The Altar That Shifts Decrees and Atones for Sin

Yalkut Shimoni on Torah 373:2

Curated by Arthur·Told by Maggid·

"And you shall make the altar" (Exodus 27:1). Why is it called mizbeach [altar]? Because it shifts away [maziach], it nourishes [mezin], it endears [mechabev], and it atones [mechaper]. Is "shifts away" the same as "atones"? It shifts away harsh decrees and it atones for sins. It was taught: "Five cubits the length and five cubits the breadth, foursquare" (Exodus 27:1). The words are to be taken as written, says Rabbi Yose. Rabbi Yehuda says: "foursquare" is stated here and "foursquare" is stated regarding the Eternal House [the Temple]; just as there one measures from its center, so here one measures from its center. And there, how do we know it? As it is written, "And the altar-hearth shall be twelve long by twelve broad, foursquare" (Ezekiel 43:16). One might think it was only twelve by twelve; when it says "toward its four sides," this teaches that one measures from its center, twelve cubits to each and every direction. And Rabbi Yose holds that when he learned the verbal analogy [gezeira shava], he learned it concerning its height. As it was taught: "And three cubits its height" (Exodus 27:1), the words as written, says Rabbi Yehuda. Rabbi Yose says: "foursquare" is stated here and "foursquare" is stated there (Exodus 30:2); just as there its height is twice its length, so here its height is twice its length. Rabbi Yehuda said to him: Can one say so? The priest stands upon the altar with the service in his hand, and all the people see him from outside! Rabbi Yose said to him: And do you not say so yourself? Has it not already been said, "and the hangings of the courtyard, and the screen for the gate of the courtyard which is by the Tabernacle and by the altar round about" (Numbers 4:26)? Just as the Tabernacle is ten cubits, so the altar is ten cubits. And it says, "fifteen cubits of hangings for the one shoulder," and it says, "and for the second shoulder fifteen hangings." How then do I uphold "and five cubits the height"? From the surface of the altar and upward. And what does "three cubits its height" teach? From the surface of the surrounding ledge and upward. We learned there: A line of red dye girds it at the middle, to distinguish between the upper blood and the lower blood. From where are these words derived? Rav China bar Rav Ketina said: The verse says, "and the net shall reach to the half of the altar" (Exodus 27:5); the Torah provided a net to divide between the upper blood and the lower blood.

Themes

SacrificeAtonementTemple

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