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Week 81 - Wednesday - 13 June 2001

SOTAH: CHAPTER 7: MISHNAH 7

How so the blessings of the High Priest? The synagogue attendant would take a Torah scroll and hand it to the Head of the synagogue, and the Head of the synagogue would give it to the Deputy, and the Deputy would give it to the High Priest, and the High Priest would stand, receive it, and read it standing. And he would read, "After the death..." and "However, on the tenth day..." And he would roll up the Torah and place it in his bosom, and call out: more than I have read to you is written here. "And on the tenth..." which is in the Book of Numbers he would recite by heart, and would then utter eight blessings: for the Torah, for the Service, for the Thanksgiving, for the pardon of sin, and for the Temple and for Israel, and for the priests, and for the rest of the prayer.

Kehati

On Yom Kippur, once the service had ended, i.e., when the scapegoat had reached the wilderness, the High Priest would go to the Women's Courtyard and sit there until they brought him a Torah scroll. He would then stand up and read the relevant passages and recite eight blessings. Our mishnah elaborates the procedure of the reading and the blessings. Although this mishnah already appears in Tractate Yoma (7:1), it is repeated here in the context of the subjects that must be recited in the Holy Tongue. However, Tosefot Yom Tov comments: "There is no basis for assuming that the High Priest's blessing must be recited in Hebrew. Therefore, I submit, even in the case of the High Priest's blessing, the Sages were not concerned with these as such, but rather with the High Priest's Torah reading which must be in Hebrew. This requires no proof, as he reads from the Torah scroll, which is written in Hebrew…hence, he would evidently read in Hebrew. My contention is upheld by Rambam's ruling (Hil. Avodat Yom HaKippurim, end of chapter 3) which does not stipulate that these blessings be uttered in Hebrew." However, Hameiri comments: "All is recited in Hebrew, as is the law concerning the Priestly Blessing."

How so the blessings of the High Priest? - i.e., what was the substance of these blessings? The synagogue attendant - i.e., the shamash of the synagogue located on the Temple Mount near the Courtyard. His title hazan derives from the verb hazah (to see), since he must see to the needs of the congregation, would take a Torah scroll - from the synagogue, and hand it to the Head of the synagogue - who determines the synagogue proceedings, e.g., who leads the service, reads from the Torah, or the Haftarah, etc.;

and the Head of the synagogue would give it to the Deputy - chosen to replace the High Priest should the latter become disqualified,

and the Deputy would give it to the High Priest - this passing of the Torah scroll to one another was designed to enhance the honor of the High Priest, whom all those mentioned came to serve in fulfillment of the verse (Prov. 14:28) "In the multitude of people is the king's glory,"

and the High Priest would stand, receive it - the Torah scroll, from the Deputy, when standing - and read it standing - according to the Gemara, the mishnah's order "stand, receive it" implies that he was heretofore seated, which meant that he read in the Women's Courtyard, since no one may sit in the Temple Courtyard except kings of the Davidic Dynasty; And he - the priest, would read - from the Torah scroll "After the death..." i.e., from the section outlining the Yom Kippur Service (Lev. 16:1-34), and "However, on the tenth day..." - in the passage concerning the festivals (moadot) in the portion Emor (Lev. 23:26-32); even though the Torah scroll is rolled from "After the death..." to the Festivals text, and it is disrespectful to make the congregation wait, these passages are close enough to one another to enable the translator into Aramaic in the meantime to render the last verse of "After the death... ," although after "However on the tenth day," the High Priest ought to read "And on the tenth day of the seventh month" (in the portion Pinhas, Num. 29: 7-11), out of respect for the congregation, because of the extensive rolling involved, the priest suspends his reading at this point.

And he would roll up the Torah - after reading "However on the tenth day," and place it in his bosom - under his arm, and call out - to the congregation: more than I have read to you is written here - i.e., he assures the congregation that nothing is missing from the scroll which includes the text he is about to recite by heart, lest they consider it missing, "And on the tenth..." which is in the Book of Numbers - i.e., "And on the tenth day of the seventh month"; the title of the Book of Numbers derives from the verse: "from twenty years old and upward. ..you shall number them," (Num. 1:3), he would recite by heart - for the reason explained above, and would then utter - after reading from the Torah - eight blessings - as follows:

for the Torah - the blessings recited before and after reading the Torah both count here as one (Hameiri), as recited in the synagogue, for the Service - the retzei blessing "Be pleased O Lord our God," which he concludes with "Who chooses the worship of His people Israel out of mercy," for the Thanksgiving - the modim blessing, "we thank You," in the Shemoneh Esreb (silent prayer), for the pardon of sin - i.e., selah lanu, "forgive us," which he concludes with mohel avonot, "who forgives the sins of His people Israel out of mercy" (Jer. Talmud), and for the Temple - that it remain standing and that the Shekhinah (Divine Presence) repose therein, which he concludes with: "Who dwells in Zion," and for Israel - that the Lord not remove His Divine Presence from Israel, and he concludes with: "Who chooses Israel," and for the priests - that the Lord accept their sacrifices in favor, and he concludes: "Who sanctifies the priests," and for the rest of the prayer - supplication hymn and petition, according to his custom, and he concludes with: hoshe'a HaShem "Deliver, O Lord, Your people Israel, for Your people Israel are in need of deliverance; Blessed are You, O Lord, Who listens to prayer" (Baraita, Sot. 41a; Rambam, Avodat Yom HaKippurim 3:11).

SOTAH: CHAPTER 7: MISHNAH 8

How so the king's chapter? At the conclusion of the first day of the Festival, in the eighth year, at the conclusion of the seventh year, they would make him a wooden platform in the Court, and he would sit thereon, as it is said (Deut. 31:10): "At the end of seven years, at the appointed time, etc." The attendant of the synagogue would take a Torah scroll and hand it to the Head of the synagogue, and the Head of the synagogue would hand it to the Deputy, and the Deputy would hand it to the High Priest, and the High Priest would hand it to the king, and the king stood and received it and read it seated. King Agrippa received it standing and read it standing, and the Sages praised him. And when he reached "you may not place a foreigner over you" (Deut. 17:15), his eyes filled with tears. They said to him: Fear not, Agrippa, you are our brother, you are our brother, you are our brother! And he would read from the beginning of "These are the words" until "Hear," and then "Hear," "And it shall come to pass if you shall hearken," "You shall surely tithe," "And when you have finished tithing," and the king's chapter, and the Blessings and the Curses, until he completes the entire section. The blessings which the High Priest recites, the king recites, except that he inserts the Festivals instead of the forgiveness of sin.

Kehati

It is written in the Torah (Deut. 31:1O~13): "At the end of seven years, on the appointed time of the Sabbatical Year, during the Festival of Sukkot, when all Israel comes to appear before the Lord...you shall read this Torah before all Israel in their hearing. Assemble the people, the men and the women and the little ones, and your stranger that is within your gates, that they may listen and that they may learn, and fear the Lord your God, and observe to fulfill all the words of this Torah." This commandment, known as hak'hel, was performed by the king who read from the Book of Deuteronomy, as explained in the mishnah, to those who had gathered in the Temple. This is meant by "the king's chapter" in our mishnah, which spells out the features of this event.

How so the king's chapter? - How was the ceremony performed? At the conclusion of the first day of the Festival - of Sukkot, in the eighth year - i.e., at its beginning, counting from the preceding Sabbatical year cycle, namely, at the conclusion of the seventh year - in that after the seventh year has ended, which opens the next Sabbatical cycle, they would make him - the king, a wooden platform in the Temple Court - the Womens' Courtyard and he - the king - would sit thereon - in order to read the Torah "before all Israel in their hearing," as it is said: "At the end of seven years, at the appointed time, etc" - as cited in the introduction to this mishnah, The attendant of the synagogue - on the Temple Mount would take a Torah scroll and hand it to the Head of the synagogue, and the Head of the synagogue would hand it to the Deputy - of the High Priest, and the Deputy would hand it to the High Priest, and the High Priest would hand it to the king - the ceremony is explained in the previous mishnah, and the king stood - arose from his seat, and received it - the Torah scroll from the hands of the High Priest, and read from it while seated.

King Agrippa - who was descended from Herod the Edomite - received it - the Torah scroll - standing, and read it standing - and not while sitting down and the Sages praised him - for displaying honor for the Torah. And even though a king's renunciation of his honor is unacceptable, this is confined to mundane matters, whereas in the context of a mitzvah it is admissible (Hameiri).

And when he - Agrippa, reached - while reading the verse in the king's chapter, "you may not place a foreigner over you," his eyes filled with tears - since this commandment disqualifies him as king. They - the people said to him: Fear not, Agrippa, you are our brother, you are our brother, you are our brother! - they said this merely to appease him, out of concern for the peace of the realm (Hameiri); Others point out that his mother was Jewish (Rashi; Bartenura).

At this point our mishnah resumes its account of the reading at the hak'hel ceremony - and he - the king - would read - in the Book of Deuteronomy - from the beginning of "These are the words" until "Hear" - i.e., "Hear, O Israel" in the weekly portion Va-ethanan - and then "Hear" - and would thereupon read the passage "Hear, O Israel" (Deut. 6:4-9), which expresses our acceptance of God's sovereignty, and would then pass over to the passage "And it shall come to pass if you shall hearken," - which marks our submission to the yoke of the Divine commandments, and would then pass to the passage "you shall surely tithe," - (Deut. 26:12-15); and then on to "And when you have finished tithing" - Rashi explains: since it was the season of harvesting, granting the gifts to the poor and separation of terumot (heave offerings) and tithes. According to the Jerusalem Talmud, this was designed to remind the people about to enter the eighth year not to forget the tithe obligations lapsed in the Sabbatical year (Tosefot Yom Tov) and the king's chapter - "you shall surely set a king over you..." (Deut. 17:14-20); even though the king's chapter lies between the verses "You shall surely tithe" and "And when you have finished tithing," he would first read them consecutively in order not to interrupt the reading concerning tithes, whereupon he would return to the king's chapter,

and the Blessings and the Curses - and after the king's chapter he would read the Blessings and the Curses (Deut. 28), which entail acceptance of the Torah's covenants (Rashi), until he completes the entire section - i.e., until the verse "beside the covenant which He made with them in Horeb" (Deut. 28:69) (see Bartenura for a different reading of the mishnah; and see Tosefot Yom Tov; Melekhet Shelomo); because of the king's honor, they did not mind inconveniencing the congregation by leaping from one passage to another (Tosefot Yom Tov, Tiferet Yisrael). The blessings which the High Priest recites - as listed in the previous mishnah, the king recites - after reading from the Torah, except that he inserts the Festivals instead of the forgiveness of sin - i.e., he substitutes for the "forgiveness of sin," blessing recited by the High Priest on Yom Kippur, the blessing for Festivals, i.e., ata vehartanu "You have chosen us," and concludes with mekadesh Yisrael vehazmanim, "Who sanctifies Israel and the seasons."

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