On Yom Kippur the burning of incense within the קדש הקדשים, the Holy of Holies, plays a central role in the service of the כהן גדול, the High Priest. There are several distinctions between the daily burning of the incense and that of Yom Kippur. We will focus here on one of those distinctions. During the daily incense burning, which took place on the Golden Altar in the Outer Sanctuary of the בית המקדש, Temple, the Kohen who was preparing the incense had to ensure that the incense burned until it formed a pillar of smoke that flowed directly upwards. By contrast, on Yom Kippur where the Kohen Gadol was offering the incense by the Aron (Ark) in the Kodesh HaKadashim he was required to wait until the incense smoke filled the entire chamber.
What is the reason for this distinction? Why everyday is there an imperative for a pillar and on Yom Kippur for a room filled with the smoke and scent of incense?
To understand this we need first to delve a little deeper into the symbolism of the קטורת, incense. The קטורת was made from eleven ingredients. Kabbalistic thought teaches us that the world was created by means of ten Sefiros which are the spiritual sub-atomic particles which form the building blocks of Creation, each one of the Sefiros representing a different Middah (trait). Conversely, as there is balance throughout Creation between good and evil, there are ten such elements which represent each of these traits being used for evil. Despite the fact that these evil ten represent the anti-spirituality of existence, Hashem gives them the power to exist. That existence bestowed upon them by Hashem is element number eleven. It is only on the side of evil that there are eleven elements as the elements themselves are unGodly they need an eleventh to give them existence. On the side of good, of spirituality, there are only ten as each one is, in and of itself, infused with Godliness.
The word קטורת (incense) has at its root the word קטר which means a knot. The קטורת symbolizes the recognition that even those things which represent evil and seem to be anti-God are all tied together and connected to Hashem. By recognizing this and by tying them and acknowledging, we are changing them from being forces of evil to being forces of good. This is because one of the central themes of Creation is the realization that even that which appears to be evil is all part of Hashem's presence. When used as a vehicle for this recognition the evil becomes good.
The idea of recognizing that even that which appears to be evil comes from Hashem is one that deserves a lengthy discussion. As such a discussion would be book length it is beyond the scope of this post. But our Sages teach us that truly comprehending this is difficult, if not impossible, during our mundane lives in the world as it is. While it is possible to intellectually understand the idea that everything, even evil, is connected to Hashem to truly feel and internalize this idea - to really see Hashem in every aspect of Creation - is beyond us while we remain in the pre-Messianic world.
It is for this reason the קטורת,which represents the tying together of the elements of evil and connecting them to Hashem, all year long is burned until the smoke forms a pillar. This is because the best we can do then is to understand with our minds that there is a connection between what appears to be evil and Hashem. Intellectually we can draw a line between what we see, what we are taught and Hashem. But we are still in the Outer Sanctuary and do not truly feel this connection. On Yom Kippur we are trying to raise our consciousness to a higher level, to a Messianic consciousness that empowers us to see Hashem's presence throughout Creation, even in evil, even within our own sins. We enter into the Holy of Holies, the center-point of our being where we are no longer seeing things with an intellectual superficiality, but feeling them with our entire selves. At this time the קטורת is burned until it fills the entire room to symbolize our true knowledge that Hashem is present throughout Creation, even within evil.
What is the reason for this distinction? Why everyday is there an imperative for a pillar and on Yom Kippur for a room filled with the smoke and scent of incense?
To understand this we need first to delve a little deeper into the symbolism of the קטורת, incense. The קטורת was made from eleven ingredients. Kabbalistic thought teaches us that the world was created by means of ten Sefiros which are the spiritual sub-atomic particles which form the building blocks of Creation, each one of the Sefiros representing a different Middah (trait). Conversely, as there is balance throughout Creation between good and evil, there are ten such elements which represent each of these traits being used for evil. Despite the fact that these evil ten represent the anti-spirituality of existence, Hashem gives them the power to exist. That existence bestowed upon them by Hashem is element number eleven. It is only on the side of evil that there are eleven elements as the elements themselves are unGodly they need an eleventh to give them existence. On the side of good, of spirituality, there are only ten as each one is, in and of itself, infused with Godliness.
The word קטורת (incense) has at its root the word קטר which means a knot. The קטורת symbolizes the recognition that even those things which represent evil and seem to be anti-God are all tied together and connected to Hashem. By recognizing this and by tying them and acknowledging, we are changing them from being forces of evil to being forces of good. This is because one of the central themes of Creation is the realization that even that which appears to be evil is all part of Hashem's presence. When used as a vehicle for this recognition the evil becomes good.The idea of recognizing that even that which appears to be evil comes from Hashem is one that deserves a lengthy discussion. As such a discussion would be book length it is beyond the scope of this post. But our Sages teach us that truly comprehending this is difficult, if not impossible, during our mundane lives in the world as it is. While it is possible to intellectually understand the idea that everything, even evil, is connected to Hashem to truly feel and internalize this idea - to really see Hashem in every aspect of Creation - is beyond us while we remain in the pre-Messianic world.
It is for this reason the קטורת,which represents the tying together of the elements of evil and connecting them to Hashem, all year long is burned until the smoke forms a pillar. This is because the best we can do then is to understand with our minds that there is a connection between what appears to be evil and Hashem. Intellectually we can draw a line between what we see, what we are taught and Hashem. But we are still in the Outer Sanctuary and do not truly feel this connection. On Yom Kippur we are trying to raise our consciousness to a higher level, to a Messianic consciousness that empowers us to see Hashem's presence throughout Creation, even in evil, even within our own sins. We enter into the Holy of Holies, the center-point of our being where we are no longer seeing things with an intellectual superficiality, but feeling them with our entire selves. At this time the קטורת is burned until it fills the entire room to symbolize our true knowledge that Hashem is present throughout Creation, even within evil.
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