SHEYIBANEH BEIT HAMIKDASH...
A series of articles on Beit HaMikdash-related topics by Catriel Sugarman intended to increase the knowledge, interest, and anticipation of the reader, thereby hastening the realization of our hopes and prayers for the rebuilding of Jerusalem and the Beit HaMikdash.

"Inner Sin-Offerings" - Par Kohein Mashiach [3]

"He (the Kohein Gadol) slaughtered the Par (bullock) and received its blood in a Mizrak (Mikdash bowl) and gave it to one who would stir it … so it would not coagulate." The Kohein Gadol immediately dropped the knife so he could receive the sacrificial blood. After leaving behind the firepan with Ketoret, (incense) in the Kodesh Hakodashim, he retrieved the Mizrak containing the blood of his Par from the Kohein who had been stirring it all this time. The Kohein Gadol reentered the Kodesh Hakodashim and sprinkled blood with his finger taken from the Mizrak eight times towards the Aron (or in Bayit Sheini, where the Aron would have been) one up and seven down counting as he did so "Achat, Achat Ve'achat…" Once he completed sprinkling the blood, he exited the Kodesh Hakodashim and placed the Mizrak on a gold stand outside the two Parachot which separated the Kodesh Hakodashim from the Heichal. Upon exiting the Bayit, the Kohanim presented him with the "Hashemgoat" which he quickly slaughtered and received its blood. The Sa'ir (goat) was also an "inner sin-offering" and would be burnt outside the Mikdash together with the Par. As the Par atoned for Kohanim who entered the Mikdash and ate Kodashim in a state of ritual impurity, the Sa'ir atoned for similar transgressions by the rest of Am Yisrael. <to be continued>

From the Mikdash Mailbag
From Avi (and others) in Ramot - "Now, we've read about Par Kohein Mashiach (TT 688), could you tell us more about the Kohanim Gedolim who served in the latter days of the Beit HaMikdash? The descendants of Tzadok (appointed by King Solomon) served as Kohanim Gedolim in Bayit Rishon and Bayit Sheini for 850 years until Antiochus IV removed the last officiating High Priest of the dynasty. While the right of succession was from father to son (Sifri, Parshat Shoftim, Hil. Klei Mikdash 4:20), when the legitimate Kohein Gadol had no son the office apparently devolved on his brother. During Bayit Rishon until the days of Yoshiyahu HaMelech, Kohanim Gedolim were embrocated with Shemen HaMishcha, but in the days of Bayit Sheini, this holy oil was no longer available and the Kohein Gadol was inaugurated by simply being invested with the eight garments of the Kohein Gadol.

The newly appointed Kohein Gadol would don the "many garments" and remove them everyday for a week (Yoma 4a). After this 7-day investiture, his legitimacy as Kohein Gadol was acknowledged and he could perform all the Avodot required by his office. Theoretically, only the Great Sanhedrin - the Court of Seventy One - had the authority to appoint or to confirm a Kohein Gadol (Tosefta, Sanhedrin 3). He was to "be the greatest among his brethren in strength, in beauty, in wisdom and in riches" (Yoma 18a), but unfortunately these idyllic criteria rarely met the harsh reality of late second Temple times. Kohanim who served in the Mikdash required proof of priestly descent and archives of priestly genealogy were scrupulously maintained and constantly updated. A Kohein could not marry a divorcee, a convert, or a freed woman and usually they married women from priestly families. The family trees of Kohanim were carefully scrutinized to ascertain that their lineage extended all the way back to Aaron - the primogenitor of the priestly line -or at least as far back as they were able to check. A Kohein who wanted to take a wife who was known to be of priestly stock was required to verify her maternal decent four generations back (Kiddushin 4:4). A woman whose father had served as a Kohein in the Mikdash, or who was or had been a member of the Sanhedrin or who had served in a public office, was accepted without any further search.

The maternal lineage of a woman, not of priestly stock, had to be traced back for five generations (Kiddushin 4:4). One of the major responsibilities of the Great Sanhedrin was to "sit and judge the priesthood" (Midot 5: 4). Even though ideally, the Kohein Gadol held office for life, in the latter days of Bayit Sheini, the civil authorities usually followed the unfortunate precedent set by Antiochus IV, and appointed and disposed Kohanim Gedolim at will. In the 33 years of King Herod's rule, seven High Priests were appointed and removed. In two-years, Herod's son Archelaus, named two. Collaborationist High Priests were appointed by the Roman authorities, by Agrippa I, by Herod of Chalcis and by Agrippa II. This blatant interference in the administration of the Mikdash by the hated Roman rulers and their toadies, which resulted in the recurrent appointment of obviously unworthy men greatly reduced the prestige of the High Priesthood. In the eyes of the people, the Kohein Gadol became little more than a "religious functionary" of the government. "This dependency was further emphasized when the secular authorities insisted, to the wrath of priests and people, on holding on to the High Priest's garments without which he could not carry out the full glory of his role in the Temple."

Though the sources do not relate that the Romans ever refused to allow the Kohein Gadol to use his vestments when so requested, nevertheless, the very retention of the sacred garments was provocative and this calculated humiliation lowered the prestige of the office of the High Priest. The Gemara preserves a popular "street ballad" about these Herodian and post-Herodian High Priests which showed the contempt and enmity of the people for these sacerdotal stooges.

Woe is me, for the house of Boethus: woe is me because of their clubs!
Woe is me, for the house of Annas: woe is me for their whispering!
Woe is me, for the house of Katros: woe is me for their pen!
Woe is me for the house of Ishmael ben Phiabi: woe is me for their fist!
For they are the High Priests, and their sons the treasurers; their sons-in-laws
are Temple Officers, and their servants beat the people with their staves." (Pesachim 57a).

These "spiritual leaders" foisted upon the people by the Roman and Herodian authorities, were well known for their violence and their insidious denunciations of their opponents to the Roman and Herodian authorities. Historian Joseph Klausner correctly notes that "there could be scarcely a more dreadful and hateful picture of the High Priests and their families." Even so, Avodat HaMikdash required the ministrations of an acknowledged Kohein Gadol. The awesome Avoda of Yom Kippur was invalid without an officiating High Priest. As his ancestor Aaron before him, he was the man who entered the Kodesh Hakodashim and implored forgiveness for the sins of Am Yisrael. No matter how defective his moral state may have been, and no matter how sordid were the circumstances of his appointment, he could not be ignored.

Catriel's book in progress: The Temple of Jerusalem, A Pilgrim’s Perspective; A Guided Tour through the Temple and the Divine Service