Entering the Holy of Holies With Bundles of Mitzvot

With this (b’zot) shall Aaron come into the holy place...                                   Leviticus 16:3

Stressing the initial word of our verse, which begins the description of the service of the High Priest on Yom Kippur, our Sages comment that the High Priest entered the Holy of Holies “with bundles of mitzvot in his hands”:

With the merit of Torah, as it is written [Deuteronomy 4:44] “this (v’zot) is the Torah”, With the merit of mila (circumcision), as it is written [Genesis 17:10] “this (zot) is My covenant which you shall observe”, With the merit of Shabbat, as it is written [Isaiah 56:2] “happy is the one who does this (zot)”, With the merit of Jerusalem, as it is written [Ezekiel 5:5] “this (zot) is Jerusalem”, With the merit of the tribes, as it is written [Genesis 49:28] “and this (v’zot) is what their father spoke to them”.   Midrash Vayikra Rabba

My father explained that our Sages’ intention is well beyond simply noting the coincidence of the use of the word “zot”. As the High Priest enters the Holy of Holies, the place from which sanctity emanates and spreads to the entire People, he must realize that it is not his own merit which allows him to enter. It is through the merit of Torah, and the fact that the Children of Israel observe Torah and fulfill God’s covenant of mila that he is able to enter.

As well, the merit of Shabbat is one of the factors which allows the High Priest to enter the Holy of Holies. Shabbat represents the sanctity of time. The Midrash teaches us that the three spheres of sanctity, time man and place, are interrelated. Man has the power to sanctify himself. When he does, he is able as well to sanctify time and place.

The merit of Jerusalem and the merit of the tribes represent the unity of Israel, as our Sages consistently teach us that the destiny of Jerusalem is to unite the Jewish people. This unity endows the High Priest with strength.

Rashi notes that the gematriya of “b’zot” equals 410, the number of years the First Temple stood.

Perhaps the reason the verse hints specifically at the First Temple and not the Second is the fact that during the First Temple period, the high priests were righteous men [indeed, the entire 410 years, only eighteen men served as high priests. By contrast, during the Second Temple period, many of the high priests were less than righteous men [who bought the position] who did not complete a year in office, dying when they entered the Holy of Holies on Yom Kippur. Thus the Torah stresses “b’zot”, the High Priest must perform the Yom Kippur service in the way of Torah in order for the service to be meaningful and accomplish its goal of atonement for the nation.