Preaching Popular Myths

Most of us would say that we preach the truth. Popular myths are not the meat and potatoes of strong, evangelical preaching.

Yet many preachers have passed on the tradition that the High Priest had a rope around his foot to drag him out of the Holy of Holies if he died while performing the sacred rituals on the Day of Atonement. This bit of information adds an exciting little tidbit to a sermon on the sometimes boring details of the sacrificial ritual.

I have searched the Mishnah and Talmud in vain for evidence of this tradition. But I recently found some information on this tradition from rabbinic scholars at the Temple Institute in Jerusalem. The Temple Institute is an institution dedicated to preparing the way for the building of the Third Temple. Their official headquarters is in Jerusalem where they have a small museum displaying articles which have been made ready for use in Israel’s next temple.

Upon inquiry I learned that the tradition of tying a gold chain to the High Priest’s leg before he entered the Holy of Holies is described in the Zohar, a 13th century mystical work. Rabbinic scholars at the Temple Institute say that the Zohar is not considered authoritative when it comes to Jewish Law and need not be taken literally.

There are four reasons they believe that it is improbable that a chain was tied to the High Priest. Keep reading