Commentaire sur Yoma 5:8

הוציאו לו – from the chamber of the utensils.

Introduction This mishnah picks up where we left off in 4:3 above. The last thing he did there was take the cinders off the altar and rest the coal-pan on the highest terrace leading up from the courtyard to the Hekhal.

וכך היתה מדתה – as its measurement outside, so its measure inside, what on the outside he would take grabs of incense with his actual hands and not with a utensil, so also inside, when he pours the incense from the ladle into his handfuls, he would not pour with a utensil that is made like the measure of his handfuls, but into his actual handfuls.

They brought out to him the ladle and the pan and he took two hands full [of incense] and put it into the ladle, a large [high priest] according to his size, a small one according to his size and thus was its measure. After putting the coal-pan down on the fourth terrace they would give him a ladle in which to bring the incense into the Holy of Holies and a pan in which there was a preparation of incense, made in the house of Avtinas (see 1:5; 3:11). He would take two handfuls of the incense from the pan and put it into the ladle. It didn’t matter whether he was large and would therefore take large handfuls or small and therefore would take small handfuls. The measure of two handfuls was set by Leviticus 16:12.

נטל את המחתה בימינו – since it is heaven and hot and the ladle of the incense is lighter than it, therefore, the firepan is in his right-hand and the ladle is in his left-hand.

He took the pan in his right hand and the ladle in his left hand. He walked through the Hechal until he came to the place between the two curtains which separated the Holy from the Holy of Holies; between them was [a space of] one cubit. Rabbi Yose says: there was but one curtain, as it is said: “And the curtain shall serve you as a partition between the Holy and the Holy of Holies” (Exodus 26:33). He would then pick up the coal-pan with the burning embers and begin to walk through the Hekhal until he got to the curtains which separated the Holy (the Hekhal) from the Holy of Holies. Rabbi Yose says that there was only one curtain. In any case, the mishnah continues according to the opinion that there were two.

היה מהלך בהיכל – he enters and walked within towards the west.

The outer curtain was looped on the south side and the inner curtain on the north side. He walked along between them until he reached the north side. When he reached the north side he turned round to the south and went on along the curtain, to his left, until he reached the Ark. The curtains were folded back on opposite sides; the outer curtain was folded back and held with loops so that it was open on the south while the inner curtain was folded back and open on the north side. He would enter on the south side and walk to the north, and enter the Holy of Holies and then walk to the south until he got to the Ark. We should note that there was no Ark in the Second Temple, as we shall see in the next mishnah. Therefore this mishnah and other references to the ark in the Mishnah are understood by the Talmud as referring to the place where the Ark would have been in the First Temple. In other words, the mishnah refers to the ark as if it is still there even though it knows that it was not.

לבין שתי הפרוכות – since they were doubtful in Second Temple times if the partition that separates between the Holy and the Holy of Holies which was [found] in the First Temple and was a cubit thick, if that cubit was within or from the outside, therefore, they made two curtains, one an outer one and one an inner one. וביניהן – the airspace of a cubit to retain between them the air space of the partition.

When he reached the Ark he put the pan of burning coals between the two poles. He heaped up the incense upon the coals and the whole house became full with smoke. Upon reaching the Ark he would place the coal-pan upon its two poles and then pour out the incense onto the coals until the entire Holy of Holies was filled up with smoke.

החיצונה פרופה מן הדרום – The Rabbis stated it, that they dispute on that of Rabbi Yosi and state that the curtain divided them in the Tabernacle alone, it was stated.

He came out by the way he entered and in the outer house he uttered a short prayer. He did not make the prayer long so as not to frighten Israel. He would then walk out of the Holy of Holies, never turning his back on it out of reverence for the place. In the Hekhal he would offer a short prayer. The prayer itself is recorded in the Talmud (Taanit 24b) and it is mostly is concerned with rain and sustenance for the coming year. Interestingly, the mishnah notes that he would not recite a long prayer so as not to frighten Israel into thinking that something had happened to him in the Holy of Holies. This was a moment extremely fraught with tension and fear and it seems that the well-being of the high priest was considered a portent for things to come to Israel in the coming year.

פרופה – its top was doubled to the outer side and was held with a gold clasp in order [to be open] from the south and standing.

מהלך ביניהן – he entered in the southern clasp and walked between them until he reaches the northern clasp.

הגיע לצפון – when he entered into the space between the Holy of Holies, he turned his face to the south to walk until he was between the bars projecting from the Ark (Tractate Yoma 42b) which is in the middle of the empty space, for the bars were long until the curtain, one head facing to the west and the other one to the east, one at the top of the ark to the north and one at the top to the south.

מהלך לשמאלו עם הפרוכת – when he walks from the north to the south, his left is to the east and the curtain was in the east, his left side is found with the curtain.

עד שהוא מגיע לארון – to the place of the Ark and not to the Ark itself, for the in the Second Temple, there was no Ark there.

דרך כניסתו – so that he would not turn his face to leave, but rather depart in the path of his back with his face towards the Ark.

ומתפלל תפלה קצרה – and this is (Talmud Yoma 53b): “May it be Your will, O LORD my God, for if this year is parched (explanation: hot), that it be rainy, and that the ruler’s staff will not depart from the House of Judah, and that your people Israel will not need substance either one from the other nor from another people, and that the prayers of those on the crossroads will not enter before You,” meaning that people they pray that rain will not fall.

בבית החיצון – in the Temple/the hall containing the golden altar.

שלא להבעית את ישראל – that they will say that he has died.

ושתיה היתה נקראת – on account that from it, the world was destroyed where the Holy One blessed be He stabled His world. And Stetiyah is foundation.

Introduction This mishnah teaches where the high priest would put the coal-pan in the Second Temple period when there was no longer an Ark. With regard to the Ark, we have already learned in Shekalim 6:1-2 that there was a tradition that it was buried somewhere underneath the Temple floor. Other sages hold that the Ark was taken to Babylonian during the first exile in 586 B.C.E.

After the Ark had been taken away, there was a stone from the days of the earlier prophets, called “shtiyah”, three fingers above the ground, on which he would place [the pan of burning coals]. When the Ark was removed, there was a stone in the Holy of Holies that was there from the time of the early prophets. According to the Talmud, this stone was there from the time of Samuel and David, before the Temple was even built. “Shtiyah” is usually interpreted as the “foundation stone” for according to Jewish understanding, the world was founded from this point, either physically or spiritually. The stone was only three fingers high off the ground, but this was sufficient in order to put the coal-pan on it and then turn the incense into smoke.

למקום שנכנס – in the House of the Holy of Holies.

Introduction In this mishnah the high priest takes the blood from the slaughtered bull and sprinkles the blood within the Holy of Holies.

במקום הבדים – between the beams

He would take the blood from the one who was stirring it, and enter [again] into the place where he had entered, and stand [again] on the place on which he had stood, and sprinkle once upwards and seven times downwards, and he wouldn’t intend to sprinkle either upwards nor downwards but rather like one who cracks a whip. The high priest now took the bull’s blood from the person who was stirring it to keep it from congealing (see above 4:3). He then went back into the Holy of Holies and stood in the same place. Leviticus 16:14 reads: “He shall take some of the blood of the bull and sprinkle it with his finger over the cover (caporet) on the east side; and in front of the cover he shall sprinkle some of the blood with his finger seven times.” The rabbis did not interpret this verse to mean that he sprinkled the blood directly onto the cover of the ark, the caporet. Rather “over the cover” meant one sprinkle was directed up and the seven that were “in front of the cover” were sprinkled downwards. The blood from all of the sprinkles was supposed to land on the ground. The way in which the high priest did this is described as being “like one who cracks a whip.” This means that the first sprinkling was done by the hand beginning below and cracking upwards and the seven other sprinklings were done with the hand beginning above and moving in a sharp direction below (pretend like you are cracking a whip and you will understand immediately what this means.)

ולא היה מתכון להזות לא למעלה – so that it would be one above on a point of the upper cover of the Holy Ark (i.e., the innermost of the Temple, the Holy of Holies), and the seven [sprinklings] below [at its thickness], for they do not touch the upper cover of the Holy Ark (i.e., the innermost of the Temple) but fall to the ground.

And thus would he count: one, one and one, one and two, one and three, one and four, one and five, one and six, one and seven. The first “one” refers to the upwards sprinkling. When counting the lower seven sprinklings, he would count with each of them the one that he had done above. This was done so that he wouldn’t make a mistake and count the upwards sprinkling with the downwards ones and thereby come up short by one sprinkling.

אלא כמצליף – like one who flogs who begins between the shoulders and goes down below, such he would intend that these eight sprinklings [of blood] would be in the ground appropriately, this one under the next one.

Then he would go out and put it on the golden stand in the sanctuary. When done sprinkling the blood he would leave the Holy of Holies and take the bowl with the blood out and put it on a golden stand made especially for this purpose.

אחת ואחת – for if he did not count the first sprinkling that is above for itself with all the seven that are below, sometimes, he would error and count the first sprinkling with the seven that are below, and the first sprinkling that is below he would count tow, and that is not to say that he should count the sprinkling that is above with the seven that that are below until eight, for one can say, that it is Mitzvah to interrupt the gifts that are below in the midst of the seven and not in the midst of eight.

נטל דם הפר והניח דם השעיר – the final result of the matter is that it is Rabbi Yehuda, who said that there was only one stand there, and he had to take the blood of the bullock first in order to set aside the blood of the goat in the stand, for he had upon him the blood of the bullock. But the Halakha is not according to Rabbi Yehuda.

Introduction In this mishnah the high priest slaughters the goat and then sprinkle the blood of the goat inside the Holy of Holies and the blood of both the goat and the bull on the curtain outside the Holy of Holies.

על הפרוכת – as it is written (Leviticus 16:16): “[Thus he shall purge the Shrine of the uncleanness and transgression of the Israelites, whatever their sins;] and he shall do the same for the Tent of Meeting,[which abides with them in the midst of their uncleanness].”

They would bring him the goat. He would slay it and receive its blood in a bowl. This is the goat which was determined by lot to be “For Hashem” as we read in 4:2 above. He slaughters it and receives its blood in a bowl.

עירה דם הפר – as it is written (Leviticus 16:18): “he shall take some of the blood of the bull and of the goat [and apply it to each of the horns of the altar],” from the blood of both of them together.

He entered [again] into the place where he had entered, and stood [again] on the place on which he had stood, and sprinkled once upwards and seven times downwards, and he wouldn’t intend to sprinkle either upwards or downwards but rather like one who cracks a whip. And thus would he count: one, one and one, one and two, one and three, one and four, one and five, one and six, one and seven. Then he would go out and place it on the second [golden] stand in the Hekhal. Rabbi Judah said: there was only one golden stand there. He then brings the blood of the goat into the Holy of Holies and does the same type of sprinkling that he did with the bull’s blood (see 5:3). This is mentioned in Leviticus 16:15. There is a debate in the mishnah between the first opinion and Rabbi Judah concerning how many special stands were prepared to hold bowls with blood.

ונתן את המלא בריקן – and he goes back and empties the full bowl (out of which the sprinkling is done) into the empty one in order that blood combines/mixes extremely well.

He would take the blood of the bull and put down the blood of the goat, and sprinkle from it upon the curtains facing the Ark outside, once upwards, seven times downward, aiming to sprinkle neither upwards nor downwards, and he wouldn’t intend to sprinkle either upwards or downwards but rather like one who cracks a whip. Thus would he count [as above]. Then he would take the blood of the goat, and put down the blood of the bull, and sprinkle from it upon the curtain facing the ark outside once upwards, seven times downwards [as above]. The beginning of this section goes according to Rabbi Judah who holds that there was only one special stand. He says that first the high priest picks up the bowl with the bull’s blood in it and then puts down the bowl with the goat’s blood. According to the first opinion, the high priest first puts down the goat’s blood on its own stand and then picks up the bull’s blood.

He would take the blood of the bull and put down the blood of the goat, and sprinkle from it upon the curtains facing the Ark outside, once upwards, seven times downward, aiming to sprinkle neither upwards nor downwards, and he wouldn’t intend to sprinkle either upwards or downwards but rather like one who cracks a whip. Thus would he count [as above]. Then he would take the blood of the goat, and put down the blood of the bull, and sprinkle from it upon the curtain facing the ark outside once upwards, seven times downwards [as above]. The next task at hand is to sprinkle blood on the curtain, opposite the place where the ark is (or used to be) in the Holy of Holies. He does this while standing in the Hekhal, outside of the Holy of Holies. This is referred to in the second half of Leviticus 16:16. The same order is followed; first he sprinkles the bull’s blood and then he sprinkles the goat’s blood.

Then he would pour the blood of the bull into the blood of the goat emptying the full vessel into the empty one. Leviticus 16:18 states, “he shall take some of the blood of the bull and of the goat and apply it to each of the horns of the altar.” The rabbis understand this to mean that he mixes the two bloods together. Therefore he first pours the bull’s blood into the bowl with the goat’s blood and then pours the whole mixture back into the other bowl to ensure that they are mixed well.

היה מחטא ויורד – this Tanna/teacher held that the Kohen would walk on his feet to each and every corner. And each and every sprinkling was in the corner that was before him and nearest him. And for this reason, [the Mishnah] takes [the words] “purifying [the altar by sprinkling], that is to say, that he would give sprinkling from above to below, for if he had given [sprinkling] from below to above in the corner that was before him, the blood would flow into his handle and soil his clothing. But Rabbi Eliezer held that the Kohen would stand in one corner and from there give sprinklings on all the corners, for the entire altar was not other than one cubit by one cubit squared, and since the three corners were near him, he can sprinkling from below to above without soiling his clothing, except for this corner that he was standing near, for it was impossible for him to turn sideways the tops of his fingers downward but [only] upwards, for if he would turn the tops of fingers downward and give a sprinkling from the bottom to the top, the blood would flow into the handle of his undercoat. But the Halakha is not according to Rabbi Eliezer.

Introduction After having sprinkled the blood of the goat and bull inside the Holy of Holies and onto the curtain separating the Hekhal from the Holy of Holies, the priest now turns his attention to the golden altar that is inside the Hekhal.

“And he shall go out to the altar that is before the Lord” (Leviticus 16:18): that is the golden altar. The mishnah identifies the altar mentioned in v. 18 with the golden altar inside the Hekhal, upon which the incense is offered. This is explicit in Exodus 30:10 which in reference to this golden incense altar states, “Once a year Aaron shall perform purification upon its horns with blood of the sin offering of purification; purification shall be performed upon it once a year throughout the ages. It is most holy to the Lord.”

He then began to purify [the altar by sprinkling] in downward motion. From where does he begin? From the northeast horn [of the altar], then the northwest, then the southwest, then the southeast. From the place where he begins [sprinkling when offering] a sin-offering on the outer altar, there he completes [sprinkling] on the inner altar. He now begins to purify the altar by sprinkling blood upon its four horns (corners), going counter-clockwise and starting at the northeast corner. The mishnah notes that he completes his sprinkling on the southeast corner, the same corner where he begins to sprinkle blood when offering a sin-offering on the outer altar. This is a sort of mnemonic used by the mishnah to remember which corner is last on Yom Kippur.

Rabbi Eliezer says: he remained in his place and sprinkled. And on every horn he would sprinkle from below upwards, with the exception of the horn at which he was standing, which he would sprinkle from above downwards. Rabbi Eliezer disagrees with the notion that he walks around the altar while sprinkling on the four horns. Rather, he remains in his spot. The whole altar was only one cubit by one cubit wide so sprinkling while standing in place would not have been difficult at all. On all of the other corners he would reach over and sprinkle with an upward motion. The exception was the corner where he was standing where for practical considerations he would sprinkle with a downwards motion.

על טהרו – after having finished all the sprinklings of the corners, he sprinkles upon them seven times, as it is written (Leviticus 16:19): “And the rest of the blood he shall sprinkle on it [with his finger seven times]. Thus he shall purify it [of the impurity of the Israelites and consecrate it],” the place that is uncovered where he takes the ashes and the burning coals on this side and that, and sprinkles on the gold of the altar.

Introduction This mishnah continues to discuss the sprinkling of the blood on the altar and then teaches what is to be done with the leftover blood.

Then he sprinkled the top of the altar seven times. Leviticus 16:19 states, “And the rest of the blood he shall sprinkle on it with his finger seven times.” This means, according to the mishnah, that he sprinkles the blood on the top of the altar.

אלו ואלו – the outer and inner blood is poured on the altar of the burnt-offering, they would flow gently from the foundation to the floor and mix in the sewer duct that is in the courtyard that goes out to the Kidron Valley.

And he would pour out the remainder of the blood at the western base of the outer altar. The remainder of the blood is poured out on the western base of the altar. This is the same place that the blood of the high priest’s bull (not a Yom Kippur sacrifice) is poured out according to Leviticus 4:7.

לגננים – the owners of the gardens.

And [the remainder of the blood sprinkled] on the outer altar he poured out at the southern base. There are other sacrifices that are offered on Yom Kippur on the outer altar (see Numbers 28:7-11). The blood of these sacrifices is spilled on the southern base of that altar.

ומועלין בהם – it is prohibited to benefit from them without payment.

Both mingled in the aqueduct and flowed into Nahal Kidron, and they were sold to gardeners as manure and by using them one transgresses the law of trespass (. The extra blood from all of the altars flows into the aqueduct that runs through the Temple and then the blood flows out to Nahal Kidron (Wadi Kidron). The blood, assumedly mixed with some water by this time, would be sold to gardeners to use to fertilize their fields and the proceeds would go to the Temple. The mishnah notes that one who benefits from this blood without paying for it is guilty of trespassing, which means illegal use of Temple property. The blood retains its holiness even after having flowed out of the Temple.

כל מעשה יוה"כ – all the Divine Services that he performs in white clothing inside and in the hall containing the golden altar.

Concerning every act of Yom Hakippurim mentioned in the prescribed order [in the mishnah]: if he performed one [later] act before an [earlier] one, it is as if it had not been done at all.
If he dealt with the blood of the goat before the blood of the bull, he must start over again, and sprinkle the blood of the goat after the blood of the bull.
If before he had finished the sprinklings within [the Holy of Holies] the blood was poured away, he must bring other blood, and start over again and sprinkle again within [the Holy of Holies]. Similarly, in the Hekhal and the golden altar, since they are each a separate act of atonement.
Rabbi Elazar and Rabbi Shimon say: wherever he stopped, there he may begin again.
This mishnah basically completes the sacrificial aspects of the Yom Kippur service. It teaches that the order in which the acts must be performed is precise one act cannot be moved up in front of another. The mishnah then discusses the consequences if one act is moved up before another.
Section one: The mishnah is adamant that all of the acts that were described in the previous sections be performed in the order in which they were prescribed. The remainder of the mishnah now explains what he must do if the high priest performed one of the acts out of order.
Section two: If he sprinkled the goat’s blood before he sprinkled the bull’s blood he must start over again and sprinkle the bull’s blood and then the goat’s blood. The Talmud explains that this refers to the sprinkling done in the Hekhal. If he sprinkled the goat’s blood inside the Holy of Holies before the bull’s blood, he must sacrifice a new goat because he must sprinkle the bull’s blood inside before he even slaughters the goat.
Section three: If the blood was poured out before he finished sprinkling inside the Holy of Holies, he must go back and slaughter another animal, be it the bull or the goat. This is true even if he already sprinkled six out of the seven times. In other words, all of the sprinklings must be done with the blood of the same animal. However, if he finished sprinkling inside and was sprinkling in the Hekhal when the blood spilled, he need not go back and redo the inside sprinklings. The same holds true with regard to the sprinkling on the golden altar in the Hekhal. Each of these sets of sprinklings is considered independent, such that if one is interrupted the earlier one need not be redone.
Rabbi Elazar and Rabbi Shimon go a step further. If the blood is spilled in the middle of a set of sprinklings, he must slaughter a new animal but his earlier sprinklings count. He begins exactly where he left off. For Rabbi Elazar and Rabbi Shimon each sprinkling is its own entity and hence a sprinkling that has already been performed correctly need not be redone, even if the subsequent ones are done with the blood of a different animal.

האמור על הסדר – in our Mishnah (Chapter 5, Mishnayot 3-5).

וכן בהיכל – he gave part of the sprinkling on the curtain and the blood was powered, he would bring another bull and begin the sprinklings of the curtain, and there would be no need to go back and begin inside.

שכולן כפרה בפני עצמן – Therefore, when the atonement is completed, it is completed.

ממקום שפסק – and even if he had not completed that particular atonement, he does not need to go back and give what he had given. But the Halakha is not according to Rabbi Eleazar or Rabbi Shimon.