Tamid 28

שלום עליך ניכר שהוא ישן חובטו במקלו ורשות היתה לו לשרוף את כסותו והם אומרים מה קול בעזרה קול בן לוי לוקה ובגדיו נשרפין שישן לו על משמר רבי אליעזר בן יעקב אומר פעם אחת מצאו את אחי אמי ישן ושרפו את כסותו

Peace be upon you. If he would not reply, it was evident that he was sleeping. The man of the Temple Mount would therefore strike him with his staff, and he even had license to burn the watchman’s garment, in order to discipline him. And those overhearing the watchman being rebuked would say to one another: What is that sound in the Temple courtyard? It is the sound of a Levite being flogged and having his clothing burned, as he was caught sleeping during his watch. Rabbi Eliezer ben Ya’akov says: Once, the supervisors found my mother’s brother sleeping on his watch, and they burned his garment.

אמר רבי חייא בר אבא כי מטי רבי יוחנן בהא מתניתא אמר הכי אשריהם לראשונים שאפילו על אונס שינה עושין דין שלא על אונס שינה על אחת כמה וכמה

Rabbi Ḥiyya bar Abba says: When Rabbi Yoḥanan would reach this mishna in his studies, he would say this: The early generations were praiseworthy, as they meted out judgment even in the case of an offense caused by unavoidable sleep; and all the more so would they mete out judgment in the case of offenses that were not caused by unavoidable sleep.

תניא רבי אומר איזו היא דרך ישרה שיבור לו האדם יאהב את התוכחות שכל זמן שתוכחות בעולם נחת רוח באה לעולם טובה וברכה באין לעולם ורעה מסתלקת מן העולם שנאמר ולמוכיחים ינעם ועליהם תבא ברכת טוב ויש אומרים יחזיק באמונה יתירה שנאמר עיני בנאמני ארץ לשבת עמדי וגו׳

It is taught in a baraita that Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi says: Which way of life is an upright path that a person should select for himself; what should be his guiding principle? One should love admonition, for as long as statements of admonition from the wise are heard in the world, pleasantness comes into the world, goodness and blessing come into the world, and evil departs from the world, as it is stated: “But to those who admonish shall be delight, and a good blessing shall come upon them” (Proverbs 24:25). And some say: The path one should select is to adhere to utmost faithfulness in business and interpersonal relations, as it is stated: “My eyes are upon the faithful of the land, that they may dwell with Me; he who walks in a way of integrity, he shall serve Me” (Psalms 101:6).

אמר רבי שמואל בר נחמני אמר רבי יונתן כל המוכיח את חבירו לשם שמים זוכה לחלקו של הקדוש ברוך הוא שנאמר מוכיח אדם אחרי ולא עוד אלא שמושכין עליו חוט של חסד שנאמר חן ימצא ממחליק לשון

Rabbi Shmuel bar Naḥmani says that Rabbi Yonatan says: Anyone who rebukes another for the sake of Heaven is privileged to dwell in the portion of the Holy One, Blessed be He, as it is stated: “He that rebukes a man shall be behind Me” (Proverbs 28:23), i.e., with Me. Moreover, the heavenly court extends over him a cord of divine grace, as it is stated in the same verse: “He will find more favor than he who flatters with the tongue.”

מצאו נעול יודע וכו׳ מי שהוא רוצה לתרום את המזבח [וכו׳] הא גופא קשיא אמרת מי שהוא רוצה לתרום את המזבח משכים וטובל עד שלא יבא הממונה אלמא לאו בפייס תליא מילתא והדר תני יבא ויפייס אלמא בפייס תליא מילתא

§ The mishna teaches (26a): If one found the bathroom door closed, he would know that there was a person there. The mishna then describes the commencement of the daily service in the Temple: Whoever wants to remove the ashes from the altar rises early and immerses himself before the appointed priest arrives. The Gemara objects: This mishna itself is difficult. You first said: Whoever wants to remove the ashes from the altar rises early and immerses himself before the appointed priest arrives. Evidently, the matter of determining who removes the ashes is not dependent upon a lottery; rather, whoever is ready first is entitled to remove the ashes. Otherwise, only the one selected would then immerse. But afterward, the mishna teaches that the appointed priest says to the other priests: Whoever immersed may come and participate in the lottery. Evidently, the matter is dependent upon a lottery. How can this contradiction be resolved?

אמר אביי לא קשיא כאן קודם תקנה כאן לאחר תקנה

Abaye said: This is not difficult. Here, when the mishna indicates that whoever is ready first is entitled to remove the ashes, it is describing the procedure before the Sages enacted the ordinance of a lottery. There, when the mishna states that the appointed priest conducts a lottery, it is describing the procedure after they enacted the ordinance.

דתנן בראשונה כל מי שרוצה לתרום את המזבח תורם בזמן שהן מרובין רצין ועולין בכבש כל הקודם את חבירו בתוך ארבע אמות זכה היו שנים שוין הממונה אומר להם הצביעו

As we learned in a mishna (Yoma 22a): Initially, the practice was as follows: Whoever wants to remove the ashes from the altar removes them. When there are many priests who wish to perform that task, the matter is determined by a race: The priests run and ascend on the ramp leading to the top of the altar. Any priest who precedes the other and reaches within four cubits of the top of the altar first is privileged to remove the ashes. If two priests were equal and neither preceded the other, the appointed priest says to them: Raise your fingers, and a lottery is performed.

ומה הן מוציאין אחת או שתים ואין מוציאין גודל במקדש

And what fingers do they extend for the lottery? They may extend one or two fingers. The lottery was then conducted when the priests chose an arbitrary number, after which the appointee counted the raised fingers of the priests, who stood in a circle. He would go around the circle counting the fingers until he reached the chosen number, and the priest at whom the count ended won the lottery. And the priests do not extend a thumb in the Temple, as using the thumb might enable someone to manipulate the lottery. As the count progressed, a priest could calculate the result and surreptitiously extend his thumb and an additional finger. Since there is separation between the thumb and the forefinger it might appear as though they belonged to two different priests, and in this manner one could cause the lottery to conclude with a different priest.

מעשה שנים היו שוין רצין ועולין בכבש ודחף אחד מהם את חבירו ונשברה רגלו וכשראו בית דין שהיו באים לידי סכנה התקינו שלא יהו תורמין את המזבח אלא בפייס

The mishna continues: That used to be the procedure, but an incident occurred in which two priests were equal as they were running and ascending on the ramp; and one of them shoved the other and he fell, and his leg was broken. And when the court saw that people were coming to potential danger, they instituted that the priests would remove the ashes from the altar only by means of a lottery.

רבא אמר אידי ואידי לאחר תקנה והכי קתני מי שהוא רוצה לבא ולפייס משכים וטובל עד שלא יבא הממונה

Rava said: Both this clause, which states that to remove the ashes the priests must rise early and be prepared, and that clause, which states that a lottery is conducted, are describing the procedure after the ordinance. And this is what the mishna is teaching: Whoever wants to come and to participate in the lottery rises early and immerses before the appointed priest arrives to conduct the lottery among those priests who are ready to participate.

מתני׳ נטל את המפתח ופתח את הפשפש ונכנס מבית המוקד לעזרה ונכנסו הכהנים אחריו ושתי אבוקות של אור בידם

MISHNA: At some time near dawn the appointed priest took the key that was kept beneath a marble tablet set in the floor of the Chamber of the Hearth and opened with it the wicket [hapishpesh] in the gate of the Chamber of the Hearth. And he entered through the wicket from the Chamber of the Hearth to the Temple courtyard; and the priests of the patrilineal family entered after him, and two torches of fire were in their hands, to light the way.

נחלקו לשתי כיתות אלו מהלכין באכסדרה דרך מזרח ואלו מהלכין באכסדרה דרך מערב היו בודקין והולכים עד שמגיעים למקום עושה חביתים הגיעו אלו ואלו אמרו שלום הכל שלום העמידו עושה חביתים לעשות חביתים

The priests divided into two groups; these priests would walk along the portico that surrounded the Temple courtyard, starting in the direction of east, and those priests would walk along the portico starting in the direction of west.The priests would ensure that all the service vessels were in place, ready for use in the daily service. Both groups would continue inspecting the vessels until they reached the place where the Chamber of the Preparer of the High Priest’s daily Griddle-Cake Offering was located. When they reached that place, these priests and those priests said to each other: It is well; all is well, and all the vessels are in place. They then set the preparer of the griddle-cake offering to prepare the griddle-cake offering.

מי שזכה לתרום את המזבח הוא יתרום והם אומרים הוי זהיר שלא תגע בכלי עד שתקדש ידיך ורגליך מן הכיור והרי המחתה נתונה במקצוע בין הכבש למזבח במערבו של כבש

The priest who won the lottery to remove the ashes from the altar shall then remove the ashes. And the other priests say to him: Be careful that you do not touch the vessel with which you perform the rite until you sanctify your hands and your feet from the Basin, as a priest may not perform any service in the Temple before sanctifying his hands and feet. The priests would continue their reminders: The coal pan with which the ashes are removed is placed in the corner between the ramp and the altar, on the western side of the ramp.

אין אדם נכנס עמו ולא נר בידו אלא מהלך לאור המערכה לא היו רואין אותו

No person would enter with the priest who was removing the ashes, as it was permitted to enter the area between the Entrance Hall of the Sanctuary and the altar only when performing the Temple service. And there was no lamp in his hand when he went to fetch the coal pan. Rather, he would walk by the light of the arrangement of wood on the altar, upon which the portions of the offerings sacrificed the previous day were burned during the night. The other priests would not see him, as the altar hid him from their sight,

ולא היו שומעין את קולו עד שהיו שומעין קול העץ שעשה בן קטין מוכני לכיור והן אומרים הגיע עת קידש ידיו ורגליו מן הכיור נטל מחתת הכסף ועלה לראש המזבח

nor could they hear the sound of his steps. They were therefore unaware of his progress until they heard the sound of the wood that ben Katin crafted into a mechanism [mukhani] of pulleys that was used to sink the Basin into flowing water during the night, so that its water would not be disqualified by remaining overnight. When the priests heard the sound of the pulleys raising the Basin from the water, they said to each other: The time for sanctifying hands and feet has come. The priest sanctified his hands and his feet with water from the Basin after he raised it. He then took the silver coal pan from the corner between the ramp and the altar, and ascended to the top of the altar.

פינה את הגחלים הילך חותה את המאוכלות הפנימיות ירד הגיע לרצפה הפך פניו לצפון הולך במזרחו של כבש כעשר אמות צבר את הגחלים על גבי הרצפה רחוק מן הכבש שלשה טפחים מקום שנותנים מוראת העוף ודישון מזבח הפנימי ודישון המנורה

The priest cleared the upper layer of coals to this side and to that side and scooped into the coal pan the inner coals that were completely consumed. He then descended the ramp. When he reached the floor, in the southeast of the Temple courtyard, he turned his face toward the north. He would walk along the east side of the ramp toward the south side of the altar, walking a distance of about ten cubits from the bottom of the ramp, which was twenty cubits from the altar. He then heaped the coals upon the floor in a location three handbreadths distant from the ramp, in the place where the priests would place the crop of the bird burnt offering, the ashes removed from the inner, golden altar, and the ashes removed from the Candelabrum.

גמ׳ ומי הוו אכסדראות בעזרה והא תניא רבי אליעזר בן יעקב אומר מנין שאין עושין אכסדראות בעזרה תלמוד לומר לא תטע לך אשרה כל עץ אצל מזבח ה׳ אלהיך

GEMARA: The mishna teaches that the priests would walk along the portico surrounding the Temple courtyard. Since porticoes were usually made of wood, the Gemara asks: And were there porticoes in the courtyard? But isn’t it taught in a baraita that Rabbi Eliezer ben Ya’akov says: From where is it derived that one may not build wooden porticoes in the Temple courtyard? The verse states: “You shall not plant for yourself an ashera of any kind of tree beside the altar of the Lord your God” (Deuteronomy 16:21).

הכי קאמר לא תטע לך אשרה לא תטע לך כל עץ אצל מזבח ה׳ אלהיך אמר רב חסדא באכסדראות של בנין

The Gemara explains that this is what the verse is saying: You shall not plant for yourself an ashera, i.e., a tree used as part of idolatrous rites. Moreover, you shall not plant or otherwise place for yourself any kind of tree or wood beside the altar of the Lord your God. Rav Ḥisda says: The mishna is referring to porticoes made of building materials, i.e., stone, whereas the prohibition of erecting porticoes in the Temple courtyard applies only to porticoes of wood.

היו בודקין והולכין כו׳ למימרא דחביתין הוו קדימי

§ The mishna teaches: Both groups would continue inspecting the vessels until they reached the place where the Chamber of the Preparer of the Griddle-Cake Offering was located. They would then set the preparer of the Griddle-Cake Offering to prepare the griddle-cake offering. The Gemara asks: Is this to say that the griddle-cake offering was sacrificed before the other rites of the Temple service were performed?

והתניא מנין שאין דבר קודם לתמיד של שחר תלמוד לומר וערך עליה העלה ואמר רבה העלה עולה ראשונה אמר רב יהודה להחם חמין לרביכה

But isn’t it taught in a baraita: From where is it derived that there is nothing that is sacrificed on the altar prior to the daily morning offering? The verse states: “And the fire on the altar shall be kept burning on it, it shall not be extinguished; and the priest shall kindle wood upon it every morning, and he shall prepare the burnt offering upon it and shall cause the fats of the peace offerings to go up in smoke upon it” (Leviticus 6:5). And Rabba says that the term: The burnt offering, with the definite article, indicates that the burnt offering is important and is the first offering sacrificed each day. Rav Yehuda says: The griddle-cake offering was not burned on the altar at that early hour. Rather, it was necessary to set the preparers of the griddle-cake offering to heat hot water for preparing the parboiled griddle cakes.

הדרן עלך בשלשה מקומות

מתני׳ ראוהו אחיו שירד והם רצים ובאים מהרו וקדשו ידיהם ורגליהם מן הכיור נטלו את המגרפות ואת הצינורות ועלו לראש המזבח

MISHNA: The previous mishna described the performance of the removal of the ashes by the priest who was selected to perform this task. This mishna continues: The brethren of the priest who removed the ashes, i.e., the other members of the patrilineal family, saw that he had descended from the altar with the coal pan, and they would run and come to the Basin. They made haste and sanctified their hands and their feet with the water in the Basin, and then they took the shovels and the forks and ascended with them to the top of the altar. The shovels were for shoveling the ashes to the center of the altar, while the forks were required to remove from the altar those limbs that had not been consumed.

האברים והפדרים שלא נתעכלו מבערב סולקין אותן על צדי המזבח אם אין צדדים מחזיקין סודרים אותם בסובב על הכבש

With regard to the limbs of burnt offerings and the fats of other offerings that had not been consumed and burned to ashes during the time from the previous evening, the priests would clear them to the sides of the altar. If the remaining limbs and fats were so abundant that the sides of the altar were unable to hold them, the priests would arrange them on the ramp, opposite the surrounding ledge of the altar.

החלו מעלין באפר על גב תפוח תפוח היה באמצע המזבח פעמים שהיו עליו כשלש מאות כור וברגלים לא היו מדשנין אותו מפני שהוא נוי למזבח ומימיו

The priests then began raising the ashes onto the circular heap upon which the ashes were piled. The circular heap was in the middle of the altar. Sometimes there was as much as three hundred kor of ashes upon it. When the heap of ashes became excessively large, the priests would remove the ashes and pour them outside the city. But during the Festivals they would not remove the ashes from the altar, as the ashes were considered an adornment to the altar, since they were a sign of the great number of offerings that were sacrificed on it. In all the days of the altar, even when there was an abundance of ashes upon it,