Ketoret is the transliteration of the Hebrew word קטרת, which is translated, in English, as incense. The word ketoret means bonding. Ketoret is a substance which is associated with joy, prayer, and protection. Clearly, ketoret is a most unusual substance!
The Ketoret, offered up twice a day, symbolized Israel's desire to serve HaShem in a pleasing way. This offering was brought twice daily, once as part of the Shacharit (morning) service and once as part of the Mincha (afternoon) service. This happened seven days a week, every day of the year, including Shabbat and Yom HaKippurim. Five measures of ketoret were burnt daily, half in the morning and half in the afternoon.
Shemot (Exodus) 30:7 And Aaron shall burn thereon sweet incense every morning: when he dresseth the lamps, he shall burn incense upon it. 8 And when Aaron lighteth the lamps at evening, he shall burn incense upon it, a perpetual incense before HaShem throughout your generations.
Exodus 30:34-36, 7-8 HaShem said to Moses: Take yourself spices — balsam, onycha, and galbanum — spices and pure frankincense; they are all to be of equal weight. You are to make it into Ketoret (incense), a spice-compound, the handiwork of an expert spice-compounder, thoroughly mixed, pure and holy. You are to grind some of it finely and place some of it before the Testimony in the Tent of Appointment, where I shall designate a time to meet you; it shall be a holy of holies for you.
The Hakhamim taught: How is the incense mixture formulated? Three hundred sixty-eight maneh were in it: three hundred sixty-five corresponding to the days of the solar year — a maneh for each day, half in the morning and half in the afternoon; and three extra maneh, from which the Kohen Gadol would bring both his handfuls [into the Holy of Holies] on Yom HaKippurim. He would return them to the mortar on the day before Yom Kippur, and grind them very thoroughly so that it would be exceptionally fine. Eleven kinds of spices were in it, as follows:
- balsam,
- onycha,
- galbanum [chelbena],
- frankincense — each weighing seventy maneh;
- myrrh,
- cassia,
- spikenard,
- saffron — each weighing sixteen maneh;
- costus — twelve maneh;
- aromatic bark — three; and
- cinnamon — nine.
[Additionally] Carshina lye, nine kav; Cyprus wine, three se’ah and three kav, if he has no Cyprus wine, he brings old white wine; Sodom salt, a quarter[-kav]; and a minute amount of a smoke-raising herb. Rabbi Nassan the Babylonian says: Also a minute amount of Jordan amber. If he placed fruit-honey into it, he invalidated it. But if he left out any of its spices, he is liable to the death penalty.
Maneh: A unit of weight: According to Rabbi Avraham Chaim Naeh, a Mishnaic maneh equals 480 grams (slightly less than half a kilogram and slightly more than 1 pound). A second opinion is that of Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan (The Living Torah, Exodus 30:34, p. 445; The Torah Anthology, Volume 11, p. 43), according to which a maneh equals 100 biblical shekels, or 5 pounds.
Kav: A unit of volume; approximately 1 gallon.
Sa‘ah: Approximately 6 gallons
The Torah does not give the exact recipe for the ketoret that was burned daily in the Temple. Only in the Oral Law do we find a list of all eleven ingredients. Our Hakhamim taught that the ketoret contained eleven spices.
Midrash Rabbah - The Song of Songs I:62
R. Yohanan applied the verse to the incense of the House of Abtinus. THE BAG OF MYRRH: this is one of the eleven spices which composed it. R. Huna explained [why there were eleven]. It says And the Lord said unto Moses: Take unto thee sweet spices (Ex.XXX, 34)- this is two: balsam, and onycha and galbanam--this makes five; sweet spices--if you say this means only two more, we have already had this; [therefore take it in conjunction with the next words], of each shall there be a like weight; add five to the previous five, making ten. With pure frankincense --this makes eleven. On the basis of this verse the Sages investigated and found that nothing is better for the incense than just these eleven spices.
The Acharit Shalom observes that whereas the eleven above-mentioned ingredients are listed in Hebrew, the remaining ingredients are listed in Aramaic. He presumes that Chazal did this deliberately in order to differentiate between the actual spices and the remaining ingredients that are merely (to enhance the quality of the main ingredients).
COUNTNAMEWEIGHT1Balsam70 maneh2Onycha70 maneh3Galbanum70 maneh4Frankincense70 maneh5Myrrh16 maneh6Cassia16 maneh7Spikenard16 maneh8Saffron16 maneh9Costus12 maneh10aromatic bark3 maneh11Cinnamon9 maneh368 manehWhat is the significance of the various amounts of each fragrance?
Each of the major four fragrances explicitly mentioned in the Torah contributed seventy maneh. The number seven represents the natural universe, created in seven days. Seven corresponds to the framework of the physical universe, especially the boundaries of time with its seven-day week.
Seventy is the number seven in tens. The number ten represents both plurality and unity, so seventy conveys the idea of unifying the multitude of forces in the natural world. This is the underlying message of the ketoret. These holy fragrances illuminate and uplift the plurality of natural forces.
After the first level of four fragrances sanctified the dimension of time, the second tier of four fragrances sanctified the dimension of space. The number six corresponds to space, as any location is made up of six vectors (the four directions, plus up and down). It can also be visualized as a cube, representing all physical objects, with six faces.
Time is a less physical aspect, and more receptive to spiritual elevation. Thus, for the first four fragrances representing the dimension of time, the number seven was multiplied by ten. Space, on the other hand, is only influenced by its closeness to holiness. Therefore, the unifying quality of ten is only added to the six, so that 16 maneh were used of each of these fragrances.
The final amounts of twelve, nine, and three represent the limitations of the divided physical realm. Three is the first number to demonstrate multitude, and nine is the last number, before the multitude is once again combined into a unit of ten.
Eleven Spices
Rashi, in Shemot 30:34, explains that the Ketoret was comprised of eleven ingredients. Often, we find that the number ten is used to represent a spiritual full set. Eleven refers to the conveyance of the Divine light which transcends the limits of the world within the limits of the world.
Pirke Avot 5:1 The world was created with ten utterances.
Eleven, thus, refers to a level above the limits of the set of ten. Nevertheless, since it is also a number which follows in sequence to ten, we can understand that it refers to the fusion between the transcendent Divine light and the framework of limited worldly existence.
There were ten fragrant spices in the ketoret, the incense, and one foul smelling spice (Chelbena -galbanum). There were ten tzaddiks in the synagogue yet no prayers on a fast day were heard without a sinner’s prayer.
Keritot 6b Every communal fast that does not include sinners of Israel is not a fast." This is derived from the fact that the incense included Chelbenah-galbanum. Just as the Chelbenah was necessary to give the other spices exactly the right fragrance, a congregation is not complete without someone who has also fallen and who must reelevate himself through repentance. In particular, when a difficult punishment has been decreed against Israel because of some evil deed, this very evil must be taken and elevated. Thus, the idea of transforming evil by elevating it back to its source in holiness is intimated in the incense. It is for this reason also that a communal fast must include "the sinners of Israel”.
The Number Eleven
The number eleven, which is how many spices there were in the Ketoret, at first seems rather odd. However, Kabbalisticaly it is a number of tremendous importance for it alludes to one of the most prized possessions in all of history: Daat Elo-him, G-dly-Knowledge.
Why was the number eleven selected for the production of the Ketoret? In order to answer this question, let us consider some other appearances of the number eleven in the Torah:
In Bereshit 36:40-43, the Torah enumerates the eleven chieftains that were born to Esav.
Bereshit (Genesis) 33:11 Take, I pray thee, my blessing that is brought to thee; because God hath dealt graciously with me, and because I have all (kol). And he urged him, and he took it.
Rashi points out a very basic difference between Yaacov and Esav's outlook on life. When Yaacov described his material status, he exclaimed, "I have all that I need!" Esav, on the other hand, arrogantly stated, "I have much, much more than I need!" In contrast to Esav’s “much”, Yaacov had kol, everything. Kol always refers to the spiritual world because in this world, even if you have the whole world it is simply “much”. It is only when we connect to the source that we can have everything!
The number ten represents a completeness; a full integer count. The number ten represents Yaacov 's purposeful existence. The ideology of Esav, of seeing no limits or goals and amassing "much, much more" than one needs, is represented by the number eleven. It is indeed appropriate that his nation originated with 'eleven' chieftains. Yet for all his amassment of wealth, one who follows such an ideology will actually end up with less, not more. As our Sages put it,
Sanhedrin 29a one who adds, takes away.
Similarly, in the area of kashrut we are told that:
Chulin 58b an animal with an extra limb is likened to an animal missing that limb.
If an animal missing a leg is considered to be a Tereifah (unfit for food) and not kosher, one that has an extra leg is also a tereifah and not kosher.
Megilah 29a One who is arrogant is considered to be blemished.
This above Gemara follows the same principle. The arrogant person considers himself bigger, or more fit, than others, while in truth, his extra fitness is no more than a lack of fitness. He is blemished, or flawed.
In Sanhedrin 29a, the Gemara derives the rule that "one who adds, takes away" from a verse in Shemot 26:7. The verse states that the goat's hair covering on the Mishkan (the Tabernacle in the wilderness) consisted of eleven curtains of goat's hair, sewn together into one very long curtain which was draped over the Mishkan. The word the Torah uses for eleven is Ashtei Esreh. Had the Torah left out the letter Ayin from Ashtei, the Gemara explains, it would have meant twelve. Now that the Ayin is added to the word, it takes away from its meaning, such that it only means eleven.
Note that this rule is learned from the number eleven. Esav's attitude of "much, much more than I need" is summed up by the number eleven. All of his additional wealth just takes him farther from attaining the true goals in life.
Interestingly, according to Rashi on Tehillim 80:14, a letter Ayin which is raised above the rest of the word in which it appears is used to represent Esav's wickedness.
The Death Penalty
The following narrative is from Meam Loez:
Also included in the incense was an herb known as maaleh ashan. This herb caused the smoke to go straight up like a pole and not to spread to the right or left. No one knew the identity of this herb except members of the family of the House of Avtinus mentioned earlier. These are the ones who were able to make the incense based on the tradition of their ancestors and they would not reveal it to any other person.
This herb had to be placed in the incense even though it did not have any fragrance. This is because it is written, "Speak to Aaron your brother and let him not come at all times to the sanctuary inside the veil which is before the ark." (Leviticus 16:2) Moses was told to go to Aaron the High Priest and tell him not to go into the Holy of Holies at any time other than Yom HaKippurim. Even on Yom HaKippurim he could not go into the Holy of Holies empty-handed. The Torah therefore continues:
Vayikra (Leviticus) 16:2 For in cloud I shall be seen on the ark cover.
The only time the High Priest could enter the Holy of Holies was when he brought incense and the cloud of smoke covered the ark cover. The cloud mentioned here is the smoke of the incense. As the Torah says later:
Vayikra (Leviticus) 16:13 The cloud of incense shall cover the ark cover.
Since the Torah says, "In a cloud I shall be seen on the ark cover" and it does not say, "With incense I shall be seen on the ark cover," our sages taught that this herb known as maaleh ashan must be placed in the incense. If maaleh ashan was not placed there the incense would burn but there would not be this heavy smoke. Since the Torah speaks of a "cloud" of smoke we learn that there must be smoke. The only substance that makes this heavy smoke is the maaleh ashan, which made this smoke go up straight like a pole.
If a different type of herb were used, the smoke would not go directly up; rather, it would spread out to all sides of the Holy of Holies. It would then not be right over the ark cover and the Torah says explicitly, "The cloud of incense shall cover the ark cover." This cloud of smoke must cover the ark cover so the High Priest does not see the Divine Presence.
If the High Priest burned the incense and it did not contain this maaleh ashan he would be worthy of death. Furthermore if he left out any of the ingredients he would be worthy of death. The Torah says:
Vayikra (Leviticus) 16:13 He should place incense on the fire before HaShem and the cloud of the incense should cover the ark cover which is above the Testimony.
The Torah could have simply said, "He should place it on the fire before HaShem." Why did it say he should place incense on the fire? The word "incense" appears to be redundant because it was already mentioned earlier,
