Today’s Daf is dedicated by Yechiel Berkowicz in honor of his mother’s yahrzeit and in loving memory of Sara F. Berkowicz. Sara was a survivor of the Holocaust and valued Jewish education.
Nechunia was a well digger to make sure there was water for those coming to the Temple. His son died of thirst. How could this be? The gemara explains that God is very exacting with the more righteous. A similar story is told of a pious person whose daughter but the ending was different as she was saved. Does the word “gever” mean rooster or man? Can it be proven from our mishna? The family Garmu and the family Avtinas – each kept their specialty a secret – how to prepare the showbread and the incense. The rabbis were not pleased with them and tried to fire them and hire others to do it. However, they were unsuccessful and had to rehire them for double the wages. Did they pass on the secret even after the destruction? Even though the rabbis weren’t pleased with them, there was something for which they were both mentioned positively – that they made sure not to arouse suspicion about using what they learned regarding the Temple for the own personal use. What was the hierarchy in the Temple regarding handling money to ensure that there was no misappropriation of funds? How would one purchase libations in the Temple? What was done to prevent deceit?
