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YOMA: CHAPTER 5 : MISHNA 4

Kehati

Rabbi Yehudah says, There was only one stand there - upon which he first placed the blood of the bullock, and when he came out with the bowl containing the blood of the he-goat, he took the blood of the bullock - from the stand, and set down the blood of the goat - upon that stand (the commentators, following the Gemara, explain thus, considering the clause "he took the blood of the bullock..." to be the conclusion of Rabbi Yehudah's statement). According to the opinion of the First Tanna, however, he first placed the blood of the he-goat on the second stand, and afterwards he took the blood of the bullock (Melekhet Shelomo);

And he sprinkled from it - from the blood of the bullock, on the curtain opposite the Ark outside - i.e., in the Sanctuary, opposite the place of the Ark which was in the Holy of Holies, one upwards and seven downwards, and he would not intend - to sprinkle, either upwards or downwards, but rather as though wielding a whip. And thus he would count - "One, one and one, one and two,..." He took the blood of the he-goat and set down the blood of the bullock - i.e., according to the opinion of Rabbi Yehudah that there was only one stand there, he first took the blood of the he-goat from the stand, and afterwards placed on the same stand the blood of the bullock, which was in his hands. According, however, to the opinion of the Sages that there were two stands there, he first placed the blood of the bullock, and then took the blood of the he-goat. According to Rashash, this mishnah follows the opinion of the Sages, too, and "and he set down" means, and he had already set down, i.e., he took the blood of the he-goat after he had already set down the blood of the bullock (the preceding section of the mishnah: "He took the blood of the bullock and set down the blood of the goat" can be interpreted similarly - he took the blood of the bullock after he had set down the blood of the he-goat on the second stand);

And he sprinkled from it - from the blood of the he-goat, on the curtain opposite the Ark outside - as he had sprinkled from the blood of the bullock, one upwards and seven downwards, etc. - as it is written, "And so shall he do for the Tent of Meeting" (Lev. 16:16), from which it was learned that just as he sprinkles in the Holy of Holies, so he sprinkles in the Sanctuary: just as he sprinkles in the Holy of Holies once upwards and seven downwards from the blood of the bullock and once upwards and seven downwards from the blood of the he-goat, so does he sprinkle in the Sanctuary (Yoma 56b). He poured the blood of the bullock into the blood of the he-goat - as it is written, "and he shall take of the blood of the bullock, and of the blood of the goat" (ibid., v. 18), i.e., from the blood of both together (Gemara, ibid.), And he put the full one into the empty one - once again he poured all the mixed blood, from the full bowl (of the blood of the he-goat), into the empty bowl (of the blood of the bullock), so as to mix the blood well.

YOMA: CHAPTER 5 : MISHNA 5

Kehati

He began to sprinkle downwards - he sprinkles on the corners of the Altar and cleanses it, while going round the Altar from corner to corner; the Tanna says "to sprinkle downwards" because he put the blood on each corner from the top downward since he was doing it standing before it, and if he had sprinkled the blood upwards, it would have run down on his arm and soiled his garments (Rashi; Bartenura). The word mehate actually means to cleanse, as in the passage, "and he cleansed [va-yehate] the Altar" (Lev. 8:15; similarly, the Torah states regarding the subject under discussion here, "and cleanse it, and sanctify it from the uncleannesses of the children of Israel" (Lev. 16:19).

From where - from which corner, does he begin? From the northeast horn - according to Rashi, this mishnah follows the opinion of Rabbi Yose, who holds (mishnah 5:1; above) that there was only one curtain between the Sanctuary and the Holy of Holies, and it was clasped on its north side, to the right of the person entering, and when the High Priest completed the sprinklings in the inner Sanctuary, and went out by the north, he first encountered the northwest corner of the Altar, where he could not begin, for it is written, "And he shall go out to the altar," meaning, that he has to go out to the other side of the Altar, outside. He therefore goes to the northeast corner and begins to sprinkle there, and then, moving right, he returns to the northwest corner, and sprinkles on it; afterwards he comes to the southwest corner and sprinkles on it; and he concludes with the southeast corner (see Tosefot Yom Tov).

Where he begins the sprinkling on the outer Altar - in the Temple Courtyard, i.e., at the southeast horn, as has been taught: "The slaughtering of the public and private sin-offerings…were slaughtered on the north side…and their blood required to be sprinkled with four acts of sprinkling on the four horns. How? He went up on the ramp and turned to go around the circuit and he came to the southeastern horn, etc." (Zev.. 5:3), from there - another version reads, "there," i.e., in this corner, he - the High Priest, completes- the four sprinklings of purifications of the blood of the inner Sanctuary, on the corners of the inner Altar - which was in the Sanctuary.

Rabbi Eliezer says, He stood in his place and sprinkled - the High Priest did not go from corner to corner, rather he would stand at the northeast corner, and from there he would sprinkle on all the corners according to the above order, for the dimensions of the Golden Altar were only one amah by one amah. And on all of them - the corners, he sprinkled - the blood, from below upwards - he would turn his hand and sprinkle with his finger from below upwards, except on this one - the northeast corner, which was in front of him - before which he stood, for on it he would give from above downwards - for the reason explained above in the case of the First Tanna, namely that if he were to give the blood on this horn, in front of which he was standing, from below upwards, the blood would drip onto his arm and soil his garments. In the case of the three other corners, however, this would not happen, since they were not close to him, and he could sprinkle on them from below upwards.

Regarding the order of the sprinklings on the horns of the Altar, we have cited the commentary of Rashi, followed by Bartenura - according to which this mishnah follows the opinion of Rabbi Yose. According, however, to Rabbi Yose's opponent who hold that there were two curtains there and the High Priest went out into the Sanctuary through the southern clasped part, he would first come to the southwest corner, and since he had to stand outside the Altar, he would go to the southeast corner and begin there, and then he would return to the southwest corner, because he passed it first, and from there to the northwest corner, and he would conclude at the northeast corner (Gemara). Some authorities, however, have difficulty with this, for Rambam writes that there were two curtains, contrary to Rabbi Yose's view (Hil. Kilei ha-Mikdash 7:16), while regarding sprinkling on the horns of the Altar he rules in accordance with this mishnah, that he begins from the northeast horn (Hil. Ma'aseh ha-Korbanot 5:14; Hil. Avodat Yom ha-Kippurim 4:2). Attempts were therefore made to interpret this mishnah also in accordance with the Tanna who holds that there were two curtains there (see Tosefot Yom Tov). Similarly, the author of Tosafot Yeshanim also writes that this mishnah also follows the opinion that there were two curtains and that he went out to the Sanctuary through the clasp on the southern side, and since he had to go right outside the outer Altar, he found himself standing to the east of the Altar, facing west, and since, according to the rule, he had to go around to the right, he began at the northeast corner (see Tosefot Rabbi Akiva Eiger).

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