SHEYIBANEH BEIT HAMIKDASH... From the Mikdash Mailbag - Ketoret Dear A.R., With all due respect, Yerushalayim - Paletrin Shel Ma'ala - has been for a very long time and remains the Holy City, or more correctly, the city of the Holy One - the city that He has chosen. I did indeed write that, "no act of Divine Service was more beloved by the Kohanim than Haktarat Ketoret, the incense offering, and it was believed that the incense offering was most beloved by Heaven as well. Kohanim were permitted to offer Ketoret only once in their lifetime." Before the third Payis - "Mikdash lottery"- when they determined who would offer the Ketoret that day, they proclaimed in the Azara, "New kohanim (i.e. those who have not yet offered incense), come and draw lots for the Ketoret" (Yoma 2:4). Bartenura comments, "That is the proclamation that they used to make in the Azara. That is to say, [any Kohein] who as of yet has not been privileged to offer Ketoret, let him come and participate in the Payis. They (the Kohanim) would not permit anyone who had already offered Ketoret to do so a second time because the Ketoret enriches those who offer it. It is written, 'They shall place incense before Your presence… (and immediately afterward) Bless O Lord his resources and favor the work of his hands… (D'varim 33:10,11)." Bartenura continues, "Every Kohein who offered Ketoret was enriched and blessed for doing so. For this reason, they would not permit a Kohein to offer Ketoret a second time so all the Kohanim (or at least as many as possible CS) could be enriched and blessed." Sincere prayer is compared to the offering of Ketoret. "Let my prayer be set forth as incense before Thee (T'hilim 141:2). Sincere prayer, like the aromatic fumes of incense, is wafted on High. "R' Yitzchak ben Eliezer said, 'Know that they constructed the Mishkan and all its vessels, slaughtered and sacrificed the Korbanot on the Mizbei'ach, placed the Lechem Ha- Panim on the Shulchan and lit the Menora. They did everything - but the Shechina - the Divine Presence - did not descend until they offered Ketoret. How do we know this? It is written, 'Awake thou north, come thou south, blow upon my garden that the perfumes flow out. Let my Beloved come into His garden and eat His precious fruits' (Shir HaShirim 4:16). 'Awake thou north' - these are the burnt offerings that were slaughtered north of the Mizbei'ach. 'Come thou south' - these are the Sh'lamim that were slaughtered south of the Mizbei'ach. 'Blow upon my garden that the perfumes flow out.' This refers to the perfumed incense. 'Let my Beloved come …this is the Shechinah… and eat His precious fruit… these are the now accepted Korbanot" (Midrash Tanchuma, Parshat Tetzaveh with commentary of the Eitz Yosef.) "Said the Holy One Blessed be He, 'By means of the incense you attained atonement in this world; so shall it be in the Future World…" (ibid. 15, end). "On the sacrificial altar [animal] sacrifices were offered. Similarly, the body of man is nourished by [material] food; but on the Mizbach HaZahav, only sweet Ketoret was offered, for the soul takes delight in perfumes only…" The Torah says, "You shall salt your every meal-offering with salt; you may not discontinue the salt of your G-d's Covenant (Brit Elokecha) from upon your meal- offering; on your every offering (Korbancha) you shall offer salt (Vayikra 2:13). The Torah says further, "…it is an eternal salt-like covenant (Brit) before G-d…" (Bamidbar 18:19). Yechezkel Ha- Navi describes how the Kohanim one day will offer Korbanot - "a young bullock without blemish, a ram out of the flock without blemish" and "cast salt upon them, and offer them as a burnt-offering before G-d" (43:24). The Mishna repeatedly emphasizes that all Korbanot were salted. Josephus also describes how the Kohanim offered an Olah. "When they (the sacrificial animals) are killed, the kohanim sprinkle the blood around the Altar; they then cleanse the bodies, and divide them in parts, and salt them with salt…" (Antiquities 9:3; 1). The Sages concluded that no sacrifice could be offered in the Mikdash without being salted and that an unsalted Korban was invalid. The Kohanim also used salt in the preparation of the Lechem HaPanim and the Ketoret. Salt was used in the Mikdash in huge quantities and there was a special chamber called the Lishkat HaMelach that abutted the Ezrat Yisrael to store it. Adjacent to Lishkat HaMelach was Lishkat HaParva. "Here they salted the hides of the animal offerings" and gave them to the Kohanim of the Mishmeret. However, salt was not only used in the Avoda, in that "unrefrigerated" age, it was primarily used as a meat preservative. "Shake the salt off the meat. Cast [the flesh] to the dogs" Nida 31a)! Because of its preservative qualities, salt became the symbol of the everlasting Brit between G-d and Am Yisrael. There was a particular type of salt obtained from the Yam HaMelach (the Dead Sea) called Melach Sedomit - "Salt of Sodom" - that was used as an ingredient in the Ketoret (Keritot 6a). The sage Abayei claimed that Melach Sedomit could be found in minute quantities even in ordinary salt - "one grain in a Kor". (A Kor is equivalent to 30 Se'ah: the minimum amount of "natural" water required for a Kosher Mikveh is 40 Se'ah.) Melach Sedomit was thought to be so acrid that if one touched his eyes with the finger that had contact with it, it might cause blindness. For this reason, the Sages instituted Mayim Acharonim, rinsing the hands after the meal (Hullin 105b). Beit Avtinas, the priestly perfumers who compounded the Ketoret, "used Melach Sedomit and not regular salt because even though there are different varieties of salt - some come from the mountains, some from rivers - nevertheless the highest quality salt is Melach Sedomit which comes from the Yam HaMelach. Melach Sedomit is not mixed with water and it is the saltiest (Malu'ach B'yoteir) of all salts because it is like sulfur or brimstone. It was with this that G-d burnt Sodom as it is written, 'And G-d caused sulfur and fire to rain upon Sodom and Gomorrah…' (Bereishit 19:24). …It is also the very best salt that can be used for Ketoret because it causes the smoke to rise quickly since Melach Sedomit itself is a kind of brimstone (which gives off fumes). The [Melach Sedomit in the Ketoret] causes the smoke to rise straight up and it also does not make noise as it burns [on the coals]. … For this reason, the [silent] Ketoret can be compared to a prayer from the heart - a supplication that rises [to Heaven] silently, secretly, and soundlessly" (Sheltei HaGiborim 76). Catriel's book in progress: The Temple of Jerusalem, A Pilgrim’s Perspective; A Guided Tour through the Temple and the Divine Service [The
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