Kommentar zu Yoma 1:4
כָּל שִׁבְעַת הַיָּמִים לֹא הָיוּ מוֹנְעִין מִמֶּנּוּ מַאֲכָל וּמִשְׁתֶּה, עֶרֶב יוֹם הַכִּפּוּרִים עִם חֲשֵׁכָה, לֹא הָיוּ מַנִּיחִים אוֹתוֹ לֶאֱכֹל הַרְבֵּה, מִפְּנֵי שֶׁהַמַּאֲכָל מֵבִיא אֶת הַשֵּׁנָה:
Alle sieben Tage hielten sie kein Essen und Trinken von ihm fern; Aber als es am Vorabend von Jom Kippur dunkel wurde, erlaubten sie ihm nicht, viel zu essen, denn Essen ist schlaffördernd. [Sie erlaubten ihm nicht einmal viel von jenen Nahrungsmitteln zu essen, die nicht dazu führen, dass jemand erhitzt wird, und sie hielten ihm jene Nahrungsmittel, die Hitze und Sperma erhöhen, wie Milch, Eier, Fleisch, Öl, alter Wein und dergleichen.]
Bartenura on Mishnah Yoma
לא היו מניחין אותו לאכול הרבה – even from those foods that would not bring him to sexual excitement (pollution – see Talmud Yoma 18a), and we completely prevent him [from consuming] all foods that would bring him to sexual excitement and nocturnal emission like milk and eggs and fat meat and old wine and similar kinds of things.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Yoma
All seven days they did not withhold food or drink from him. On the eve of Yom HaKippurim near nightfall they would not let him eat much because food brings about sleep.
This mishnah teaches that they didn’t let the High Priest drink or eat a lot on the eve of Yom Hakippurim because they thought that eating a big meal would make him sleepy and they didn’t want him to sleep that night. The reason that he wasn’t allowed to sleep was lest he have a nocturnal emission which would make him impure and thereby prevent him from serving in the Temple the next day. Since seminal emissions cause one to be impure for only one day, they only needed to prevent him from eating on the eve of Yom Kippur. During the rest of the week he was allowed to eat and drink in a normal fashion.
This mishnah teaches that they didn’t let the High Priest drink or eat a lot on the eve of Yom Hakippurim because they thought that eating a big meal would make him sleepy and they didn’t want him to sleep that night. The reason that he wasn’t allowed to sleep was lest he have a nocturnal emission which would make him impure and thereby prevent him from serving in the Temple the next day. Since seminal emissions cause one to be impure for only one day, they only needed to prevent him from eating on the eve of Yom Kippur. During the rest of the week he was allowed to eat and drink in a normal fashion.
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