Commentary for Tamid 3:2
אָמַר לָהֶם הַמְמֻנֶּה, צְאוּ וּרְאוּ אִם הִגִּיעַ זְמַן הַשְּׁחִיטָה. אִם הִגִּיעַ, הָרוֹאֶה אוֹמֵר, בַּרְקַאי. מַתְיָא בֶן שְׁמוּאֵל אוֹמֵר, הֵאִיר פְּנֵי כָל הַמִּזְרָח. עַד שֶׁהוּא בְחֶבְרוֹן, וְהוּא אוֹמֵר, הֵין:
The appointed [priest] said to them: Go out and see if the time of slaughtering [the <i>Tamid</i>] has arrived. If it [the time] has arrived, the watchman would say, "It [the eastern sky] is shining [it is dawn]." Masya ben Shmuel says: [the priest would then ask] "Has the eastern sky is lit up until Chevron?" and he [the watchman] would say "Yes!"
Bartenura on Mishnah Tamid
צאו וראו – on the high place that they had in the Temple.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Tamid
He then said to them: Go out and see if it is yet time for the slaughter. If the time had come, the one who saw would say, “There are flashes.”
Matya ben Samuel says: [He used to say] Has the whole of the east [of the sky] lit up. as far as Hebron?
And he [the observer] would answer yes.
Before the sacrifices were offered, they had to make sure that it was light outside.
Section one: The morning sacrifice could only be sacrificed after it was light. From the chamber of hewn stone they would send someone out to see if it was light outside.
Note that this process is not simply the practical issue of sending someone out to see if it was yet light outside. The process is highly ritualized the mishnah tells the priests what to say (“There are flashes!”) or provides them with ritualized questions to ask.
Section two: Matya ben Samuel was himself the “superintendent” so his testimony here is not just about what was said at this point, but rather what he himself used to say.
Matya ben Samuel says: [He used to say] Has the whole of the east [of the sky] lit up. as far as Hebron?
And he [the observer] would answer yes.
Before the sacrifices were offered, they had to make sure that it was light outside.
Section one: The morning sacrifice could only be sacrificed after it was light. From the chamber of hewn stone they would send someone out to see if it was light outside.
Note that this process is not simply the practical issue of sending someone out to see if it was yet light outside. The process is highly ritualized the mishnah tells the priests what to say (“There are flashes!”) or provides them with ritualized questions to ask.
Section two: Matya ben Samuel was himself the “superintendent” so his testimony here is not just about what was said at this point, but rather what he himself used to say.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Tamid
זמן השחיטה – for ritual slaughtering is disqualified at night, as it states (Leviticus 19:6): “It shall be eaten on the day/ביום that you sacrifice it, [or on the day following],”
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Bartenura on Mishnah Tamid
ברקאי – the morning light shines and has broken through from end to end.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Tamid
האיר פני כל המזרח (the whole eastern horizon is light) – that he would not say anything until the entire eastern horizon is lightm, for it is not enough tha it is light only like a point, and the Halakha is according to Mattia ben Shmuel.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Tamid
עד שיהא בחברון – those who are standing below ask him, has the light reached Hebron? And he answers, “yes,” And in order to mention the merit of the forefathers that are buried in Hebron we say this.
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