TSAV_LEVITICUS VI:1-VIII:36
The central subject of these chapters is the Kohén, the priest who will officiate in the offering of the sacrifices. In later stages, after the conquest of the Promised Land during the period of the Beit HaMikdash, the Kohanim class led the cult that focused on the precinct of this Sacred House. While a Rabbi title, “teacher,” depends on the sustained study of the Holy Scriptures—and especially the Oral Torah represented by the Talmud—the Kehunah, the Kohen’s situation, has a genetic origin. The descendants of Aharon, the brother of Mosheh, accede to the right to the Kehunah by reason of birth.
Moreover, the Kohen cannot renounce his priestly nature, a condition that is only affected by certain biological defects or by a forbidden marriage contracted by his father. The Torah forbids the Kohen from marrying, for example, a divorced woman. In the case of the Kohen Gadol, head of the Kohanim, this prohibition includes a widow. Whoever descends from such a forbidden union receives the designation of Chalal, a Kohen disqualified from officiating. Likewise, the descendants of this Chalal will also be disqualified.
As Rachel Lifshitz points out, the Kohen had privileges and obligations. Especially during the period of the existence of the Beit HaMikdash, the Kohen had a privileged position that included obtaining some parts of the offered animal free of charge and receiving the contribution called Terumah, which even the other members of the tribe of Levi had to offer. Although the Torah does not stipulate the amount of the contribution, the Talmud suggests an amount of not less than one-fiftieth of the annual income.
The Mishnah teaches that the Kohen Gadol was held in one of the precincts of the Beit HaMikdash for the 7 days prior to Yom HaKipurim so that he could review the order of sacrifices of the Day of Forgiveness. Obtaining divine forgiveness depended on the activities of the Kohen Gadol, who could not deviate from the order that the Chachamim had established according to their interpretation of the sacred text. This was necessary because there had been situations of Kohanim that were not learned in these traditions. Moreover, the Chachamim wanted to ensure that the Kohen followed the opinion of the Perushim and not that of the Tsedukim in cases where there was a divergence of opinion.
The Kohen Gadol was introduced into the Kodesh HaKodashim only in Yom HaKipurim to ask divine forgiveness for his personal sins, the errors of his relatives and of the entire people of Israel. Today after the destruction of the Beit HaMikdash, this Holy Day is celebrated mainly through prayers and fast, the abstention from food and drink.
During the period of the physical existence of the Beit HaMikdash, the sacred service focused on the offerings made by the Kohen Gadol, the drawing of animals to select the “scapegoat” that would carry, symbolically on himself, the sins of the Jewish people. The crucial moment, however, was when the Kohen Gadol entered the interior of the Kodesh HaKodashim, the Holy of Holies. The people waited anxiously to see if the Kohen Gadol would come out of that enclosure alive, a sign that his requests for forgiveness had been accepted.
After the destruction of the Beit HaMikdash, the Kohen has been limited to certain privileges such as officiating at the Pidyon Haben, the redemption of the firstborn; being called to the first section of the Torah reading; and reciting the “triple blessing” during the repetition of the Amidah.
Perhaps above that of the Kohen, the figure of the Rav, the Talmid Chacham, the erudite, has special relevance in the present. In the absence of the Beit HaMikdash, the study of the Torah and the Talmud have acquired supremacy and study has become the preferred vehicle for ensuring the continuity and spiritual development of Judaism.
MITSVAH: TORAH ORDINANCE IN THIS PARASHAH
CONTAINS 9 POSITIVE MITSVOT AND 9 PROHIBITIONS
- Leviticus 6:3 Lifting the ashes (from the Altar)
- Leviticus 6:6 Daily light the fire on the Altar
- Leviticus 6:6 Do not put out the fire of the Altar
- Leviticus 6:9 Eat the remainder of the Minchah offering
- Leviticus 6:10 Do not leaven the remainder of the Minchah offering
- Leviticus 6:13 The daily Minchah offering of the Kohen Gadol (High Priest)
- Leviticus 6:16 The Minchah offering of a Kohen is not consumed
- Leviticus 6:18 The procedure with the Chatat offering (for sin)
- Leviticus 6:23 Do not eat the flesh of the Chatat offering whose blood is sprinkled inside (the Sanctuary)
- Leviticus 7:1 The procedure with the Asham offering (by guilt)
- Leviticus 7:11 The Procedure with the Shelamim Offering (for peace)
- Leviticus 7:15 Do not leave any flesh from the Todah (thanksgiving) offering after the time allotted for its consumption
- Leviticus 7:17 The Obligation to Burn the Remnants of Sacred Offerings
- Leviticus 7:18 Do not eat from the Pigul offering, offering with incorrect intentions
- Leviticus 7:19 Do not eat the flesh of impure converted sacred offerings
- Leviticus 7:19 The Obligation to Burn Sacred Flesh turned Impure
- Leviticus 7:23 Do not eat Chelev (forbidden fat from the offering)
- Leviticus 7:26 Do not ingest the blood of any animal or bird
