Obligatory Offerings of the Priests
Second Reading 12 God spoke to Moses, saying,
13 “There is a special grain-offering that the high priest is required to offer up every day of his tenure. This is the offering of Aaron and his descendants for all time that they must offer up to God beginning on the day when one of them is anointed as high priest: one-tenth of an ephah of fine wheat flour as a perpetual grain-offering, half of which he must offer up in the morning and half of which he must offer up in the evening.
14 Each half-measure of flour is further subdivided into six portions, each of which is then kneaded into dough with a quarter of a log of oil. Both sets of six loaves must be made, i.e., fried, in oil in a shallow frying pan; but each loaf must be brought to the frying pan only after it has been first scalded in water and fully baked in an oven. Just like a regular grain-offering made in a frying pan, this grain-offering must be broken into pieces, but each loaf of this grain-offering need only be broken into halves, not quarters. You must offer it up with the intention to please God.
15 The priest from among his sons who is anointed to succeed him and serve as high priest in his stead must likewise prepare this offering and offer it up every day of his tenure, half in the morning and half in the evening. This grain-offering is an eternal allotment given to God by the high priest on behalf of the entire community, and therefore, (a) unlike any other grain-offering brought by a priest, a ‘memorial portion’ is separated from it, but (b) because it is nonetheless brought by a priest, all of it—i.e., not only the ‘memorial portion’ but the rest of it, as well—must be burned up.
Given to God by the high priest: The “high priest” within each of us is the innermost aspect and quintessential core of our soul (known as the yechidah), which is immutably bound with God. This aspect of our soul is the source of our self-sacrifice, our readiness to suffer martyrdom rather than submit to idolatry—or any sham ideology or lifestyle that attempts to lure us with empty promises of salvation or fulfillment.
In truth, any infringement of God’s will is in effect a form of idolatry, inasmuch as at that moment, we are serving something other than God (whether it be money, fame, pleasure, despair, etc.). When we contemplate this fact and realize that we would readily give up our lives rather than openly sacrifice our integrity by serving idols, it is impossible for us to be enticed into swerving from fulfilling God’s will—either by entertaining unholy or depressing thoughts, speaking unholy or insensitive words, or performing unholy or destructive actions.
In this context, our personal “high-priestly” grain-offering is the meditative contemplation through which we manifest the yechidah of our souls. Like the high priest’s offering, drawing upon the power of the yechidah is necessary both in the “morning,” i.e., when we feel enlightened and inspired, in order to ensure that we channel our vivacity in accordance with God’s will, and in the “evening,” i.e., when we feel confused or uninspired, in order to ensure that we resist temptation.
