Ketoret–incense

Ketoret

קְטֹרֶת

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Hebrew

מִשְׁקַל שִׁשָּׁה עָשָׂר שִׁשָּׁה עָשָׂר
מָנֶה, ט הַקֹּשְׁטְ שְׁנֵים עָשָׂר,
י קְלוּפָה שְׁלֹשָׁה, יא קִנָּמוֹן
תִּשְׁעָה. בֹּרִית כַּרְשִׁינָה תִּשְׁעָה
קַבִּין, יַיִן קַפְרִיסִין סְאִין תְּלָתָא
וְקַבִּין תְּלָתָא, וְאִם אֵין לוֹ יַיִן
קַפְרִיסִין מֵבִיא חֲמַר חִוָּרִין
עַתִּיק. מֶלַח סְדוֹמִית רֹבַע,
מַעֲלֵה עָשָׁן כָּל שֶׁהוּא.1 רַבִּי נָתָן
הַבַּבְלִי אוֹמֵר: אַף כִּפַּת הַיַּרְדֵּן
כָּל שֶׁהִיא, וְאִם נָתַן בָּהּ דְּבַשׁ
פְּסָלָהּ, וְאִם חִסַּר אֶחָד מִכָּל
סַמְּמָנֶיהָ חַיָּב מִיתָה:

Sephardi

mishkal shishah asar shishah asar
maneh, 9 hakosht shneim asar,
10 kelufah sh'loshah, 11 kinamon
tish'ah. borit karshinah tish'ah
kabin, yayin kafrisin se’in telata
vekabin telata, ve'im ein lo yayin
kafrisin mevi chamar chivarin
atik. melach sedomit rova,
ma’aleh ashan kol shehu.1 Rabbi Natan
habavli omer: af kipat hayarden
kol shehi, ve'im natan bah devash
pesalah, ve'im chisar echad mikol
samemenehah chayav mitah:

English

sixteen maneh, sixty-four maneh altogether; 9. twelve maneh of costus, 10. three maneh of sweet-smelling bark, 11. and nine maneh of cinnamon. Altogether, the spices prepared for one year weighed 368 maneh. Besides these spices, there were other ingredients used in the incense. They were: nine kabin (about 3½ gallons) of lye from Karshinah and three se’in plus three kabin (about 7¾ gallons) of wine from Cyprus. If Cyprus wine wasn’t available, old white wine was brought and used instead. Also, a quarter of a kav (about seventeen ounces) of salt from the area of Sodom was added, and a small amount1 of an herb that would cause the smoke of the incense to rise. Rabbi Nattan the Babylonian says: A small amount of amber that grew next to the Jordan River was also added. If the Kohen put honey into the incense, the incense became invalid. If he left out even one of its eleven ingredients, he would deserve the death penalty.

The function of certain ingredients

Hebrew

רַבָּן שִׁמְעוֹן בֶּן גַּמְלִיאֵל אוֹמֵר:
הַצֳּרִי אֵינוֹ אֶלָּא שְׂרָף
הַנּוֹטֵף מֵעֲצֵי הַקְּטָף, בֹּרִית
כַּרְשִׁינָה שֶׁשָּׁפִין בָּהּ אֶת הַצִּפֹּרֶן,
כְּדֵי שֶׁתְּהֵא נָאָה; יַיִן קַפְרִיסִין
שֶׁשּׁוֹרִין בּוֹ אֶת הַצִּפֹּרֶן כְּדֵי
שֶׁתְּהֵא עַזָּה. וַהֲלֹא מֵי רַגְלַיִם
יָפִין לָהּ, אֶלָּא שֶׁאֵין מַכְנִיסִין מֵי
רַגְלַיִם בַּמִּקְדָּשׁ מִפְּנֵי הַכָּבוֹד:

Sephardi

Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel omer:
ha-tzori eino ela sraf
hanotef mei’atzei haketaf, borit
karshinah sheshafin bah et hatziporen,
kedei shetehe na’ah; yayin kafrisin
sheshorin bo et hatziporen kedei
shetehe azzah. vahalo mei raglayim
yafin lah, ela she'ein machnisin mei
raglayim bamikdash mipnei ha-kavod:

English

Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel says: The balm mentioned above is simply the juice that drips from balsam trees. The lye from Karshinah was used for scrubbing the onycha, to make it look pleasant. Wine of Cyprus was used to soak the onycha, so that it would have a strong smell. Although the water from Raglayim would be better than Cyprus wine for making the onycha smell strong, water from Raglayim is not brought into the Holy Temple because it is not respectful.

Grinding the incense

Hebrew

תַּנְיָא רַבִּי נָתָן אוֹמֵר: כְּשֶׁהוּא
שׁוֹחֵק אוֹמֵר: הָדֵק
הֵיטֵב, הֵיטֵב הָדֵק, מִפְּנֵי
שֶׁהַקּוֹל2 יָפֶה לַבְּשָׂמִים.
פִּטְּמָהּ לַחֲצָאִין כְּשֵׁרָה,
לִשְׁלִישׁ וְלִרְבִיעַ, לֹא שָׁמַעְנוּ.
אָמַר רַבִּי יְהוּדָה, זֶה הַכְּלָל:
אִם כְּמִדָּתָהּ כְּשֵׁרָה לַחֲצָאִין.
וְאִם חִסַּר אֶחָד מִכָּל סַמְּמָנֶיהָ
חַיָּב מִיתָה:

Sephardi

Tanya Rabbi Natan omer: keshehu
shochek omer: hadek
heitev, heitev hadek, mipnei
shehakol2 yafeh labesamim.
pitmah lachatzain kesherah,
lishlish velirvia, lo shamanu.
Amar Rabbi Yehudah, zeh haklal:
im kemidatah kesherah lachatzain.
ve'im chisar echad mikol samemenehah
chayav mitah:

English

It is taught: Rabbi Nattan says: When the Kohen was grinding the incense, he would say, “Grind it thin; grind it thin!” because the voice is good for the incense.2 If only half of the 368 manim of the incense was ground in the proper proportions, it is kosher, but we haven’t heard whether or not the incense is kosher if only a third or a quarter of the 368 manim was ground. Rabbi Yehudah said: The general rule is as follows: If the Kohen ground and added each ingredient for the incense according to its right proportion, the incense is kosher, even if only half the amount of each ingredient was prepared. But if he left out even one of its eleven ingredients, he would deserve the death penalty.

Facts about the incense

Hebrew

תַּנְיָא בַּר קַפָּרָא אוֹמֵר:
אַחַת לְשִׁשִּׁים אוֹ
לְשִׁבְעִים שָׁנָה הָיְתָה בָאָה
שֶׁל שִׁירַיִם לַחֲצָאִין. וְעוֹד
תָּנֵי בַּר קַפָּרָא, אִלּוּ הָיָה נוֹתֵן
בָּהּ קוֹרְטוֹב שֶׁל דְּבַשׁ, אֵין
אָדָם יָכוֹל לַעֲמוֹד מִפְּנֵי
רֵיחָהּ, וְלָמָּה אֵין מְעָרְבִין בָּהּ
דְּבַשׁ, מִפְּנֵי שֶׁהַתּוֹרָה אָמְרָה,
כִּי כָל שְׂאֹר וְכָל דְּבַשׁ3 לֹא
תַקְטִירוּ מִמֶּנּוּ אִשֶּׁה לַיְיָ:

Sephardi

Tanya Bar Kapara omer:
achat leshishim o
leshiv’im shanah hayetah ba’ah
shel shirayim lachatzain. ve’od
tani Bar Kapara, ilu hayah noten
bah kortov shel devash, ein
adam yachol la’amod mipnei
reichah, velamah ein me’arvin bah
devash, mipnei shehatorah amrah,
ki kol se'or vechol devash3 lo
taktiru mimenu isheh la-adonai:

English

It is taught: Bar Kapara says: On Yom Kippur, when the High Priest took two handfuls from the three extra maneh, there was always some incense left over. Once every sixty or seventy years, depending on the size of the hands of the High Priests, the leftover incense would add up to 184 manim, which was half of a year’s worth of incense. When that happened, the Kohanim only needed to make another 184 manim for that year’s incense. Bar Kapara also taught: If a few drops of honey had been put into the incense, it would have smelled so nice that no person would have been able to hold themselves back from the beautiful smell. If so, why didn’t they put honey into the incense? Because the Torah says: You should not offer any yeast or honey3 as a fire-burned offering to the Lord.

Commentary

1 The pleasant aroma of the incense helped remove the spiritual “bad smell” of the evil inclination. This explains why no specific measure was given for the smoke-raising herb, and merely a “small amount” was sufficient. A person’s evil inclination is conquered by the essence of his soul, which is beyond the limitations of space and cannot be measured.

2 The rhythm of the Kohen’s voice would assist him in crushing the spices evenly and consistently, with repetitive motions. Alternatively, the Kohen spoke so that his breath would blow any floating particles back toward the spice bowl.

3 The Rambam writes that a person should always follow the middle path of a characteristic. If he finds himself being too extreme about something he should move to the opposite extreme until he settles at a middle path. “Leaven” and “honey” represent two opposite extremes – one is sour, the other is sweet. This verse teaches us that extremes have no place in the service of God.