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| Ki Tissa: The Recipe for Ketoret |
The Torah does not give the exact recipe for the ketoret
(incense) that was burned daily in the Temple. Only in the Oral
tradition do we find a list of all eleven ingredients.
Lofty Perspective
Why doesn't the Torah explicitly list all of the ingredients of
the Temple incense?
Rav Kook explained that the ketoret was a link between the
material and spiritual realms. The word ketoret comes from the
root kesher, meaning a tie or knot. The incense rose in a column straight up
towards the heavens.
It was like a vertical band, connecting our divided physical world, our alma d'peruda,
to the unified Divine realm.
From the lofty standpoint of overall holiness, it is impossible
to distinguish between the distinct fragrances. Each
fragrance signifies a particular quality; but at that elevated
level, they are revealed only within the attribute of absolute
unity. Only in our divided world do they acquire separate
identities.
Seventy, Sixteen, Twelve, Nine, and Three
What is the significance of the various amounts of each ingredient?
Each of the major four fragrances explicitly mentioned in the Torah
contributed seventy measures. Why seventy? The number seven indicates the natural
universe, created in seven days. Seven thus corresponds to the framework
of the physical universe — especially the boundaries of time,
and the seven-day week.
Seventy is the number seven in tens. The number ten represents both
plurality and unity, so seventy conveys the idea of unifying the
multitude of forces in the natural world. This is the underlying
message of the ketoret. These holy fragrances illuminate and
uplift the plurality of natural forces in the world.
While the first tier of four fragrances sanctified the dimension
of time, the second tier of four fragrances sanctified the
dimension of space. The number six corresponds to space, as
there are six cardinal directions in three-dimensional space
(north, south, east, west, up and down).
Time is less physical, and more receptive to spiritual
elevation, than space. Thus, for the first four fragrances representing the
dimension of time, the number seven was multiplied by ten. Space,
on the other hand, is only influenced by its closeness to holiness.
Therefore, the unifying quality of ten is only added to the six,
so that the ketoret used sixteen measures of these fragrances.
The final amounts of twelve, nine, and three signify the
limitations of a non-unified spatial realm. Three is the
first number to indicate multitude, and nine is the last
number, before the multitude is once again combined into a unit of
ten.
(Adapted from Olat Re'iyah vol. I, pp. 136-138.)
Copyright © 2006 by Chanan Morrison
"God said to Moses: Take fragrances such as balsam, onycha,
galbanum, and pure frankincense, all of the same weight, as well as
other fragrances. Make the mixture into incense, as compounded by a
master perfumer, well-blended, pure and holy." (Ex. 30:34-5)
Each maneh weighed five pounds. The total weight was 368 maneh —
one measure for each day, plus three extra measures for Yom Kippur — or 1,840
pounds.