Next the High Priest would come to his bull – the one that he bought with his own money, to atone for the his sins and for those of his household (his wife). The bull was standing between the Altar and the Temple's entrance, along the wall of the Altar, with its head turned to the right, in the direction of the Temple. The High Priest would also stand facing the Temple, put his hands on the head of the bull, and pronounce the following confession.
He would say, “Please, the Name, I have sinned willfully, rebelliously and inadvertently. Please, the Name, please grant atonement for the willful, rebellious and inadvertent sins – that I have committed before you, I and my household." Then he would quote from the Torah where the promise of forgiveness was given. The people who listened would prostrate and say, “Blessed is the name of the glory of His kingship, forever and ever.”
What was this Name? Some say it is was the four letter name of God, the Tetragrammaton, that the Torah commanded to conceal and that is commonly pronounced instead as “Adonai”, or my Master. Others say that the name that the High Priest pronounced was completely different from what we have in our texts, and that it was a secret name of forty-two letters. One of the reasons for concealment was the power that the name could give to the wrong person.
And where did the Torah command to conceal the Name? – When God told Moses, “This is My Name forever (leolam)” - read this word as “lealem” - to conceal.
Art: Portrait of a Bull's Head by Thomas Sidney Cooper
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