Yom Kippur Temple service

While the Temple in Jerusalem was standing (from Biblical times through 70 CE), the Kohen Gadol (High Priest) was mandated by the Torah to perform a complex set of special services and sacrifices for Yom Kippur to attain Divine atonement, the word "kippur" meaning "atonement" in Hebrew.

On one hand, one is only worthy to approach God when in a state of purity, with the sins and impurity of the people and the Temple being removed.

[11] Finally, the High Priest would place his hands on the head of the scapegoat, confess all the people's sins on it, and entrust it to messengers who would lead the goat "to the desert, to Azazel".

On the day of Yom Kippur, the Kohen Gadol had to follow a precise order of services, sacrifices, and purifications: The High Priest wore five sets of garments (three golden and two white linen), immersed in the mikveh five times, and washed his hands and feet ten times.

The first 28 verses of Leviticus 16 never mention Yom Kippur; rather, they are introduced by the phrase "In this manner shall Aaron enter the holy place".

[35][36] According to textual scholars, the biblical regulations covering Yom Kippur are spliced together from multiple source texts,[37][38] as indicated by the duplication of the confession over the bullock,[39] and the incongruity in one verse stating that the high priest should not enter the Holy of Holies (with the inference that there are exceptions for certain explicitly identified festivals),[40] and the next verse indicating that they can enter whenever they wish (as long as a specific ritual is carried out first).

[37] Although Rashi tried to find a harmonistic explanation for this incongruity, the Leviticus Rabbah maintains that it was indeed the case that the high priest could enter at any time if these rituals were carried out.