2021/5781

Ki Tisa is a very varied Parashah. It begins by discussing the census, then parts of the Mishkan not mentioned in Terumah or Tetzaveh, then the Egel HaZahav and its aftermath, all the way to getting the second Luchot. Lost among the larger events is the command to create the Shemen HaMishcha, the anointing oil, which was used to anoint the Keilim of the Mishkan and the Kohanim, and in future generations, Kohanim Gedolim and kings.

What is interesting about it is that the word Kadosh is used eleven times in the paragraph. Even more interesting is that the name for the Shemen HaMishcha in the Torah is actually Shemen Mishchat Kodesh. So what exactly makes this oil so Kodesh? Better yet, what does Kodesh even mean? The English translation for Kodesh is holy, but what does that even mean? According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, holy means “exalted or worthy of complete devotion as one perfect in goodness and righteousness.” But that’s not exactly written in plain English, and even if it were, holy might not be an exact translation. So, what does Kodesh mean? Maybe looking at the text would clear things up.

The text doesn’t define Kedushah, but it does say one course of action to do as a result: “Al Bisar Adam Lo Yisach U’ViMatkunto Lo Ta’asu Kamohu Kodesh Hu Kodesh Yihyeh Lachem”, “On the skin of a human it shall not be rubbed, and you shall not make like it in its proportions, it is holy, it shall be holy to you” (Shemot 30:32).  So, as a result of it being holy to you, you can’t use it? Does Kodesh mean exclusion?

It does not seem so. The previous Pasuk ends with “Mishchat Kodesh Yihyeh Li LeDoroteichem” (Shemot 30:31), that the oil is also sacred to God. But it is not as if God cannot use it. The oil is used to anoint His Kohanim, His kings, and His building. To God, at least, Kedushah does not mean exclusion. So what does it mean?

To answer this question, we must first discover the purpose of the Shemen HaMishcha. It was used to create Kedushah on the Kohanim, the Mishkan, and eventually, the kings. Rashi explains that the purpose of this Kedushah was to create more Kedushah on all the Korbanot brought. Once a Korban is placed on an anointed Kli, it can no longer be redeemed, it must become a complete Korban. It must be fully dedicated to becoming a Korban’s true function, a bridge between us and Hashem. It can no longer become Chullin, something ordinary, any more.

That answers our question. What does it mean for something to be Kadosh? It means that it is completely dedicated to Hashem. It can no longer become Chullin. This returns us to our original question. Why does the Shemen HaMishcha being Kadosh mean that we cannot recreate it?

Once a Korban is endowed with Kedushah, it can never return to being Chullin, to being ordinary. How much more so for the Shemen HaMishcha, the origin of the Kedushah. The Netziv says that the way we treat the Shemen HaMishcha with Kedushah is by not recreating it. This is because, like Korbanot, if we recreated the Shemen Hamishcha it would become Chullin, ordinary. If you could buy holy anointing oil at every perfume shop, or even just at any Judaica House, it would not have the Kedushah, the specialness, that is required for it to form a bridge between us and God. By not making it, that is how the oil maintains its Kedushah.