The Outer Altar

Weekly Torah Lesson

Parasha: Teruma – Elevate / lift up
Torah:  Shemot 25:1 – 27:19

A “teruma” is a higher level of giving because the amount of what is given is freely determined by the giver as compared to the strict requirements of other offerings. 

The Lesson of The Outer Altar

27:1 And you shall make an altar of shittim wood, five cubits long, and five cubits broad; the altar shall be foursquare: and the height thereof shall be three cubits. 2  And you shall make the horns of it on the four corners thereof: his horns shall be of the same: and you shall overlay it with brass. 3  And you shall make his pans to receive his ashes, and his shovels, and his basins, and his meat hooks, and his fire pans: all the vessels thereof you shall make of brass. 4  And you shall make for it a grate of network of brass; and on the net shall you make four brazen rings in the four corners thereof. 5  And you shall put it under the compass of the altar beneath, that the net may be even to the middle of the altar. 6  And you shall make staves for the altar, staves of shittim wood, and overlay them with brass. 7  And the staves shall be put into the rings, and the staves shall be on the two sides of the altar, to bear it. 8  Hollow with boards shall you make it: as it was showed you in the mount, so shall they make it.

** Some of the details of the altar are left to our own understanding.  I know that I read somewhere, although I couldn’t find it today, that when the altar was placed before the Tabernacle, it was filled with dirt to stabilize it’s operation. When it was time to move the altar, the dirt was removed to lighten  the weight and facilitate it’s ability to be moved to a new location. Some call this altar “the copper altar” while others call it “the brass altar”.  Here are some things that the Scriptures tell us about this altar.

“‘An altar of earth you shall make for Me, and you shall sacrifice on it your burnt offerings and your peace offerings, your sheep and your oxen. In every place where I record My name I will come to you, and I will bless you.” (Ex 20:24 )

** When Israel assembled and used the altar, how and where they were instructed, they were blessed by Avinu.

““And you shall burn the whole ram on the altar. It is a burnt offering to Avinu; it is a sweet aroma, an offering made by fire to Avinu.” (Ex 29:18 )

**  The burning meat and fat created an aroma that pleased Avinu. 

“Seven days you shall make atonement for the altar and sanctify it. And the altar shall be most holy. Whatever touches the altar must be holy.” (Ex 29:37 )

** The status of the altar is elevated to that of “holiness”.  This requires that whatever “touches” the altar must also be in a state of “holiness”.

Avinu will only accept a holy object (animal, grain, wine and oil, that are in the same spiritual state of holiness.

The “holiness” of an animal’s blood is determined by the timing of it’s birth and the separation of this animal from the rest of the flock so that it might be “sanctified” to accomplish it’s ultimate purpose – the placing of it’s blood on the altar to achieve “atonement” for a human.

“So I will consecrate the tabernacle of meeting and the altar. I will also consecrate both Aaron and his sons to minister to Me as priests.” (Ex 29:44 )

**  Now the priests that offer the sacrifices must also be in that state of holiness. If anything in the process of sacrificing to Avinu is found to be “unholy”, that sacrifice is declared unvalid and the altar must be consecrated again.  

“Then you shall set the altar of the burnt offering before the door of the tabernacle of the tent of meeting.” (Ex 40:6 )

** There was a space between the Tabernacle and the altar where the laver was located and where the people seeking salvation could stand and face the “Mercy Seat”.

In a sense, the altar “guarded” the Tabernacle.  No one could stand before the doorway of the Tabernacle without first obtaining “atonement” from the altar.

And yet, it wasn’t the altar that brought atonement, it was the shed blood, the life of an animal, that was “offered up” on the altar that brought the atonement.

In a sense, the altar separated the “life” from the blood and lifted it towards heaven to facilitate “atonement”. 

“He shall remove all its fat, as the fat of the lamb is removed from the sacrifice of the peace offering. Then the priest shall burn it on the altar, according to the offerings made by fire to Avinu. So the priest shall make atonement for his sin that he has committed, and it shall be forgiven him.” (Le 4:35 )

 “12  ‘And the fire on the altar shall be kept burning on it; it shall not be put out. And the priest shall burn wood on it every morning, and lay the burnt offering in order on it; and he shall burn on it the fat of the peace offerings. 13  ‘A fire shall always be burning on the altar; it shall never go out.” (Le 6:12-13 )

** The fire also was “holy”.  It originated from Avinu and had to be kept burning until the instruction came to move the altar.

“and Moses killed it. Then he took the blood, and put some on the horns of the altar all around with his finger, and purified the altar. And he poured the blood at the base of the altar, and consecrated it, to make atonement for it.” (Le 8:15 )

 “And Moses said to Aaron, “Go to the altar, offer your sin offering and your burnt offering, and make atonement for yourself and for the people. Offer the offering of the people, and make atonement for them, as Avinu commanded.”” (Le 9:7 )

**  The atonement process had to be repeated annually. 

The annual sacrifices and rituals were reminders to Israel that salvation was available to them who needed it.

 “‘For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you upon the altar to make atonement for your souls; for it is the blood that makes atonement for the soul.’” (Le 17:11 )

** Notice that it’s the ‘soul’ that is cleansed in the salvation process. We are given salvation to clean and revive our soul and return it to a state of ‘holiness’.

Notice that it’s not just the altar neither is it not just the blood that brings atonement.  It’s the combination of both the altar and the shed blood that brings atonement to the worshipper.

**  The copper / brass altar burned in front of the Tabernacle / Temple for more than one thousand years.

Salvation was available for only a select few. Then, as the fifth millennium was on the horizon, a child was born to a young Jewish maiden …  Atonement and Salvation were changed forever!   

What can we learn from the “altar”?

Consecrating our Inner Animal

You must make the [Outer] Altar. Exodus 27:1

The Outer Altar was used for offering three types of animals: cattle, sheep, and goats. The animal sacrifices we offer up in our personal, inner sanctuaries are the various facets of the “animal” side of our personalities. Our inner “cattle” are our impulses to be confrontational, to oppose the directives of the Divine side of our personalities. Our inner “sheep” are our impulses to conform, to follow the crowd in pursuit of creature comforts because we are too weak to assert our Divine nature. Our inner “goats” are our impulses to be stubborn, brazenly refusing to budge from our preconceived notions.

We “slaughter” our inner animal by renouncing our animalistic orientation toward life. We “sprinkle its blood” and “place its fat” on the Altar by re-orienting our enthusiasm (warm blood) and sense of delight (fat) toward the image of Meshiach. We “burn up” our inner animal on the Altar by allowing the Divine side of our personality to consume our animal drives.

The fact that the sacrificial Altar was situated outside the Tabernacle, in the Courtyard, teaches us that refining the animal side of our personalities is prerequisite to entering the realm of holiness and Divine consciousness, represented by the Tabernacle itself. (Chabad.org)