The Torah commands in Parashat Vayikra (2:11), “Kol Se’or Ve’chol Debash Lo Taktiru Mimenu Isheh l’Hashem” – “you shall not offer as a fire-offering to G-d any leaven or honey.” This verse establishes a prohibition against offering on the altar any leavened product, or any sweet product. “Debash” (“honey”) in the Torah normally refers specifically to the juice extracted from dates, but in this context, it includes any sweet food item. All sweet products may not be offered on the altar.
This prohibition forbids not only directly placing sweet products on the altar, but also including sweeteners among the ingredients of the Ketoret (incense).
The Sefer Ha’hinuch offers several different approaches to explain the reasoning behind this command.
First, he suggests that Hametz symbolizes laziness. Dough rises and ferments when it sits for a period of time without being handled, and thus Hametz is the result of inactivity. By banning Hametz from the altar, the Torah expresses to us the importance of zeal, energy and alacrity in the service of G-d. For this reason, the Sefer Ha’hinuch explains, the Torah allows Hametz to be brought as a public offering: on Shabuot, a special sacrifice called the “Korban Sheteh Ha’lehem” was offered, which consisted of two loaves of leavened bread. When it comes to a communal project, people feed off each other’s energy, and so there is no need to warn about the dangers of laziness. This warning is needed only in the private, personal realm, and so leaven is not allowed in the framework of individual sacrifices. The Sefer Ha’hinuch notes that the Lehem Ha’panim – the showbread which was placed on the Shulhan (table) in the Bet Ha’mikdash – was a public offering which was nevertheless baked unleavened. He explains that since the Lehem Ha’panim was constantly on the Shulhan, it was made unleavened in order to reinforce the lesson of the dangers of laziness.
As for the prohibition against offering sweet products, the Sefer Ha’hinuch explains that this conveys the message that we should strive to limit our consumption of sweet food products. Of course, we need to eat in order to survive, but we must do just that – eat so we can live, as opposed to living so we can eat. We are to avoid gluttony and overindulgence, and exercise moderation in our enjoyment of food, and so the Torah forbade offering sweet food products on the altar, as a symbol of the need to curb our lust for tasty food.
Secondly, the Sefer Ha’hinuch writes, leavened and sweet products both represent arrogance. Dough rises when it ferments, and honey naturally forms bubbles that rise above the surface. The Torah therefore forbade offering these products on the altar to express the need to eliminate arrogance, as the verse states, “To’abat Hashem Kol Gebah Leb” – “Everyone haughty of heart is abominable to G-d” (Mishleh 16:5).
Thirdly, the Sefer Ha’hinuch cites the Ramban as commenting that G-d wants only that which is in its natural, organic form to be placed on the altar. Leavened bread is the product of flour which has been altered and engineered by yeast, and so it forbids bringing leavened products on the altar. As for sweet products, the Sefer Ha’hinuch writes that sweetness represents extremes, which we must avoid. G-d created the world in such a way that it requires a delicate balance between different extremes, such as between Din (strict justice) and Rahamim (mercy). We are therefore commanded not to offer sweet products on the altar, representing the need to avoid extreme behavior.
The Torah forbids offering “Mimenu” (literally, “of it”), which the Sages understood to mean that even the smallest amount of Hametz or sweet products may not be placed on the altar. Even if a small amount is mixed with other food, the mixture may not be offered.
The prohibition forbids only offering leaven or sweet products as part of a sacrifice; such products may be placed on the altar as fuel, to sustain the fire.
In listing this command, the Sefer Ha’hinuch follows the view of the Rambam, that these two prohibitions – offering Hametz and offering sweet products – constitute a single Biblical command. In his view, one who at once places both leaven and a sweet product on the altar is liable to only a single set of Malkut. The Ramban, however, disagrees, and maintains that these should be counted as two separate Biblical commands. In his opinion, one who places Hametz and a sweet product on the altar at the same time receives two sets of Malkut.
Needless to say, this prohibition applies only in the times of the Bet Ha’mikdash, and applies only to the Kohanim.