Grafted-In Ministries
Yom Ha Kippurim as Purification
Prof.Baruch J. Schwartz
Kipper as Decontamination
In the ritual vocabulary of the Priestly source in the Torah, to which Leviticus 16 (as almost all of the sacrificial law in the Torah) belongs, the verb kipper means “to cleanse,” “to decontaminate.” This meaning of kipper was noted centuries ago by Rashi, and is now confirmed by our knowledge of ancient Semitic languages. Once recognized, it becomes quite obvious from usage and context. For instance, we read in the laws of Yom Kippur:Lev 16:20 When he (i.e. the High Priest) has finished kipper -ing the holy of holies, the Tent of Meeting, and the altar…
The holy of holies, that is, the inner sanctum of the tabernacle or Temple, as well as the altar and the tabernacle as a whole, are direct objects of the verb kipper. Thus kippur must be an action that you do to something. The text goes on to tell us that the reason the priest must kipper the inner sanctum (and, by extension, the tabernacle as a whole) is that the Israelites have contaminated it with their uncleanness (bodily impurities) and transgressions:
Lev 16:16 Thus he shall kipper the holy place of the uncleanness and transgressions of the Israelites… and he shall do the same for the Tent of Meeting of the One who abides with them in the midst of their uncleanness.
If the reason you have to kipper something is that it is contaminated, it stands to reason that kipper must mean “to cleanse, to de -contaminate.” This is indicated conclusively by the verse quoted above, the verse that sums up the entire significance of the day and its rituals: a verse that is so important that it is recited in every service on Yom Kippur. It reads as follows:
Lev 16:30 For on this day he (i.e. the High Priest) shall perform kippur for you to cleanse you of all your sins; you will become clean before Yehovah.
The express purpose of kippur is to be cleansed of sins, and the result of kippur is cleansing, purification.
What Contaminants Are Being Purged?
When kippur is performed, what is purged? What is cleansed on Yom Kippur, the annual Day of Cleansing?
The verses quoted above show that transgressions, offenses against Elohim, contaminate. Since it is the holy places and sacred objects that need to be cleansed, it is clear that these objects and areas have been contaminated. Once a year, the tabernacle, the altar, the curtain, the Ark and everything else in the holy precincts must be cleansed of the impurities that have been collecting there all year long. But what has caused them? The wrongdoings of every Israelite wherever he or she may be; these are said to accumulate in the sanctuary as a form of contamination that builds up until it is removed by the kippur process.
Why is it so crucial to remove it? The Torah provides the answer to this as well. The verse that concludes the laws of purification, immediately preceding the Yom Kippur laws, reads as follows:
Lev 15:31 Put the Israelites on guard against their uncleanness, lest they die through their uncleanness by defiling My dwelling which is in their midst.
The tabernacle in the wilderness was thought of as Elohim’s dwelling. The initial commandment to build such a structure says unambiguously:
“Let them make me a sanctuary that I may dwell in their midst” (Exodus 25:8).
The idea, then, is that Elohim agrees to dwell among the Israelites provided that they maintain a fitting, consecrated place for Him to dwell. However, if they defile His dwelling-place, He will leave them, and when and if He does, they are doomed.
They are warned not to allow defilement to build up unchecked in the divine abode, as this endangers the entire community. Rather, they must regularly decontaminate the sanctuary of whatever sins may have created defilement. This then is the function of kippur in biblical times—to cleanse the divine abode of the defilement which Israel’s wrongdoing, purposeful or unwitting, may have generated, thus ensuring the continued protection and loving-care of an ever-present Elohim abiding in their midst.
Yearly Decontamination Versus the Annual Kippurim
Some of the sacrificial rituals performed on Yom Kippur are actually performed all year long. Each time a person, a group, or the community as a whole realizes that a wrong has been performed or discovers severe physical defilement, the person or persons responsible must perform a ritual of kippur , similar (but not quite identical) to that performed on behalf of the entire community on Yom Kippur.
Furthermore, rituals of this type are performed on set occasions throughout the year, “just in case” any contamination has accumulated. Thus, kippur , cleansing some or all of the sacred objects in the Temple, is an ongoing process, a continual obligation of the Israelite people and priesthood, in order that the level of contamination is kept at a minimum and the divine residence is kept fit for habitation.
The annual kippur -ceremony performed on the Day of Kippurim is therefore the climax of an entire year’s rituals. It differs from the kippur performed all year long in that it encompasses the entire Temple, inside and out, including the holy of holies, the inner sanctum, the actual locus of the divine presence itself. Thus, it is designed to get rid of even the most severe impurities and transgressions, those that have penetrated into the deepest recesses of the Temple. For there are many types of contamination: those caused by physical impurity, which are natural and not sinful and occur quite regularly, and those caused by wrongdoing. And there are all sorts of sins: deliberate and accidental, sins against Elohim and sins against one’s fellow.
The rituals of Yom Kippur are designed to be all-inclusive. That is why everything is purified: Temple, Temple precincts, sacred objects, Ark, holy of holies—the idea is that whatever defilement exists, wherever it is, must be removed. We might say that the annual Day of kippur is a day of house-cleaning, of eradicating the foul, odious contamination that would otherwise make Elohim’s dwelling uninhabitable.
The Biblical Notion of Sin and How It Is Removed
The significance of all this hardly requires elaboration. The biblical idea of sin is that it affects its surroundings, especially things and places that are antithetical to sin. But the biblical idea is that sin can, and must, be removed—wiped away, cleansed away, washed away. Over and over again forgiveness is called “cleansing” and “purification”—we see this frequently in the biblically inspired prayers that we recite on Yom Kippur.
“Sprinkle clean water upon us and cleanse us, as it is written: ‘I will sprinkle clean water upon you, and you shall become cleansed; of all your defilements of all your idolatrous practices I will purify you’ (Ezekiel 36:25).”
In the Biblical conception of things, human wrongdoing is a stain, but one that can and must be eradicated. The contamination does not remain upon the guilty parties themselves, and it is not only they who are in need of cleansing. The contamination envisaged in the Torah is contagious; it is attracted to, and accumulates in, the sacred precincts, the Temple and its furnishings, which serve as magnets of sorts, attracting contamination, and the rituals of kippur must be performed in order to remove it.
The Place of the People in the Kippurim Ritual
What about the people – are they entirely passive? Are they even aware that the ritual of cleansing is taking place? We look again at the passage quoted above:
Lev 16:29 In the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, you shall fast; and you shall do no manner of work, neither the citizen nor the alien who resides among you. 16:30 For on this day he (i.e. the High Priest) shall perform kippur for you to cleanse you of all your sins; you will become clean before Yehovah.
The people do indeed have a part in the Yom Kippur ritual—and a crucial one. They are to fast and abstain from work—not because this makes amends for their sins, but because this too is needed in order to eradicate them. If the cleansing is to be effective, if the decontamination of the sanctuary is to work, if the confession articulated on their behalf is to succeed in transferring their sins to the head of the scapegoat and casting them off into the wilderness, they must participate.
The verse that sums up the entire Yom Kippur law (Leviticus 16:20, quoted above) says “to cleanse you”; “you will become clean.” In this verse, the cleansing does not pertain only to the Temple only; it pertains to the people as well. Wrongdoings not only contaminate the holy place and sacred objects; they are also a burden weighing upon those who have committed them. Not only must the divine precincts be purged of sin, humans too must be rid of the offenses that they have committed. Thus, the rituals are performed with the mental participation of every Israelite, with the result “you will become clean.”
Three Forms of Kipper
The verb kipper in the text appears with regard to all three actions—cleansing the sacred area and objects, the scapegoat ritual, and the cleansing of the people. This is why the Torah refers to the annual day of cleansing as Yom Ha-kippurim , “the day of purifications,” in the plural.