[Avodah] kol for besamim

[Simi Peters]

I had suggested that when you are concocting a complex formula like a ketoret, it may be good for you to repeat the 'recipe' as you work, saying it out loud so that you don't forget the ingredients, the amounts and the order of execution.  Rabbi Teitz kindly contacted me off line to point out that my theory would make sense "if what was said was the list of  ingredients.  However, what is said is "Hadeik heiteiv, heiteiv hadeik." While it might serve as a reminder to do what he is doing thoroughly, it would hardly serve as a reminder of the ingredients." (He is, of course, correct, and my first supposition is really an inexcusably sloppy error.)  Rabbi Teitz's comment did, however, prod me to think of a different argument (more persuasive, I hope).

The repetition of "hadek heiteiv, heiteiv hadek" is kind of rhythmic, almost a chant.  Compare this to Pesahim 112b, where sailors are pulling ropes to the rhythm of a sea chanty.  Maybe certain kinds of motion are better coordinated through chanting. If the preparation of the ketoret requires pounding with even strokes or grinding or mixing to a uniform consistency, then maybe the repetition of "hadek heiteiv, heiteiv hadek" facilitates that.  If so, then hakol is be'emet yafeh labesamim, where again, in winemaking, it is merely a distraction.

I have not yet checked the reference from R' David Riceman.  Tomorrow, I hope.

Kol tuv,
Simi Peters

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