טז,לב וְכִפֶּר הַכֹּהֵן אֲשֶּר-יִמְשַח אֹּתוֹ, וַאֲשֶּר יְמַלֵא אֶּת-יָדוֹ, לְכַהֵן, תַחַת אָבִיו; וְלָבַש אֶּת-בִגְדֵי הַבָד, בִגְדֵי הַקֹּדֶּש.
32 And the priest, who shall be anointed and who shall be consecrated to be priest in his father's stead, shall make the atonement, and shall put on the linen garments, even the holy garments.
לג וְכִפֶּר אֶּת-מִקְדַש הַקֹּדֶּש, וְאֶּת-אֹּהֶּל מוֹעֵד וְאֶּת -הַמִזְבֵחַ יְכַפֵר; וְעַל הַכֹּהֲנִים וְעַל-כָל-עַם הַקָהָל, יְכַפֵר.
33 And he shall make atonement for the most holy place, and he shall make atonement for the tent of meeting and for the altar; and he shall make atonement for the priests and for all the people of the assembly.
לד וְהָיְתָה-זֹּאת לָכֶּם לְחֻקַת עוֹלָם, לְכַ פֵר עַל-בְנֵי יִשְרָאֵל מִכָל -חַטֹּאתָם --אַחַת, בַשָנָה; וַיַעַש, כַאֲשֶּר צִוָה יְהוָה אֶּת-מֹּשֶּה. }פ{
34 And this shall be an everlasting statute unto you, to make atonement for the children of Israel because of all their sins once in the year.' And he did as the LORD commanded Moses. {P}
Unique halachos that apply to the Kohen Gadol for Yom haKippur
AVODAS WHICH MUST BE PERFORMED BY THE KOHEN GADOL ON YOM KIPPUR
Four major views among the Rishonim:
1. Baal haMaor – the Kohen Gadol performed every Avodah on Yom Kippur, both the standard Avodos and those which were unique to Yom Kippur. He even performed the Terumas haDeshen (removal of the ashes from the exterior Altar which was considered Avodah of the night). Thus, the Paisos (lotteries) conducted daily by the other Kohanim were not held on Yom Kippur (generally four lotteries were held in the morning to determine which Kohanim did the following Avodas: 1) removing the ashes from the exterior Altar; 2) slaughtering and preparing the daily Tamid sacrifice; 3) offering the daily Ketores on the interior Altar; and 4) burning the Tamid on the exterior Altar.
2. Ritva (Yoma 12b) – the Kohen Gadol was required to offer the Korbanos mentioned in Parshas Acharei Mos (called Chovos haYom). The Mussavim mentioned in Bamidbar could be offered by any Kohen. However, Chaza”l instituted that all Avodas should be performed by the Kohen Gadol if possible. Thus, lotteries are only held if the other Kohanim are to perform one or more of the above four Avodas.
3. Ramban (Yoma first page to the Ri”f) – two stipulations: 1) the Avodah must be of the daytime (to the exclusion of nighttime Avodas); and 2) the Avodah must be a primary function (Chovos haYom) and not a subsidiary function (Heksher). Example, gathering goals from the exterior Altar into a pan, carrying the pan and coals into the Heikel, and placing them on the interior Altar are only subsidiary functions and can be performed by any Kohen. However, placing the incense on the ashes is a primary function and must be done by the Kohen Gadol. Thus, he reconstructs the four lotteries to be: 1) Terumas haDeshen; 2) cleaning the inner Alar and the Mernorah; 3) gathering the coals for the daily Ketores and placing them on the interior Altar; 4) gathering all the limbs which were not fully burnt from the previous night.
4. Rambam (Hilchos Avodas Yom haKippurim Chapter 4) maintains that all Avodas haYom (tasks that must be performed in the daytime) must be performed by the Kohen Gadol on Yom Kippur. However, the tasks during the night need not be performed by the Kohen Gadol. Thus, only one lottery is conducted for the regular Kohanim to perform the Avodos of the night, such as Terumas haDishun, arranging the wood, etc.
THE REQUIREMENT THAT THE KOHEN GADOL BE MARRIED
ו וְהִקְרִ יב אַהֲרֹּן אֶּת -פַר הַחַטָאת, אֲשֶּר-לוֹ; וְכִפֶּר בַעֲדוֹ, ובְעַד בֵיתוֹ.
6 And Aaron shall present the bullock of the sin-offering, which is for himself, and make atonement for himself, and for his house.
The Gemara (Yuma 13a) states that the word "ביתו" means that the Kohen Gadol has to be married and betrothal is not sufficient. The Torah also requires that he be married to only one woman and not to two. The Gemara proposes a complex arrangement whereby the Kohen Gadol should marry a second woman before Yom Kippur and divorce both wives conditionally, in such a way that at any given moment during Yom Kippur he has only one wife and yet he is assured that if one dies he will be married to the other. The condition effectively states that in the event that one of the two women dies on Yom Kippur, then that woman (who died) is divorced retroactively (from before Yom Kippur), so that retroactively the Kohen Gadol was not married to two women when he began the Avodah. If neither woman dies on Yom Kippur, then the condition states that the second wife automatically becomes divorced retroactively.
The Kohen Gadol does recite confession on behalf of his entire household which would include any children that he does have.
Rav Soloveitchik also derives that the Kohen Gadol has to have a wife but is not required to have children. However, in the name of his father, he heard that the Kohen Gadol would be disqualified if he had children that were intermarried. This limitation only refers to Yom haKippur, since the Kohen Gadol pleads for forgiveness on behalf of his household that have already regretted their sins. It clearly is not applicable to those who continue to lead a sinful life.
The Rav does note that Klal Yisrael, the Jewish people, as a whole unit, cannot be classified as deniers. There is a special Kaporah for the Jews as one entity, and each individual shares in part of this Kaporah of this group, even if they live a sinful life. Thus, The Kohen Gadol’s confession for the entire Jewish people includes all.
THE KOHEN GADOL IS ISOLATED FOR SEVEN DAYS PRIOR TO YOM KIPPUR
The first Mishna in Yoma stipulates that the Kohen Gadol must be sequestered for one compete week prior to Yom Kippur to purify himself and prepare for the holiday. The Gemara (Yuma 3b) brings two opinions as to the source for this isolation.
Rabbi Yochanan derives it from the Miluiim (consecration) week prior to the final set up of the Mishkan. Resh Lakish cites the isolation period of Moshe prior to ascending to the presence of HaShem on Har Sinai.
According to each opinion what is the objective of this isolation period.
The Rav answers that Rabbi Yochonan understood that the Miluiim period was to enhance and establish Aharon’s status as the Kohen Gadol. This investment in an elevated status could only be obtained through the isolation. Similarly, Yom Kippur requires a higher caliber than throughout the year, which could only be obtained through isolation. Thus, the week prior to Yom Kippur, the Kohen Gadol reenacts the period of isolation to become invested with eh special level of holiness that was necessary for Yom Kippur but not for the rest of the year.
According to Resh Lakish the isolation was a license to enter the Holy of Holies. Just as Moshe needed the period of isolation to ascend Har Sinai, so the Kohen Gdol needs completion through seven days of isolation.
THE KOHEN GADOL ONLY WEARS BIGDEI LAVAN ON YOM KIPPUR
The Kohen Gadol is forbidden to enter the Kodesh HaKodashim (Holy of Holies) in his regular, golden-thread priestly vestments [“Bigdei Zahav”]. Rather, special white garments [“Bigdei Lavan”] are required for Yom Kippur Avodah in the Kodesh HaKodashim. Chazal explain (R.H. 26a) that this rule is predicated upon the negative inferences of the golden-thread vestments, for they invoke the memory of the Chet Ha-Egel [Sin of the Golden Calf], which is surely not appropriate to bring up as the Kohen Gadol seeks forgiveness.
This raises the obvious question: He should also not wear his regular eight garments, some of which do contain gold, when he does the service outside the Sanctuary building. The Lutzker Rov, Rabbi Zalman Sorotzkin answers that when he is outside and in the view of numerous people the opposite is true. He should wear garments that contain gold, which in turn reminds the people of the grievous sin of the golden calf, and they will in turn ask Hashem for forgiveness. When he does his service inside the Sanctuary there is no one else present. There is no one for him to affect positively by wearing gold garments.
DOUBLE DIPPING: THE TWO MIKVA’OS USED BY THE KOHEN GADOL ON YOM KIPPUR
During the service of Yom Kippur, the Kohen Gadol immersed in two different mikva'os a total of five times. The first of these was done in a mikveh located above the Water Gate on the southern side of the Temple. The remaining four immersions were done in a mikveh built on the roof of the Chamber of Parvah in the southeast corner of the Courtyard. Both mikva'os were fed from the Eitam Spring, apparently for the purpose of granting them the halachic status of a ma'ayan [flowing spring], as opposed to a mikveh of collected rainwater.
The laws are somewhat complex, but the basic idea is that whenever a mikveh is directly connected to a spring (even through a system of pipes) it assumes the status of a ma'ayan. In the case of the mikva'os used by the Kohen Gadol, this would mean that as soon as the system of pipes bringing the water from the Eitam Spring was closed, which was necessary for the inverted siphon principle to work, a direct connection between spring and mikveh was formed, granting them the status of a ma'ayan. After Yom Kippur the system was opened and the direct connection was broken, so although spring water remained within each mikveh, this water no longer possessed ma'ayan status. The following year the system would be closed once again and the mikva'os would regain their status of a ma'ayan.
These two mikva'os had different levels of sanctity. As a general rule, one is required to immerse prior to entering the Courtyard, and the Kohen Gadol would therefore perform his first immersion of Yom Kippur in a mikveh located just outside the Courtyard. For this reason, the mikveh above the Water Gate was not imbued with the higher sanctity of the Courtyard but rather the lesser sanctity of the Temple Mount. The four immersions performed during the course of the Yom Kippur service were required to be done within the Courtyard and for this reason the mikveh above the Chamber of Parvah possessed the sanctity of the Courtyard.
According to Tosafos at issue is how this latter mikveh could have possessed Courtyard sanctity since the Gemara (Pesachim 85b) writes that "upper levels and roofs [of Courtyard chambers] do not possess sanctity." Tosafos (Yoma 31a) provide one solution: The Chamber of Parvah was an underground room and the floor of the Courtyard formed its roof, thus the mikveh was now in the Courtyard proper. Now, we know that the only way to access the mikveh above the Chamber of Parvah was via a stairwell in the adjacent Chamber of Rinsers, and Tosafos are forced to conclude that it, too, was underground. The arrangement would look something like this:
Cross-section of the southeast corner of the Courtyard (looking south). Arrangement of the three chambers according to Tosafos.
According to Tiferes Yisrael the Mishnah (Middos 5:3) states that the three chambers under discussion here were [physically] "in the Courtyard" yet according to Tosafos only one of these chambers was actually "in" the Courtyard – the other two were underground! To put that Mishnah back to rights, Tiferes Yisrael (ad loc.) brings Parvah and Rinsers above the ground.
Arrangement of the three southern chambers according to Tiferes Yisrael
