First, the Tora prescribes the daily removal of ashes from the altar. This was the first commandment of the service in the Temple. The Tora then repeats the laws of offerings described in last week’s reading, adding several important details. It also explains the priestly offering, presented by the High Priest twice daily in the Temple service. Then the text goes to the laws of an offering for an involuntary sin or ‘chatat’ and the sacrifice for deliberate transgression or ‘asham’. Incidentally, the Tora discusses the absorption by a vessel of sacrificial meats cooked in it and the possibility of purifying these vessels from any vestiges that it had absorbed, a concept that is very pertinent in the laws of kashrut. This section concludes with a discussion of the “gifts” to which the priests were entitled to receive from the different sacrifices. The Tora then discusses the offering of gratitude or, in Hebrew, ‘qorban toda’, presented by an individual who survived a dangerous situation. Next, we learn about various reasons for the invalidation of a sacrifice, such as an impurity or distraction or wrong thinking on the part of the priest performing the service. We are then commanded not to consume blood or any of the fats or tallows offered on the altar. The section concludes with the portions of meat given to the priest in the peace offering or ‘shelamim’.
With this, the Tora concludes the laws of sacrifices.
Then we read about the initiation of the priests or ‘Cohanim’ and the inauguration of the Tabernacle. In the presence of all the Jews, Moses dresses Aaron and his sons in the priestly garments and anoints them, along with the Tabernacle and its utensils, with the sacred anointing oil. The priestly initiation continues with Moses sacrificing a bull and a ram, which are ‘ola, fully consumed offerings. Moses sacrifices a second ram, and its fats are burned on the altar, along with some loaves. Completing the initiation process for the priests, Moses anoints them with the sacred oil and some of the altar’s blood. Moses instructs the priests on consuming the sacrificial meats and tells them that this process will be repeated for six days. During this seven-day inauguration, they are not to leave the confines of the Tabernacle.
