SHEYIBANEH BEIT HAMIKDASH... Yom Kippur, Was it a Dream? (A Story) The day went smoothly. Well before dawn, the acting Kohen Gadol had removed the ashes from the Mizbei'ach. By 4:21am, he had already immersed for the first time, arrayed himself in the Bigdei Zahav and slaughtered the Tamid Shel Boker. True to his word, Naphtali, the head Shocheit of the Mikdash did not leave his side. The acting Kohein Gadol would commence slaughtering the animal and Naphtali would effortlessly grasp the knife in the middle and finish the cut while the Kohein Gadol took a Mizrak and received the blood. By 5:11, the Kohein Gadol joined the other Kohanim in the Lishkat Hagazit and said Kriyat Shema, the Aseret Hadebrot, Birkat Kohanim and the Tefilla. He trimmed the Menorah, offered the daily incense, and finished sacrificing the Tamid Shel Boker together with its accompanying Menachot, Chavitin, and Nisuch Hayayin. He slaughtered and sacrificed the Musafin, one bullock and seven lambs. By 8:41, he had immersed, changed into the Bigdei Lavan, and confessed his sins over a bullock that he himself had purchased. As he placed his hands on its head, he said with real feeling, "O G-d, I have committed iniquity, transgressed and sinned before Thee, I and my house. O G-d, forgive the iniquities, transgressions and sins which I have committed and transgressed and sinned before Thee, I and my house, as it is written in the law of Thy servant Moses, 'For on this day shall atonement be made for you to cleanse you: from all your sins shall ye be clean before the L-rd'" As he confessed his sins, he recalled the Yerushalmi, "'Iniquities', these are sins committed presumptuously, 'their transgressions', acts of rebellion. 'Their sins', these are sins committed accidentally" "When the Kohanim and the people … heard the Shem Hameforash - the Ineffable Name - coming forth from the mouth of the Kohein Gadol," the untold myriads standing in the Azara "knelt and prostrated themselves and fell down on their faces and said, 'Blessed be the name of the glory of His kingdom for ever and ever'" Shaken, the Kohein Gadol answered them, "May you be purified!" He walked over to the eastern gate of the Azara, "and two [identical] he-goats were there and there was also an urn containing two lots. Upon one was written "Lashem" and on the other was written "La'azazel." Gazing at the massive gold facade of the Bayit for a minute, he stood behind the goats. Flanked by Meir Hakohein on his right and the Rosh Mishmeret on his left, he slipped his hand into the urn and drew out the two lots simultaneously. As he felt them in his hands, he remembered the Gemara. "Throughout the forty years that Shim'on Hatzadik ministered [as Kohein Gadol], the lot [for Hashem] always came up in the right hand." He offered a silent prayer and took a deep breath. Slowly, ever so slowly, he opened his hands. The lot Lashem was in his right hand! A true sign of Divine grace! Grasping the lot, he raised his right hand for all to see. A spirit of rejoicing and exaltation instantly spread through the crowd. Euphoric, he felt like he was "on a roll". Energized, he approached the goats and bound "a thread of crimson wool on the goat that was to be sent to Azazel." He tied a another strip of wool on the goat that would be slaughtered as a Chatat. He turned to the bullock, placed his hands on its head, and confessed sin a second time, beseeching forgiveness for himself, his wife and ALL the house of Aaron. And as before, when the people heard the pronounced name of G-d they "knelt, prostrated themselves and fell down on their faces, and said, 'Blessed be the name of the glory of His kingdom for ever and ever." Once again, the Kohein Gadol answered, "May you be purified!" He slaughtered his bullock and gave the sacrificial blood to a Kohein to stir so it would not coagulate. With great trepidation, he entered the Kodesh Hakodashim to offer Ketoret. There, he perceived G-d's awesome holiness in the columns of rising smoke, but he did not get flustered. There was a spirit of anticipation in the air. However, when they brought him the Sa'ir Hamishtalei'ach, it was with trembling, that he placed his hands on the goat's head and confessed the sins of K'lal Yisrael. After he finished, the Ish Iti, the "designated man", led the Sa'ir Hamishtalei'ach - the bearer of Israel's sins - out of the Azara towards the wilderness. Meir whispered to the Kohein Gadol, "This is no time to stop. According to Rav Reuven's "Time Motion Study for the Kohein Gadol for Yom Kippur", you're running 25 minutes late!" The Kohein Gadol nodded and swiftly began to remove the Emurim, the sacrificial portions of his bullock and the goat previously slaughtered to burn them on the Mizbei'ach. Under Naphtali's guidance, he dismembered the carcasses in their skins and twisted their limbs around carrying-poles; they would be carried outside of Jerusalem and burnt. There was an air of suspense; everybody was waiting for word that the Sa'ir Hamishtalei'ach had "reached the wilderness". However, the Ish Iti did finally come to the ravine; he removed the red strip of wool from between the horns of the goat, and divided it in half. He fastened one piece to a nearby rock, the other he retied to the goat's horns; another red wool "ribbon" had been previously hung at the entrance of the Ulam. R. Ishmael had said that when the goat reached the wilderness, if Am Yisrael merited it, the threads turned white. Back in the Mikdash, the Kohein Gadol was getting very fidgety. The Ish Iti should have pushed the goat over the cliff by now. Why isn't there word? Suddenly… the Azara fell silent. Then there was a shout, then a roar from 100,000 throats! People were excitingly pointing to the piece of wool hanging at the entrance of the Ulam. IT HAD TURNED WHITE! Then something amazing happened, something totally unprecedented. Everyone in the Azara started singing over and over and over again, "Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be [forgiven and be] as white as snow." And then everyone started to dance! Even dour Pinchas Hamalbish danced a few steps! The rest of Yom Kippur passed like a dream. 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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