Liturgy for Yoma 5:1

הוֹצִיאוּ לוֹ אֶת הַכַּף וְאֶת הַמַּחְתָּה, וְחָפַן מְלֹא חָפְנָיו וְנָתַן לְתוֹךְ הַכַּף, הַגָּדוֹל לְפִי גָדְלוֹ, וְהַקָּטָן לְפִי קָטְנוֹ, וְכָךְ הָיְתָה מִדָּתָהּ. נָטַל אֶת הַמַּחְתָּה בִּימִינוֹ וְאֶת הַכַּף בִּשְׂמֹאלוֹ. הָיָה מְהַלֵּךְ בַּהֵיכָל, עַד שֶׁמַּגִּיעַ לְבֵין שְׁתֵּי הַפָּרֹכוֹת הַמַּבְדִּילוֹת בֵּין הַקֹּדֶשׁ וּבֵין קֹדֶשׁ הַקָּדָשִׁים, וּבֵינֵיהֶן אַמָּה. רַבִּי יוֹסֵי אוֹמֵר, לֹא הָיְתָה שָׁם אֶלָּא פָרֹכֶת אַחַת בִּלְבָד, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (שמות כו), וְהִבְדִּילָה הַפָּרֹכֶת לָכֶם בֵּין הַקֹּדֶשׁ וּבֵין קֹדֶשׁ הַקָּדָשִׁים. הַחִיצוֹנָה הָיְתָה פְרוּפָה מִן הַדָּרוֹם, וְהַפְּנִימִית מִן הַצָּפוֹן. מְהַלֵּךְ בֵּינֵיהֶן, עַד שֶׁמַּגִּיעַ לַצָּפוֹן. הִגִּיעַ לַצָּפוֹן, הוֹפֵךְ פָּנָיו לַדָּרוֹם, מְהַלֵּךְ לִשְׂמֹאלוֹ עִם הַפָּרֹכֶת עַד שֶׁהוּא מַגִּיעַ לָאָרוֹן. הִגִּיעַ לָאָרוֹן. נוֹתֵן אֶת הַמַּחְתָּה בֵּין שְׁנֵי הַבַּדִּים. צָבַר אֶת הַקְּטֹרֶת עַל גַּבֵּי גֶחָלִים, וְנִתְמַלֵּא כָל הַבַּיִת כֻּלּוֹ עָשָׁן. יָצָא וּבָא לוֹ בְדֶרֶךְ בֵּית כְּנִיסָתוֹ, וּמִתְפַּלֵּל תְּפִלָּה קְצָרָה בַּבַּיִת הַחִיצוֹן, וְלֹא הָיָה מַאֲרִיךְ בִּתְפִלָּתוֹ, שֶׁלֹּא לְהַבְעִית אֶת יִשְׂרָאֵל:

They took out for him [from the lishkah of vessels] the ladle and the (incense) pan, and he took full handfuls and put them into the ladle, the taller (priest) relative to his size; the shorter, relative to his. And this was its measure. [As it was measured outside, thus was it measured inside. Just as outside, he took full "handfuls," literally, not in a vessel, so inside, when he spilled the incense from the ladle into his hands, he did not spill it with a vessel made to the measure of his handfuls, but into his hand itself.] He took the coal pan in his right hand and the ladle in his left hand. He walked in the sanctuary until he came between the two curtains dividing the holy from the holy of holies, a cubit between them. [Because they were in doubt at the time of the second Temple whether the partition dividing the holy from the holy of holies in the first Temple, which was a cubit thick — since they were in doubt as to whether that cubit was considered as the interior (the holy of holies) or the exterior (the holy), they made two curtains, one on the exterior, one on the interior, a cubit between them, that cubit being accounted the partition.] R. Yossi says: There was only one curtain there, it being written (Exodus 26:33): "And the curtain shall divide for you between the holy and the holy of holies." The outer curtain was clasped from the south, and the inner curtain was clasped from the north. [The rabbis who differ with R. Yossi say this, holding that "And the curtain shall divide for you, etc." obtained in the mishkan (the desert sanctuary) alone. ("clasped":) Its edge was doubled on the outside, and it was held by a golden clasp, so that it could be opened from the south.] He walked between them [He entered from the clasp on the south and walked between them] until he reached the [clasp on the] north. When he reached the north [and he entered the holy of holies], he turned his face south [to walk between the poles (of the ark), in the middle (of the holy of holies). For the poles reached until the curtain, one (pole) end being on the west; the other, on the east; one (pole) being at the head of the ark on the north; the other, at its head on the south.] He walked to his left with the curtain [For when one walks from north to south, his left is to the east, and the curtain was in the east, so that his left was "with the curtain"] until he reached the ark [the place of the ark, not the ark itself, there being no ark in the second Temple.] He placed the coal pan between the two poles, released the incense upon the coals, and the entire house was filled with smoke. He went out the way he had entered [not turning his face to leave, but walking out backwards, facing the ark.], and he prayed a short prayer in the outer house (the sanctuary) [viz.: "May it be Your will, O L rd my G d, that if this year is hot, let it be rainy; may the kingdom not pass from the house of Judah; may Your people Israel not be dependent upon each other for a livelihood, nor upon others; and may the prayers of the wayfarers (that it not rain) not present themselves before You."] And he would not be long in praying so as not to alarm Israel, [who might fear that he had died].

Machzor Yom Kippur Ashkenaz

He then took a sharp knife and slaughtered the ox in the usual manner.¹⁰⁵Mishnah Yoma 4:3. The phraseology “in the usual manner” seems to indicate the opinion of the Peitan, that unlike the morning sacrifice in which only a minimal cut was made, here the High Priest completed the cut. Tiferes Yisroel, in his commentary to the Mishnah, explains that because the slaughter of the ox was part of the special service of Yom Kippur, it was certain that the High Priest would be extra diligent to make sure he received its blood. Other commentaries however (see, e.g. Tosefos Yom Tov to Mishnah 4:3) maintain that the same minimal incision was made for all sacrifices of the day. He received the blood in a holy vessel and gave it to a priest who would stir it;¹⁰⁶Ibid. Since the blood was not sprinkled until later, it was necessary to keep it from coagulating. thus keeping it liquid-like until the time came to sprinkle it. For if it became too hard to sprinkle, there could be no atonement. He¹⁰⁷Mishnah Yoma 4:3. The Peitan now describes the burning of incense in the Kodesh HaKodashim, the Holy of Holies, a service which was performed only once a year, on Yom Kippur. stirred the coals on the outer Altar, scooped up some of the innermost coals with a reddish-gold shovel.¹⁰⁸The Talmud, Maseches Yoma (43b) states that the shovel used to stir and carry coals was made of “reddish” gold, similar in color to the blood of an ox. The shovel was especially light, of very thin metal, and had an especially long handle.¹⁰⁹Mishnah Yoma 4:4. Since the burning of incense in the Kodesh HaKodashim on Yom Kippur was a totally different procedure than the usual incense burning (even for that very day), the High Priest used a specially designed shovel to facilitate his work. Unlike the usual twice-daily incense service, this special burning required that the High Priest himself stir the coals, and carry them in the shovel into the Sanctuary and finally into the Kodesh HaKodashim. Thus the shovel was made especially light. It had an extra long handle so that the High Priest could rest the handle under his arm as he carried it, taking some of its weight off his hands (see Rambam 2:5). The shovel held three kavim of coals. He was then brought a ladle¹¹⁰After taking some coals in the shovel, the High Priest laid the shovel on the floor, temporarily, while he proceeded with the taking of incense. He would later come back, and bring the shovel of coals into the Sanctuary (Rambam ibid.). and a brimming vessel filled with incense.¹¹¹Mishnah Yoma 5:1. He took two handfuls of incense from the vessel and emptied them into the ladle.¹¹²Mishnah 5:1 He quickly took the shovel of coals in his right hand and the ladle with incense in his left.¹¹³Ibid. His footsteps were heard as he walked between the curtains¹¹⁴These curtains separated between the Kodesh, Holy and the Kodesh HaKodashim, Holy of Holies. There was a space of one cubit, between the curtains, through which he walked to gain entrance to the area referred to as “between the poles.” and approached [between] the poles of the Ark.¹¹⁵He placed the shovel between the poles of the Ark. In the Holy of Holies of the first Temple, the Ark containing the Tablets of Law, rested upon the Evan Shesiya, the Foundation Stone. On each side of the Ark there extended a long handle which reached practically until the wall at the entrance to the Holy of Holies. The High Priest, as he entered, would be standing between the two long handles, and would place the shovel upon the Foundation Stone which protruded a bit from under the Ark. Since there was no Ark in the Second Temple, the Peitan describes the High Priest’s location only by correspondence. The incense he placed between the poles¹¹⁶After placing the shovel with the coals in the area corresponding to “between the poles,” he heaped the incense upon the coals which caused tremendous smoke. and caused them to rise in smoke¹¹⁷From the burning incense. and he left.¹¹⁸The service of burning the incense in the Holy of Holies was completed. From the young boy priest who had been stirring the blood, he now took the vessel of blood. He quickly reentered the Holy of Holies¹¹⁹Carrying the vessel with the blood. and stood between the “two handles of the Ark.” He dipped his finger into the blood,¹²⁰Ibid. Each sprinkling was proceeded by its own dipping (Rambam 3:6). and sprinkled the blood, with a count— one upper sprinkling and seven lower ones.¹²¹Ibid. The word מַצְלִיף indicates the fact that the blood was not sprinkled on the Ark itself but rather on the floor in front of it. The terms “upper” and “lower” refers to the direction of the movement of the hand in sprinkling the blood. The “upper” sprinkling was done by moving the hand up, whereby the blood would rise in an arcwise motion and fall to the floor. The seven “lower” sprinklings were done by a downward movement of the hand; in each case the movement originating at a lower level, with the blood falling straight down to the floor (Rambam 3:5). During the first Bais Hamikdash when there was an Ark, the sprinkling was performed one cubit in front of the Kapores (the Cover of the Ark) (Rambam ibid.). In the Second Temple, the sprinkling was performed in the corresponding area.

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Machzor Yom Kippur Ashkenaz Linear

and a brimming vessel filled with incense.¹¹¹Mishnah Yoma 5:1.

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