Kapłańska 8:23 Komentarz: Tze'enah Ure'enah, Rabbeinu Bahya & Ibn Ezra

“On the thumb of his right hand” [8:23]. He sprinkled blood from the sacrifice on the thumb. The person is compared to three worlds. First is the head, which has the understanding and wisdom. This relates to the world of the angels, which are pure intellect. Therefore, they first sprinkle blood from the sacrifice on the person’s earlobe, for the world of the angels. The ear is in the head where the intellect is found. The second thing the blood is sprinkled on is the thumb, which is related to the world of the spheres where the moon and the constellations circulate constantly and never rest. So too is the heart of the person and the essence of life is the heart. It must always move and beat. If it should stop beating and moving, the person would be dead. Similarly, the constellations, if they would stop moving and running, the world might end. Therefore, one must sprinkle blood on the thumb of the hand, since the hand is opposite the heart. The third thing they sprinkle is the thumb of the foot. This relates to the lower world, our world, which is ordinary and lowly. The foot is the lowest part of the body. This teaches us that the person should guard against sins. He should see how important he is, created in relation to three worlds. Therefore, this is shown to the person when the sacrifice is brought.¹¹Bahya, Leviticus, 8:23.

ויתן על תנוך אזן אהרן ועל בהן ידו הימנית ועל בהן רגלו הימנית, ”he placed it on the middle part of Aaron’s right ear, on the thumb of his right hand, and on the big toe of his right foot.” I believe that the symbolism of these three procedures is connected to the three parts into which the universe is divided, ‘the world of the angels, the world of the planets, and the terrestrial part of the universe.’ Moses had been commanded to make the Tabernacle symbolic of these three parts of the universe. Whatever was inside (west) of the dividing curtain, פרכת, represented the world of the angels, disembodied spirits. Anything inside the Sanctuary but east of the dividing curtain represented the world of the planets (outer space in modern terms). The courtyard of the Tabernacle represented the terrestrial part of the universe. Seeing that the High Priest embodied within himself the awareness of his Creator and all these different divisions of the universe, it was important that this idea be given concrete expression in that his very body was treated as if it too consisted of three parts, each representing one part of the universe. Man himself may also be viewed as a microcosm of the universe. The three parts of man represent the world of communication by means of speech, i.e. the head, the part which corresponds to the world of the angels. The world of the “chayut,” physical, biological life, is from the chest down to the loins. This portion of man contains the heart, the source of all motion, i.e. the heart is perceived as issuing the directives which result in every move made by man. This part of man corresponds to the world of the planets, whose whole function appears to be their movements, their orbits. Finally, the lower part of man, that which may be described as representing עולם הטבע, the world of nature as we know it, begins from the loins downward and contains the reproductive organs. Seeing that the purpose of the offerings is the continued existence of the universe, (Taanit 27) a world which is divided into three parts, Moses had to give some of the blood which is the agent conferring the atonement aimed at by the animal-sacrifices, on the respective three parts of the Priest to ensure that all parts of the universe are recipients of the power of the sacrifice to bring about atonement. This is why the ear, the hand, and the foot, were chosen to represent these 3 parts of the microcosm as symbols for this atonement. The blood smeared on the ear symbolised the domain of speech in man or the world of the angels in the macrocosm. The blood smeared on the thumb of the Priest symbolised the world of motion, or the world of the planets in the macrocosm. The blood smeared on the big toe of the right foot of the Priest (Aaron) represented the area in man which needs atonement, and symbolised the terrestrial universe in the macrocosm.

The word בהן used by the Torah to describe the thumb, is known in Tamudic Hebrew as the גודל, (compare Ketuvot 5) because it is the thickest of the five fingers. Some say that the thickest one is זרת and the smallest is גודל. These five fingers are generally known in the Talmud by the following names: אצבע, אמה, קמיצה, גודל, זרת. The reason the first & thickest finger is called זרת is because when fully extended sideways it completes the distance called זרת in the Talmud describing the distance from the extreme left point of the outstretched thumb and the corresponding point of the right by extending the little finger. [Most authorities consider the standard זרת as being approx. 28 centimeters, i.e. half a cubit. Ed.] The index finger is called אצבע as it is used to sprinkle the blood on the Altar or flick it against the dividing curtain on Yom Kippur. The middle finger is called אמה because it is the longest one protruding more than any of the others and therefore completes the measurement of the arm known as אמה. The fourth finger is called קמיצה being that it is used to measure the קומץ of the מנחה the Priest has to place on the Altar; The fifth & smallest finger is called גודל which may be related to גדילים the fringes i.e. ציציות we are to put on four-cornered garments. The word has a connotation of: “at the extreme outside, edge.”