִישׁ אֲשֶׁר הֶעֱלָנוּ מֵאֶרֶץ מִצְרַיִם לֹא יָדַעְנוּ מֶה הָיָה לוֹ (שמות לב, כג).
The Mizbach HaOlah comes to atone for the sin of the egel, by offering sacrifices of animals on it. The Mizbeach HaKetoret comes to atone for the sin of selling Yosef.
How did the sin of selling Yosef begin? With lashon hara, וַיָּבֵא יוֹסֵף אֶת דִּבָּתָם רָעָה אֶל אֲבִיהֶם (בראשית לז, ב). This was not a public lashon harah for all to hear, it was private, between only Yosef and his father. For this, the Mizbeach HaKetoret comes to atone.
The whole story of Yosef is punctuated with hints to the Ketoret. When Yosef was taken down to Egypt, the Yishmaeli merchants, who would normally be carrying foul smelling bitumen, were this time carrying נְכֹאת וּצְרִי וָלֹט (בראשית לז, כה). One of the ingredients of the Ketoret is צְרִי. When Yaakov sent his sons to Egypt to purchase grains, he tells them קְחוּ מִזִּמְרַת הָאָרֶץ בִּכְלֵיכֶם וְהוֹרִידוּ לָאִישׁ מִנְחָה מְעַט צֳרִי וּמְעַט דְּבַשׁ נְכֹאת וָלֹט בָּטְנִים וּשְׁקֵדִים (מג, יא), again the Ketoret.
How does the Ketoret atone for selling Yosef? There are eleven ingredients in the Ketoret, corresponding to the 11 brothers (Binyamin was also "complicit", because although he knew Yosef was alive, he made a pact of silence with the ten brothers, when they returned with Yosef's bloodied coat, deceiving Yaakov that Yosef had been killed by a wild animal).
Purim also centers around the Ketoret. The two main characters are related to the Ketoret. The Gemara (חולין קלט, ע"ב) asks "What is the source for the name Mordechai in the Torah?" מָרְדֳּכַי מִן הַתּוֹרָה מִנַּיִן דִּכְתִיב (שְׁמוֹת ל, כג) מֹר דְּרוֹר וּמְתַרְגְּמִינַן מַיְרָא דַּכְיָא, the name Mordechai is derived from the word מֹר, one of the ingredients in the Ketoret.
Esther had a second name – Hadasa, a sweet-smelling plant, as it says in the Midrash מַה הֲדַס יֵשׁ בּוֹ רֵיחַ וְאֵין בּוֹ טַעַם? (ויקרא רבה ל ,יב). The Megila goes into great detail regarding the preparation process before the prospective brides were presented to Achashveirosh כִּי כֵּן יִמְלְאוּ יְמֵי מְרוּקֵיהֶן שִׁשָּׁה חֳדָשִׁים בְּשֶׁמֶן הַמֹּר וְשִׁשָּׁה חֳדָשִׁים בַּבְּשָׂמִים (אסתר ב, יב). They are all references to the Ketoret.
Why? What does Purim have to do with the Ketoret?
When Esther heard that Mordechai had torn his clothes and was wearing sackcloth and ashes, she sent her servant Hatach to ask Mordechai why he had done so and why he refused to accept new clothes from her. The passuk says לָדַעַת מַה זֶּה וְעַל מַה זֶּה (אסתר ד, ה).
What a strange way to ask the question! R' Tzadok HaKohen from Lublin says that Esther was asking Mordechai "Which זֶה are we talking about here? Which cardinal sin? The sin of selling Yosef or the sin of the egel?" Mordechai replied "In which sin did someone tear their clothes and don sackcloth and ashes? It is because of the selling of Yosef that Haman's decree has befallen us."
The purpose of the Mizbeach HaKetoret is to atone for the sin of selling Yosef and to restore unity and harmony within Am Yisrael. This is why it is placed in the middle, between the Shulchan and the Menorah in the Heichal, between the Twelve Tribes (Lechem HaPanim) and the Torah (lights of the Menorah).
It makes peace between these two keilim, by being inclusive – by embracing all parts of Am Yisrael, even the "bad smelling" ones, represented by the Chelbena ingredient in the Ketoret, by uniting the eleven brothers (the ingredients of the Ketoret) with Yosef (who represents the Lechem HaPanim – see last week's shiur), by uniting the two "smells" in the Heichal, the smell of the Ketoret and the smell of the Lechem HaPanim and brings them closer to the Torah.
The combination of these smells is the smell of Gan Eden, the fragrance that Yitzchak smelled on Yaakov, when Yaakov came, disguised as Eisav, to get Yitzchak's blessing (Yitzchak knew what Gan Eden smelled like because he was there, during the period between the Akeida and marrying Rivka).
In next week's shiur, bli neder, we will continue to develop this concept as we further explore the essence of Purim. Meanwhile, we should all have a freiliche Purim and Am Yisrael should be filled with light and joy.
Shabbat Shalom
Eliezer Meir Saidel
Machon Lechem Hapanim
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