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Week 30 - Wednesday - 21 June 2000

YOMA: CHAPTER 3 : MISHNA 9

He came to the east side of the Temple Courtyard, to the north of the Altar, the Segan to his right and the head of the father's house to his left. And two goats were there, and an urn was there with two lots in it. They were of boxwood, and Ben Gamla made them of gold, and they would remember him with praise.

Kehati

He - the High Priest, Came - after having made confession over his bullock, to the east side of the Temple Courtyard - i.e., he went out from the place between the Ulam and the Altar where he had made his confession, and he went to the east side of the Temple Courtyard, facing the opening of the Temple Courtyard, to the north of the Altar, the Segan - the priest whom they prepared to replace him if he became unfit, to his right and the head of the father's house to his left - the priests were divided into twenty-four guards, a different guard serving in the Temple each week; each guard was divided into six "father's houses," corresponding to the six weekdays: each day a different father's house would serve, while on Shabbat the entire guard would serve together (see above). The mishnah states that the head of the father's house for that day was on his left.

And two goats - he-goats, as it is written, regarding the Yom Kippur service, "And he shall take from the congregation of the children of Israel two he-goats for a hatat...And he shall take the two goats, and set them before the Lord at the door of the Tent of Meeting. And Aaron shall cast lots upon the two goats: one lot for the Lord, and the other lot for Azazel" (Lev. 16:5-8), were there - in the eastern part of the Temple Courtyard, north of the Altar, and an urn - a small wooden box,

Was there with two lots in it - as it is written in the above-mentioned Biblical passage. They were of boxwood - the term used in the mishnah, eshkero'a, is Targum Yonatan's translation of the Biblical term te'ashur (see Isa. 41:19; 60:13), and Yehoshua Ben Gamla - when he was appointed High Priest - made them - the lots, of gold - in honor of the day, and they would remember him with praise - for this deed.

YOMA: CHAPTER 3 : MISHNA 10

Ben Katin made twelve spigots for the laver which before had only two; and he also made a machine for the laver, so that its water should not become unfit by remaining overnight. King Munbaz made all the handles of the utensils of Yom Kippur of gold. His mother Helena made a golden candlestick over the door of the Heikhal; and she also made a gold tablet, upon which the passage of the sotah was written. Miracles befell the gates of Nicanor, and he was remembered with praise.

Kehati

Incidental to the last section of the preceding mishnah, this mishnah and the next continue to tell of individuals who made something new for the Temple, and who were remembered either favorably or unfavorably for their deeds.

Ben Katin - who was a High Priest, made twelve spigots for the laver - in the Temple, in which the priests would wash their hands and their feet (Ex. 30:18-21), which before had only two - spigots. A baraita quoted in the Gemara explains that he made twelve spigots so that the twelve priests occupied with the tamid sacrifice (i.e., those who won in the second lottery - see 2:3, above) could all sanctify their hands and their feet at the same time. Though the mishnah (ibid.) lists thirteen priests, one of them was the slaughterer, and he did not require sanctification of his hands and of his feet, since the slaughtering could be performed by a nonpriest; and he - Ben Katin,

Also made a machine - a wooden wheel, for - by means of which - the laver could be lowered into the cistern (Rashi; Bartenura), so that its water would not become unfit by remaining overnight - for the laver is a vessel dedicated to the Temple service, and anything that is sanctified in such a vessel becomes unfit by remaining overnight; as a consequence of this law, every morning they had to pour out the water of the laver and fill it with fresh water. By means of this machine, however, the water in the laver was connected with the water in the cistern, and did not become unfit. According to one interpretation, the "machine" was a vessel from which the water flowed into the laver, as needed, and the water did thus not become unfit by remaining overnight in this vessel, because it was not a vessel dedicated to the Temple service (Rambam; Hameiri; see Hasagat Haravad on Rambam, Hil. Bet ha-Behirah 3:18).

King Munbaz - the king of Adiabene (a country in northern Mesopotamia), who converted to Judaism together with his mother Helena several decades before the destruction of the Second Temple (see Bereshit Rabba 46:8; B. B. 11a), made all the handles of the utensils of Yom Kippur of gold - the Gemara explains that this refers to utensils the body of which could not be made of gold, such as knifes and spades, and the mishnah therefore relates that their handles were made of gold.

His mother Helena made a golden candlestick over the door of the Heikhal - the Gemara quotes a baraita: "When the sun was shining, sparkling rays came from it, and everyone knew that the time for reciting the Shema Yisrael had arrived," i.e., the candlestick would sparkle and flash from the rays of the rising sun, and the residents of Jerusalem would thereby know that the time for reciting the Shema Yisrael had arrived, the obligation of which begins with the first sparklings of the rising sun (Rashi);

And she also made a gold tablet, upon which the passage of the sotah was written - so that, when necessary, the priest could copy from it the scroll of the sotah (a married woman suspected of infidelity, who had been formally warned by her husband), as it is written, "And the priest shall write these curses in a scroll, and he shall blot them out with the 'bitter water' (Num. 5:23), and they would not need to bring the Torah scroll there. Miracles befell the gates of Nicanor - a baraita quoted in the Gemara relates that Nicanor went to Alexandria in Egypt to bring doors for the gates of the Temple, and he made there two brass-coated doors of cypress wood, and when he returned from there with the doors in a ship, a great storm arose and threatened to sink the boat with is passengers. They took one of the doors and cast it into the sea, in order to lighten the ship's load; and when the storm did not abate, they wanted to cast the second one into the sea as well. Nicanor stood up, clasped the door in his arms, and said to them, "If you cast it, cast me with it into the sea"; the sea immediately calmed down. Nicanor was extremely distressed about the other door. When the ship reached the port in Akko, the first door burst out from under the sides of the ship. These doors were placed in the Eastern Gate of the Temple courtyard, facing the entrance to the Heikhal. The baraita relates that "all the gates which were in the Temple were changed for golden ones except for the Nicanor Gates, because of the miracle wrought with them," and he was remembered - another version reads "they were," i.e., all the people mentioned in this mishnah, with praise - for the things they did.

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