Rabbi Yitzhak's Blog

The Torah in Parashat Ki-Tisa presents the Mitzva of the Ketoret, the special fragrant incense which was offered in the Bet Ha’mikdash twice each day. As the Talmud describes, the incense consisted of a combination of eleven spices which had to be combined and mixed together in a very specific proportion. During the period of the second Bet Ha’mikdash, there was only one family, the Abtinas family, who knew the secret for preparing the Ketoret. The Gemara in Masechet Yoma (38) tells that our sages asked the family to divulge the secret, but they refused. The sages promptly “fired” the Abtinas family, and brought in experts from Alexandria, Egypt, to prepare the daily Ketoret. However, the new experts were unable to produce the type of Ketoret made by the Abtinas family. When the Kohen would place the Abtinas family’s Ketoret on the altar, it produced a pillar of smoke that ascended upward in a straight line, like a stick. But when the new incense was placed on the altar, the pillar did not ascend directly upward; it scattered about.

The Sages decided that for the honor of the Bet Ha’mikdash, it was worth employing the services of the Abtinas family, even though the family insisted on maintaining a monopoly on the enterprise. And so they returned to the Abtinas family, but the family refused to take the job back, demanding twice the pay they had received prior to being fired. The Hachamim had no choice but to agree to the demands.

Upon reflecting on this episode, Ben Azzai, one of the great Sages of the Talmud, exclaimed, “They will call you by your name, they will have you sit in your place, and they shall give you what is rightfully yours; no person can touch that which is destined for his fellow…even a hairsbreadth.” All people get precisely what Hashem decreed that they should have, no more and no less. Hashem, for whatever reason, determined that the Abtinas family should earn money, and thus He saw to it that they would receive it. When they were fired from their position, it seemed like the Hachamim were causing them to lose money. But in truth, it was Hashem ensuring that they would make even more money, because this is what He, in His infinite wisdom, decided.

This is a vital lesson of faith which we need to learn and constantly be mindful of. No matter what happens, we will always receive precisely what Hashem wants us to have. If a person loses a job, is demoted, or loses business to competitor, he must understand that nobody – not his boss, not his competitor – is taking anything away from him. He is earning precisely what Hashem determined he should have, and Hashem knows far better for him what is best.