Amount of sacrifices when the Temple is rebuilt
25
Sep
2009
Q: How many sacrifices will we need to bring for our transgressions when the Temple is rebuilt?
A: Immediately after the destruction of the Temple, it was thought that the Temple may soon be rebuilt and so each person would put the money aside for a sacrifice when he transgressed. The money then became mixed up with other money and was used for other purposes, and so people ceased putting the money aside. Therefore, when the Temple is rebuilt, we will be required to bring many Sin Offerings for our accidental transgressions.
In Shut Torah Lishma (#120), the Ben Ish Chai discussed the ruling of the Rama in the Shulchan Aruch (Orach Chaim 334:26) that if one desecrates Shabbat by accident, he should gives 18 "shekels" to Tzedakah in place of the "Korban Chatat" (Sin Offering). He was asked: If some gives the Tzedakah, will he still have to bring a Korban Chatat when the Temple is rebuilt? The Ben Ish Chai answered that the Gemara in Shabbat (12b) rules that it is forbidden to read by candle light on Shabbat lest one come to tilt the candle so that the oil flows to the wick and ignite the flame even more. Rabbi Yishmael ben Elisha said: I will read but I will not tilt it. He was once reading, and was about to tilt it - he said, how great are the words of the Sages, who forbade to read by a lamp! Rabbi Natan said that he actually did tilt the lamp and wrote in his diary: "'I, Yishmael ben Elisha, read by a lamp and tilted the Shabbat light, and when the Temple is rebuilt, I will bring a fat Korban Chatat." The Ben Ish Chai says that if it is enough to give Tzedakah in place of a Korban Chatat, why did Rabbi Yishmael ben Elisha wrote that he was obligated to bring a sacrifice in his diary?!
Our Sages also say (see Menachot 110a): Anyone who reads the section in the Torah about the Korban Chatat is considered as if he sacrificed it. The Ben Ish Chai says that it is considered as if he brought the sacrifice, not that he actually did so; and when the Temple is rebuilt, he will be obligated to bring it. See introduction to the book "Likutei Halachot" of the Chafetz Chaim who discussed this issue.
But we also need to understand that there are many conditions as to which transgressions require a Korban Chatat. Not every transgression requires a Korban Chatat. See the Rambam in Hilchot Shogagim for all of the conditions.
There will therefore be a lot of sacrifices, as it says: "Like the flock of sacrifices, like the flock of Jerusalem, in her holidays, so shall the destroyed cities be filled with flocks of men, and they will know that I am Hashem" (Yechezkel 36:38) – there are many Jews and many sacrifices. How will we solve all of the technical problems of having so many people and so many animals at the Temple? I do not know but we will solve them, but that is not the issue. The problem is: how do we reach the conditions for rebuilding the Temple: the Nation of Israel’s complete repentance?
In this context, it is worth mentioning what our Rabbi, Ha-Rav Tzvi Yehudah, related about the book "Likutei Halachot" of the Chafetz Chaim which is like the "Mishnah Berurah" for sacrifices in the Temple. The Chafetz Chaim asked his close friend Ha-Gaon Ha-Rav Eliyahu David Rabinowitz-Te'omim, Ha-Aderet – the Rav of Ponovezh and Maran Ha-Rav Kook's father-in-law – to write an approbation for the book. Ha-Aderet said to Maran Ha-Rav Kook: "I received a letter from Reb Yisrael Meir, the Chafetz Chaim, and he informed me that he is preparing to publish a sort of 'Mishnah Berurah' on sacrifices, and he asked me to write a letter of support and an approbation. I want to honor his request immediately, without delay. But you see that it is impossible, because of the great Rabbinic demands of a big city which leaves me absolutely no time to rest. I am therefore asking you do me this favor: You write it. What you write will be in my spirit, and it will be as if I wrote it." Maran Ha-Rav Kook prepared the letter for him and gave it to him to sign. Within the lengthy letter, full of feelings of holiness for the expectation of Salvation, preparations for the Temple and the sacrifices, he brought a teaching of our Sages: "Rabbi Yochanan said: The Torah scholars who engaged in the Laws of the Temple Service are considered as if they build the Temple in their days." But we must understand what being "engaged" in the Laws of the Temple Service means. It is not simply reciting it, as printed in the Siddurim. Our Sages used the word "engaged in," i.e. to learn the subject with depth and toil in the manner of Torah scholar to elucidate the Halachah. Ha-Aderet said to Maran Ha-Rav Kook: How can I sign when you added your own teaching? How can I be a thief? Ha-Aderet therefore added before the innovative explanation: "And his honor, the well-known Gaon, who is praised, our teacher Ha-Rav Avraham Ha-Cohain, may his light illuminate, the Av Beit Din of Boisk, pointed out to me..." The Aderet then signed the letter but it was written by Maran Ha-Rav Kook. And with Hashem's help, the "Mishnah Berurah" of sacrifices will be used as a halachic guide when the Temple is rebuilt and we bring all the required sacrifices.
A: Immediately after the destruction of the Temple, it was thought that the Temple may soon be rebuilt and so each person would put the money aside for a sacrifice when he transgressed. The money then became mixed up with other money and was used for other purposes, and so people ceased putting the money aside. Therefore, when the Temple is rebuilt, we will be required to bring many Sin Offerings for our accidental transgressions.
In Shut Torah Lishma (#120), the Ben Ish Chai discussed the ruling of the Rama in the Shulchan Aruch (Orach Chaim 334:26) that if one desecrates Shabbat by accident, he should gives 18 "shekels" to Tzedakah in place of the "Korban Chatat" (Sin Offering). He was asked: If some gives the Tzedakah, will he still have to bring a Korban Chatat when the Temple is rebuilt? The Ben Ish Chai answered that the Gemara in Shabbat (12b) rules that it is forbidden to read by candle light on Shabbat lest one come to tilt the candle so that the oil flows to the wick and ignite the flame even more. Rabbi Yishmael ben Elisha said: I will read but I will not tilt it. He was once reading, and was about to tilt it - he said, how great are the words of the Sages, who forbade to read by a lamp! Rabbi Natan said that he actually did tilt the lamp and wrote in his diary: "'I, Yishmael ben Elisha, read by a lamp and tilted the Shabbat light, and when the Temple is rebuilt, I will bring a fat Korban Chatat." The Ben Ish Chai says that if it is enough to give Tzedakah in place of a Korban Chatat, why did Rabbi Yishmael ben Elisha wrote that he was obligated to bring a sacrifice in his diary?!
Our Sages also say (see Menachot 110a): Anyone who reads the section in the Torah about the Korban Chatat is considered as if he sacrificed it. The Ben Ish Chai says that it is considered as if he brought the sacrifice, not that he actually did so; and when the Temple is rebuilt, he will be obligated to bring it. See introduction to the book "Likutei Halachot" of the Chafetz Chaim who discussed this issue.
But we also need to understand that there are many conditions as to which transgressions require a Korban Chatat. Not every transgression requires a Korban Chatat. See the Rambam in Hilchot Shogagim for all of the conditions.
There will therefore be a lot of sacrifices, as it says: "Like the flock of sacrifices, like the flock of Jerusalem, in her holidays, so shall the destroyed cities be filled with flocks of men, and they will know that I am Hashem" (Yechezkel 36:38) – there are many Jews and many sacrifices. How will we solve all of the technical problems of having so many people and so many animals at the Temple? I do not know but we will solve them, but that is not the issue. The problem is: how do we reach the conditions for rebuilding the Temple: the Nation of Israel’s complete repentance?
In this context, it is worth mentioning what our Rabbi, Ha-Rav Tzvi Yehudah, related about the book "Likutei Halachot" of the Chafetz Chaim which is like the "Mishnah Berurah" for sacrifices in the Temple. The Chafetz Chaim asked his close friend Ha-Gaon Ha-Rav Eliyahu David Rabinowitz-Te'omim, Ha-Aderet – the Rav of Ponovezh and Maran Ha-Rav Kook's father-in-law – to write an approbation for the book. Ha-Aderet said to Maran Ha-Rav Kook: "I received a letter from Reb Yisrael Meir, the Chafetz Chaim, and he informed me that he is preparing to publish a sort of 'Mishnah Berurah' on sacrifices, and he asked me to write a letter of support and an approbation. I want to honor his request immediately, without delay. But you see that it is impossible, because of the great Rabbinic demands of a big city which leaves me absolutely no time to rest. I am therefore asking you do me this favor: You write it. What you write will be in my spirit, and it will be as if I wrote it." Maran Ha-Rav Kook prepared the letter for him and gave it to him to sign. Within the lengthy letter, full of feelings of holiness for the expectation of Salvation, preparations for the Temple and the sacrifices, he brought a teaching of our Sages: "Rabbi Yochanan said: The Torah scholars who engaged in the Laws of the Temple Service are considered as if they build the Temple in their days." But we must understand what being "engaged" in the Laws of the Temple Service means. It is not simply reciting it, as printed in the Siddurim. Our Sages used the word "engaged in," i.e. to learn the subject with depth and toil in the manner of Torah scholar to elucidate the Halachah. Ha-Aderet said to Maran Ha-Rav Kook: How can I sign when you added your own teaching? How can I be a thief? Ha-Aderet therefore added before the innovative explanation: "And his honor, the well-known Gaon, who is praised, our teacher Ha-Rav Avraham Ha-Cohain, may his light illuminate, the Av Beit Din of Boisk, pointed out to me..." The Aderet then signed the letter but it was written by Maran Ha-Rav Kook. And with Hashem's help, the "Mishnah Berurah" of sacrifices will be used as a halachic guide when the Temple is rebuilt and we bring all the required sacrifices.
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