A beautiful thought and light was given to me which was sparked by a conversation that I had with a friend last evening. We were in a sense having a small Hakhel. I thought deeply about the conversation and was moved in something very profound that she said. This morning during my prayers it sparked even more light. Thank you Sherry for the illumination!
Inspiration:
When Moshiach arrives it al will be distilled down to the sweet essence of our love/obedience to HaShem, all his people dispersed the world over will unite each with their unique fragrance which will come together to make up the True Ketoret which symbolizes Unity, when the 11 fragrances meet up with HaShem, number 12. All the Nations will be healed.
“He shall take a censerful of burning coals from the altar, and the fill of his hands of finely ground ketoret; and he shall bring [these] inside the curtain.
He shall place the ketoret upon the fire before G‑d; and the cloud of the incense shall envelop the covering of the [Ark of] Testimony” . . .
Vayikra (Leviticus)16:12–13
Maimonides describes the function of the ketoret as the vanquishing of the unpleasant odors that might otherwise have pervaded the Holy Temple. “Since many animals were slaughtered in the sacred place each day, its smell would doubtless have been like the smell of a slaughterhouse. Therefore G‑d commanded that the ketoret be burned twice a day, each morning and afternoon, to lend a pleasing fragrance to [the Holy Temple] and to the garments of those who served in it” (Guide for the Perplexed 3:45).
On Yom Kippur, in addition to the regular ketoret offerings, the kohen gadol would enter the Holy of Holies with a pan of smoldering coals in his right hand, and a ladle filled with ketoret in his left; there, he would scoop the ketoret into his hands, place it over the coals, wait for the chamber to fill with the fragrant smoke of the burning incense cloud of smoke, and swiftly back out of the room.
So too when we unite as one together with Hashem all the Nations are healed from the bad smells of this world which is vanquished by the cloud of our incense of man’s Ketoret which meets the cloud of Hashem over the Ark then the real healing begins.
More thoughts:
Bamidbar (Numbers) 16:35 And there came out a fire from HaShem, and consumed the two hundred and fifty men that offered incense. 36 And HaShem spake unto Moses, saying, 37 Speak unto Eleazar the son of Aaron the priest, that he take up the censers out of the burning, and scatter thou the fire yonder; for they are hallowed. 38 The censers of these sinners against their own souls, let them make them broad plates for a covering of the altar: for they offered them before HaShem, therefore they are hallowed: and they shall be a sign unto the children of Israel. 39 And Eleazar the priest took the brasen censers, wherewith they that were burnt had offered; and they were made broad plates for a covering of the altar: 40 To be a memorial unto the children of Israel, that no stranger, which is not of the seed of Aaron, come near to offer incense before HaShem; that he be not as Korah, and as his company: as HaShem said to him by the hand of Moses.
Nadab and Abihu, in Vayikra 10, also disrupted the unity of the Bne Israel by offering “strange fire”. Therefore, we also see that the ketoret was instrumental in bring about their death as a judgment for disrupting this unity.
Vayikra (Leviticus) 10:1 And Nadab and Abihu, the sons of Aaron, took either of them his censer, and put fire therein, and put incense thereon, and offered strange fire before HaShem, which he commanded them not. 2 And there went out fire from HaShem, and devoured them, and they died before HaShem.
Rabbi Krohn said that we learn from the ketoret the need for unity among all Jews. If any one of the eleven ingredients was omitted from the mixture, the ketoret offering was invalid. One of the ingredients, chelbana (galbanum), has a foul odor. This undesirable spice symbolizes the sinners in a Jewish congregation. Our Sages state that a public fast day in which at least one sinner does not participate is not considered a fast day: that is, it does not accomplish the purpose for which it was intended, whether relief from a drought or protection from physical threats to the community. The requirement to mix chelbana into the ketoret reminds us that we must include those Jews who do not perform every commandment properly in our prayer services and community activities.
Unity creates healing. Moshiach Now!
