Комментарий к Пара 3:16

שבעת ימים כו' מפרישין כהן השורף את הפרה – as it is written in the portion of investment/inauguration [of the Kohanim] (Leviticus 8:34): "כאשר עשה ביום הזה צוה ה' לעשת לכפר עליכם"/”Everything done today, the LORD has commanded to be done [seven days], to make expiation for you,” and our Rabbis/teachers expounded (see Talmud Tractate Yoma 2a): "לעשת" /to be done – this is the act of the [Red] Heifer, "לכפר עליכם"/to make expiation for you – this is the act of Yom Kippur. That the Kohen who burns the heifer and the High Priest/Kohen Gadol who serves on the Day of Atonement requires separation for seven days] like Aaron and his sons would require in the seven days of investment/inauguration, as is written (Leviticus 8:33): “You shall not go outside the entrance of the Tent of Meeting for seven days,” And they would separate him from his wife, lest he come upon his wife and she would be found to be a menstruant woman and someone who has sexual relations with a menstruant woman is impure for seven days and is not able to burn the cow/heifer.

Introduction Chapter three describes the ritual of how the red cow was burned into ash. This is covered in Numbers 19:3-6: 3 You shall give it to Eleazar the priest. It shall be taken outside the camp and slaughtered in his presence. 4 Eleazar the priest shall take some of its blood with his finger and sprinkle it seven times toward the front of the Tent of Meeting. 5 The cow shall be burned in his sight its hide, flesh, and blood shall be burned, its dung included 6 and the priest shall take cedar wood, hyssop, and crimson stuff, and throw them into the fire consuming the cow.

הבירה – there are those that say that this place was on the Temple Mount and “Birah” was its name. But there are those who say that the entire Temple is called “Birah,” as it states (I Chronicles 29:19: “[As to my son, Solomon, give him a whole heart to observe Your commandments, Your admonitions, and Your laws, and to fulfill them all,] and to build this temple for which I have made provision.”

Seven days before the burning of the [red] cow they would separate the priest who was to burn the cow from his house to a chamber that was facing the north-eastern corner of the birah, and which was called the Stone Chamber. The idea of setting aside the priest who would burn the red cow seems to be derived from the setting aside of the high priest before the Yom Kippur worship (see Yoma 1:1). And both ideas are learned from the setting aside of Aaron and his sons for seven days before the original sanctification of the altar in Leviticus 8:33-34. Part of the reason that the priest had to leave his house was to prevent him from being with his wife and thereby becoming ritually defiled. There are two opinions as to what "Birah" is. One holds that this is another name for the Temple, while another holds that this is a tower that was on the Temple Mount. See also Pesahim 7:5.

צפונה מזרחה – the reason that they separate the Kohen who burns the Heifer/cow to a chamber that is in the northeast, since it is a sin offering [being offered] and the sin-offering requires the north (see Numbers 19:9), the Rabbis established for him in the northeast just that there will be for him recognition.

They would sprinkle upon him throughout the seven days with [a mixture of] all the sin-offerings that were there. Rabbi Yose said: they sprinkled upon him only on the third and the seventh days. Rabbi Hanina the vice-chief of the priests said: on the priest that was to burn the cow they sprinkled all the seven days, but on the one that was to perform the service on Yom Kippur they sprinkled on the third and the seventh days only. During the seven days that he was separated, they would sprinkle him with the hatat purificatory waters. These waters were made using the combined ashes of all of the red cows that had been burned since the time of Moses (we shall return to this in mishnah five). Sprinkling the ashes on him for all seven days seems to be some sort of extra stringency lest the priest had become defiled before the seven day waiting period by contact with a dead body. Rabbi Yose says that they sprinkled the purificatory waters on him only on the third and seventh days. These are the days in which a person who had contact with the dead requires purification. Rabbi Hanina the vice-chief of the priests distinguishes between the priest who was to burn the red cow, who does require sprinkling every day, and the priest who performed the Yom Kippur service, who requires sprinkling only on the third and seventh day. It seems to me that this opinion may be a way of highlighting just how significant the burning of the red cow was in their eyes. The rules governing it are even stricter than those governing the most central act of worship in the Temple during the year the entrance into the Holy of Holies on Yom Kippur.

ובית אבן היתה נקראת – because all of its acts were with vessels of untrimmed stone, vessels of stone and vessels of earth that are not susceptible to receive defilement, and in them alone he would use all seven of the days of separation, because someone who is a person who immersed himself that day/טבול יום is fit/kosher [to offer up] the heifer, and they would defile the Kohen that burns the heifer and would immerse him immediately to remove (the false opinion) out of the heart of the Sadducees (i.e., to demonstrate, by practice, the rejection of their opinion) who state that it was done at sunset, the Rabbis established for it extra preference so that they would not disregard/despise it.

כל שבעת הימים – of the days of separation.

מכל חטאות שהיו שם – all the heifers that were made from the days of Moses our Teacher/Rabbi and until that time. For each and every Red Heifer that they would give a bit for protection, and on the first day they would sprinkle upon him from the ashes of one heifer and on the second day from another and the third day from another.

בשלישי ובשביעי – [on the third and seventh days] of his separation. And between the first Tanna/teacher and Rabbi Yossi, both of them hold that immersion at its appropriate time is a Mitzvah, but they differ with regard to sprinkling if they make an analogy to immersion or not, the first Tanna/teacher makes an analogy between sprinkling and ritual immersion and sprinkling at its appropriate time is a Mitzvah, and each day from the first seven days there is doubt lest today is their third day of his defilement, and the three concluding days – each day we have doubt that perhaps it is the seventh [day]. But on the fourth [day], it does not require sprinkling, for it is not on the third [day], one can doubt, but one cannot doubt on the seventh [day], for the sprinkling on the seventh [day] does not count because sprinkling on the seventh [day] until he actually sprinkled on the third [day] that is prior to it. And all of the seven [days] are not exclusively, for perforce we hold that sprinkling is שבות /a rabbinic degree to enhance the character of the Shabbat as a day of rest, and does not supersede the Sabbath. But Rabbi Yossi does not make an analogy between sprinkling and ritual immersion, and sprinkling at the appropriate time is not a Mitzvah, therefore, he doesn’t require sprinkling other than on the third and on the seventh [days] alone. But Rabbi Hanina the Prefect of the Kohanim also holds like Rabbi Meir, that sprinkling at its appropriate time is not a Mitzvah, and the Kohen who burns the Heifer is a mere preference, just as they would not disregard/despise it because it is done with a person who is immersed himself that day/טבול יום.

בנויות על גבי הסלע – The flinty rock that was known that was there from the beginning of the Creation of the world. But nevertheless, they were stringent to make a cavity underneath it, because of the grave in the depth, lest there is underneath it a grave and there no tent for the corpse that is a handbreadth hollow, and the defilement that is pressed ritual impurity (i.e., a corpse or part of a corpse located beneath a roof or a covering imparts ritual impurity only to objects beneath that covering – if there is a handbreadth of space between the corpse and the roof or covering) and it burst forth and rises, therefore, they would build it on top of arches, for even if there is a grave underneath them, the cavity interrupts it. And all the language of defilement of the depths that is in the Gemara, is the language of doubt and covered, like this depth that is not revealed.

Introduction This mishnah discusses how they would preserve the purity of the children of priests so that they could perform the red cow ritual without ever having become impure. This was an extra stringency due to the high degree of gravity with which they took the red cow ceremony.

ומביאים נשים מעוברות ויולדות שם - all of these are additional preferences that they made, just as so that they would not disregard/despise it, because hey would do it with a person who immersed himself that day.

Courtyards were built in Jerusalem over rock, and beneath them there was a hollow which served as a protection against a grave in the depths. They would not build the courtyards directly over the ground just in case there was a grave deep in the ground, and the dead body's impurity would rise and defile the priests above. The hollow between the rock and the building platform would serve to capture the impurity and prevent it from rising. This was a concept we learned much about in Tractate Ohalot a space the size of one handbreadth by one handbreadth prevents impurity from rising up above the space.

ומגדלות שם את בניהן – until they would be eight [years] old, but not more so that they don’t see a nocturnal emission.

And they used to bring there pregnant women, and there they gave birth to their children and there they raised them. They would bring pregnant women there to give birth and raise their children there so that the children would never become impure. Again, this is not strictly necessary but it demonstrates the extra degree of severity with which they treated this purity ritual.

ומביאים שוורים – whose stomachs are wide in order that the feet of the young children who sit upon them overshadow over the land because of the grave of the depths.

And they brought oxen, upon whose backs were placed doors, and the children sat upon them with stone cups in their hands. The following two sections describe how they would draw water from the Shiloah spring without possibly coming into contact with a source of impurity. The children would ride oxen down to the spring. The doors on the oxen's backs would prevent the children from overshadowing (making an ohel over) any source of impurity. They used stone cups because stone cannot become impure.

When they reached the Shiloah spring they got down and filled the cups with water and then they ascended and sat again on the doors. Rabbi Yose said: each child used to let down his cup and fill it from his place. They filled their cups from the Shiloah spring which is on the southern side of Jerusalem (also called the Silwan). Rabbi Yose says that they didn't even get off the backs of their oxen to do so. Again, this was an extra stringency to make sure they did not become impure.

וכוסות של אבן בידם – for all of the act of the “heifer” are in vessels of untrimmed stone and vessels of stone and vessels of earth that are not susceptible to receive defilement.

ומלאו – [and they filled] from it water to sanctify the waters of the sin offering that they sprinkle on the [Kohen] who burns the heifer all seven [days]. But within the river there is no [reason] to doubt about the grave of the depths, for they don’t make graves in the rivers.

רבי יוסי אומר – from on top of the oxen they would lover a rope and fill up [the cups] with water, but they would descend into [the waters of] the Siloam. But the Halakha is not according to Rabbi Yossi.

באו להר הבית – the young children that are upon the bulls with the cups filled with water.

They arrived at the Temple Mount and got down. The children now proceed back up to the Temple Mount and then get off their oxen.

בפתח העזרה – of the Women’s Court, that is near the Hel (a place within the fortification of the Temple; see Tractate Middot, Chapter 1, Mishnah 5).

Beneath the Temple Mount and the courts was a hollow which served as a protection against a grave in the depths. As was the case with the courtyards in which these children were raised, there was a space below the Temple Mount and the courtyards that would protect them from the impurity of a potential grave.

היה מתוקן קלל של חטאת (and there set up a flask/pitcher containing the ashes of the red cow) – a vessel that was placed in it the ashes of the sin-offering from each cow that they would burn, as it is written (Numbers 19:9): “[A man who is clean shall gather up the ashes of the cow and deposit them outside the camp in a clean place,] to be kept for water of lustration for the Israelite community.”

And at the entrance of the courtyard there was the jar of the ashes of the sin-offerings. At the eastern entrance of the women's courtyard there was a stone jar in which the ashes of the burned red cow could be found.

קלל – a small pitcher. It is the [Aramaic] translation of (Genesis 24:15): “[He had scarcely finished speaking, when Rebekah, who was born to Bethuel, the son of Milcah, the wife of Abraham’s brother Nahor], came out with her jar on her shoulder,” – and her jar/small pitcher on her shoulder.

They would bring a male from among the sheep and tie a rope between its horns, and a stick or a bushy twig was tied at the other end of the rope, and this was thrown into the jar. They then struck the male [sheep] was so that it started backwards. They didn't simply have one of the kids take the ashes out of the jar and put them in the water drawn from the Shiloah for fear that somehow the child had become impure and he would defile the ashes. Rather, they would tie some sort of stick or twig to a sheep and put the stick or twig into the ashes and then hit the sheep so that he would get moving. Thus they could remove the ashes without ever touching the jar or even directly causing the jar to move. Again, this is another stringency done in the red cow ceremony.

וזורקו תוך הקלל – and through this, the male sheep is startled and moves backward and the stick/staff goes out from the small pitcher/jar and absorbs/retains from the ashes with it and it spills on top of the bulls and the child takes it and doesn’t need to remove his hand outward. But in the Tosefta (Tractate Parah, Chapter 3, Halakha 5) it implies that they didn’t need to do this, but rather, when they came up [back to the Land of Israel] from the Diaspora (i.e., Babylonia) when all of them were ritually impure, and they were not able to touch it, for if they would touch the ashes of the heifer, they would defile it. And that they would throw the stick/staff into the small pitcher and not through placing it in there, so that they would not defile the ashes through movement/היסט because of doubt of a woman with flux [with them] (i.e., a manner in which ritual impurity may be imparted – that whenever a person with gonorrhea or a menstruating woman or a woman with a lux or a woman after childbirth – causes the object to move from its place, even though he/she does not actually come into contact with it – e.g., by means of a lever – the object becomes ritually impure).

And [a child] took the ashes and put it [enough] so that it could be seen upon the water. Once the ashes had been removed, a child could come and take them and put them into the stone jar of water that he had collected. He would put enough ashes in so that they would be noticeable in the water.

אל תתנו במקום לצדוקים לרדות – to rule over us with their wors of laughter and derision. For Rabbi Yossi holds that when the people from the Diaspora (i.e., Babylonia) came up [to the Land of Israel], there were among them that were ritual pure that they had purified with the ashes of the heifer/cow that they brought down with them to Babylonia and carried up with them, and they were not defiled because of the Land of the Nations (i.e., any place outside of the Land of Israel), they did not decree defilement on the Lands of he Nations until after they ascended from the Diaspora. Therefore, it was possible that a pure person would take the ashes of the heifer, and they would not have a need for a male sheep, and the Halakha is according to Rabbi Yossi.

Rabbi Yose said: do not give the Sadducees an opportunity to rule! Rather, [a child] himself took it and mixed it. Rabbi Yose seems to fear that the Sadducees would ridicule a priest who would perform the ritual in this manner, that is by removing the ashes by using a sheep. Such ridicule could help the Sadducees to gain an upper hand over the Pharisees. To prevent such ridicule, he says that a child should just remove it himself. It is interesting to me that Rabbi Yose perceives Pharisaic rule in the Temple to be contingent upon their image in the eyes of others. Someone would see the strange ceremony and then somehow cause the Pharisees to lose control. After having put the ashes into the water, the children would sprinkle it onto the priest who was going to burn the next red cow, as we learned in mishnah one.

לא היו עושים חטאת על גבי חטאת – if they had purified themselves with the one sin-offering of a cow and it became invalid, they should not do another on top of this one. But rather, it requires guarding as at the outset.

One may not bring a sin-offering by virtue of [the purifications made for] another sin-offering, nor one child by virtue of [the preparations made for] another. If they begin to make preparations to burn one red cow and somehow that red cow becomes disqualified (for instance, someone performs work with it, or it grows some black hairs) they have to start the preparations all over again. The preparations for the burning of a red cow, in other words, must be done with that red cow in mind. So too, if one child begins to perform the preparations and then for whatever reason doesn't complete them, they can't bring another child to finish the process. They must start anew.

ולא תינוק על גבי תינוק – for if there were two young children, one is protected for the heifer of a sin-offering and the other is merely protected on account of this child, but not for the need of a heifer sin-offering, he one does not adapt oneself with this one on account of that one.

The children had to be sprinkle on each other, the words of Rabbi Yose the Galilean. Rabbi Akiva says: they did not need to sprinkle. According to Rabbi Yose the Galilean, the children need to sprinkle the water on each other, before they sprinkle it onto the priest who will burn the cow. Rabbi Akiva says that this is not necessary.

צריכים היו תינוקות להזות – and even though all of these being guarded were protected, we are concerned that perhaps a raven would bring an olive’s bulk from a corpse and cast it upon them, and all of these are greater gradations/preferences.

לא היו צריכים להזות – for we are not concerned about defilement through contact with a corpse, but ritual immersion would be required for everyone, lest hey were defiled by an unclean reptile or moving creature/שרץ. And the Halakha is according to Rabbi Akiba.

לא מצאו משבע – because as we stated that from all the sin-offerings that they sprinkle upon him, because of this it is stated, that if they did not find [the residue of ash] from seven [cows of purification], they sprinkle even from one [cow of purification].

Introduction In mishnah one we learned that they sprinkled the priest with the ashes from all of the red cows that had ever been burned. Our mishnah reflects a legend (I think) according to which there had been seven burned red cows in Jewish history.

וחמש מעזרא ואילך – Rabbi Meir did not count the four that were made by Shimon HaTzaddik/The Righeous and Yohanan the High Priest but rather for two, because he holds that as a result of invalidation that occurred at first, the second was made.

If they did not find the residue of the ashes of the seven [red cows] they performed the sprinkling with those of six, of five, of four, of three, of two or of one. If they didn't have the residue of all seven red cows, then they could use as many as they found.

וחכ"א שבע מעזרא ואילך – for they hold that all of them were fit/appropriate.

And who prepared these? Moses prepared the first, Ezra prepared the second, and five were prepared from the time of Ezra, the words of Rabbi Meir. According to Rabbi Meir two of the cows were prepared by two central biblical figures. Moses burned one while in the desert and Ezra burned the second when he founded the Second Temple. The remaining five were burned after the time of Ezra.

But the sages say: seven from the time of Ezra. And who prepared them? Shimon the Just and Yohanan the high priest prepared two each; Elihoenai the son of Ha-Kof and Hanamel the Egyptian and Ishmael the son of Piabi prepared one each. The sages say that all seven were burned from the time of Ezra and onward. They even name all seven high priests that burned them. Shimon the Just is a well-known figure in rabbinic literature. Scholars identify him as being either of two High Priests (grandfather and grandson) that served early in the Second Temple period, before the Hasmonean revolt. Part of the confusion as to which Shimon this is stems from the fact that Onias was the name of the father of both of them. Yohanan the high priest was a member of the Hasmonean family (Judah's nephew). The other three are harder to identify. There is a priest by the name of Elihoenai that appears in Ezra 8:4. Hanamel seems to be called Ananelos by Josephus (Wars of the Jews 15.40). He served during Herod's time. Ishmael son of Piabi seems to have been a high priest after Hanamel. He is described as being close to the Sadduceans. Nevertheless, he is portrayed positively in rabbinic literature.

וכיפה כנגד האוטם (and an arch corresponding to the foundation/substructure -filled with earth) – the feet of the arch that the arch is supported on them is called an אוטם/foundation. But the legs of the upper arch do not correspond with the legs of the lower [arch] but rather correspond to the arch itself, that opposite the upper foundation stands the lower cavity.

They made a ramp from the Temple Mount to the Mount of Olives, being constructed of arches above arches, each arch placed directly above each foundation [of the arch below] as a protection against a grave in the depths, whereby the priest who was to burn the cow, the cow itself and all who aided in its preparation went forth to the Mount of olives. Our mishnah describes a special ramp that was made leading from the Temple Mount to the Mount of Olives. The ramp was constructed with a series of arches in its walkway with an empty space underneath each archway. Furthermore, the ramp was multi-layered such that each archway was above the foundation of the archway below. This way the priest, the cow and all of the assistants would always be walking over an empty space. This would protect against that all pervasive fear of the "grave in the depths." [This is beginning to sound a bit like some sort of horror film!]

מפני קבר התהום – so that there would not be there pressed ritual impurity which bursts forth and rises.

ופרה וכל מסעדיה – those who support and aid it. It is the language of (Psalms 41:4): “The LORD will sustain him on his sickbed.” But even though the heifer is not susceptible to receive defilement while alive, they made a greater preference with it.

ולא אדומה – they would not remove another red cow/heifer with her on the ramp/causeway.

If the cow refused to go out, they may not take out with it a black one lest people say, "They slaughtered a black cow" nor another red [cow] lest people say, "They slaughtered two." Rabbi Yose says: it was not for this reason but because it is said "And he shall bring her out" by herself. Normally, if a cow refuses to go somewhere, its owners would find a more obedient cow to go with it. However, in the case of the red cow, this is not allowed lest the people seeing the second cow, be it black or red, think that they either slaughtered two red cows or that they are going to slaughter a black cow. Rabbi Yose says that the reason for this prohibition is that the Torah implies that they should bring out the red cow alone.

שלא יאמרו שתים שחטו – for the All-Merciful said (Numbers 19:3): “[You shall give] it (i.e., one cow) [to Eleazar the priest. It shall be taken outside the camp [and slaughtered in his presence],” but not her and her fellow [cow].

The elders of Israel used to go first by foot to the Mount of Olives, where there was a place of immersion. The elders would go to the Mount of Olives by foot. They would not ride on animals to show how enthusiastic they were to see the performance of this mitzvah.

ובית טבילה היה שם – and that same house for immersion also was hollow on top of arches because of the grave in the depth (i.e., a covered-up uncleanness discovered). But even the place of its pile of wood on the altar of the Temple and its pit that are taught further on (see Mishnayot 9 and 10 of this chapter), all of them were on top of arches.

The priest that was to burn the cow was ( made unclean on account of the Sadducees so that they should not be able to say, "It can be done only by those on whom the sun has set." This section introduces a big debate between the Pharisees and the Sadducees. Concerning a person who has had contact with a sheretz (a creepy crawly thing) Leviticus 22:7 states, "And the sun will set and he will be pure." This seems to imply that a person is not pure until he has immersed in the mikveh and then the sun has subsequently set. However, the Pharisees/rabbis believed that once a priest immersed in the mikveh he is pure enough to perform the red cow ceremony. To demonstrate that this is true, they would intentionally defile the priest (with a one-day form of impurity) and then have him immerse. He would now be in the category of "tvul yom" a person who has immersed but has not yet had the sun set for him. This was a demonstrative act against the Sadducees who abhorred such a practice. One interpretation of this debate that makes sense to me is that the Pharisees wanted to diminish the power of the sun in matters of ritual purity due to the fact that other Jews of the time used a solar calendar. By making purity depend upon the setting of the sun, it was as if they gave purifying power to the sun itself. In response, the Pharisees limited this notion, and created the category of the tvul yom.

ומטמאים היו את הכהן – in that they would place their hands upon him, as it is taught in the Mishnah further on (see Mishnah 8 of this chapter), through this he would become defiled, for the clothes of those who consume Holy Things are unclean through treading/leaning against to the heifer of a sin-offering. But Maimonides explained that they would defile him with a creeping thing or with other defiling things that defile with ritual impurity until the evening.

במעורבי שמש היתה נעשית – that they (i.e., the Sadducees) would expound (Numbers 19:9): “A man who is pure shall gather up [the ashes of the cow and deposit them outside the camp in a pure place, to be kept for water of lustration for the Israelite community],” there isn’t someone pure other than someone whose sun has set, and similarly it states (Leviticus 22:7): “As soon as the sun sets, he shall be pure, [and afterward he may eat of the sacred donations , for they are his food].” But the Sages received the teaching that [the word] “pure” that is stated in the portion of the sin-offering (I.e., Numbers 19:9, see above) it is stated is pure for tithes, which is a טבול יום/one who immersed himself that day.

אישי כהן גדול- because that sometimes it is done through the High Priest, but any Kohen is fit/appropriate for it, whether with the Kohen Gadol whether with a Deputy High Priest or whether with a common Kohen.

Introduction Our mishnah continues the description of the ritual of the burning of the cow.

ונסתפק (dried himself off) – and wiped himself off.

They laid their hands upon him and said, "My Lord the high priest, perform immersion once." The elders lay their hands on the high priest, telling him to go immerse to prepare for the burning of the red cow. Two notes are in order. 1) This is again similar to the Yom Kippur ritual (see 1:3). 2) This ceremony need not be performed by the high priest. It seems that by according it to him, the ceremony received greater prominence.

עצים – to make from them a pile of wood on the altar in the Temple for burning. They were set up/laid out there.

He went down and immersed himself and came up and dried himself. He needed to immerse because they had intentionally defiled him.

וארנים (pines, cedar) – it is the language of “Or plants firs, and the rain makes them grow” that is stated in Isaiah (44:14), and it is a species of cedar, and also cypress. And all of these trees are considered preferable from the rest of the trees for the needs of their burning.

Different kinds of wood were set in order there: cedar wood, pine, spruce and the wood of smooth fig trees. They made it in the shape of a tower and opened air holes in it; and its foreside was turned towards the west. The wood was set to burn the cow. It was made into a tower with air holes so that it would burn more effectively. The wood was set up facing the Temple (which was to the west), meaning it was in rows going from west to east, with the front of the wood towards the west.

כמין מגדל – wide from the bottom and narrow from the top.

פותחין בהן חלונות – to bring in through them the fire to kindle the wood.

וחזיתה מערבה – the face of the pile of wood on the altar in the Temple and its appearance, and it is the place that ignites the fire with kindling wood, he would face to the western side, that is, towards the Temple, as the Temple was to west of the Mount of Olives.

בחבל של מגג (rope made of a species of reed) – rope made from a species of reed-grass. In order that all of it actions in the matter will be that it is not susceptible to receive defilement.

They bound it with a rope of reed and placed it on the pile with its head towards the south and its face towards the west. The cow is now bound up and placed on the pile of wood. Its head is facing south and its face is to be turned to the west, towards the Temple.

ופניה למערב – to the side of the Temple.

The priest stood in the east with his face towards the west. He slaughtered with his right hand and received the blood with his left. Rabbi Judah said: he received the blood with his right hand and put it in his left hand. The priest stands on the eastern side of the cow, facing the Temple as well. He slaughters the animal with his right hand and then receives the blood into a vessel held in his left. Rabbi Judah says he receives the blood with his right hand and then puts the vessel into his left. This seems to be a preference for doing the important actions, which include the receiving of the blood, with his right hand.

ר' יהודה אומר בימינו היה מקבל – like the rest of the reception of the blood of Holy Things that if he received it in his left [hand], it is invalid. But the Halakha is not according to Rabbi Yehuda, for since its blood is not sprinkled on the Altar it is not like the other Holy Things in this matter.

He sprinkled with his right. Seven times he dipped his finger in the blood and sprinkled it towards the Holy of Holies, dipping once again for each sprinkling. He sprinkles the blood 7 times towards the Holy of Holies. This is stated explicitly in Numbers 19:4.

ונזה בימינו – as it is written (Numbers 19:4): “Eleazar the priest shall take some of its blood with his finger [and sprinkle it seven times toward the front of the Tent of Meeting],” the usual that is of fingers, meaning to say, the finger of the right hand that a person handles with it always.

When he finished the sprinkling he wiped his hand on the body of the cow, came down and kindled the fire with wood chips. Rabbi Akiva said: with dry branches of palm-trees. He needs to clean off his bloody hand on the cow itself so that the blood can be burned with the fire. Numbers 19:5 specifically states that the blood must be burned.

כנגד בית קודש הקדשים – as it is written (Numbers 19:4): “and sprinkle It [seven times] towards the front of the Tent of Meeting.”

על כל הזייה טבילה – on each sprinkling that he would make, he would immerse his finger in the blood, that the remainder of the blood that is on his finger is invalid for sprinkling.

גמר מלהזות קינח ידו בגופה של פרה – in order that he would burn the blood with It, as it is written (Numbers 19:5): “The cow shall be burned in his sight – its hide, flesh, and blood shall be burned,” and between sprinkling to sprinkling, he would wipe his finger in the rim of the bowl out of which the sprinkling is done, but not in the body of the cow, because of cords/string that were attached on his finger that it is a disgrace to do sprinkling with them.

אליתות (wood of the fig-tree) - small pieces of wood that they kindle the pile of wood on the altar. [The word] אליתות is the language of fat-tail. Like (Isaiah 7:4): “[Do not be afraid and do not lose heart on account of those two] smoking stubs of firebrands.”

בחריות (dried branches, twigs used for fuel) – vine-shoots of palm-trees. But the Halakha is not according to Rabbi Akiba.

נבקעת – the cow/heifer [burst open] on account of the fire. But if it didn’t burst open, he doesn’t [take the cedar wood, hyssop and scarlet wool], as it is written (Numbers 19:6): “into the fire consuming the cow,” but not prior to the fire is attached to most of it, but not after it becomes ash. And the same law applies if he tore it with a knife after the fire became attached to most of it.

It burst and he stood outside its pit and he took the cedar wood, hyssop and scarlet wool. Once the cow burst due to the heat of the fire, the priest would take the cedar wood, hyssop and scarlet wool into his hand so that he could throw them into the fire (see Numbers 19:6).

ועמד – the Kohen.

He said to them, "Is this cedarwood? Is this cedarwood?" "Is this hyssop? Is this hyssop?" "Is this scarlet wool? Is this scarlet wool?" Three times he repeated each question and they answered him "Yes, yes" three times to each question. The thrice-repeated formula is meant to give great publicity to the ceremony, as is done with the Omer (barley offering) according to Menahot 10:3. In my opinion this is part of the polemic against the Sadducees (see mishnah 7). The Pharisees/rabbis have to prove that they take this ceremony with utmost gravity in order to balance out their leniency that the red cow ritual can be performed by a priest who is a "tvul yom" someone who has been to the mikveh but has not waited till sundown to become pure.

חוץ מגיתה – a hole that was in the ground like a vat/marked off space for the burning of the cow/heifer, and when he would cast the cedar woo, hyssop and scarlet wool, he needs to stand outside that particular hole.

עץ ערז – a bundle that there is in it cedar wood and hyssop tied up with scarlet wool.

עץ ערז זה - because there are man species that are similar to cedar and are not kosher/fit, therefore, one must announce that this what the Torah commanded about. And similarly with the hyssop. And similarly with the scarlet wool. And hyssop is what they call in Arabic ZATAR. And scarlet wool is wool that is dyed with color that is called in Aramac KARMAZ and in the foreign language KARMAZI.

כרכן – to the cedar wood and hyssop with remnants of the strip of wool that was dyed in the scarlet wool which was long, and with what remained from it on the cedar wood and the hyssop, he would bind all three of them together, in order that they would have weight and would fall into burning of the cow, but not flame would not retain the strip. But if he didn’t bind them and he (i.e., the Kohen) cast each of one of them separately, it is fit/kosher.

Introduction The final mishnah of this chapter concludes the description of the burning of the red cow.

בכברות של אבן (stone sieves) – stones that are perforated with thin holes like a sieve. But the Halakha is not according to Rabbi Yishmael.

He then wrapped them together with the remains of the strip of wool and cast them into the fire. After demonstrably ensuring that the cedarwood, hyssop and scarlet wool were what they were supposed to be (see yesterday's mishnah), the priest would use the extra wool to bind them up and cast them into the fire (see Numbers 19:6).

שחור שיש בו אפר – charcoal that if they pounded/crushed it, it would make ash.

When it was burnt up they would beat it with sticks and then sift it with sieves. Rabbi Ishmael says: this was done with stone hammers and stone sieves. The next steps taken ensured that everything that was in the fire was actually burned. They would beat the fire with sticks and then sift through it to make sure the ashes were fine. Rabbi Ishmael says that this was done with stone instruments which are not susceptible to impurity.

כותשין אותו- but if it doesn’t return like ash, we leave it.

If there was a black coal on which there were some ashes they would crush it but if there were no [ashes] they would leave it. A bone was crushed in either case. Coals that had ashes remaining on them were crushed up so that the ashes would be part of the final product. Bones were crushed up even if they didn't have ashes remaining on them.

בין כך ובין כך – whether it comes back as ash or whether it doesn’t come back as ash.

It was then divided into three parts: one part was deposited on the hel, one on the Mount of Olives, and one was divided among the priestly watches. The ashes of the red cow (and the other materials) were then split and divided into three places. The first is the "hel" an area right outside the courtyard where the ashes were placed into the water to purify the priest who was to burn the next cow (see mishnah three). The second part was placed on the Mount of Olives. This part was not used (at least not on a regular basis). The third part was given out to the priestly watches who would use it to purify any Israelite who needed this type of purification.

חולקין אותו לשלשה חלקים – after they have sifted all of the ash, whether it is ash of the cow/heifer, whether it is the ash of the wood that was burned with it, we divide the ash into three parts.

אחד ניתן בחיל – for preventative measures, as it is written (Numbers 19:9): “[A man who is pure shall gather up the ashes of the cow and deposit them outside the camp in a pure place,] to be kept for water of lustration for the Israelite community.” (see Mishnah Middot 2:3 for the purpose of the חיל )

ואחד ניתן בהר המשחה – and there the Kohanim would sanctify.

ואחד היה מתחלק לכל המשמרות – and from it, they would sprinkle all of Israel.