"Inner Sin-Offerings" - Par & Sa'ir of YK [cont.] Standing in Kodesh HaKodashim, the Kohein Gadol slowly drew blood from the Mizrak (the Mikdash serving vessel which he had filled from blood "received" from the neck of his slaughtered Par, bullock) and sprinkled it with his finger eight times in the direction of the Aron (or in Bayit Sheini, where the Aron would have been). Upon exiting the Kodesh HaKodashim, he placed the Mizrak on one of two gold stands which were positioned outside the two Parachot which separated the Kodesh HaKodashim from the Heichal. When he descended the Bayit stairs, the Kohanim presented him with the "Hashem goat". (as opposed to the Sa'ir HaMishtalei'ach- "goat which is to be sent", "scapegoat") He slaughtered it and received its blood in a Mizrak. The Sa'ir (goat) was also an "inner sin-offering" and like the Par, its blood applications would be performed within the Bayit. 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. The Par, the larger of the two animals, atoned for the Kohanim and the smaller Sa'ir effected atonement for the rest of Iisrael. The reason given is that these sins were more prevalent among Kohanim because they entered the Mikdash and ate Kodashim more often than other Jews. (I find this very interesting because I would have said the opposite. Did not vastly more non-Kohanim enter the Mikdash compound during the course of the year than Kohanim? Consider the enormous crowds that flooded into the Azara during the Shelosh Regalim! Would not the untutored masses of Am Yisrael, who were not as conversant with the laws of purity as the Kohanim were, need the greater "atonement power" of the larger Par even more than the fastidious priests?) The Kohein Gadol returned to the Kodesh HaKodashim with the Mizrak containing the Sa'ir's blood and sprinkled blood in the direction of the Aron, the same way he previously sprinkled the Par's blood. "He then entered where he had entered (when he sprinkled the Par's blood) and stood in the place where he stood (when he sprinkled the Par's blood), and (like the blood of the Par), he sprinkled the (Sa'ir's) blood once upward and seven times downward… as though he was wielding a whip. And thus he used to count: 'One, one and one, one and two, one and three, one and four, one and five, one and six, one and seven.'" Exiting Kodesh HaKodashim,he placed the Mizrak containing the remaining blood on the second gold stand near the Parochet. He then removed the Mizrak containing the Par's blood from the first gold stand, turned towards Kodesh Hakodashim, and sprinkled the blood eight times towards the Parochet. After sprinkling the blood of the Par, "he took the blood of the Sa'ir, put down the blood of the Par, and then sprinkled the blood towards the Parochet opposite the Aron…" Similar to when he sprinkled the blood of the Par, "he sprinkled as he was wielding a whip" …he counted "One, one and one, one and two, one and three, one and four, one and five, one and six, one and seven." Referring to the Sa'ir, the Torah says, "And he shall make atonement for the holy place, because of the uncleanness of Bnei Yisrael" (Vayikra 16:16). The Gemara comments, "It is possible in this phrase to include three types of uncleanness - the uncleanness of idolatry, the uncleanness of incest, and the uncleanness of bloodshed… Now I might have thought that even for these three types of uncleanness the Sa'ir (also) atones, therefore the text says. "Of the uncleanness of Bnei Yisrael and not ALL the uncleanness (of Bnei Yisrael)" (Shevu'ot 7b). After having sprinkled the blood of both the Par and the Sa'ir inside Kodesh Hakodashim, and afterwards in the Heichal, the Kohein Gadol then "emptied out the blood of the Par into the (Mizrak containing) the blood of the Sa'ir. Then he poured (the contents of the full Mizrak which contained the blood of both the Par and the Sa'ir) into the empty Mizrak" (Yoma 5:4). "He shall go out to the altar - the gold incense altar in the Heichal - which is before Hashem, and make atonement upon it. He shall take some blood of the Par and of the Sa'ir and place on the horns of the altar all around" (Vayikra 16:18). Ramban explains (ibid.) that "the sprinklings (of the Kohein Gadol) before the Kaporet (i.e. the ark cover within Kodesh HaKodashim) atoned for impurities introduced into Kodesh HaKodashim and its sanctities. The sprinklings (of the Kohein Gadol) on the Parochet of the Ohel Mo'ed (or in the Heichal in the Beit Hamikdash) atoned for impurities in the Heichal and its sanctities such as the Menora, the table for Lechem Hapanim ("showbread") and the Parochet itself. The blood application on the gold incense altar atoned for contamination of the altar itself and the Ketoret. That is why the Torah mentions each 'means of atonement' separately…" Grasping the Mizrak containing the mixed bloods, the Kohein Gadol strode to the Mizbei'ach HaZahav, the gold incense altar. The Sages are at variance as to whether he circumambulated Mizbach Hazahav or simply stood in one place as he applied the blood to the horns of the altar. "…where does he begin? From the northeast corner, to the northwest corner, then the southwest, then the northeast' (Yoma 6:5). The language used by the Mishna for the "blood application" is instructive. "Machteh Ve'yoreid" is usually translated "sprinkle downwards", but Machteh is also related to the word "Chitui" or "purge from sin" (Shemot 29:36). Tif'eret Yisrael [38] notes that the Mishna employs a language of purification; the Kohein Gadol is purifying the altar with every blood application."). Bartenura writes, "Toharo", he then sprinkled on the top (or on the cleansed) surface of the altar". After he completed the blood applications on the corners of the gold incense altar, he then sprinkled blood on its top seven times… Toharo (its "purity"…the place where (the altar) is revealed. The (Kohein Gadol) moved aside the ashes (usually found on the incense altar) revealing the actual (pure) gold of Mizbach HaZahav). He sprinkled the blood on the exposed gold." The Mishna notes, "The lack of one of these acts of sprinkling impaired (the atonement). The residue of the blood (left in the Mizrak after the Kohein Gadol finished the blood applications in the Kodesh HaKodashim and in the Heichal) was poured over the western base of the outer (sacrificial) altar" (Zevachim 5:1). Upon the completion of the Avodot of the sprinkling of the blood of the Par and Sa'ir and the pouring out of the remaining blood, the Kohein Gadol walked to the eastern side of the Azara. There he put his hands on the head of the Sa'ir HaMishtalei'ach (the "the goat that is to be sent, the "scapegoat") and confessed all the sins of Am Yisrael. A Mikdash appointee chosen before Yom Kippur- the Ish Iti - "escorted" the goat to the wilderness where it was sent to its death. While the Sa'ir HaMishtalei'ach was being taken to the wilderness (lit. 'a cut-off land"), the Kohein Gadol extracted the Emurim (the inner parts of the sacrificial animal which are burnt on the Mizbei'ach) from the bodies of the Par and Sa'ir and placed them in a receptacle to be burnt on the Mizbei'ach. He then intertwined their bodies, placed them on a "stretcher", and Mikdash appointees carried them out of Jerusalem. These "inner sin offering" were burnt in the Beit HaDeshen, the "place of ashes" outside of Jerusalem. 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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