Rosh Chodesh in the Beis Hamikdash - Rabbi Yaron Yitzchok Lederman shlita

00:02 Speaker 1 You’re listening to the “Lema’an Yishme’u” podcast from Machon Halacha Chabad.

00:09 Speaker 2 Shalom u’vrachah. We’re going to talk about Rosh Chodesh: the offerings, how the new month is sanctified, what we do on Rosh Chodesh, and what it is connected to. We’ll learn some of the details and the whole idea, and with Hashem’s help, may we soon see the Beis Hamikdash in our days, with the Rosh Chodesh offering. “Who sanctifies Israel and the appointed times.” That means the Jewish people sanctify the appointed times. What does that mean? How can we sanctify time? Time is an ongoing process. So we have a mitzvah concerning Rosh Chodesh. According to the Torah, Rosh Chodesh is determined by sighting the new moon. What does that mean? There were witnesses. The Jewish people would watch to see what the moon looked like around Rosh Chodesh. We know that at Rosh Chodesh itself, the moon is concealed and disappears, and afterward it begins to appear again, very, very slightly. Before Rosh Chodesh, for twenty-four hours, as the Gemara says, the moon is completely concealed. The side facing us is not illuminated by the sun; the moon is directly between the earth and the sun, and we see nothing. The next stage is when we begin to see a thin sliver appearing. That was the sliver Beis Din was looking for: witnesses would come and say they had seen the new moon. That was the mitzvah—two witnesses who had seen the new moon. It is a mitzvah from the Torah, in fact the first mitzvah given to the Jewish people: “This month shall be for you the first of months; it shall be for you the first of the months of the year.” The Rambam derives two mitzvos from this: sanctifying the new month and intercalating the years. Sanctifying the month means seeing precisely where the moon is at its beginning. There are many teachings about this, about its deeper meaning, including “Bring an atonement for Me because I diminished the moon.” That is not what this class is about. Right now, we’re trying to discuss—we

02:18 Speaker 2 will try to discuss how the month is sanctified and what we do after sanctifying it. In the Beis Hamikdash, we brought two offerings every day. The first was the morning tamid offering, a lamb, and toward evening, the afternoon tamid offering. These were the morning and afternoon offerings, corresponding to which the Shacharis and Minchah prayers were instituted—two prayers. The Maariv prayer corresponds to what burned throughout the night on the great altar. Between those two offerings, we would bring all the offerings that Jewish people wanted to bring: peace offerings, voluntary offerings, vows—things people had obligated themselves to bring—sin offerings for someone who had sinned unintentionally, and guilt offerings for someone who had incurred that obligation, for example, through theft, if someone stole from another person, G-d forbid. We would bring all kinds of offerings between the two daily offerings. On Rosh Chodesh, another offering was added. All the offerings I mentioned could be brought on Rosh Chodesh, because work is permitted, but there was an additional offering. What was it? The Rosh Chodesh offering. This is what we say in the prayers: “On your new moons, you shall offer a burnt offering to Hashem: two young bulls, one ram, and seven unblemished year-old lambs.” We’ll talk about the accompanying offerings in a moment. So how was the month sanctified? As we said, there was the night of the thirtieth, the night leading into day thirty. When the month was sanctified based on sighting the moon, they would bring in the witnesses. They would wait and prepare a large meal with all kinds of delicacies for everyone who came, so that the witnesses would come and report that they had seen the moon. Then they would question them, checking exactly how they had seen it. When two witnesses were found to be fit and their testimony matched, as the Gemara says—that is, they said the same thing, and there was no reason to think

04:28 Speaker 2 they were lying—Beis Din would stand and say, “It is sanctified.” Everyone present would respond, “It is sanctified, it is sanctified.” That was the procedure for sanctifying the thirtieth day. The arrangements for the witnesses were very unusual. We see that testimony about the new moon is so important that one may even violate Shabbos to give it. If a person saw the moon in Jericho, for example, and knew he faced a long journey to Jerusalem, he was allowed to take food with him, even on Shabbos. And if he knew there were dangers along the way, he was even allowed to take weapons. More than that: if the person who saw the new moon was ill, they would carry him on his bed for the entire journey on Shabbos to bring him there. Sanctifying the month at the proper time is so important that Shabbos may be violated for it. Why is it so important? Because all our days, our whole way of life, depend on knowing when the first day of the month falls. For example, if we don’t know when Rosh Chodesh is, we won’t know when Yom Kippur falls, because Yom Kippur must be on the tenth of the month. If we don’t know which day is the first, we won’t know which is the tenth. Likewise, for Pesach we wouldn’t know when the fifteenth of Nissan is, or when the sixth of Sivan is. All the festivals are determined by when Rosh Chodesh falls. That is how the dates of the festivals are established, so it was very, very important to know when Rosh Chodesh was. The Gemara tells a very beautiful story. Rabban Gamliel had made a calculation. They were well versed in calculating these things; they called it itztagninus. They knew how to determine precisely when

06:27 Speaker 2 Rosh Chodesh would be, when it could occur and when it could not. There was a disagreement between Rabban Gamliel and Rabbi Yehoshua. Rabban Gamliel said it fell on one day, and Rabbi Yehoshua said it fell on another. Since Rabban Gamliel was the nasi, the head of the Sanhedrin, he rebuked Rabbi Yehoshua for disagreeing with him and issued a decree: “I decree that you come to me with your staff and your money,” thereby seemingly violating Yom Kippur. It was Yom Kippur according to Rabbi Yehoshua’s calculation, and Rabbi Yehoshua did not want to violate Yom Kippur as he reckoned it. On the other hand, he knew that Rabban Gamliel was the head of the Sanhedrin. He consulted his fellow Tannaim. A person may feel certain that he knows the truth, but he is personally involved—just as we said that witnesses must be fit to testify. A person is close to himself. So Rabbi Yehoshua went and consulted Rabbi Akiva, heard different opinions, and eventually came to Rabban Gamliel. Rabban Gamliel kissed him on the head and said, “Come in peace, my teacher and my student! My teacher in wisdom, and my student because you accepted my ruling.” Rabban Gamliel knew that Rabbi Yehoshua was wiser than he was, but he also knew that when Beis Din issues a ruling, it must be followed. “My student because you accepted my ruling”—kabbolas ol. As we know, kabbolas ol is a key to many things. So, let’s say we are now on the twenty-ninth, and tonight will be the night of the thirtieth. I’m just giving an example. The moon is seen tonight. The people who saw it—the witnesses—set out, and during the day they testify before Beis Din in Jerusalem: “This is what we saw.” If Beis Din accepts their testimony, they say, “It is sanctified.” The immediate result, or almost immediate result, is that the Rosh Chodesh offering is brought in the Beis Hamikdash: what we just read, two bulls, one ram, and seven lambs. That is what is brought on Rosh Chodesh. We will bring

08:33 Speaker 2 Now, following the introduction we discussed, let’s look at the order in which they were brought and see how that order works. This is what happened once the new month was sanctified. They brought only one offering, one Musaf offering, not two. The question here is how late the witnesses could be accepted. If we accept them right up to the last moment, we can still sanctify the month. That is what Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai established after the destruction: testimony about the new month could be accepted throughout the day. There was no longer a time when offerings could be brought, but there was still a beis din that could sanctify the month. So he said that since offerings could not be brought, they could sit all day. Even if they learned about it at the very last moment, they could say, “It is sanctified,” and it would be Rosh Chodesh. But when the Beis Hamikdash stands, they must also bring the Rosh Chodesh offering, the Musaf prescribed in the Torah in Parshas Pinchas. That is why, during the time of the Beis Hamikdash, they established that witnesses would be accepted only until Minchah time. I mean the time of Minchah, not the Minchah offering—the afternoon Tamid offering. The afternoon Tamid has to be the last offering because of the positive commandment of completion: “Upon it, all the offerings are completed.” We have to bring all the offerings between the morning Tamid and the afternoon Tamid. Everything has to be brought between them. After the afternoon Tamid, only one offering may be brought: the Pesach offering, the first offering the Jewish people brought at the beginning of their life as a nation. We’ll learn about that later. For now, we’re talking about the Rosh Chodesh Musaf offering. It is brought during the time we mentioned, between the morning Tamid and the afternoon Tamid, which is toward evening. That was the process of

10:26 Speaker 2 sanctifying the new month. They saw the moon on the night of the thirtieth, came to beis din and said, “We saw it.” The judges questioned them and made sure they knew what they were talking about and were not lying just to get an offering brought or to change the calendar. They accepted their testimony and sanctified the month before the assembled people. Then the kohanim in the courtyard of the Beis Hamikdash heard about it and brought the Rosh Chodesh Musaf offering. That is the order of preparations for sanctifying the month. What is this Musaf offering? We say two bulls, one ram, seven lambs and one goat. What are all these offerings? What are all these animals? They are all burnt offerings. We learned that there are several types of offerings: burnt offerings, peace offerings and guilt offerings. So these are all burnt offerings, except for one goat, which is a sin offering. We mentioned this sin-offering goat: Hakadosh Boruch Hu says, “Bring an atonement for Me for having diminished the moon.” That is the wording. It is called a puzzling Midrash[?]. We won’t go into it, but, as it were, Hakadosh Boruch Hu asks us to bring an atonement for Him for diminishing the moon. It is connected to the Rosh Chodesh offering, its Musaf. We learned that there are sin offerings, guilt offerings, burnt offerings and peace offerings. All offerings of lesser sanctity are called peace offerings in a general sense. That includes vows and voluntary offerings that are actual peace offerings; it also includes firstborn offerings, tithes and the Pesach offering, which are also types of peace offerings. A firstborn offering is a type of peace offering. So offerings of lesser sanctity are brought to the Beis Hamikdash and offered there. What is the order? Our Sages established an order for us. They told us that the more serious offering, the one brought for atonement, always comes first. What is this like, our Sages ask? Say we have a matter to settle with a king or an important person. First we’ll seek to appease him, and after we’ve appeased

12:27 Speaker 2 him, we’ll bring him a gift as well, so that our relationship can be whole again. So the offering includes burnt offerings—two bulls, one ram and seven lambs—which are all burned entirely. We’ll explain how in a moment. And we have a sin offering. We said that first there has to be atonement; a sin offering comes to bring atonement. So the communal sin offering for Rosh Chodesh is the goat. You can see it in the picture now. This goat is brought first because, as we said, first we bring the sin offering and afterward the burnt offerings. If we also had guilt offerings, we would bring the sin offering first, then the guilt offering and then the burnt offerings—unless there are explicit verses telling us to understand the order differently. But that is the order. So the first thing we bring is the sin offering. How do we bring it? All offerings of the highest sanctity are slaughtered in the north, as we say every morning before davening in the Mishnah: “Offerings of the highest sanctity are slaughtered in the north.” So we slaughter them in the north. We learned what “the north” means: the northern side of the courtyard, as we saw in the pictures in previous classes. That is where we slaughter the offering. Any place on the northern side is valid. Usually, after the rings were installed, they slaughtered it where the animal could be tied, which made it easier to receive the blood. Then, after the animal has been slaughtered, another kohen receives its blood—the mitzvah of receiving it—and carries it, which is a priestly service. An ordinary Jew can come and slaughter the Rosh Chodesh offering, because non-kohanim are permitted to perform the slaughter. Jews who are not kohanim are called “non-kohanim” in relation to the priesthood. But then the kohen comes, and he and his fellow kohanim must perform the receiving—the receiving of the blood; the carrying—carrying the blood in a vessel; and the sprinkling—sprinkling it on the altar. What applications of blood do we make? We make

14:32 Speaker 2 four applications, each on one of four corners, because this is a communal sin offering, with the same procedure as an individual sin offering. These are the communal sin offerings of Rosh Chodesh and the festivals. So the goat we’re seeing here could be the goat of Rosh Chodesh or of a festival—Sukkos, Pesach or the other Yamim Tovim on which we bring a goat. It is always the same kind of goat, an animal like the one we saw: a mature young male goat, called a sa’ir. It has to be between one and two years old, as you see in the picture. Then we receive its blood and make four applications on the four corners. How? There is a Mishnah that says they ascend the ramp to the altar. Do you see it? Before the kohen reaches the top of the altar’s ramp, he stops partway up and turns onto the ledge called the sovev. It is called that because it goes around the altar at a height of five cubits—about two and a half meters—which is a very dangerous height. The kohanim walk there and apply the blood. So he has slaughtered the sin offering in the north. He walks along the western side of the altar, passes the entire western side of the ramp, reaches its southern side and ascends. Partway up, he turns onto the sovev, and there he turns right again. “All your turns must be to the right.” That means every turn has to be to the right. So he turns right on the sovev and reaches a corner. What is the first corner he encounters? The southeast corner. Yes, the southern side is where the ramp is, and to its right is the east. So that is the southeast corner. What does he do at the corner? There, he dips his finger once

16:54 Speaker 2 Into the vessel. Now he has to take all the blood on his finger and bring it down—this is called applying it—onto the corner of the horn. If he brought the blood down but accidentally slipped, for example, and put it on the body of the horn rather than its corner, he has fulfilled the requirement, because any blood that reaches the altar effects atonement. But he has not performed the mitzvah as it should be done. So he applies the blood, bringing his finger down over the horn in this motion, until not a drop remains on his finger. Whatever is left on his fingers he wipes on the rim of the mizrak, the vessel holding the blood. He has now completed the first application, on the southeastern horn. He continues along the ledge around the altar. As we said, this ledge is high up—five cubits, or two and a half meters, above the ground—and apparently has no railing. We know the commandment “Do not place blood in your house”: it warns us not to create dangerous conditions at home, such as an unstable table or a faulty chair. A person must take care to avoid danger, because where there is danger, G-d forbid, someone can be hurt. Hakadosh Boruch Hu has compassion on the Jewish people, so we need to avoid it. How, then, do we let him walk in such a high place without a railing? The commentators explain that there is a small recess in the surface of the ledge, half a cubit—twenty centimeters—deep. So he is not walking where he could slip and simply fall off; he walks within a shallow channel in the ledge, and that is what protects him. Even though there is no actual railing, at least there is something to keep his feet

19:05 Speaker 2 on a more controlled, safer path. He continues from the southeastern horn until he reaches the northeastern horn. We always name the direction he encounters first, followed by the second direction. He left the southeastern horn, continued on, and reached the northeastern one. At this second horn, he again dips his finger, wipes it, uses the two fingers alongside it, and applies the blood downward on the horn until all the blood on his finger is used up. That is the application itself. He again wipes his fingers on the outside of the vessel, because he may not use that blood again: it is blood left over from the previous application and may not be used. Of course, it may not be eaten either—we know that eating blood is forbidden. He continues to the third application, at the northwestern horn. There, too, he does the same thing: dips, applies the blood, and wipes his fingers. He continues to the southwestern horn, completing a full circuit of all four horns of the outer altar. These are called the four blood applications of the sin offering. They are made with the finger, and by completing them we have effected full atonement through the sin offering and completed its blood applications. Now we go down. The offering itself is still below, on the floor of the Temple courtyard. We take the blood remaining in the mizrak. According to Tosafos, there was a ramp there on the southwestern side; we would begin descending it and immediately reach the courtyard floor. According to other opinions, he had to go all the way back and descend the ramp on its western side, the side closer to the Heichal. He would then pour the remaining blood at the southern base of the altar. We know there was a base at its southwestern corner

21:24 Speaker 2 with two openings. Someone who came out of the Heichal after making blood applications inside, as on Yom Kippur or with sin offerings that were burned, would pour the remaining blood at the western side of the base—that is, into the opening closer to the entrance. Someone who had completed the applications for the other offerings would pour the remaining blood at the southern side of the base. He would pour it into the opening in the base, as you can see in the picture, and the blood would flow from the base onto the courtyard floor. From there it went down to the shisin—to the... no, not the shisin, sorry. It went into the channel that led to the Kidron Valley. That was the procedure. So we have finished the blood applications. But we know that with most offerings, apart from burnt offerings, which are burned entirely, there are also the sacrificial portions. These are the internal organs and fats. You can now see a tray holding the sacrificial portions of a lamb. They include the covering fat, the forbidden fat known as cheilev. The Gemara in Chullin gives examples of how to distinguish cheilev from other fat. That is a lesson in itself. Then there is the fat on the intestines, the kidneys and the fat on them, part of the liver, and the diaphragm. What we call the diaphragm today, right? In the human body, it separates the digestive organs from the respiratory organs. This suggests that the offering should create a separation between the coarse, physical reality of eating and identifying with material things, and a more spiritual identification. Those were the sacrificial portions. They would put them all into a magis, a kind of bowl. The kohen would then go up the ramp. Earlier, we went partway up it, but this time he goes almost to the top, salts the portions, and burns them on the large fire. The sin offering is then permitted to be eaten. The blood permits the offering as a whole, because if the blood is spilled

23:43 Speaker 2 and cannot be recovered, the offering is disqualified and must be burned. It is then considered a disqualified consecrated offering and must be burned within the courtyard. Burning the sacrificial portions permits the meat to be eaten. Who eats a sin offering? Only kohanim. About this it is said: “The kohanim eat, and the owners receive atonement.” In this case, the kohanim are those currently serving in the Beis Hamikdash, those selected in the morning lottery. And who receives atonement? The community, because this is a communal offering through which the entire community receives atonement. So all of us benefit from the atonement brought about through the kohanim eating it. That was the sin offering. It has brought us to a different level: we are now cleansed before the King. Now comes the stage where we want to be pleasing before the King. What do we do? We bring the burnt offering. The burnt offering is much more varied. The male goat is rather dark; it calls to mind strength and stubbornness. Goats are stubborn animals. Yes, a goat is particularly stubborn. Once I organized an activity and wanted to make the children happy, so I brought a goat along. I regretted it from the moment I did it, because that goat resisted at every stage. At every step, it simply would not let me move. But the children were happy. In any case, we bring this goat—or rather, this male goat; a female is called a goat—and it brings atonement for the Jewish people. Now we move on to the burnt offering. As we said, it consists of two bulls, one ram, and seven lambs. The more important offering is brought first. Which is more important? The bulls. Bulls are more important animals; they are more substantial and can plow. “An abundance of produce comes through the strength of an ox.”

25:39 Speaker 2 So these things carry a lot of weight because they are more significant. That is what determines which comes first. We said earlier: a sin offering. If we had a guilt offering, we would bring it next, but there is no communal guilt offering. So now we move on to the burnt offering. The first burnt offerings, the first two offerings, are the bulls. What does it mean to offer a bull as a burnt offering? Again, it is slaughtered in the north, and its blood is collected in a service vessel in the north. Service vessels are special vessels consecrated with the anointing oil we learned about not long ago in the Torah readings. That consecrates a vessel for use in the Beis Hamikdash, and we use it in the service to collect the blood. It says to collect all the blood, so we need to collect a great deal of blood from the bull. We apply that blood in “two applications that count as four.” What does that mean? We go to the northeastern corner, stand at the corner, and throw the blood from the vessel as you see in the picture, so that it forms a chet-shaped mark on the altar. Then two sides—the northern and eastern sides—have received an application of blood. That is one that counts as two: one throw reaches two walls, the eastern wall and the northern wall. We now go along the entire northern side and the entire western side, and stand at the corner where the base is, where we poured out the remainder of the sin offering’s blood. There, too, we make another application at the corner from the large vessel containing the bull’s blood. Again, we get a chet-shaped mark, this time on the western and southern sides of the altar. That is another one that counts as two. So there are two applications in all, covering the altar’s four sides. That is why it is called “two that count as four.” In other words, the atonement of the burnt offering was completed

27:47 Speaker 2 with the application of the blood. The remainder of the blood—what is left after the two applications—we would pour onto the southern base, as with all the offerings except the inner sin offerings we mentioned, whose blood was poured onto the western base. That is the burnt offering. What do we do now with the— We have taken the blood from the bull. The bull is now lying on the northern side. There are two large bulls, each weighing seven hundred kilos. What do we do with them? We have to “cut it into its pieces.” What are its “pieces”? There is a precise definition of those pieces, and they are described in detail. They include the head and a leg, the two hind legs, the two forelegs of the bull, then the breast and the neck [?]. There are parts as described here and as you can see in the picture, and together they make up all the pieces of the bull. In all, twenty-four kohanim took part in bringing up the bull, because its parts are very heavy and have to be carried. So now, after we have slaughtered the two bulls, a different kohen collected the blood of each one. We have two kohanim who collected the blood, and they made the two applications that count as four and poured the remainder onto the southern base. As we said, the base is that raised part of the altar. Once the atonement has been effected through the animal’s blood, we cut these burnt offerings, the two bulls, into pieces. After cutting them up, we have the parts of the first bull, carried by twenty-four kohanim in the order shown in the picture, and the parts of the second bull, also carried by twenty-four kohanim, as we see in the picture.

30:00 Speaker 2 In addition, we have the accompanying offerings of wine and flour. We will talk about them in a few minutes. So this group of kohanim goes and places all the bull’s parts on the ramp. In the picture we can see that the ramp was divided into sections. The ramp is that flat incline leading up to the altar, and there was a very precise order to what happened on it. What is today’s additional offering? How do we know it is the Rosh Chodesh offering? How do we know it is the Shabbos offering? How do we know it is the regular daily burnt offering? There were areas on the altar indicating what belonged to Rosh Chodesh. For Rosh Chodesh, it was the two upper sections of the ramp where the parts of the Rosh Chodesh offering were placed. They would start with the bulls, bring them up to those corners, and come back down to prepare the other offerings. We still have one ram and seven lambs. The ram requires another eleven kohanim, and each lamb another eight. That means that if they did it all at once—for example, if the witnesses arrived late in the day and only two hours remained—they would need an army of kohanim: forty-eight working on the bulls, another eleven on the ram, and eight times seven, fifty-six kohanim, working on the seven lambs to bring all of it up to the altar. Of course, we do not bring parts up to the altar with the hide still on. We first skin the offering completely, and only then bring it up and burn it. Once we have done the two bulls, we do the ram in much the same way. We slaughter it in the north, collect its blood in the north, and make two

32:13 Speaker 2 We make two applications that count as four: the first at the northeastern corner, the second at the southwestern corner. Those two applications that count as four effect the atonement for the offering. We cut up and skin the ram, removing its entire hide, and divide it into the head and a leg, the two forelegs, the neck, the breast, and so on. The kohanim carry all those parts. Carrying the limbs is itself a mitzvah. Then they go up the ramp and place them on top of the bulls’ parts. After that, we do the seven lambs in exactly the same way: slaughtering in the north, collecting the blood in a service vessel in the north, and carrying each of the seven lambs. Then we place everything at the two corners of the outer ramp leading to the altar, and afterward we begin the service of burning the offerings. Once we have done the two bulls, we do the ram in much the same way. We slaughter it in the north, collect its blood in the north, and make two applications that count as four: the first at the northeastern corner, the second at the southwestern corner. Those two applications that count as four effect the atonement for the offering. We cut up and skin the ram, removing its entire hide, and divide it into the head and a leg, the two forelegs, the neck, the breast, and so on. The kohanim carry all those parts. Carrying the limbs is itself a mitzvah. Then they go up the ramp and place them on top of the bulls’ parts. After that, we do the seven lambs in exactly the same way: slaughtering in the north, collecting the blood in a service vessel in the north, and carrying each of the seven lambs. Then we place everything at the two corners of the outer ramp leading to the altar, and afterward we begin the service of burning the offerings. If the Kohen Gadol wants to, he

34:26 Speaker 2 He offers the incense first. If the Kohen Gadol wants, he can step in at this point with his deputy. Then his deputy comes, as described at the end of Tractate Tamid, and the Kohen Gadol offers whatever he wants to offer. With the Kohen Gadol, he can always perform whichever service he wants. At this stage there was also Birchas Kohanim. The kohanim would bless the people as they do today in shul, except that they pronounced Hashem’s Name as it is written. We are not permitted to say it that way; we use the Name Adnus. But they would pronounce the four-letter Name with its actual vowels, and all the people would fall on their faces. At that point, we had brought all the animals to the altar: the sin offering, the goat, two bulls, one ram, and seven lambs. What happens now? Another step, another service, is added. What is it? The nesachim, the accompanying offerings. We have to bring them for all these offerings, each with its proper amount. Public offerings have accompanying offerings of oil and fine flour in varying quantities. You can see it here in the table. There’s a table showing how much fine flour, oil, and wine are used for each offering. For wine, there’s a quarter of a hin, a third of a hin, or half a hin, and likewise for the oil. And for the fine flour, it’s one, two, or three isaron measures for a lamb, a ram, or a bull, respectively. That means a bull gets three isaron measures—almost seven and a half kilos of fine flour. That’s a lot of fine flour. You’ll also see that it all goes onto the altar, whether it’s two isaron measures or one. First, we would mix the oil into it: pour the oil into the fine flour and mix it to make a uniform dough. Then this fine-flour meal offering would be burned on the fire. The whole thing was burned; we didn’t take a handful from it as we do with

36:26 Speaker 2 individual meal offerings. Instead, all of it was burned, just as the burnt offerings are offered in their entirety. A sin offering does not come with nesachim, because it would not be fitting for a sin offering, which alludes to matters of sin, to be embellished. After that came the wine libation. The wine libation was essentially the final stage of the offering. At that point, two kohanim would stand with trumpets. As the Maggid says, chatzotzros means “half-forms” that complete us. The purpose of these trumpets was to stir everyone in the courtyard. The two kohanim carrying them would step up onto the marble table used for the sacrificial fats, stand there, and sound the trumpets. In addition, kohanim would go up with the wine for the libations, which would be poured down below. The Radak notes that the word nesach is connected with the idea of something flowing downward. So the kohen would go up with the wine in his hand—whether it was a third of a hin, a quarter of a hin, or half a hin: three logs, four logs, or six logs. That’s a large quantity of wine. A log is 300 milliliters, so three logs is a liter, four is a liter and a half, and six logs is close to two liters. That’s how much wine we would pour. The kohen would stand at the southwestern corner of the altar, where there were two basins: the western one for water and the other for wine. We would pour all the wine libations into the wine basin. In the Second Beis Hamikdash, there were the shisin, a special hollow beneath the altar. The Gemara tells remarkable stories about it: Dovid Hamelech wanted to dig, the waters flooded the world, and Achitofel discovered how

38:50 Speaker 2 to stop them. It’s an extraordinary account in the Gemara. These shisin received all the wine. When they built the altar, they made it so that the wine we poured would run down through an opening in the body of the altar, all the way to the shisin below, where it collected. At the time of the wine libation, there was tremendous excitement in the Beis Hamikdash. The Levi’im would begin singing, the kohanim would sound the trumpets, and there would be a very powerful stirring throughout the Beis Hamikdash, because this was when they sang the song of the day. All of this was done on Rosh Chodesh, because everything we’ve described is the Rosh Chodesh offering. Then came the most wondrous thing of all: fire would descend from above, as described in Parshas Shemini. Anyone who has prepared meat recently knows how long it takes to cook good meat. Yet suddenly fire would descend, and several tons of meat—literally—would be consumed all at once. It was an extraordinary sight. You understood that powers beyond the ordinary were at work. Although there is a mitzvah to bring fire from below as well, and the fire came from above, so on one level you could understand what was happening, it was still an utterly wondrous event. Well, may it be Hashem’s will that we truly merit to see it soon in our days. May we see the great fire with which Hashem will burn away our entire yetzer hara and enable us to see the Beis Hamikdash in all its glory, speedily in our days.