Kommentar zu Wajikra 6:13

זה קרבן אהרון ובניו THIS IS THE OFFERING OF AARON AND HIS SONS — The ordinary priests, too, offer a tenth part of an ephah of flour on the day they are installed into the priestly service; the High Priest, however, offers one every day, as it is said, “a continual meal-offering, [half of it in the morning, and half thereof in the evening] etc. And the priest amongst his sons that is anointed in his stead (i. e. every high priest) [shall offer it]; it is a statute for ever” (Sifra, Tzav, Section 3 1-4; Menachot 51b).

זה קרבן אהרן ובניו. According to the plain meaning of the verse the persons meant are Aaron and his successors, other High Priests subsequent to him. Our sages (Menachot 51) interpret the verse to refer to all ordinary priests as well. In other words, any newly inducted priest is required to bring a gift offering as his first service in the Temple.

זה קרבן אהרן ובניו, “this is the offering of Aaron and his sons.” Our sages have told us that there were four matters which Moses found difficult to comprehend, and that the offering Aaron was to bring on the day he was anointed was one of them. The four are easy to remember when one thinks of the first letters of them forming the word מקש'ה, i.e. “he has trouble under-standing.” [they are the laws of the מנורה, קרבן, שקלים, החדש, (laws about the lampstand, the sacrifice (of Aaron), the coin called shekel hakodesh, and the legislation of the new moon).The mystical dimension of our verse is this: the word זה in the sequence זה קרבן אהרן ובניו אשר יקריבו לה', refers to an attribute Aaron and his sons are to offer. They are to present G’d with a certain character-virtue represented by this offering about which the Torah now gives the measurements and components. When the prophet Ezekiel 44,27 speaks about the inauguration sacrifices of the third Temple, he also lists the size and composition of that sacrifice as consisting of עשירית האפה סולת, calling it “a sin-offering.”(although Ezekiel did not spell out what this sin-offering consisted of the Talmud Moed Katan 15-16 states that it was the same as that mentioned in our verse here). Since no specific sin was being atoned for, the meaning is that this offering symbolised a spiritual cleansing of the priest prior to his commencing his sacred vocation.

Even ordinary kohanim. [Rashi knows this] because why does the Torah say, “and his sons”? Indeed, kohanim gedolim are mentioned when it says (v. 15): “The kohein who is anointed...”

ביום המשח אותו, “on the day when he is anointed;” the prefix letter ב in the word ביום was used here instead of the prefix letter מ, “from.” From that day on the high Priest has to present this daily offering. We find another example of the use of the letter ב in the same sense as here, in chapter 7, verse 36: ביום משחו אותם, “from the day they were anointed.” (Ibn Ezra) Also in chapter 8, verse 32, והנותר בבשר ובלחם, the correct translation is: “and that which is left over from the meat and the bread.”

Who is anointed in his stead. Meaning: The phrase, “as a mealoffering, always” is connected with “the kohein who is anointed” (v. 15), and not with “and his sons” (v. 13). If so, their meal-offering is not continual. It is [brought] only on the day of their inauguration, like the day the kohein gadol is anointed, which is the inauguration for the kohein gadol. It is written: “ביום המשח (on the day that he is anointed)” and not מיום המשח (from the day he is anointed), in order to include the inauguration of the ordinary kohanim as well. Otherwise, it should say, “from the day,” because from that day onward the kohein gadol continually offers [the meal-offering].

מחציתם בבקר ומחציתם בערב, “half of it in the morning and half of it in the evening.” How is the High Priest to perform the procedure? He brings a whole tenth of an eyfah in the morning, and proceeds to divide that quantity in half, proceeding to offer the first half in the morning and the remaining half in the evening. If, in the interval, the half reserved for offering in the evening has becoming ritually contaminated, or has somehow been lost, the priest will bring the full eyfah in the evening to compensate for what was lost or has been contaminated. He will do so by dividing it into two halves, but only offering one of the two halves, so that a whole eyfah will have been offered and a whole eyfah will have been lost. (Sifra)

That is that He commanded us that the high priest offer a regular grain offering every day in the morning and in the afternoon. And that is called the griddle-cakes of the high priest and it is also called the grain offering of the anointed priest. And that is His, may He be exalted, saying, "This is the offering of Aharon and his sons" (Leviticus 6:13). And the regulations of this commandment and when it is offered have already been explained in Menachot, in Yoma and in Tamid. (See Parashat Tzav; Mishneh Torah, Daily Offerings and Additional Offerings 3.)