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Week 32 - Monday - 3 July 2000

YOMA: CHAPTER 7 : MISHNA 1

The High Priest came to read. If he wanted to read in the linen garments - he read, and if not - he read in his own white garment. The beadle of the synagogue took a Torah scroll and gave it to the head of the synagogue, and the head of the synagogue gave it to the Segan, and the Segan gave it to the High Priest, and the High Priest stood and received it and read standing, and he read "After the death of…" and "Howbeit on the tenth day." And he rolled up the Torah scroll and placed it in his lap, and he said, "More than what I read before you is written here." "And on the tenth day" which is in the Book of Numbers he recited by heart, and he pronounced eight blessings over it: for the Torah, and for the service, and for the thanksgiving, and for the pardoning of the sin, and for the Temple separately, and for Israel separately (and for Jerusalem separately), and for the priests separately, and for the rest of the prayer.

Kehati

The High Priest came - to the women's section in the Temple Inner Court, to read - from the Torah the portion for the day. If he wanted to read in the linen garments - the white garments in which he performed the service until then, he read - he could do so and if he did not - want to read in the white garments, he read in his own white garment - a type of long cloak. The reason, as the Gemara explains, is because the reading is not part of the service, but he is also permitted to read in the white garments, because the priestly vestments may be put to private use, and he may wear them in the Temple, even when not performing any service.

The beadle of the synagogue - which was next to the Temple Courtyard on the Temple Mount; the term hazan is derived from the root la-hazot, "to see," because he had to see to the needs of the public and to make all preparations, took a Torah scroll - from the synagogue, and gave it to the head of the synagogue - the officer in charge of all synagogue matters, such as who should conduct the service, read in the Torah, recite the Haftarah, etc., and the head of the synagogue gave it to the Segan - the Deputy High Priest, who would replace him if he were to become unfit (see the beginning of the Tractate), and the Segan gave it to the High Priest - all this was designed to enhance the prestige of the High Priest, who was being attended by all these officers, in keeping with the verse, "In the multitude of people is the king's glory" (Prov. 14:28),

And the High Priest stood and received it - the Torah scroll, from the Segan , and read standing - up; the Gemara concludes from this that up to then he had been sitting. It follows that he read in the women's section in the Temple Inner Court, for the law lays down that only the kings of the Davidic line may sit in the Temple Inner Court (hence the comment on "The high Priest came," above), and he read - in the Torah scroll, "After the death of..." - the Torah section of the Yom Kippur service (Lev. 16:1-34), and "Howbeit on the tenth day" - the Torah section of the Festivals, in the weekly portion of Emor (Lev. 23:26-32). Although he had to roll the Torah scroll from "After the death of..." to the section of the Festivals, and it is disrespectful to keep the public waiting, nevertheless, since the two passages are near one another, it could be rolled while the interpreter was explaining last verse of "After the death of..." After he read "Howbeit on the tenth day" he still had to read "And on the tenth day of this seventh month" (Num. 29:7-11), but since it takes long to roll from "Although on the tenth day" to "And on the tenth day," the High Priest stops reading from the Torah scroll, out of respect for the public. And - after the reading of "Howbeit on the tenth day," he rolled up the Torah scroll and placed it in his lap - under his arm, and he said - to the people, "More than what I read before you is written here" - lest the people suspect that this section is missing from the Torah scroll, he informs the public that the Torah scroll in his hand is complete, and what he is about to recite by heart is also written in it. The passage, "and on the tenth day - of this seventh month," which is written in the Book of Numbers - the standard Hebrew name for this book is Bamidbar; the mishnah calls it "the Book of Pekudim" (which also means "numbers") because of its opening passage, "From twenty years old and upward...you shall number [tifkedu] them," he recited by heart - for the above-mentioned reason,

And he pronounced the following eight blessings over it - over his reading in the Torah: for the Torah - the blessings before and after reading the Torah, (which are accounted as one blessing - Hameiri), as they are recited in the synagogue; and for the service - the blessing, "Be pleased, O Lord our God," which he concludes with "Who chooses the service of His people Israel with mercy"; and for the thanksgiving - "We thank you," as in the Shemoneh Esreh prayer; and for the pardoning of the sin - the blessing "Forgive us," which he concludes with "Who pardons the sins of His people Israel with mercy" (Jer. Talmud); and for the Temple separately - a special blessing for the Temple, that it may be rebuilt in its place and that the Divine Presence may dwell within it, and he concludes, "Who dwells in Zion" (ibid.); and for Israel separately - that the Lord should not remove His Presence from Israel, and he concludes, "Who quoted in the Gemara this clause is omitted; and for the priests separately - that the Lord may be pleased to accept their sacrifices, and he concludes, "Who sanctifies the priests" (ibid.);

And for the rest of the prayer - a supplication and pleas for the people of Israel who are in need of salvation, and he concludes, "Blessed are You, O Lord, Who hears prayer" (a baraita, Yoma 70a).

YOMA: CHAPTER 7 : MISHNA 2

He who sees the High Priest when he reads does not see the bullock and the goat that are burned; and he who sees the bullock and the goat that are burned does not see the High Priest when he reads. And not because he was not permitted, but because the distance was great, and the two acts were performed at the same time.

Kehati

This mishnah teaches that the service of the burning of the bullock and the goat and the reading of the Torah passages of the day by the High Priest were performed at the same time and whoever wanted to watch the burning of the bullock and the goat was permitted to leave the reading of the passages and to go to the place of the burning.

He who sees the High Priest when he reads - in the Torah the passages of the day does not see the bullock and the goat that are burned - when they are being burned outside Jerusalem (see 6:7, above); and he who sees the bullock and the goat that are burned does not see the High Priest when he reads - as the mishnah goes on to explain: And not because he - a person, was not permitted - to leave one service and go to see another, since it is prohibited to displace one obligation by another, and watching the performance of the service is a mitzvah in keeping with the verse, "In the multitude of people is the king's glory" (Prov. 14:28); this is not so in this case, because the principle of passing over a mitzvah does not apply when a person's sole involvement in the performance of a mitzvah consists of watching it and he is permitted to leave the watching of one service to watch another. The reason he cannot engage in both is therefore not because it is forbidden but because the distance was great - between them, for the bullock and the goat were burned outside Jerusalem,

And the two acts were performed at the same time - and it was therefore impossible to watch both of them.

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