Shabbat Parashat Acharei Mot-Kedoshim - 5785

Shabbat Parashat Acharei Mot-Kedoshim - 5785

Rabbi Hal Miller

  The Kohen who has been anointed or who has been given the authority to serve

  in place of his father shall atone, he shall don the linen vestments, the sacred

  vestments. [Vayikra 16:32]

Our verse seems to indicate that there are two ways for a Kohen Gadol to enter that role, either via anointment or a son who is somehow otherwise "given the authority". Are these the only two ways? Is it only a son who can "step up in place of his father"? Does a son always follow his father? What does the wearing of the priestly garments have to do with this?

Horayot [11b] explains that the normal practice was to anoint a Kohen Gadol with the anointing oil, but that there were in fact other ways for one to be installed. The deputy Kohen Gadol, for example, was fully qualified to step up, and if the regularly anointed Kohen Gadol for some reason became unable to continue, the deputy stepped into the role without anointment, merely by putting on the extra vestments of the role. The Gemora says there that there was no difference between the anointed Kohen Gadol and the one who assumed the role by putting on those extra vestments except for "the bull that comes for all the commandments", which Rashi explains was the one brought for an erroneous ruling of the Sanhedrin or for a communal error.

Another point where Kohanim Gedolim were installed by the extra vestments instead of anointment was when King Yehoshiyahu saw that the Temple was about to be destroyed, and rather than allow the people to take anointing oil out of Yerushalayim, he hid the vessel containing the oil. From then on, through the Second Temple period (until now), all Kohanim Gedolim had to be installed by the extra vestments alone. Thus one "who has been given the authority to serve" could mean either the deputy or any appointed Kohen after Yehoshiyahu.

How about the father-son situation? Torah Temimah says "this teaches that the son takes precedence to all others." Is this a hereditary office? We see in so many places that "Aharon and his sons" were the Kohanim, and that the Kehuna would remain within the descendants of Aharon. But we do not see a requirement that it must be passed father to son, so might be passed to any other descendant of Aharon, brother or cousin. Our verse indicates that a son will be given the authority to replace his father. But this is not an absolute. Rav Hirsch describes the principle that in general offices are hereditary, but that this principle is conditional. "It is dependent on the fitness and the ability of the heir" and he relates that the nation is charged with investigating that fitness with regard to character and ability, but not to knowledge. He says that knowledge can be gained, but one's character and ability are given. A fear of God is required. Should a son not be fit, someone else (another Kohen) must be chosen. In either case, the new Kohen Gadol can begin work merely by putting on the extra vestments, even without anointment. What all seem to agree upon is that whoever becomes the Kohen Gadol and however he assumes office, he has the ability to obtain atonement for the people.