This is the offering that you shall set apart: a sixth of an ephah from a chomer of wheat, and a sixth of an ephah from a chomer of barley. The Malbim explains that, aside from the estate the prince will have in the land as we saw earlier, he will also receive an offering from the people. This means that he will also receive money from the people, or an offering as we will now see, meaning produce, he will have a portion from the people. And the portion he receives will be either one sixtieth, or one hundredth, or one two hundredth. He begins to explain and tells us that when speaking of wheat and barley, he takes one sixtieth. So from the chomer, which is ten ephahs, he receives a sixth of an ephah. A sixth of an ephah is one sixtieth of ten ephahs.
According to the Malbim, we are speaking here about the offering the prince receives from the people. In contrast, according to the Radak, he explains that what we are speaking about here is the first communal offering with which they will inaugurate the altar. This is what is written, this is the offering that you shall set apart. Why will they set apart that offering? To inaugurate the altar, the communal offering to inaugurate the altar. In contrast, according to the Malbim, this is the offering of the people to the prince, this is what the prince receives from the people.
And the fixed portion of oil, the bath of oil, is a tenth of a bath from the kor, ten baths being a chomer, for ten baths make a chomer. The Malbim says: the fixed portion of oil, from the oil they would take one hundredth, meaning to the king they would give one hundredth. Now he will show us how the calculation actually works. The bath, as we saw, is a tenth of a kor. The kor is the chomer. The chomer, we said, is thirty se'ah, close to two hundred fifty liters. But the Malbim says: when I call this the bath, take note, there is a large bath and there is a small bath. What is the large bath? The large bath is ten percent of the kor. If we spoke of thirty se'ah, then the large bath is three se'ah. There is also ten percent of it, and it is called the small bath. From the large bath one takes ten percent, so we got a third of a se'ah.
So then, what he is telling us here is that you must give the king not the large bath, not three se'ah out of thirty, but rather you must give the small bath, you must give a third of a se'ah out of three, which altogether comes to one percent out of a hundred percent. And this is what he is telling us here, that it is a tithe of a tithe, from the mother which is really the chomer or the kor, and it is really the bath of the bath. This is what he tells us, the bath of oil, a tenth of a bath from the kor. He takes the oil which is the small bath, which is a tenth of the bath that comes from the kor. So the bath coming from the kor is three se'ah, and the bath of oil is the bath of the bath. It is its tithe, so it is really a third of a se'ah. This is what he says, ten baths make a chomer, the ten large baths, from which he takes. How much is ten large baths? That is thirty se'ah. So from thirty se'ah there is the bath, which is three se'ah, and from that there is the bath of the bath, which is another ten percent, that is a third of a se'ah. So how much must be given to the king? One hundredth, altogether the bath of the bath which is a third of a se'ah. And this was the portion of the prince, as it is written a fixed portion for the priests from Pharaoh, and this will be the fixed portion of oil, this will be the fixed portion of the priests that they will receive in oil, they receive one hundredth.
And one sheep from the flock out of every two hundred, from the watered pastures of Israel, for a meal offering, for a burnt offering, and for peace offerings, to make atonement for them, says the Lord God. And one sheep from the flock out of every two hundred, from the flock the prince receives one sheep out of two hundred. This means that if regarding the oil we said he receives one hundredth, when it comes to the flock he receives one two hundredth. This measure will come to him also from the watered pastures of Israel. What does also from the watered pastures of Israel mean? We saw that from oil he receives one hundredth. From the other liquids he will receive a measure of one two hundredth. For example, from wine, from beer, from these he will receive an offering of one two hundredth.
Chazal derived from this matter that orlah is nullified in two hundred. How is the matter of orlah connected here? Well, in truth all these measures are measures familiar to us. For take note what we spoke about: we spoke of one sixtieth, we spoke of one hundredth, we spoke of one two hundredth. And these measures come to express nullification, a small amount, it is nullified, as if it is something. So here we found nullification in sixty. As is known, taste is nullified in sixty. We found regarding terumah that terumah is raised in one hundred and one. If there is one hundred times more than the terumah, the terumah is nullified, sixty is not enough. And we found here that there is also one two hundredth. So Chazal say, what does this come to teach? The one two hundredth is also nullification. It also tells you that it is something. What does it come to teach? Chazal derived from this that it comes to teach about orlah, that orlah is nullified in two hundred and one. Chazal say: from the watered pastures of Israel, meaning from what is permitted to Israel. That is, the fact that the prince takes these portions indicates that it is permitted, meaning it has already been nullified. This means that we are certainly speaking here of a liquid that has already been permitted. So how was it already permitted? We must say that even if there had been a problem, there was nullification. And how much is the nullification? As we explained regarding orlah, it is in one two hundredth.
Now he explains why we say that he takes a portion from the flock and a portion from the produce and from the oil. On this he tells us that it is necessary so that it will be for a meal offering, meaning from the wheat the prince will bring the meal offerings. From the wine and oil the prince will bring the libations, the libation meal offering that they would pour upon the altar. From the flock he will bring burnt offerings and peace offerings. And the communal offerings, which are also needed to atone for them, such as the goats of the new moons and of the festivals which come to atone for the community, all these offerings, take note, fall upon the prince. So when we give the prince oil and wine and flock and produce, all this is meant so that the prince will offer the offerings of Israel. And this does not mean he offers them personally, for the prince was not a priest, but rather it means it will come from him, as it were, and through this there is a giving of all Israel. All the people of the land shall be obligated for this offering to the prince in Israel. This means that through this it is considered as if the entire community brings it in partnership, each one giving his portion. What is all the people of the land? There is a somewhat puzzling expression here. So indeed the Malbim says we found something like the ark of the covenant. We found such an expression that has the definite article twice. But he says there is a possibility to offer an additional explanation, that the intent is that the obligation will be both upon the people and upon the land. This means that even those exempt from taxes will pay this on account of the obligation of the land, since anyone who dwells in the land is obligated.
And upon the prince shall be the burnt offerings and the meal offering and the libation on the festivals and on the new moons and on the Sabbaths, on all the appointed times of the house of Israel; he shall prepare the sin offering and the meal offering and the burnt offering and the peace offerings, to make atonement for the house of Israel. Who is the prince upon whom shall be the burnt offerings and the meal offering and the libation on the festivals and new moons? Rashi brings one explanation, saying: I say that this prince refers to the High Priest, since you are speaking here of offerings. On the other hand Rashi says: and I heard in the name of Rabbi Menachem that it refers to the king. This is also the explanation of the Malbim, with whom we proceed, who explains that we are speaking here of the prince of Israel, not of the priest. And upon him shall fall the burnt offerings and the meal offering and the libations of the whole year, meaning the daily offerings brought as burnt offerings each day, they will bring these from the treasury of the prince. And from where is there anything in the treasury of the prince? This we already saw in the previous verses, that everyone would contribute and from that it would enter the treasury of the prince, and from the treasury of the prince the money would go out for the whole people.
The same is true regarding the festivals and new moons and Sabbaths, when they would bring additional offerings, the musafim and the sin offering goats and the lambs of Atzeret, all of which are communal peace offerings. All these the prince will provide from his own pocket, the burnt offering and so forth, and the community fulfills its obligation through this because, as we said, everyone participated in it. What is festivals and what is appointed times? A festival is always a festival on which they offer a festival offering, the peace offering of the festival, therefore it is called a chag. Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur are called moadim (appointed times). Although we found the expression chag also regarding Rosh Hashanah, in "on the appointed time for our festival day," in principle the expression chag appears in the Torah for places and times when they offer the festival offering. Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur have no festival peace offering, therefore they are not called festivals but appointed times.
Thus says the Lord God: in the first month, on the first of the month, you shall take a young bull without blemish, and purge the sanctuary. The Malbim here gives us an introduction that will help us afterward understand the approach in all the verses we will see later. The Malbim says: in this passage and the one after it there are many puzzles. In this chapter and also in the next chapter, we will see many puzzles which the officer Maharia raised at length. The Malbim frequently brings the Maharia; Maharia is Rabbi Yitzchak Abarbanel, and in many places he relies on his commentary as well. He says that they all contradict, add to, and subtract from the laws of the offerings stated in the Torah of Moshe. When we try here to read and understand what is given on Sabbaths, what is given on festivals and so forth, we try to compare it with what is written in the Torah, and it does not fit. This matter is astonishing, as he will now mention, and it contradicts the principle we hold that the Torah will not change. What happened here? Suddenly we see that the offerings are different, yet this Torah will not be exchanged.
He will now give us examples. It is stated that the prince, on the eve of Pesach, offers a bull as a sin offering. In the Torah we find no such offering at all for the prince on the eve of Pesach. In verse 23 we will see that during the seven days of Pesach he shall make a burnt offering of seven bulls and seven rams. But the burnt offering of Pesach was two bulls and one ram and seven lambs, not seven bulls and seven rams. In verse 24 we will see that the meal offering shall be an ephah for a bull and an ephah for a ram. That will be the meal offering. In the Torah it is written three tenths for a bull and two tenths for a ram, not an ephah and an ephah. It is written that the oil is a hin per ephah. In the Torah it is written a third of a hin for a ram and half a hin for a bull, not a whole hin. And the prophet gives us a measure of an ephah and a hin equal for all. In verse 25 we will see that in the seventh month, on the fifteenth of the month, which is the festival of Sukkot, he shall do the same for seven days, whereas the offerings of the festival in the Torah were of a different manner, with the bulls decreasing progressively, two rams, fourteen lambs. And we will see in verse 25 that he gives us an entirely different reckoning for the offerings they would bring on the festival. In the next chapter, chapter 46, in verse 4, it is written that on the Sabbath he offers only six lambs. Not as it appears with us. In verse 6, on the new moon, a bull and six lambs and a ram, whereas in the Torah it is written two bulls and seven lambs. In verse 13 it appears that he shall always offer a lamb in the morning, and a meal offering of a sixth of an ephah and a third of a hin of oil, and he does not mention at all the afternoon daily offering. And in the Torah it says a tenth of an ephah of fine flour with a fourth of a hin of pressed oil. And why also did he not mention to us the offerings of Shavuot and Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur? In short, we see here a vast change from the offerings that appear in the Torah, and it cannot be that the Torah will be exchanged and that at some time the rectification will be with different offerings.
Indeed Chazal already address this difficulty, and the Gemara in Menachot on page 45, which will be easy for you to remember, deals with chapter 45 of Sefer Yechezkel, and this is in Menachot on page 45. Rabbi Yochanan said: Eliyahu will one day expound it. Rabbi Yochanan said that this is truly a passage that is not understood, it is hard to understand, Eliyahu will come and we will ask him this too, and he will expound this matter as well. Rabbi Yochanan follows his own view, that all the prophets prophesied only about the days of Mashiach. But regarding the future world, no eye has seen it. And it follows that there will be a change in the nature of the world, so the offerings too will change. And then Eliyahu will come and expound why exactly these are the offerings.
But in fact the Gemara brings that his colleagues disagree with him, with Rabbi Yochanan, both regarding what he says about a change in the future in nature, and regarding what he says about a change in the offerings; they do not agree with him. And they explain that these offerings are really the offerings of the days of inauguration. What are the days of inauguration? This is what Moshe offered in his time, this is what Ezra offered in his time, and this is what Shlomo offered, and this is also what will be offered in the Temple in the future. The days of inauguration are the days on which they dedicated the Temple. These are called the days of milu'im (inauguration) or the offerings of milu'im, what is termed "to fill their hands." Not in the sense of doing reserve duty, that is not connected at all. Rather in the sense of filling their hands, to qualify them for the service, that is the expression of milu'im. So now he tells us that in the days of Ezra there were the offerings of milu'im, and these offerings that he mentions here will be offerings unique to the inauguration of the Temple.
So then we are not speaking here at all about the regular offerings, which are the standard offerings written in the Torah; they will not change. These offerings will remain exactly the same. All that we are speaking about here is additions of special offerings. As we see that the twelve princes brought offerings, each one brought his offering in a unique manner, which does not exist on a permanent basis. His offering was one silver bowl weighing a hundred and thirty and so forth, this is an offering unique only to the inauguration of the Mishkan. It does not exist for the generations. The same here. All that we will see later are offerings unique to the inauguration of the Third Temple, the offerings of milu'im. And these offerings are not permanent, rather only at the time of the inauguration were they offered. And this explains why we do not see that he brings the offerings of Shavuot and Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, since we will see later that the days of milu'im do not reach these days at all. The days of milu'im will be from Pesach until Sukkot. So Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Shavuot not at all, they will not be among the days of milu'im at all, therefore the verse does not mention them at all. And therefore we will see many changes in the offerings that appear here, because these are offerings apart from the regular offerings that they would offer, written in the Torah, and consequently there is no contradiction between what is written in the Torah and what is written here.
These offerings are called a temporary ordinance, and these offerings will be, take note, from Pesach until Sukkot. These will be the days of milu'im. And the Malbim explains why. Because on the festival of Matzot the beginning of the redemption will occur. In Nissan they were redeemed and in Nissan they are destined to be redeemed. The end of the redemption will be on the festival of Sukkot, and then the war of Gog and Magog will occur. That is, you understand that we are already speaking of a Temple and already speaking of offerings and of its inauguration, and afterward the war of Gog and Magog will occur. And indeed the dispute that Chazal bring, whether they were redeemed in Nissan or redeemed in Tishrei, both matters are true. The beginning of the redemption will be in Nissan, and the conclusion will be in Tishrei on the festival of Sukkot. Corresponding to all these days from Nissan until Tishrei will be the duration of the inauguration of the Temple.
And accordingly the Malbim says: whoever contemplates, and here now listen to the Malbim, he says something very wondrous, how the reckoning of these days is extremely precise. The Malbim says: ostensibly one would need divine inspiration to say what the Malbim says here, this reckoning. But listen, what a beautiful calculation he makes. In the days of Moshe the milu'im, the days on which the inauguration of the Mishkan took place, the milu'im were seven days. Seven days of milu'im. In the days of Shlomo it was fourteen days, as it is written in the verse seven and seven. It follows then that we added seven to the inauguration of the previous Mishkan, the Mishkan of Moshe. In the days of Ezra it lasted twenty-one days, as appears in Ezra. That is, we added another seven days over the previous Temple of Shlomo. For with Shlomo it was fourteen, and in the days of Ezra, the Second Temple, already twenty-one days. What have you learned? The Malbim says that with each additional Temple, they added another seven days of milu'im over the one before it. Consequently, the Malbim says, according to this it is fitting that in the Temple, in the Third Temple, it should be twenty-eight days. For with Ezra it was twenty-one, and each Temple adds seven days, so the days of milu'im in the Third Temple should be twenty-eight days.
But these are not enough, says the Malbim, since it became clear that the days of milu'im of the previous Temples, seven, fourteen, twenty-one, did not reach their purpose, they were not fulfilled. The Temples ultimately were destroyed, and the Mishkan too was hidden away. So then the Malbim says: it is fitting now, in the future days of milu'im, to also make them corresponding to those days of milu'im, for those days of milu'im, as it were, did not reach their purpose, did not complete their goal, since the Temple ultimately was destroyed. So then, it is fitting, says the Malbim, that we make seven days and fourteen days and twenty-one days corresponding to the previous days that were nullified. Let us do the calculation. Seven plus fourteen is twenty-one. And another twenty-one is forty-two. Plus, as we said, that now we need twenty-eight days, since with each milu'im they add another seven days. So in the previous Temple it was twenty-one, with Ezra; in the coming Temple it will be twenty-eight days. So then let us add what we said, forty-two plus twenty-eight days, altogether we got seventy days. Seventy days of milu'im. But take note, the calculation is not finished here yet.
The Malbim says: in the days of Moshe, after the twelve were completed, after the seven days of milu'im were completed, the days of the inauguration of the princes began. His offering was one silver bowl. How many days was that? As the number of the princes. It was twelve days there. It was fitting, says the Malbim, that in the time of Shlomo too we make twice the days of inauguration, which is how much? Twenty-four. And in the days of Ezra we make three times the days of inauguration, according to the reckoning of the seven days earlier. Twelve days times three is thirty-six. And in the future we make four times the days of inauguration, of the inauguration, yes, the inauguration of the princes, we got forty-eight. The Malbim says: and even though you might ask why one needs to count them, for in the end in the days of Shlomo and Ezra they did not do it, they did not have days of inauguration. So then why do you add them? The Malbim says: nevertheless, what they did not do because the time was not fitting, still, in the future they will indeed do it.
So then, let us do the calculation. Twelve corresponding to the days of Moshe. And another twenty-four, we said each adds twelve, and another twenty-four corresponding to the days of Shlomo. What did we reach? We reached thirty-six. And another thirty-six corresponding to the days of Ezra, for he too adds twelve, we reached seventy-two. And another forty-eight days of the future, we reached altogether one hundred twenty. Now let us add to this the seventy days that we counted earlier, which are the seven days of milu'im apart from the days of inauguration; let us add to this also the seven days of milu'im, and there we reached the reckoning of seventy, we reached the end of the days. Ketz, kuf tzadi, one hundred ninety days. The Malbim says: when you begin to count from the eve of Pesach, counting until Shemini Atzeret, which we see here explicitly in the verses, that this was the time of the inauguration of the Third Temple, you reach one hundred ninety days precisely. Why one hundred ninety days? According to the reckoning, as we said, of the seven days of milu'im with the reckoning of all the previous Temples, and according to the reckoning of the twelve days of inauguration of the princes with the reckoning of all the additional Temples, altogether you reached one hundred ninety days exactly. And thus Hashem tells him and informs him now of the inauguration of the Temple in the future, how they will make atonement for the altar.
The Malbim says: to atone for the altar they will begin on the 23rd of Adar. This will last eight days until the new moon of Nissan, as it was in the milu'im of Moshe. And now he informs him what they will do from the new moon, when the altar is already like atoned, meaning it is now accepted, it is already fit, it is already ready for the service, and then he will begin to atone for the Temple. To atone for the Temple means to prepare the Temple by sanctifying it so that it will be fit for offering and service; this will last until the 14th of Nissan. From the new moon, yes, this is from the new moon of Nissan until the 14th of Nissan, fourteen days. And then the days of inauguration will begin, one hundred ninety days until Shemini Atzeret. And therefore now He commands Yechezkel that on the first of the month he shall take another young bull in order to purge the sanctuary. After we purged the altar, we must purge the sanctuary. And this is what he said here, on the first of the month you shall take a young bull without blemish and purge the sanctuary.
And the priest shall take of the blood of the sin offering and put it on the doorpost of the House and on the four corners of the ledge of the altar and on the doorpost of the gate of the inner court. He takes of the blood of the sin offering, puts it on the doorpost of the House, the doorpost of the House meaning the Ulam and the Heichal, and on the four corners of the ledge, take note, we are not speaking of the courtyard itself, but rather, if you recall, we saw that on the altar itself, the ledge, it itself is called azarah. And it is called the ledge of the altar. And therefore he writes here on the four corners of the ledge of the altar, not the great courtyard, the courtyard of the priests, but rather the ledge of the altar which is the surrounding ledge of the altar. And this is what he means by "of the altar." And on the doorpost of the gate, the gate of the court, which is the courtyard of Israel, on its three gates, for there were gates from three directions, on all of them he will purge and place there of the blood of the sin offering.
And so shall you do on the seventh of the month for anyone who errs and for the simple, and you shall make atonement for the House. So shall you do on the seventh of the month, meaning you shall again offer a bull as a sin offering, and again you shall purge with it as you did on the first of the month. And the purpose is for anyone who errs and for the simple. The Malbim says: this returns to what we said, and purge the sanctuary. They purge the sanctuary for anyone who errs and for the simple. What does this mean? The purging that took place on the first of the month came to atone for the intentional sinners. It came to atone for people who committed transgressions intentionally. The purging that took place on the seventh of the month purges the sanctuary from error, from transgressions committed inadvertently. What is the meaning of "who errs"? The Malbim says: what a person sinned through error in reasoning. This means he studied and erred in his reasoning. For example, he erred in a ruling. Either from one who errs or from the simple. What is "the simple"? Simplicity. The Malbim says: the simple one is inadvertent due to lack of knowledge. Like a simple person, he does not know. But in contrast, one who errs, he knows, but he has an error in reasoning, he understood a certain matter, he did not study it fully, and the matter he understood is incorrect. These two bulls atone for the House, since the bulls and goats that they offered from the 7th of Adar until the new moon of Nissan were to atone for the altar. In contrast, what we are now speaking about, from the new moon of Nissan, comes to atone for the House.
In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month, you shall have the Pesach, a festival of seven days; unleavened bread shall be eaten. Now he describes for him the order of the milu'im and the inauguration that begin from the eve of Pesach. He says to him, in the first, meaning the first of the inauguration. The first of the inauguration of the altar begins on the fourteenth day of the month, then it will be Pesach. The Malbim says: he comes to teach us that you should not think that the offerings you will soon see are in place of the Pesach offering. No, as we said earlier, these offerings are unique to the inauguration of the Temple. The standard regular offerings will all be offered as written in the Torah; the Torah will not be exchanged. And therefore he says, in the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month, you shall have the Pesach. Do not err, the Pesach offering will remain as it is, the matters do not change. And nevertheless there will be the Pesach offering, we will bring it according to its law on the 14th of Nissan, for they would slaughter it. And so too he says, a festival of seven days. What is "a festival of seven days"? Like a festival of seven days. Rashi, in contrast, says a festival of weeks and days, since from it one begins to count seven weeks, from the day after Pesach, they begin to count the seven weeks of the Omer. So this means a festival of weeks and days. The Malbim says: on the festival of Matzot they will bring the offerings as written in the Torah, and so too unleavened bread shall be eaten. Do not err to think that something will change, but rather know that they will also eat the matzot according to the law of all Pesach; the Torah will not change.
And the prince shall prepare on that day, for himself and for all the people of the land, a bull as a sin offering. Apart from the offerings of the day that were obligatory according to the Torah of Moshe by the halachah, apart from this the prince will make offerings that will be a temporary ordinance, as we said, in order to inaugurate the Temple. And on the eve of Pesach he will bring for the inauguration a bull as a sin offering, and this will not be to atone for the altar and for the sanctuary, this we already saw that he atoned earlier, he already atoned from the new moon of Adar. This will be only to atone for himself and for all the people of the land. Now these offerings will be to qualify him and all the people of the land for atonement on their behalf.
And during the seven days of the festival, during the seven days of the festival he shall make a burnt offering to Hashem, seven bulls and seven rams without blemish per day, for the seven days; and a sin offering of a he-goat per day. And during the seven days of the festival, apart from the offerings of the festival that are written in the Torah, he shall make a burnt offering to Hashem of seven bulls per day. And do not think that altogether there will be seven, meaning seven bulls per day, one each day. No, on this he tells you "the seven days," meaning each day seven bulls. And a sin offering, as we said, all this is meant to inaugurate the Temple. And a meal offering, an ephah for a bull and an ephah for a ram he shall make. And oil, a hin per ephah. So too the meal offering that he will bring to inaugurate the Temple, it too will be different from the meal offering established in the Torah. And this meal offering will be an ephah, both for a bull and for a ram. The same too with the oil, its measure will change, it will be a hin per ephah. All this, as we said, is a temporary ordinance to inaugurate the Temple, and this is apart from the libations that they would offer according to their law, the libations of the day according to the obligation of the day.
In the seventh month, on the fifteenth day of the month, on the festival, he shall do the same for seven days: as the sin offering, as the burnt offering, and as the meal offering, and as the oil. In the seventh month, this inauguration will continue until the festival of Sukkot. Until, in the seventh month, on the fifteenth day of the month, on the festival, meaning the festival of Sukkot, he shall do the same for seven days. On all seven days of Sukkot, until Shemini Atzeret, until then, we said, the days of inauguration will continue, which is exactly one hundred ninety days, and he shall do it as the sin offering and as the burnt offering, as he did on Pesach; the same too with the meal offering and the oil, he shall make them exactly as we offered on Pesach, and this we saw, during the seven days of the festival he shall make a burnt offering to Hashem of seven bulls and seven rams without blemish and so forth, so too he shall do during the seven days of Sukkot. Because with Pesach he begins and with Sukkot he concludes, the offerings in them are equal. And then too, as we said, the salvation of the war of Gog and Magog will occur, as is brought in Zechariah in chapter 14.