One-Page Learn · The Halachos at a glance
עֲבוֹדַת יוֹם הַכִּפּוּרִים
Service on the Day of Atonement 1-3
Sefer Avodah · One man, gold and white, and two goats divided by a lot - the whole day's atonement on the High Priest alone
15
Animals offered on the day, all by the High Priest
5
Immersions of the High Priest between gold and white
43
Sprinklings of blood, one dip of the finger each
10
Times he pronounces God's explicit Name
Ch 1The making of the High Priest
- Fifteen animals, all through his hands. Every offering of the day, and even the additional Shabbat offering when Yom Kippur falls on Shabbat, may be brought only by the High Priest. (1:1, 1:2)
- He must be married. The Torah says he atones "for himself and his household," and his household means his wife, so an unmarried priest cannot perform this service. (1:2)
- Seven days apart, with a backup ready. He leaves home for a Temple chamber for seven days; a substitute is prepared, and if the first is disqualified the substitute serves with no new installation, beginning where the first stopped. (1:3)
- Purified, sworn, and kept awake. He is sprinkled with Red Heifer ashes on the third and seventh days, made to swear he will not deviate on the incense, and kept from sleep through the final night. (1:4, 1:7, 1:8)
RememberThe most exalted role in Israel comes, from the first page, with an understudy waiting in the wings.
Ch 2Gold outside, white within
- Two wardrobes, two kinds of service. The day's ordinary and additional offerings are done in golden garments; the unique services - his bull, the two goats, and the incense within - are done in plain white linen. (2:1)
- Five immersions, ten sanctifications. Every change of garments requires immersing in the mikveh; across the day he immerses five times and sanctifies his hands and feet ten times. (2:2)
- The scaffolding is forgiving. If he failed to immerse or to sanctify his hands and feet between changes and performed the service anyway, the service is still acceptable. (2:3)
- Three confessions, ten Names. He recites three confessions and pronounces God's explicit Name ten times; all who hear it in the courtyard fall on their faces. (2:6, 2:7)
RememberHe lays the gold down to enter, because only the part of him that never sinned may go in.
Ch 3Two goats and a lot
- Two identical lots, one box. The lots "for God" and "for Azazel" must be equal in material and size, drawn from a plain wooden box called a kalpi. (3:1)
- Drawing counts, placing does not. Drawing the lots is an absolute requirement and must be done by the High Priest; placing them on the goats is a mitzvah but not indispensable, and a non-priest may even do it. (3:3)
- Forty-three sprinklings, counted aloud. He dips his finger once for each of the 43 sprinklings, never twice from one dip, counting "one, one and one" so he does not lose his place. (3:5, 3:6)
- Sent away, then the reading. The Azazel goat is led out and cast from a cliff; afterward the High Priest reads the Torah to the people in the Women's Courtyard, an act that is not part of the service. (3:7, 3:9)
RememberTwo identical goats, and only a lot from above decides which goes in and which is sent away.