Shemot (Exodus): Tetzaveh > Ch 29

G-d tells Moses how to sanctify the kohanim (bring special sacrifice, bathe them and clothe them with the holy garments)

• To sanctify them to serve Me [as kohanim], bring the following:
  • one young bull and two rams, perfect ones
  • unleavened bread and unleavened loaves mixed with oil
  • unleavened wafers anointed with oil; make them out of fine wheat flour.
• Bring Aaron and his sons near the entrance of the Tent of Meeting, and bathe them in water.
• Take the garments and clothe Aaron with the tunic, with the robe of the ephod, with the ephod, and with the choshen, and adorn him with the band of the ephod.
• Place the cap upon his head and place the holy crown upon the cap.
• Take the anointing oil and pour [it] on his head and anoint him.
• Bring his sons near, and you shall clothe them with tunics.
• Gird them with sashes, Aaron and his sons, and dress them with high hats, and the kehunah will be a perpetual statute for them, and you shall invest Aaron and his sons with full authority.
• Bring the bull to the front of the Tent of Meeting, and Aaron and his sons shall lean their hands upon the head of the bull. You shall [then] slaughter the bull before the Lord, at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting.
• Take [some] of the blood of the bull and apply it on the horns of the altar with your finger, and pour out all the blood upon the base of the altar.
• Take all the fat that covers the innards, and the diaphragm with the liver, also the two kidneys and the fat that is upon them, and make them go up in smoke upon the altar.
• But the flesh of the bull, its hide and its dung burn in fire outside the camp; it is a sin offering.
• Take the one ram, and Aaron and his sons shall lean their hands upon the ram's head.
• Slaughter the ram, and you shall take its blood and sprinkle [it] on the altar all around.
• Dissect the ram into its parts, and wash its innards and its legs and put them with its parts and with its head,
• Make the entire ram go up in smoke upon the altar; it is a burnt offering made to the Lord; it is a spirit of satisfaction, a fire offering for the Lord.
• Take the second ram, and Aaron and his sons shall lean their hands upon the ram's head.
• Slaughter the ram, take [some] of its blood and put it upon the cartilage of Aaron's right ear and upon the cartilage of Aaron's sons' right ears, upon the thumbs of their right hands, and upon the big toes of their right feet, and sprinkle the blood upon the altar all around.
• Take [some] of the blood that is upon the altar and [some] of the anointing oil, and sprinkle it upon Aaron and upon his garments, upon his sons and upon the garments of his sons with him; thus he will become holy along with his garments, and his sons and their garments with him.
• Take out of the ram the fat and the fat tail and the fat that covers the innards, the diaphragm of the liver, the two kidneys along with the fat that is upon them, and the right thigh, for it is a ram of perfection.
• And one loaf of bread, one loaf of oil bread, and one wafer from the basket of matzoth that stands before the Lord,
• Place it all upon Aaron's palms and upon his sons' palms, and wave them as a waving before the Lord.
• Take them from their hand[s] and make them go up in smoke upon the altar with the burnt offering as a spirit of satisfaction before the Lord; it is a fire offering for the Lord.

What belongs to the kohanim (breast and thigh of the ram, bread, the holy garments)

• Take the breast of the ram of perfection which is Aaron's, and wave it as a waving before the Lord, and it will become your portion. Sanctify the breast of the waving and the thigh of the uplifting, which was waved and which was lifted up, of the ram of perfection, of that which is Aaron's and of that which is his sons'. And so it shall remain for Aaron and his sons as a perpetual allotment from the children of Israel; for it is an offering, and it shall remain an offering from the children of Israel of their peace offerings; it is their offering to the Lord.
• The holy garments that are Aaron's shall be for his sons after him, to be exalted through them and invested with full authority through them. Seven days shall the one of his sons [who will be] the kohen in his place wear them, the one who is to enter the Tent of Meeting to serve in the Holy.
• You shall take the ram of perfection and cook its flesh in a holy place. Aaron and his sons shall eat the flesh of the ram and the bread that is in the basket, at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting. They shall eat those things with which atonement has been effected, in order to invest them with full authority, to sanctify them, but a stranger shall not eat [of them], because they are a sacred thing. If any of the flesh of the perfection [offering] or of the bread is left over until the next morning, what is left over you shall burn in fire; it shall not be eaten because it is a sacred thing. So shall you do to Aaron and his sons, according to all that I have commanded you; for seven days you shall perform their investiture.

What to offer on the altar and how often (a bull and two lambs daily)

• A bull as a sin offering you shall offer up every day for the atonements, and you shall purify the altar by performing atonement upon it, and you shall anoint it, in order to sanctify it.
• For seven days you shall perform atonement upon the altar and sanctify it. Henceforth, the altar shall be a holy of holies. Whatever touches the altar will be holy.
• And this is what you shall offer upon the altar: lambs in their first year, two a day, continually.
• The one lamb you shall offer up in the morning and the other lamb you shall offer up in the afternoon.
• And one tenth of fine flour, thoroughly mixed with a quarter of a hin of crushed [olive] oil, and a libation of one quarter of a hin of wine, for the one lamb.
• And the other lamb you shall offer up in the afternoon; you shall offer [it] up like the meal offering of the morning and its libation, as a spirit of satisfaction, a fire offering to the Lord.
• It shall be a continual burnt offering for your generations, at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting before the Lord, where I will arrange meetings with you, to speak to you there.

G-d will meet the children of Israel in the Tent of Meeting

• There I will arrange meetings with the children of Israel, and it will be sanctified by My glory.
• I will sanctify the Tent of Meeting and the altar, and I will sanctify Aaron and his sons to serve Me [as kohanim].
• I will dwell in the midst of the children of Israel and I will be their G-d. They will know that I, the Lord, am their G-d, Who brought them out of the land of Egypt in order that I may dwell in their midst; I am the Lord, their G-d.

Rashi Commentary

• you shall burn in fire We do not find any [reference to an] “outside” sin offering burnt except this one.
• and the right thigh We do not find that the right thigh should be sent up in smoke with the sacrificial parts except this one alone.
• in a holy place [I.e.,] in the courtyard of the Tent of Meeting, for these peace offerings were most holy sacrifices [which had to be eaten in the courtyard of the Tent of Meeting or the courtyard of the Temple, and not in the camp of Israel or the city of Jerusalem].