“ואת בשר הפר ואת עורו ואת פרשו תשרף באש מחוץ למחנה חטאת הוא.” (שמות כ”ט י”ד)
רש”י: “לא מצינו חטאת חיצונה נשרפת אלא זו.”
Rashi: “We have not found an outer sin offering which is burnt other than this one…”
A unique korban
The sanctification of Aharon and his sons as Kohanim involved several korbanos, amongst them a פר אחד בן בקר—a single young bull. As Rashi notes, this sacrifice was unique in that it was completely burnt, unlike other outer sin offerings (i.e. a sin offering whose blood is placed on the outer mizbeach – courtyard altar). Rashi does not explain the rational for this discrepancy, but the Ramban does.
The explanation of the Ramban
The Ramban writes that the פר אחד בן בקר was intended to play the role of a קרבן של כהן משיח—offering of an anointed kohen, an offering brought specifically to atone for a sin committed by the Kohen Gadol. (See Vayikra 4:2) The קרבן של כהן המשיח is a single young bull and it is completely burnt. Its blood is not placed on the outer mizbeach, rather, its blood is brought into the sanctuary and sprinkled “before Hashem, towards the curtain of the Holy.” (The paroches which separated the sanctuary from the kodesh hakedoshim.) (ibid.) Because the korban brought for the sanctification of Aharon was in place of a קרבן של כהן משיח, it was therefore also a single young bull, and was burnt completely. So why was its blood placed on the outer mizbeach as opposed to being sprinkled towards the פרוכת הקודש—the curtain of the Holy? The Ramban explains that since the Shechinah had not yet descended upon the Mishkan, the curtain was not yet sanctified and could not yet be considered the curtain of the Holy. There was therefore no reason to bring the blood into the sanctuary and sprinkle it there.
A question on the Ramban
This is the simple understanding of the Ramban, but he concludes with a troubling statement. His words are, “…ולא שרתה עליו שכינה שיקרא פרכת הקדש, והנה החיצון כפנימי” – “…and the Shechinah had not yet rested upon it, that it should be considered ‘the curtain of the Holy’, and behold, that which is outer is as if it is inner.” Seemingly, the Ramban should have said the exact opposite: “that which is inner is as if it is outer”. He just explained that because the Shechinah had not yet descended upon the Mishkan, the curtain did not yet have the status of “the curtain of the Holy”, and as such, there was no reason to place the blood of the korban on the (inner) curtain. Instead, the blood was placed upon the (outer) mizbeach. In other words that which was “inner” lost its status and held no benefit over that which was “outer”. But the Ramban writes just the opposite: that which is outer is as if it is inner.
Why a sin offering?
The Ramban explains that this sin offering was to atone for Aharon’s part in the sin of the golden calf, even though, according to the Ramban, the sin of the golden calf had not yet taken place. The Ramban therefore prefaces his explanation with the statement that “הכל גלוי לפניו” – everything is revealed before Him. Hashem knew that in the future Aharon would sin.
Generally, Hakadosh Baruch Hu does not give us Mitzvos according to what will happen in the future, even though He knows what will happen. Let us examine why in this instance (of the sanctification of Aharon and his sons) He did.
A New World
Where do we find that Hakadosh Baruch took into account all future events? During the Creation of the world. When Hakadosh Baruch Hu created water, for example, He did not create water and only afterwards consider what should be done with it. In order that the creation’s purpose be fulfilled, it is necessary that people be purified, and He created water for that purpose. This is the meaning of Chazal’s teaching, “He looked into the Torah, and created the world.” (Zohar, Terumah) He even took into account the splitting of the Sea, and made a condition with the water that it must split. (Bereishis Raba 5:5)
The reason for this is simple: whenever one creates a kli (utensil), he must consider for the kli’s intended purpose. If your grandmother wants to knead for you an article of clothing, she must first know: does her grandson need a sweater or socks? What size does he wear? Will he wear it to work or to sleep? Even more so regarding the purpose of the entire universe, the future must be considered.
Likewise, the Mishkan was intended to be an entire world. The building itself, the keilim, all mirrored our world. It was a kli for the dwelling of the Shechinah. So during this creation as well, future events were taken into account.
“That which is outer is as if it is inner”
We can now appreciate these words of the Ramban. The outer world is the kli, the utensil, that will eventually “hold” the world’s purpose. The inner world, develops over time, through our Avodah. It will be compatible with its purpose only at the end of the process, when our Avodah makes it so. But the outer world, the kli, must be prepared from the very beginning.
The building of the Mishkan was the creation of a kli. Similarly, the creation of kohanim. In creation, the kli matches up 100% to its ultimate purpose. That which is outer is as if it is inner – the outer world matches up to its inner purpose completely.
Often, we underestimate the outer world. Consider the human body. Do you believe that our physical bodies are identical to the bodies of the holy Tannaim? Of the prophets? Of the Avos? On the inside, we are far, far away from them. But externally we are the same: two eyes, a mouth, a nose, arms, legs, etc. We have the same kli. The reason is that our physical bodies were created with our ultimate purpose in mind. So even if our Avodah is not on that level, our bodies still match up with that incredible purpose, like the bodies of all the great men of history.
