Confessing to Kohanim

Real questions, submitted by actual OU Torah followers, with their real answers. NOTE: For questions of practical halacha, please consult your own rabbi for guidance.

Q. If we don't confess our sins to anyone other than God and those we sin against, what about in Temple times? Didn't people need to confess to the kohein in order for the kohein to carry out the right procedures for the Temple service?

A. Thanks for your question. There are only two sacrifices that are relevant to your question – the korban chatas (sin offering) and the korban asham (guilt offering). The chatas was brought for accidentally doing something that would be deserving of kareis (spiritual excision) if it were done intentionally. The asham was brought for completely different reasons, such as if one was unsure whether he committed a sin or for lying under oath. (See more here.) So one would certainly need to tell the kohein which offering he needed to bring but the specific sin is immaterial. For example, the offering brought for violating Shabbos accidentally is the same as the offering brought for accidentally eating on Yom Kippur. The offerings were not sin-specific.

It is true that one confessed his sins when he brought his offering, and there were no doubt kohanim within earshot just as there are other people in earshot when we recite Vidui in shul. The important part is that one wasn't confessing to them, he was confessing to God. (See more here.)

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