In certain situations where a sinner is required to offer an atonement sacrifice, the sacrifice which he brings depends on his financial status, as a sinner who is poor brings a less costly sacrifice – a Minha (grain offering). In such a case, the Torah commands, “Lo Yasim Aleha Shemen” – oil should not be placed on the sacrifice (Vayikra 5:11). Normally, grain offerings are mixed with oil, but in the case of a grain offering brought to atone for a sin, no oil may be added. The Sefer Ha’hinuch explains that the Torah forbids adding oil to a sinner’s offering because oil signifies stature and importance. Oil floats to the top, and thus symbolizes superiority. For this reason, oil was used to formally anoint kings and Kohanim Gedolim as an expression of their position of leadership and prestige. Withholding oil from a sinner’s Minha indicates the vital importance of eliminating arrogance as part of the Teshuba process. As arrogance is a leading cause of sin, the sinner is shown that he must avoid arrogance and maintain humility in order to distance himself from wrongdoing in the future. Secondly, the Sefer Ha’hinuch writes, oil is not added to this offering out of compassion to the pauper, to spare him an additional expense. The Torah has mercy on a needy person to the extent that even if he had sinned, he is not required to spend for his atonement offering more than the small amount needed to purchase some flour, not even for the usual quantity of oil. The Sefer Ha’hinuch writes that this prohibition applies only to Kohanim, and a Kohen who adds oil to a sinner’s Minha offering is liable to Malkut. The Minhat Hinuch raises the question of why the Sefer Ha’hinuch felt that only Kohanim are bound by this prohibition. When other Minha offerings are brought, it is not necessary for specifically a Kohen to add the oil; the oil may be added by anybody. Why, then, would the prohibition against adding oil to a sinner’s Minha be directed specifically at the Kohanim, if they are not the ones normally assigned this role? One answer that has been suggested arises from the Rambam’s formulation in discussing this prohibition in Hilchot Ma’aseh Ha’korbanot (12:8). The Rambam writes that one who “placed oil on the sinner’s grain offering and offered it [on the altar]” has violated this command. Notably, the Rambam writes that one transgresses this prohibition only if he adds oil and then offers the Minha on the altar. Perhaps, then, the Sefer Ha’hinuch followed this opinion, and therefore determined that this prohibition is directed specifically to the Kohanim, as they are the only ones who place the Minha on the altar. Although a non-Kohen is able to add the oil, he cannot perform the later stages of the process, and therefore, non-Kohanim are not included in the prohibition against adding oil to a sinner’s Minha, which forbids adding oil and then offering the Minha on the fire on the altar.