Yoma 5 - How important was the first Temple service?

Obviously, the first service, called Inauguration, or “miluim” in Hebrew, was important in that it allowed all subsequent services to proceed, but how important was it? What would happen if one skipped an element of it? Rabbi Chanina and Rabbi Yochanan argue about this, with one of them saying that absolutely every element was important and missing it would invalidate the entire service. The other one says that acts that would not be essential in the future could be skipped at the Inauguration.

For example? - Leaning. One has to lean on every sacrifice with all his weight and declare the reason for it. If one does not, his service is inferior, even though it still counts. And how do we know that leaning may be omitted? - Because the Torah said, “And he will lean and be forgiven.” However, we know that only the blood of the sacrifices achieves forgiveness. This is a hint that leaning on the sacrifice is required, but it does not invalidate it if not done.

Thus, one of the Sages holds that leaning at Inauguration was essential. Which one? The Talmud finds that in arguing with Rabbi Yochanan, his opponent mentioned that all Inauguration elements were essential. Since Rabbi Yochanan did not deny it, we know that this was his point of view too.

Another question: in what order did Moses dress the first Kohanim, Aharon first, and then the sons, or all at the same time? The Talmud first objects that whatever happened already happened, and we don’t need to discuss it. It says that even if we need it for the future, Elijah, the prophet, will tell us. Finally, it concludes that this is a valid question and finds two Sages who disagreed about it.

Art: Two women leaning on a gate by Edgar Degas