The elders of beth-din [who had taught him the order of the day] delivered him to the elders of the priesthood [to teach him the (service of) the incense handfuls, viz. (Leviticus 16:12): "…and his full handfuls of incense of spices, etc.", a difficult service], and they took him up to the chamber of Beth Avtinas [the makers of the incense, those who crushed it and compounded its spices], and they beswore him [not to be a Sadducee, i.e., not to prepare the incense on the coal-pan on the outside (in the sanctuary) and bring it inside (in the holy of holies), For they expound (Leviticus 16:2): "For with the cloud shall I appear upon the ark cover" — With the cloud of smoking incense (prepared on the outside) shall he (the high-priest) come, and then I shall appear upon the ark cover. And this is not so, for it is written (Ibid. 13): "And he shall put the incense upon the fire before the L rd" (in the holy of holies).], and they took their leave of him, saying: "Our lord, high-priest, we are the emissaries of beth-din, and you are our emissary and the emissary of beth-din. We beswear you in the name of Him who reposed His name in this house, that you not alter one thing of all we have told you." He goes to a side and cries [that they suspected him of being a Sadducee], and they go to a side and cry [that they suspected him, the master having said (Shabbath 97a): "One who suspects the innocent is smitten in his body."]
Bartenura on Mishnah Yoma
The elders of the Court would transfer him. Those who had read before him the order of the day.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Yoma
Introduction
As I stated in my commentary to mishnah two and in my introduction to the tractate, many of the high priests were Sadducees, or perhaps more accurately, had Sadducean leanings. The Sadducees debated with the Pharisees the proper form of the Yom Kippur ritual, as I explain below. In the mishnah’s eyes, the elders spend a week teaching the high priest how to perform the service in the proper Pharisaic manner. Our mishnah describes the parting words between the elders and the high priest, where they remind him to act like a Pharisee and not a Sadducee.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Yoma
לזקני כהונה – to teach him the priest’s taking handfuls of incense (see Talmud Yoma 19a, which was the task of the House of Avtinas to teach him the manipulation of the incense), as it says (Leviticus 16:12): “two handfuls of finely ground aromatic incense” and this was difficult work.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Yoma
The elders of the court handed him over to the elders of the priesthood and they took him up to the upper chamber of the house of Avtinas. On the eve of Yom Kippur the elders would give him over to the elders of the priesthood. He would go up to the house of Avtinas where the incense was normally made. There he would learn how to make the incense that he was going to make on Yom Kippur within the Holy of Holies.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Yoma
The House of Avtinas. There they would make the incense.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Yoma
They adjured him and then left. And they said to him [when leaving]: “Sir, high priest, we are messengers of the court and you are our messenger and the messenger of the court. We adjure you by the one that caused His name dwell in this house that you do not change anything of what we said to you.” When the elders of the court depart from him they recite to him the following oath, reminding him that he must do whatever they have taught him to do. The Talmud explains that there was the following debate between the Sadducees and the Pharisees. The Sadducees held that the high priest would put the incense into the incense pan outside of the Holy of Holies and then go inside, whereas the Pharisees held that this was done inside.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Yoma
והשביעוהו – that he would not become a Sadducee to improve the incense upon the coal-pan from outside and to bring it in from inside, as they expound (Leviticus 16:2): “for I appear in the cloud over the cover,” from the cloud of the of smoke of the incense it will come, and then I will appear over the cover, but the matter is not this, for the Biblical verse states there (Leviticus 16:13): “He shall put the incense on the fire before the LORD…”
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English Explanation of Mishnah Yoma
He turned aside and wept and they turned aside and wept. In the climactic conclusion to the mishnah, both the high priest and the elders end up crying (this would make a good movie). He cries because they suspected him of being a Sadducee and they cry because reality forced them to suspect him. Alternatively, they cry because the situation in their time had deteriorated so badly that they had to force a high priest to take an oath that he would not act like a Sadducee.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Yoma
הוא פורש ובוכה – for they suspected him of being a Sadducee.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Yoma
והן פורשין ובוכין – that they suspected him, as the Master said (Shabbat 97a): “A person who suspects those who are fit, is whipped on his body.”
