Au début, quiconque souhaitait enlever les cendres de l'autel le faisait. [Tout prêtre d'une maison patriarcale qui souhaitait enlever les cendres le matin le faisait, sans tirage au sort.] Et quand ils [ceux qui voulaient enlever les cendres] étaient nombreux, [l'un disant: "Je le ferai"; l'autre: «Je le ferai», c'était la procédure:] ils montaient la rampe [de l'autel, qui avait trente-deux coudées de long], et celui qui entrerait le premier dans les quatre coudées [supérieures] [de la rampe, près du sommet de l'autel], méritait le droit [d'enlever les cendres; c'était leur sort.] Et si deux y arrivaient en même temps, [ni l'un ni l'autre n'obtenait le service, mais tous les prêtres ont participé à une loterie. Et qu'est-ce que la loterie?], Le surintendant [de la loterie] leur a dit: "Sortez vos doigts!" [Chacun montrait son doigt, il était interdit de compter les juifs. Par conséquent, ils ont dû sortir leurs doigts pour que les doigts soient comptés et non les hommes. Quelle a été la procédure? Ils se tenaient en cercle et le surintendant venait et prenait le turban de la tête de l'un d'eux, le décompte commençant par lui. Ensuite, tout le monde mettait le doigt et le surintendant appelait un numéro— "cent" ou "soixante" —beaucoup plus élevé que le nombre de prêtres qui se tenaient là, disant que celui à qui le décompte se terminait serait récompensé (le service). Il commençait alors à compter à partir de celui dont il avait pris le turban et continuait à compter les doigts, à faire le tour et à compter jusqu'à la fin. Celui à qui le décompte se terminait serait le lauréat. C'était la procédure pour toutes les loteries dans le Temple.] Et qu'allaient-ils faire? Un ou deux (doigts), [un, s'il était en bonne santé; deux, s'il était malade (celui qui est malade n'ayant pas le contrôle complet de ses doigts, de sorte que quand il en sort un, son "voisin" le rejoint. Les deux doigts sont comptés comme un.)] Et un pouce n'est pas mis dans le Temple [à cause des "trompeurs". Quand le décompte était sur le point de se terminer et qu'ils voyaient avec qui ça finirait, celui qui se tenait devant lui sortait deux doigts pour qu'il soit compté deux fois et le décompte se terminerait avec lui. Et le surintendant ne serait pas au courant (de la tromperie), car on peut éloigner son pouce de son index si loin qu'ils semblent être les doigts de deux hommes, ce qui ne peut pas être fait avec les autres doigts.]
Bartenura on Mishnah Yoma
בראשונה כל מי שרוצה לתרום – Every Kohen who is from the same priestly division and wants to remove the ashes in the morning, removes the ashes, for there was no arbitration (by counting out a certain number on the raised fingers of those among whom a decision is to be made) in the matter.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Yoma
Introduction
At the end of the first chapter we learned that the high priest removes the ashes from the altar on Yom Kippur. On other days any priest could do this. Our mishnah teaches how it was originally decided who would remove the ashes and tomorrow we will learn the terrible problems that this system caused.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Yoma
ובזמן שהם מרובים – who come to remove the ashes, this one says: “I am removing the ashes” and that one says “I am removing the ashes,” this is their judgment.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Yoma
Originally anyone who wished to remove [the ashes from] the altar did so. “Originally” in this mishnah refers to the situation which will be contrasted with the decree mentioned in tomorrow’s mishnah. Here we learn that originally any priest that wished to could remove the ashes from the altar and they didn’t draw lots to decide who would have this privilege. The other labors in the Temple were decided by drawing lots. However, because one had to get up so early in the morning to remove the ashes, they feared that if they decided who was to do so by lot, few would want to do so. Therefore, they opened it up to free competition.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Yoma
רצים ועולים בכבש – of the altar, which is thirty-two cubits in length.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Yoma
When they were many, they would run up the ramp [of the altar] and he that came first within four cubits won the privilege. If there was more than one priest who wished to remove the ashes, they would compete by having a race up the ramp of the altar. The first priest who came within four cubits of the altar won the privilege of removing the ashes. In tomorrow’s mishnah we will see what problems this system caused.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Yoma
וכל הקודם – to enter into the upper four cubits of the ramp nearest the top of the altar, is worthy of/merits removing the ashes, and this is their lottery.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Yoma
If two were even, the officer would say to them [all:] raise the finger! And how many did they put out? One or two but one does not put out a thumb in the Temple. If it was a tie getting to the top of the ramp, they would play an ancient form of “eenie, meenie miney mo” (I have no idea if I spelled this right). Every priest would stick out one or two fingers and an officer of the priests would call out a number much larger than the number of priests present. He then would begin counting fingers and the person whose finger was counted last would win. However, thumbs didn’t count because of cheaters who would claim that their thumb was either out or not out so that the count would end with them. To avoid this problem they disallowed sticking out the thumbs and having them counted. As an aside, the mention of the thumb somewhat introduces the concept of cheating in order to perform a religious duty. This is a small form of cheating, one which doesn’t harm others. Nevertheless, it shows how religious zeal to perform a ritual might lead a person to unethical behavior. The unethical behavior which we will see in yesterday’s mishnah is far worse.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Yoma
ואם היו שניהם שוים – through their entrance, neither one of them merits removing the ashes, but from now, all of them come to take a lottery. And what is the lottery? He who is appointed over the arbitration says to all of them to raise their fingers, that is to say, they should release their fingers so that each person can see his finger, since it is forbidden to count people from the Israelites; therefore, it was necessary for them to release the fingers in order that the fingers can be numbered, and not the people. And how would they do this? They would go around and stand together in a circle and the appointed one comes and takes hold of the turban from the head of one them (see Talmud Yoma 25a) and from him, the arbitration begins to count. And each one of them removes his finger and the appointed one/officer enunciates from his mouth a number and counts, either one hundred or sixty, many more than there are Kohanim present there, and says, whomever finishes with this total, through him will merit. And he begins to count from the one who took it from the head of the turban, and such were all of the arbitrations in the Temple Sanctuary.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Yoma
אחת או שתים – one finger if he is health or two if he is sick, for the sick are unable to control/have mastery over his fingers, and we releases one [finger], its neighbor is released with it. But the two are not counted other than as one [finger].
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Bartenura on Mishnah Yoma
ואין מוציאין אגודל במקדש – because of the deceivers, when the end of the numbering draws near and they would understand who would finish, that one standing before him would set out two fingers in order that he would count for two people and the number would hurry to end with him. But the appointed official did not comprehend because a person can distance his thumb from his finger a great deal until it appears as the fingers of two people, which one cannot do with the other fingers.
