Halachah LeSha’ah and Halachah L’Dorot
וְכִפֶּר אַהֲרֹן עַל קַרְנֹתָיו אַחַת בַּשָּׁנָה מִדַּם חַטַּאת הַכִּפֻּרִים אַחַת בַּשָּׁנָה יְכַפֵּר עָלָיו לְדֹרֹתֵיכֶם קֹדֶשׁ קָדָשִׁים הוּא לַה'
Aharon shall atone on its corners once a year, from the blood of the sin-offering of the atonements once a year he shall atone on it for your generations, it is holy of holies to Hashem. (Shemot 30:10)
In the end of Parshat Tetzaveh, the Torah describes the dedication and halachot pertaining to the Mizbach HaZahav, the golden mizbeach on which ketoret was offered. The final pasuk of that parshah informs us that one time a year, this Mizbeach had an additional function, as well; for once a year blood from korbanot offered on Yom Kippur would be sprinkled on its corners.
A Vessel of the Mishkan in Parshat Tetzaveh
Before we get involved in a specific discussion regarding the problems of this concluding pasuk, it is appropriate to quote the words of the Seforno who discusses why the sugya of the Mizbach HaKetoret appears at all in Parshat Tetzaveh, which deals mainly with the bigdei kehunah, and not in Parshat Terumah, which is the parshah that deals with the Mishkan and its keilim (30:1, s.v. mizbeyach):
This Mizbeach was not mentioned together with the other keilim in Parshat Terumah, for the purpose of this kli was not to cause the Shechinah to dwell among us, as was the case with the other keilim, concerning which it says (Shemot 25:8–9) “וְשָׁכַנְתִּי בְּתוֹכָם. כְּכֹל אֲשֶׁר אֲנִי מַרְאֶה אוֹתְךָ אֵת תַּבְנִית הַמִּשְׁכָּן וְאֵת תַּבְנִית כָּל כֵּלָיו — I will dwell in their midst. In accordance with all that I am showing you, the form of the Mishkan and the form of its vessels.”[1] Nor was its purpose to cause the revealed vision (מראה) of Hashem’s Glory to descend, which was the case with the korbanot, concerning which it says (ibid. 29:43) “וְנֹעַדְתִּי שָׁמָּה לִבְנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל —I will meet there with Bnei Yisrael,”[2] and Moshe similarly attested[3] (Vayikra 9:6) “זֶה הַדָּבָר אֲשֶׁר צִוָּה ה’ תַּעֲשׂוּ וְיֵרָא אֲלֵיכֶם כְּבוֹד ה’ — this is the matter that Hashem has commanded you to do, and the Glory of Hashem will appear to you.” Rather, the role of this Mizbeach was to give honor to Hashem after He accepts with favor the avodah of His people (through) the morning and afternoon korbanot,[4] and to seek His Countenance ("לשחר פניו") through the offering of ketoret, as it says (Divrei HaYamim 1, 16:29) “הָבוּ לַה’ כְּבוֹד שְׁמוֹ שְׂאוּ מִנְחָה וּבֹאוּ לְפָנָיו — Give unto Hashem the Glory of His Name, take up an offering[5] and come before Him.”
With these words, written in his characteristic brief style, the Seforno lays out before us three distinct functions (“three dinim”) that are related to the Mishkan and its components, as well as an explanation of their distribution between the Parshiyot of Terumah and Tetzaveh. These parshiyot describe what is required in order to attain the following objectives:
1) To cause the Shechinah to reside among Bnei Yisrael, through the Mishkan and its keilim.
2) To bring about the vision of kevod Hashem, through the morning and afternoon korbanot.
3) To give honor to Hashem and seek His Countenance, through the ketoret.
This final avodah takes place on the inner “golden” Mizbeach in the Mishkan, as opposed to the offering of korbanot that takes place on the outer “copper” Mizbeach in the Courtyard. Both of these are called “mizbeach,” although they have different functions, and even act in different “directions.” The outer Mizbeach serves to bring the Shechinah “downward,” while the inner Mizbeach sends an expression of honor to Hashem “upward,” of account of Him accepting our avodah, as well as to seek His Countenance. The key to understanding the differing functions of the two mizbechot lies primarily with observing the place in the Torah where they appear.
Some Difficulties in the Pasuk
Having discussed briefly the function of the inner Mizbeach, as explained by the Seforno, we now come to the main topic of this chapter, of the relationship between halachah lesha’ah and halachah l’dorot — a halachah that was only relevant at a particular time in history and halachah as it applies for all generations — and how both are addressed by the Torah.
When we consider the concluding pasuk of the parshah, we see that there are a number of difficulties that may be raised.
1. Kefeilut (Redundancy) — The pasuk states the halachah of “אַחַת בַּשָּׁנָה” — twice.
2. Kefeilut (Redundancy) — The pasuk describes the avodah — “וְכִפֶּר” — twice.
3. The word “לְדֹרֹתֵיכֶם — for your generations” is only mentioned in the second half of the pasuk , not in the first half.
Two Yesodot
The Sar HaTorah, R’ Meir Simcha HaKohen of Dvinsk, in his peirush Meshech Chochmah, suggests a unique way of understanding this pasuk and its component parts. In order to fully understand his approach, written in his characteristic terse style, let us first preface with two yesodot (foundations).
The first yesod comes from the beit midrash of the Vilna Gaon, who explains that the seder termed “The Yom Kippur Avodah,” which is described in Parshat Acharei-Mot, exists in two capacities:
1. Halachah LeSha’ah — The halachah as it applied to Aharon (and perhaps Elazar as well) in the Midbar, when he was able to enter the Kodesh HaKodashim at any time he wanted, as long as he did so accompanied by the Seder Ha’Avodah as described in Parshat Acharei-Mot.
2. Halachah L’Dorot — The halachah as it applies to the Kohen Gadol in subsequent generations, namely, that he may only enter the Kodesh HaKodashim once a year, on Yom Kippur.
The second yesod comes from the beit midrash of R’ Eliyahu Mizrachi, the foremost among the mefarshim to Rashi’s peirush on the Torah. The Mizrachi (Devarim 25:4 s.v. disho) tells us that we must always pay careful attention to whether the verb precedes the noun, or the noun precedes the verb, in every pasuk that we encounter.
1. If the verb comes first, then it attains a wider scope. For example, the Torah says (Devarim 25:4) “לֹא תַחְסֹם שׁוֹר בְּדִישׁוֹ — you shall not muzzle an ox while it threshes.” Since the words “lo tachsom” came first, the meaning is expanded to denote “מכל מקום — under any circumstances.”[6] In this instance, the words “lo tachsom” constitute a message in their own right, comprised of a subject (Bnei Yisrael), a verb (muzzling) and an object (prior to being qualified — anything!). Hence, there is no need to restrict the scope of the prohibition to the final words “bedisho — while it threshes.”
2. However, if the noun is mentioned before the verb, the scope of the verb is limited to the noun. For example, the Torah says regarding shemittah (Vayikra 25:5) “אֵת סְפִיחַ קְצִירְךָ לֹא תִקְצוֹר — the wild growth of your harvest you shall not reap.” Here, the use of the noun is specific, restricting the prohibition of reaping exclusively to “the wild growth of your harvest,” and we cannot detach it from the verb and say “mikol makom.” The reason for this is that the words, “the wild growth of your harvest” are not in themselves a sentence, as they are missing a verb, and therefore can only be seen as being connected to the verb that follows — “lo tiktzor.”
The Meshech Chochmah’s Explanation
Based on the yesodot that we just discussed, let us now present the words of the Meshech Chochmah, which will provide us with a magnificent answer to the dual references in our pasuk (Vayikra 16:3, s.v. bezot):
This is the meaning of the pasuk in Parshat Tetzaveh, which begins “וְכִפֶּר אַהֲרֹן עַל קַרְנֹתָיו אַחַת בַּשָּׁנָה — Aharon shall atone on its corners once a year,” which obligates (every Kohen Gadol) to atone (at least) once a year, including Aharon. However, Aharon specifically has the possibility of performing this avodah more than once a year, any time he wishes and feels himself able to do so,[7] while once a year for him is obligatory.
However, in subsequent generations (“לְדֹרֹתֵיכֶם”), the pasuk says “מִדַּם חַטַּאת הַכִּפֻּרִים אַחַת בַּשָּׁנָה יְכַפֵּר — from the blood of the sin-offering of the atonements he shall atone,” for then it is possible only once a year and no more. (The reason for this is) since l’dorot there is no Cloud present,[8] he may only enter “once a year.” Therefore it says “אַחַת בַּשָּׁנָה יְכַפֵּר — once a year he shall atone,”[9] where the critical emphasis is that this may be done only once, not twice.
Let us summarize the way the Meshech Chochmah reads our pasuk as follows:
וְכִפֶּר (ללא הגבלה) אַהֲרֹן (דוקא) עַל קַרְנֹתָיו אַחַת בַּשָּׁנָה (לפחות. לעומתו, בכהן גדול לדורות) מִדַּם חַטַּאת הַכִּפֻּרִים אַחַת בַּשָּׁנָה (בלבד) יְכַפֵּר עָלָיו לְדֹרֹתֵיכֶם.
And Aharon (specifically) shall atone (without restrictions) on its corners once a year (at least. By contrast, regarding a Kohen Gadol l’dorot,) from the blood of the sin-offering of the atonements, once a year (only) he shall atone on it for your generations.
And so, our pasuk describes the halachah both for Aharon, the Kohen Gadol lesha’ah, as well as for the Kohen Gadol l’dorot, regarding the Seder Ha’Avodah of Yom Kippur!
[1] These pesukim teach us that the goal of the Mishkan and its keilim were to cause the Shechinah to dwell among us.
[2] This pasuk appears at the end of the perek that discusses the outer Mizbeach on which the korbanot were offered.
[3] In the parshah of the korbanot of the Miluim Days, which served as a prelude to korbanot l’dorot. The Seforno has identified two separate functions within the Mishkan. The first is bringing the Shechinah to dwell among Bnei Yisrael, which was brought about through the Mishkan and its keilim. And, the second is causing the revealed vision of Kevod Hashem to descend, which was achieved through the korbanot. The Mizbeach Haketoret, however, fulfills neither of these roles.
[4] These were the morning and afternoon tamid offerings, whose procedure has already been detailed in perek 29.
[5] The Seforno explains that in our context, the offering (minchah) is the ketoret.
[6] This includes even before the ox has started threshing; see Gemara Bava Metzia 90b.
[7] Accompanied by the Seder Ha’Avodah described in Parshat Acharei-Mot.
[8] That is, throughout the course of the year, in the way that it was for the duration of our time in the Midbar, so that the Mishkan on any given day had the kedushah that the Beit Hamikdash l’dorot only had on Yom Kippur.
[9] And not “וכפר אחת בשנה — he shall atone once a year,” in which case we would be able to explain the word “וְכִפֶּר” as extending beyond the scope of the “אַחַת בַּשָּׁנָה.”