פירוש על יומא 2:9

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.

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.

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.

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.

רצים ועולים בכבש – of the altar, which is thirty-two cubits in length.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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].

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.

אלא בפייס – as we have explained.

Introduction In today’s mishnah we see that religious zeal can lead to violence. There is no doubt in my mind that the mishnah is a warning against such a phenomenon, and it would seem that this is a lesson that could be more carefully heeded in our time as well.

ארבע פייסות היו שם – four times during the day, they would be gathered to arbitrate, and they would not arbitrate for all of them in one meeting, in order to announce by sound four times that there is a large gathering of people in the courtyard, and that is for the honor of the King (i.e., God), as it is stated (Psalms 55:15): “[Sweet was our fellowship;] we walked together in God’s house.”

Section one: It once happened that two were even as they ran up the ramp, and one of them pushed his fellow who fell and broke his leg. When the court saw that they incurred danger, they decreed that they would remove the ashes from only by a count. Section two: There were four counts. This is the first count. The event of one priest pushing another priest in order to be the one who would perform an act seemingly as ordinary and trivial as removing the ashes from the altar was such a traumatic experience that the court decreed an end to the races up the ramp. Henceforth, the decision who would remove the ashes would be decided by a count, as was described in yesterday’s mishnah. There is an interesting parallel to this mishnah, one which is far more extreme. The following source can be found on Yoma 23a: Our Rabbis taught: It once happened that two priests were even as they ran up the ramp and when one of them came first within four cubits of the altar, the other took a knife and thrust it into his heart. Rabbi Zadok stood on the steps of the Hall and said: Brothers of the House of Israel, listen! Behold it says: “If a body is found slain in the land... then your elders and judges shall come forth …” (Deuteronomy 21:1): On whose behalf shall we bring the calf whose neck is to be broken, on behalf of the city or on behalf of the Temple Courts? All the people burst out weeping. The father of the young man came and found him still in convulsions. He said: “May he be an atonement for you. My son is still having convulsions and the knife has not become unclean.” This comes to teach you that the cleanness of their vessels was of greater concern to them even than the shedding of blood. In this fascinating and horrific story, instead of causing his rival priest merely to fall down and break his leg, one priest takes out a knife and stabs his fellow priest. Rabbi Zadok ironically asks who brings the calf, whose neck is broken in a case where an unidentified dead body is found (see the quote from Deuteronomy), the city or the Temple courts. Finally, in the ultimate point of religious zeal, the father of the son poignantly remarks to the other priests that at least he has removed the knife before it is defiled by his son’s dead body. The source demonstrates well that the priests of that time had gone so astray that the issue of the purity of their vessels was more important to them then the most heinous sin of shedding blood. This mishnah and the accompanying Talmudic story are strong lessons to us of the dangers of religious zeal which can lead to violence. As important as ritual procedure is, and don’t forget we are in the middle of a tractate which is nearly entirely dedicated to the performance of ritual, we are not to forget that morality and the proper relationship between human beings are supreme values as well. It is not that we must choose between commandments between God and human beings and those between humans and themselves. The two are only in conflict if we let them be, and that we must not.

This count is the first of four counts done in choosing who performs certain tasks in the Temple. The following two mishnayot will discuss the other two.

מי שוחט – the daily offering (of mid-afternoon).

The second count:
who slaughters [the daily regular offering],
who sprinkles [the blood],
who removes the ashes from the inner altar,
who removes the ashes from the candlestick, 5-10) Who takes the limbs [of the offering up to the ramp],
the head and the [right] hind-leg,
the two forelegs,
the tail and the [left] hind-leg,
the breast and the throat,
the two flanks,
the innards,
the fine flour,
the cakes
and the wine. Altogether thirteen priests merited a task.
Ben Azzai said before Rabbi Akiba in the name of Rabbi Joshua: [the daily offering] was offered up in the way it walks.
In yesterday’s mishnah we learned that the priest who won the first count would remove the ashes from the large outer altar. Today we learn about the second count. There were thirteen different tasks assigned through this one count. The first task would be performed by the person whose finger the counted ended on, and the next would be assigned to the person on his right and so on.
All of these tasks are connected to the “tamid”, the daily offering.
Some of these tasks are self-explanatory, so I shall not delay upon them. I will only discuss those which are not.
Section three: “who removes the ashes from the inner altar”: this is the incense altar.
Sections five-ten: “Who takes the limbs [of the offering up to the ramp]”: we learned in Shekalim 8:8 that the priests would take the limbs up to the middle of the ramp and then before they were brought to the altar, the priests would go read the Shema. The mishnah now lists the parts of the animal. The fifth through the tenth priests all take one of these parts up to the ramp.
Section eleven: “The fine flour” is referred to in Exodus 29:9 and Numbers 28:5.
Section twelve: “The cakes”: this refers to the high priest’s minhah offering, which was offered each day, half in the morning and half at night. These cakes were cooked on a griddle with oil (Leviticus 6:13-14).
Section thirteen: “And the wine”: the thirteenth priest would bring the wine libation (Exodus 29:40 and Numbers 28:7).
Section fourteen: Ben Azzai disputes the order in which the parts of the animal were brought up the ramp and put onto the altar. He holds that the parts of the animal are sacrificed from the front of the animal to the back. The Talmud explains that the order is: 1) head and right hind-leg: 2) the breast and throat; 3) the two forelegs; 4) the flanks; 5) the tail and the left hind-leg.
In contrast, the first opinion in the mishnah holds that they are sacrificed in order of their size, with the one exception that the head comes first because of Leviticus 1:12 which lists the head first.

מי זורק וכו' – all the acts of Divine worship are done at one arbitration/count (i.e., by counting out a certain number of raised fingers of those among whom a decision is to be made. For whomever completed through him the count, according to how we explained it, is worthy, and he casts the blood to the altar after he receives the blood in the bowl (out of which the sprinkling of the blood is done), for the person who casts the blood is the person who receives it. And nearest him is the person who slaughters, and even though the slaughtering precedes the reception of the blood, nevertheless, because the Divine service of the casting is greater than the slaughtering, for the slaughtering is valid [when done] by a foreigner (i.e., a non-Kohen), which is not the case regarding the casting and the reception [of the blood] and further which is the commandment of the Kohanim, therefore, the first one who was found worthy in the arbitration for the casting [of the blood], and the one nearest him, in the slaughtering, and the one next to the slaughterer, removes the ashes from the altar, and the one nearest to the individual who removes the ashes from the altar removes the ashes from the candelabrum/Menorah, and similarly for all of them.

הראש והרגל – of the right side by one Kohen.

ושתי הידים – by a second Kohen.

העוקץ – that is the tail.

והרגל – of the left side, with the third Kohen.

החזה – that is the fat of the of the breast which looks towards the ground, and we sever it this way and that way without the heads of the wing.

והגרה – the place where the ruminant, which is the neck, and through it are attached the windpipe, the lung with the liver and the heart. The breast and the neck is with a fourth Kohen.

ושתי הדפנות – with a fifth Kohen.

והקרבים – with a sixth [Kohen].

והסולת – the one-tenth of an Ephah for the meal offering of his libation of the daily afternoon offering with a seventh [Kohen].

והחביתים – half of one-tenth of an Ephah for the meal offering of the High Priest which is offered with the daily afternoon offering on each day, as it states (Leviticus 6:13): “half of it in the morning and half of it in the evening,” with an eighth Kohen.

והיין – three LOGS for the libation of the daily afternoon offering, with a ninth [Kohen].

י"ג כהנים זוכין בו – with this arbitration, thirteen Divine services of the Priests who are appointed for this according to the order that is written in the Mishnah.

כדרך הלוכו – during his life.

היה קרב – the daily afternoon offering. The first teacher holds that the best and most beautiful is offered first, but [Shimon] Ben Azzai holds that it is according to the way in which it is walked, the head and the leg, the breast and the neck, and the two forelegs, and the chest surrounding the lungs and the rib, and the rump and the hind legs. But the Halakha is not according to Ben Azzai.

חדשים לקטורת – this is what they would announce in the Temple court, that is to say, whomever was not worthy of the incense all of his life, should come and decide by chance. But they would not allow someone who was found worthy of it once [already] to repeat it, because he becomes wealthy as it is written (Deuteronomy 33:10-11): “They shall offer You incense to savor [and whole-offerings on Your altar]. Bless, O LORD, his substance…” For since every Kohen who offers incense would become wealthy and blessed on its account, therefore, they would not allow a person to repeat it, in order that all could be wealthy and blessed through it.

Introduction This mishnah teaches what the third and fourth counts were for.

חדשים גם ישנים – he who was worthy of the lottery other times and he who never was worthy of it ever, come and participate in the lottery.

The third count: “New [priests] come up and submit to the count for the incense.” The chief of priests would make this statement, directed at the new priests who had never before had the chance to offer the incense. Offering the incense was considered by the priests to be the best task in the Temple because of Deuteronomy 33:10-11: “They shall offer You incense to savor…Bless, O Lord his substance and favor his undertakings.” The blessing and the favor went to the one who offered the incense. In other words, offering the incense would bring a person reward. Since this was so desirable, they let only the priests who had not already performed this task participate in this count.

מי מעלה אברים מן הכבש למזבח – when they would bring up the limbs from the slaughter house, they would not bring them to the Altar, but rather place them on the lower half of the ramp in the east and conduct another lottery – who will bring them from the place where they are lying on the ramp to the altar, and they would do such because of [the Biblical adage] (Proverbs 14:28): “A numerous people is the glory of a king…”

The fourth count: “New and old priests, who will take up the limbs from the ramp to the altar.” The final count was open to both new and old priests alike. The count was to determine who would bring the limbs up and sacrifice them on the altar. Some commentators explain that nine priests would bring the nine items up (see the list in yesterday’s mishnah), while other commentators explain that one priest would bring all nine items up himself.

תמיד קרב – from the time the limbs are brought and onward, it is considered.

Introduction This mishnah teaches how many priests were necessary to offer the two tamid offerings, the one offered in the morning and the one in the evening.

עצמו – on every day, nine [priests]; six for the limbs and the innards, as we stated above (Mishnah 3) and one for the fine flour, and one for the baked cakes and one for the wine.

The tamid was offered up by nine, ten, eleven or twelve [priests], neither by more, nor by less. How so? This section introduces the rest of the mishnah, using a format which will be easily remembered. It is very typical for mishnayot to open with such formulas.

ובחג – [and on the holiday] which requires two libations, one of wine and one of water and in the hand of one Kohen is a flask (i.e., a bottle with a wide belly and a narrow neck) .

[The offering] itself by nine; In mishnah three we learned that it took nine priests to carry the various parts of the tamid offering up the ramp and then afterwards from the ramp to the altar. This referred to the morning tamid offering. As we shall see below in section four, the evening tamid required two more priests.

ושל בין הערבים – for on each day, two [things] are in their hands, two pieces of wood, to add to the wood of the arrangement of wood on the altar in the Temple, as it is written (Leviticus 1:7): “[The sons of Aaron the priest shall]…lay out wood upon the fire,” for if it was not the matter of the morning daily-offering, of which it is was already stated (Leviticus 6:5): “every morning the priest shall feed wood to it,” give it for the matter of the daily offering of the mid-afternoon where they add two pieces of wood.

At the festival [of Sukkot] in the hand of one a flask of water, behold there were ten. On Sukkot at the morning tamid they would also offer a water libation. We shall learn more about this water libation when we study Tractate Sukkah.

In the evening by eleven: [The offering] itself by nine and in the hands of two men were two logs of wood. The evening tamid, offered at dusk, required eleven priests. Nine to carry the offering itself and two to carry about two logs of wood to add to the altar’s fires. They also added wood in the morning, but in the morning the wood was added by the priest who cleaned out the old ashes (see above mishayot 1-2). This was done before the tamid was offered.

On Shabbat by eleven: [The offering] itself by nine, in the hands of two men two handfuls of incense for the showbread. On Shabbat the morning tamid also required eleven priests. Nine to offer the sacrifice itself and two to carry the incense which was offered every Shabbat in honor of the outgoing showbread (see Leviticus 24:6-7).

And on Shabbat which fell during the festival of Sukkot one man carried in his hand a flask of water. On Shabbat morning during Sukkot they needed the eleven as is the case in a normal Shabbat and one more to carry the flask of water.

הבשר בחמשה – just like the limbs of the sheep, so too the limbs of the ram.

Introduction This mishnah teaches how many priests were necessary to offer a ram, meaning a sheep that is two years old. There are more needed than there are for the tamid which is a sheep in its first year, and therefore lighter.

הסלת – it was two-tenths of an Ephah, with two Kohanim.

A ram was offered by eleven: the flesh by five, the innards, the fine flour, and the wine by two each. The flesh is offered by five just like the tamid, which is a young sheep (see above mishnah three). However, the innards which were heavier required two priests to carry them up the ramp and then to the altar. There was more flour and wine (see Numbers 15:4-7), therefore two priests carried the flour and two the wine instead of one each, as is the case for the tamid.

במה דברים אמורים – that we require all these Kohanim for all the animals and that we need an arbitration.

Introduction The final mishnah of this chapter teaches that sacrificial bulls, who were far larger than the rams and young sheep mentioned in the previous mishayot, and whose sacrifice required more flour and wine, were offered by twenty-four priests, instead of the nine for a sheep and eleven for a ram.

אם רצה להקריב – an individual Kohen [who offers] everything without an arbitration.

A bull was offered by twenty-four: The head and [right] hind-leg: the head by one and the [right] hind-leg by two. The tail and [left] hind-leg: the tail by two and the [left] hind-leg by two. The breast and neck: the breast by one and the neck by three. The two fore-legs by two, The two flanks by two. The innards, the fine flour, and the wine by three each. This section delineates how the twenty-four priests divided up the offering of the bull.

הפשתן ונתוחן – of an individual and of the community, they are equivalent to be considered fit with a “foreigner” (i.e., a non-Kohen) and they do not require a Kohen.

To what does this refer? To communal offerings. But individual offerings, if a single priest wants to offer [all], he may do so. This section refers to all of the above mishnayot in which priests divide the task of offering various parts of a young sheep, a ram or a bull. The mishnah now teaches that this division refers to public offerings, such as the tamid or the musaf (the additional offering). However, if any of these animals are brought by individuals a single priest may perform all of the tasks himself. Assumedly, although the mishnah does not state this, the individual who brings the sacrifice is the same one who is allowed to decide which or how many priests offer it.

But as to the flaying and dismembering [of both communal and individual sacrifices] the same regulations apply. When it comes to the flaying and cutting up (dismembering) of both communal and individual sacrifices, the same rules apply. This refers to the fact that both of these tasks may be performed by non-priests and do not require any priestly count.