Misva #115: The Ola Sacrifice

The opening verses of the Book of Vayikra describe the procedure for the offering of the Korban Ola (burnt offering), and the Sefer Ha’hinuch lists this procedure as the 115 th Biblical command. He mentions in this context that he had already presented his analysis of the general concept of Korbanot (sacrifices) earlier in his work (Misva 95). The Korban Ola is to be slaughtered specifically in the Azara (the outdoor courtyard of the Bet Ha’mikdash). It may be slaughtered even by somebody who is not a Kohen, but all the subsequent stages of the procedure, from the collection of the blood until the end of the entire process, must be performed by a Kohanim. The animal’s blood is sprinkled on the altar, and the carcass is then skinned and divided into different pieces. Every limb remained fully intact, except the leg, which needed to be opened in order to remove the Gid Ha’nasheh (sciatic nerve), as the Gid Ha’nasheh was not permitted on the altar. The verse in the Book of Yehezkel (45:15) speaks of “Mashkeh Yisrael” (literally, “the beverages of Israel”) being offered as sacrifices on the altar, and the Sages understood this to mean that only that which is permissible for consumption by Am Yisrael may be placed on the altar. Since the Gid Ha’nasheh is forbidden for consumption, it likewise may not be placed on the altar, as we may not offer to G-d food which we ourselves are not permitted to eat. (Of course, the blood is sprinkled on the altar, even though it is forbidden for consumption, because the Torah explicitly required sprinkling the blood. The Torah never instructed offering the Gid Ha’nasheh, and so we apply to it the rule of “Mashkeh Yisrael,” forbidding placing on the altar that which we are not allowed to eat.) After the skinning and dissection of the carcass, the various parts of the animal are then placed on the altar. Unlike the other animal sacrifices, the Korban Ola is placed in its entirety on the altar. The Gemara tells in Masechet Yoma that no fewer than eight Kohanim were needed to bring the various parts of the animal up the ramp to the altar. The animal’s hair, bones, sinews, horns and hoofs are also placed on the altar, if they remained on the carcass during the skinning process. However, if any of these fell off the carcass during skinning, those parts are not placed on the altar. Of course, this Misva applies only in the times of the Bet Ha’mikdash, when sacrifices are offered, and it applies only to the Kohanim, who are commanded to perform this procedure properly. A Kohen who deviated from the instructions regarding the Korban Ola has transgressed this Biblical command. The Korban Ola could be brought as a voluntary sacrifice, but on some occasions was obligatory, as in the case of the daily Tamid sacrifice, which was an Ola. The same guidelines applied for both types of Korban Ola – the obligatory sacrifices and the voluntary sacrifices.