Titzaveh 5782 – Ketores: You Can’t Yarshun Pnimi’us

The parsha is primarily focused on Bigdei Kehuna, but towards the end we have the Mizbe’ach haKetores, which clearly doesn’t belong. It’s not a begged. If anything it belongs in last week’s parsha where we spoke about the keilim. So, what’s it doing in our parsha?

And even when we compare the Mizbe’ach ketores to the other keilim, there’s an anomaly. By the other keilim it says in lashon yachid – “v’asisa.” But by the mizbe’ach ketores it say “v’asu,” lashon rabim. Why the switch in lashon?

When it comes to Ketores, we have the Koteres the Kohein Gadol is maktir on Yom Kippur lifnai v’lifnim. And we also have a daily ketores – the kohein was maktir ketores every day in the mikdash. In both instances, it is a very private Avodah. On Yom Kippur, no one is with the Kohel Gadol lifnai v’lifnim, so that obviously, by force, makes it private. But even with the daily ketores, no one was allowed “bein hamizbe’ach l’ulam” – which is a much larger area than the Kodesh. Everyone had to be evacuated, no one else can be there with the avodah of Ketores. It’s a davar that needs hesber, why is it so private?

The Ohr HaChaim has a long discussion about why mizbe’ach ketores isn’t listed with the other keilim. He gives a cryptic answer that all other keilim were used in both mishkan and Shlomo’s Beis Hamikdash. But the mizb’each ketores was only in the mishkan, but not in the Beis Hamikdash because it was nignaz. Okay, I guess that’s a chiluk, but it just adds another question of why takka was the mizbe’ach ketores the kli that was nignaz but the others not?

All avodos in the mikdash are a form of giving something to Hashem. Not that Hashem needs anything, but HKBH created a chibbur where He is k’v’yochol limited by His keilim. The mashal that the Rishonim give to is the relationship of the guf to the Neshama. The neshama is beyond the guf, but it needs the guf in order to be po’el in this world. A neshama without a guf cannot interact with this world. The guf functions as a kli, or a platform for the neshama. And, as we know, the neshama can only be po’el al yedei the guf if the guf is healthy and functional. If the guf is failing and sick, the neshama will not have the keilim needed to be po’el. That’s why we feed the guf, to make sure the neshama has healthy and functional keilim, with which it can po’el. So too, in the Mikdash. HKBH wants to be po’el in the briya, and he does so thru the keilim of the Mikdash. Our avoda is to feed the keilim to keep them healthy. The korbanos, l’mashal, are a form of Lechem – Lechem Ishai. It’s a food to create or preserve healthy keilim, a healthy platform for HKBH to be po’el in this world.

However, in addition to the “eating” that we can describe in the avodah, there’s another element that HKBH is interested in – Smelling. By the korbanos there’s an inyan to keep them burning so HKBH can be neheneh from the smell. “Vayarach Hashem es rei’ach nicho’ach.” While the korban is burning and being consumed, there’s a scent that comes out from within the korban that gives HKBH a nachas ru’ach. So, we can actually say there are two products of our avodah. One is an achila for the keilim. The keilim need to be preserved, so we aim to preserve and strengthen the keilim. But, Two, in the process of avodah, there’s the release of the inner fragrance which is the Reiyach nicho’ach that HKBH wants.

This is true of all avodah. L’mashal, we have davening: Within Davening there are two components. There’s saying the words. The words are the keilim, the platform that make our Avodah effective. But then there’s the kavana – which is the pnimi’us of davening. HKBH wants both, the words and the pnimi’us. Why does he want the words? Isn’t the pnimius more important? We don’t really know why HKBH wants specific keilim and specific tzurah or avodah, but we know He has limited the efficacy of the Neshama via the platform of the keilim. So, we need to use the keilim. But within the avodah of the keilim, HKBH wants to smell the pnimi’us of our Avodah, and the pnimi’us is the rei’ach.

Nimtzinu l’meidim, that there are two products of our avoda. There’s the physical output – what we’d call the keilim. And there’s the pnimi’us-dik output which is the rey’ach or neshama of the avodah.

And these two products have their distinct hallmarks. The hallmark of the keilim of our Avodah is uniformity. It’s one-size-fits-all. All the mitzvos are the same on the outside. However, the hallmark of the rey’ach of our Avodah is that it’s very specific to each person. Each person injects their own pnimi’us, their own neshama, into their avodah. On the outside, the avodos all look the same, but on the inside, the avoda is reflective of each person.

This is the common point shared between the bigdei Kehuna and the Mizbe’ach Ketores. The bigadim are not keilim. Keilim have a fixed tzura – a fixed size, a fixed measure. But the bigadim are specified to the middah of each kohen. There’s no 1-size-fits-all. Keilim can be a fixed tzura, because the emphasis is on the kli, not the tochen. But when the emphasis is on the tochen, on the rey’ach pnimi, then it varies from person to person. There’s one Avodah where the emphasis is on the tochen, and that is the Ketores. The Ketores is koolo rey’ach, which means it’s an emphasis on the tochen, not an emphasis on the chutz. The kli for such avodah is qualitatively not really a kli, because it focuses on the avodah of pnimi’us. In that sense, the Mizbe’ach ketores is more similar to begadim which are personalized, than to keilim which are 1-size-fits-all.

This is also why the Mizbe’ach Ketores was nignaz and wasn’t used in the Beis HaMikdash. The keilim that are 1-size-fits-all can be used at all times in all tekufos. Moshe made them, have an exact measure, they are prescribed for all times and all tekufos. Just like all the mitzvos we have from Moshe Rabbeinu. They don’t go out of style. They are the keilim we will use always. However, the Mizb’each ketores which reflects the inner state of a generation or tekufa needs to be specific to the tekufa of klal yosroel that used it. When it no longer matches up, it gets nignaz.1

This is also why the Asiya of other Keilim is lashon yachid. Lashon Yachid means it’s one size fits all. It’s moshe rabbeinu giving it one prescribed, defined tzura, making it final. However, by the mizbe’ach Ketores the lashon is V’ya’asu – plural – because it’s avodah will vary from person to person.

And this is why people had to exit the room for the ketores. The ketores comes from within. It’s an avodah that is koolo pnimi, so there’s no makom for other people in this avodah.

This distinction between Avodos of the chutz vs the avodos of the pnim, can also explain a stira in Chazal. Chazal say that each of the begadim and keilim were mechaper on different aveiros. For example, the Ketores is m’chaper on lashon hara. However, Chazal say that the Me’il is also for mechaper on lashon hara. Which one is it? Is it both? Why would I need two things to be mechaper on one averia? The Gemara asks this question and answers that one is for Lashon Hara b’Chashai vs Lashon Hara b’Pharhesya. This doesn’t seem to explain it. Any aveira can have the aveira b’chashai and the aveira b’pharhesya – for example, Avodah Zara can be b’chashai or it can be b’pharhesya. So why does Lashon Hara need a kapparah on two levels? The Maharal is masbir that dibbur is unique in that it contains a chibbur between inner world and outer world. We have words, which the outer world can hear, it’s a defined output. But then there’s the inner phenomenon of words – you can understand them bifnim. Lashon Hara is a pegam on both levels of speech: The outer level, the part that you can hear is an attack on another person. It’s called “Makeh b’seiser.” You’re hitting another person with words. That is the pegam created on the outside. But then there’s another problem. From the words I can detect something on the inside. I can detect you have a personal distaste for this person. That’s an inner problem that starts even before you uttered any words. Both of these pegamim need a kappara. The external pegam of the words, is mechaper with the me’il. But the inner kaparra is specifically coming from the the ketores.

L’ma’aseh – we have both elements of Avodah. The shleimius of Torah is it has both the fixed avodos and the avodas ha’pnim. The fixed avodos are what all of klal yisroel does, in every tekufa. HKBH wants the keilim to remain and be used by klal Yisroel always. We don’t have the luxury to dismiss the keilim just because we think we know better. “Oh we know that HKBH wants the pnimi’us so let’s just skip the outer trappings and get straight to the point.” That’s not an option. There’s an Asiya l’doros, and HKBH made the influence of our Neshamos effective only via the limited, defined, prescribed Avodos that we have from Moshe Rabbeinu. But, within those avodos, there’s the requirement to bring out the rey’ach. The chutz of those avodos is something we were Yoresh from Moshe Rabbeinu, but the pnimi’us? You can’t yarshun pnimi’us! The rey’ach is not going to come out just by doing the same acts over and over again. If anything that’ll put you to sleep! We all have our specific bigdei kehuna, and we all need to be maktir our specific rei’ach nicho’ach. We each need to make an Asiya of ourselves. No one will see it on the outside. It’s a private Avoda bifnim. But it’s the element of Avoda that gives HKBH the greatest nachas ru’ach!

Good Shabbos!