מה שכתב בספר המצות, שהכהנים ישאו הארון, הסתיר הטעם האמיתי של הזוהר במתק לשונו. וגם מה שכתב בטעם הקטורת, שהוא להעביר רוח הכלי, הם דברי הזה"ק והאריז"ל.
the Kabbalah of Maimonides on Ta’amei HaMitzvot (2) In this chapter, the author provides further examples of the Rambam’s knowledge of Kabbalah, which underlie his explanation of several other mitzvot, and shows how even the simple meaning of the commandment, offered by Rambam, actually expresses the deeper Kabbalistic meaning, albeit in a simpler, concealed way.
2
וכן מה שמביא בספר המצוות בשורש השלישי וכן במנין המצות במצות עשה מצוה ל"ד. ובספר היד (פרק ב' מהלכות כלי המקדש ה' י"ב) שישאו הכהנים את הארון על כתפיהם. ובספר המצות דחק למצא טעם מפני מה מצוה זו לכהנים, שלא נזכר בתורה רק ללוים, וכל המפרשים חתרו למצא טעם לדבריו יעיין בהשגתם, ובאמת ידע הרמב"ם ז"ל הטעם ורק שהסתירו במתק לשונו, וכל הרואה יפה יראה שכוון וידע הטעם האמיתי הנזכר בזה"ק (ויצא קמח:) מכאן אוליפנא דמאן דאיהו בביתיה יסדר אורחיה ועובדיה כרעותיה אי מזמנין ליה יעביד רעותיה דאושפיזיה כמה דמסדר עלוי דהא דוד אחליף ליואי וסדר כהני וקוב"ה אוקים מלה כרעותיה וכו'. וכן מה שהרעישו עליו בענין טעם הקטורת (בפ' מ"ה משלישי) שהוא להעביר רוח הכלי וזה ג"כ מתאים עם דברי האר"י ז"ל בפע"ח שער הקרבנות פ"ה שהוא לבטל הס"א, ומקורו בזה"ק (ויקרא ריח: ריט.) והרמב"ם ז"ל אחז לבוש הפשט וכן הוא גם בשורש, וכדאיתא בזה"ק בלק (קפו:) כל טינופא וכל לכלוכא סליקו ליה לס"א ובזה"ק פקודי (רמב:) למיהב חולקא לההוא ס"א בכלא ברזא דקרבנא ובפרשת בא (דף לג.) שהס"א שולט על בשר ועיין ויקהל (ריט.) סמים לאעברא זוהמא:
The Rambam writes in the Sefer HaMitzvot (Third Shoresh), in the enumeration of the mitzvot (positive commandment 34), and in the Mishnah Torah (hilchot klei hamikdash, 2:12) that the Cohanim shall carry the Ark of the Covenant upon their shoulders. In the Sefer HaMitzvot the Rambam exerts himself to justify why this is a mitzvah for the Cohanim, since the Torah only mentions this mitzvah as being performed by the Levites. Commentaries on this statement of the Rambam bend over backwards to explain his reasoning. The truth is, the Rambam knew the deeper meaning, yet found it necessary to hide it in the beauty of his literary style. The careful student of the Rambam will clearly see that the Rambam knew the true meaning of this mitzvah, which we find in the Zohar (Vayeitse, 148b): It is written (Tehillim, 132:9), ‘Your Cohanim shall dress in righteousness, and your pious ones shall sing.’ Technically, the verse should say, ‘Levites shall dress in righteousness and sing,’ for the Levites are the ones in charge of bringing pleasure to the King! Here David decided that the Cohanim and pious ones shall be in charge of the King’s pleasure. From here we learn the following. One who is in his own house enjoys the privilege of arranging his own affairs according to his own mind. Yet if he is invited elsewhere he will acquiesce to the will of his host, and accept the way the host arranges things for him. When David HaMelech removed the Levites from this function, and put Cohanim in their stead, God fulfilled the matter according to David’s mind. Likewise, many took the Rambam to task for his explanation in the Guide of the meaning of the incense offering (section 3, Ch. 45). There he says that because so many animals were slaughtered in the Temple for the sacrifices, there would have been the undesirable effect of a bad odor. The pleasant scent of the incense offering116The Talmud says that the incense offering produced such a powerful and pleasing scent that it could be smelled as far away as the twon of Jericho – some twenty miles away from Jerusalem. The archeologist Wendell Jones claims that he found a jar containing some of the incense from the Temple. Upon treating it in a laboratory, the incense emitted such a powerful fragrance that its scent filed the entire block where the laboratory was situated, and its scent was absorbed in the clothing of everyone in the building for days to come. in the place of the slaughtering was in order to rectify this situation. Yet this statement of the Rambam fit perfectly with the words of the Arizal in the Pri Etz Hayyim (Sha’ar haKarbanot, Ch. 5) where he says that the incense is in order to nullify the force of evil.117There is an etymological connection between the word ריח (reyakh) – smell, and רוח (ruakh) – spirit. The source of the Arizal’s statement is in the Zohar (Vayikra, 118b-119a)118The Zohar says (Vayikra, 219a), “Why is the incense so beloved of the Holy One, blessed be He? Because the incense has the power to remove any contamination and purify the Tabernacle, so that it is all illuminated, cleansed, and connected. By reading the verses of the incense offering before the prayer every day, one can remove contamination from the entire world. This is why God loves the incense.” . It is clear that the Rambam knew this, and by seizing on the “simple garment,” of this mitzvah, he was touching its very source. This is particularly accurate especially in light of the statement in the Zohar (Balak, 186b), “all filth and mire goes to the force of evil.” Further, the Zohar in parshat Pekudei (242b) states that there is a component of the sacrifices which is given over to the side of evil, and in Parshat Bo (33a) we learn that the side of evil has control over flesh. In order to counteract all of this, so as not to channel power to the side of evil in the very physical act of offering animal sacrifices, we have the incense offering which removes the contamination in the very physical act of making a good scent.
מה שכתב בספר המצות, שהכהנים ישאו הארון, הסתיר הטעם האמיתי של הזוהר במתק לשונו. וגם מה שכתב בטעם הקטורת, שהוא להעביר רוח הכלי, הם דברי הזה"ק והאריז"ל.
the Kabbalah of Maimonides on Ta’amei HaMitzvot (2)
In this chapter, the author provides further examples of the Rambam’s knowledge of Kabbalah, which underlie his explanation of several other mitzvot, and shows how even the simple meaning of the commandment, offered by Rambam, actually expresses the deeper Kabbalistic meaning, albeit in a simpler, concealed way.
וכן מה שמביא בספר המצוות בשורש השלישי וכן במנין המצות במצות עשה מצוה ל"ד. ובספר היד (פרק ב' מהלכות כלי המקדש ה' י"ב) שישאו הכהנים את הארון על כתפיהם. ובספר המצות דחק למצא טעם מפני מה מצוה זו לכהנים, שלא נזכר בתורה רק ללוים, וכל המפרשים חתרו למצא טעם לדבריו יעיין בהשגתם, ובאמת ידע הרמב"ם ז"ל הטעם ורק שהסתירו במתק לשונו, וכל הרואה יפה יראה שכוון וידע הטעם האמיתי הנזכר בזה"ק (ויצא קמח:) מכאן אוליפנא דמאן דאיהו בביתיה יסדר אורחיה ועובדיה כרעותיה אי מזמנין ליה יעביד רעותיה דאושפיזיה כמה דמסדר עלוי דהא דוד אחליף ליואי וסדר כהני וקוב"ה אוקים מלה כרעותיה וכו'. וכן מה שהרעישו עליו בענין טעם הקטורת (בפ' מ"ה משלישי) שהוא להעביר רוח הכלי וזה ג"כ מתאים עם דברי האר"י ז"ל בפע"ח שער הקרבנות פ"ה שהוא לבטל הס"א, ומקורו בזה"ק (ויקרא ריח: ריט.) והרמב"ם ז"ל אחז לבוש הפשט וכן הוא גם בשורש, וכדאיתא בזה"ק בלק (קפו:) כל טינופא וכל לכלוכא סליקו ליה לס"א ובזה"ק פקודי (רמב:) למיהב חולקא לההוא ס"א בכלא ברזא דקרבנא ובפרשת בא (דף לג.) שהס"א שולט על בשר ועיין ויקהל (ריט.) סמים לאעברא זוהמא:
The Rambam writes in the Sefer HaMitzvot (Third Shoresh), in the enumeration of the mitzvot (positive commandment 34), and in the Mishnah Torah (hilchot klei hamikdash, 2:12) that the Cohanim shall carry the Ark of the Covenant upon their shoulders. In the Sefer HaMitzvot the Rambam exerts himself to justify why this is a mitzvah for the Cohanim, since the Torah only mentions this mitzvah as being performed by the Levites. Commentaries on this statement of the Rambam bend over backwards to explain his reasoning. The truth is, the Rambam knew the deeper meaning, yet found it necessary to hide it in the beauty of his literary style. The careful student of the Rambam will clearly see that the Rambam knew the true meaning of this mitzvah, which we find in the Zohar (Vayeitse, 148b): It is written (Tehillim, 132:9), ‘Your Cohanim shall dress in righteousness, and your pious ones shall sing.’ Technically, the verse should say, ‘Levites shall dress in righteousness and sing,’ for the Levites are the ones in charge of bringing pleasure to the King! Here David decided that the Cohanim and pious ones shall be in charge of the King’s pleasure. From here we learn the following. One who is in his own house enjoys the privilege of arranging his own affairs according to his own mind. Yet if he is invited elsewhere he will acquiesce to the will of his host, and accept the way the host arranges things for him. When David HaMelech removed the Levites from this function, and put Cohanim in their stead, God fulfilled the matter according to David’s mind. Likewise, many took the Rambam to task for his explanation in the Guide of the meaning of the incense offering (section 3, Ch. 45). There he says that because so many animals were slaughtered in the Temple for the sacrifices, there would have been the undesirable effect of a bad odor. The pleasant scent of the incense offering116The Talmud says that the incense offering produced such a powerful and pleasing scent that it could be smelled as far away as the twon of Jericho – some twenty miles away from Jerusalem. The archeologist Wendell Jones claims that he found a jar containing some of the incense from the Temple. Upon treating it in a laboratory, the incense emitted such a powerful fragrance that its scent filed the entire block where the laboratory was situated, and its scent was absorbed in the clothing of everyone in the building for days to come. in the place of the slaughtering was in order to rectify this situation. Yet this statement of the Rambam fit perfectly with the words of the Arizal in the Pri Etz Hayyim (Sha’ar haKarbanot, Ch. 5) where he says that the incense is in order to nullify the force of evil.117There is an etymological connection between the word ריח (reyakh) – smell, and רוח (ruakh) – spirit. The source of the Arizal’s statement is in the Zohar (Vayikra, 118b-119a)118The Zohar says (Vayikra, 219a), “Why is the incense so beloved of the Holy One, blessed be He? Because the incense has the power to remove any contamination and purify the Tabernacle, so that it is all illuminated, cleansed, and connected. By reading the verses of the incense offering before the prayer every day, one can remove contamination from the entire world. This is why God loves the incense.” . It is clear that the Rambam knew this, and by seizing on the “simple garment,” of this mitzvah, he was touching its very source. This is particularly accurate especially in light of the statement in the Zohar (Balak, 186b), “all filth and mire goes to the force of evil.” Further, the Zohar in parshat Pekudei (242b) states that there is a component of the sacrifices which is given over to the side of evil, and in Parshat Bo (33a) we learn that the side of evil has control over flesh. In order to counteract all of this, so as not to channel power to the side of evil in the very physical act of offering animal sacrifices, we have the incense offering which removes the contamination in the very physical act of making a good scent.