In this week’s parsha, Moshe is instructed how to make the ketores blend, as it says: “Take for yourself aromatic spices: balsam sap, onycha and galbanum, aromatics and pure frankincense...And you shall make it into ketores...”
What is the difference between offerings that were offered on the copper mizbe’ach and the ketores which was offered on the golden mizbe’ach? Seforim explain that the korbanos, correspond to our avodas Hashem in a physical sense – i.e., with our bodies (e.g., channeling permitted desire toward Divine service), while the ketores represents the essence of a Jew, his neshama - the ultimate connection to Hashem in love and dedication.
Now, the ketores is an aromatic blend of eleven spices. Commentaries explain that these eleven represent the community of Am Yisroel. And our sages teach us if one of the spices is absent, the entire blend is invalid. Perhaps, this shows that each person’s individual contribution from his neshama is vital to ensure that our nation’s avodah is “a pleasant aroma to Hashem.” The Piaseczna Rebbe, Hy”d in his sefer Aish Kodesh (Shabbos Shuva) writes the following incredible words that reflect this idea:
כשאיש ישראל עובד ה ,‘מתגלה מכל אחד ואחד אור וקדושה מה שאין מתגלה מחבירו.
When a Jew serves Hashem, a unique light and holiness emerges from him that cannot come from anyone else.
