Shekalim 15b (טו:) — the Talmud in English

Halakha 1 - Mishna:

Thirteen shofarot -

receptacles made in the shape of a shofar, bent and round, wide at the bottom and with a narrow opening at the top, into which money was placed,

were in the Temple.

Each one was designated for a different purpose, as will be explained later in the chapter.

Thirteen tables

were in the Temple. Their locations in the Temple and what was done with them will be explained below.

Likewise,

thirteen prostrations

in thirteen places

were in the Temple.

They corresponded to the thirteen breaches that the Greek kings made in the Temple enclosure, which the kings of the Hasmonean house repaired. When they reached the places where the breaches had been, they would prostrate themselves in gratitude for the redemption.

And

the members of the house of Rabban Gamliel and the house of Rabbi Ḥananya, the deputy High Priest, would prostrate themselves in fourteen

places in the Temple.

And where was

this

additional

prostration, beyond the thirteen prostrations?

Opposite

the chamber of

the wood store [

where wood was kept, from which wood was supplied for the altar].

And because

they had a tradition handed down to them from their ancestors that the Ark had been concealed there

by King Josiah at the destruction of the First Temple.

And

there was an incident involving one priest

who had a blemish [and was therefore disqualified from the Temple service]

who was engaged

in his work in the wood chamber, removing worms from the wood and preparing it for the altar [because any wood found to contain a worm was unfit for the altar, and a priest with a blemish could engage in this task], and while he was occupied with this

he saw the floor

of the chamber

which differed from the others,

and understood that this stone had been removed from its place and then replaced.

He came and told his fellow

what he had seen,

but he had not finished telling him before his soul departed,

so that he would not reveal the Ark concealed there.

And they knew

through this

with certainty [

clearly]

that the Ark had been concealed there.

Nevertheless, they did not know precisely where it was; they knew only that it had been concealed beneath this chamber, through this opening beneath the stone.

Gemara:

We learned in our Mishna: Thirteen shofarot were in the Temple.

It was taught: These shofarot were bent, narrow at the top and wide at the bottom,

so that a person could not remove money from them except with difficulty, by turning the receptacle upside down,

because of the swindlers,

who might insert their hand into the receptacle, take money, and pretend that they were depositing money there.

We learned in our Mishna: And where was the additional one? Opposite the wood store, as they had a tradition handed down from their ancestors that the Ark had been concealed there.

The Gemara cites three opinions concerning the location of the Ark after the destruction of the Temple.

It was taught in the name of Rabbi Eliezer: The Ark

that was in the Temple, containing the Tablets and the Torah,

was exiled with them [

with Israel] at the time of the destruction of the First Temple

to Babylonia.

What is the reason

for his statement, and what is its source?

It is as it is written in Kings: “And Isaiah said to Hezekiah: Hear the word of the Lord! Behold, days are coming when everything in your house and everything that your fathers have stored up until this day will be carried away to Babylonia.

Nothing shall remain—

said the Lord.”

The Gemara infers: What is the thing that “shall not remain,” which was not included in the phrase “everything in your house”?

The word ‘thing’ refers only to that which contains the Tablets!

That is the Ark, in which were the Tablets of the Testimony, upon which the Ten Commandments were written. From here it follows that the Ark too was exiled to Babylonia, for so Isaiah prophesied.

And likewise it says

in Chronicles:

“And at the return of the year King Nebuchadnezzar sent and brought him to Babylonia, together with the precious vessels of the House of the Lord.”

What is the ‘precious vessel of the House of the Lord’?

It is

the Ark.

Here too we learn in accordance with Rabbi Eliezer’s statement, that the Ark was exiled to Babylonia.

Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish

disagrees and

says:

When the First Temple was destroyed, the Ark was not exiled to Babylonia; rather,

the Ark was concealed in its place.

This—

that

is what is written

in the Book of Kings concerning the First Temple built by Solomon: “And the priests brought the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord to its place, to the Sanctuary of the House, to the Holy of Holies, beneath the wings of the cherubim ...

And the poles were extended, and the ends of the poles were seen from the Holy Place before the Sanctuary, but they could not be seen outside.

And they are there to this day.”

Whenever it says “to this day,” the reference is forever. How, then, should we interpret the verse concerning the Ark, whose place in the Holy of Holies is stated to be “to this day,” when the Temple was destroyed? Rather, the Ark must necessarily have been concealed in its place beneath the Holy of Holies.

Thus, the Ark was concealed and was not exiled.

And since the Gemara mentioned this verse, it explains it.

It is written

in this verse:

“And they were seen”

the ends of the poles.

But

you have said [

whereas the verse itself continues]

it is written, “but they could not be seen

outside” [the poles].

How can this be?

Rather,

the poles of the Ark

were partially visible and partially invisible.

The curtain separating the Sanctuary from the Holy of Holies concealed them, but the poles pressed against the curtain

and protruded, emerging like the two breasts of a woman,

which protrude beneath her garment. Thus, they were partially visible and partially invisible.

And the Sages say: The Ark was concealed in the wood store, [

and was neither concealed in the Holy of Holies nor exiled to Babylonia], in accordance with the tanna of our Mishna.

And so

there was an incident involving a priest with a blemish who was standing and splitting [

breaking]

wood

for the pyre

in the wood store, and he saw the floor

of the chamber

which differed from the others,

because one of the marble slabs in the Temple floor was slightly higher than the one next to it. He understood that this slab had been removed from its place and then replaced.

He came and said to his fellow: Come and see this floor, which differs from the others! But he had not finished speaking before his soul departed, and they knew with certainty [

clearly]

that the Ark had been concealed there.

They understood that Heaven had killed that priest for this reason, so that they would not discover the precise place where the Ark had been concealed.

Rabbi Hoshaya taught

to explain how that priest died:

He struck it [

the marble slab that differed from the others]

with a hammer,

and a fire emerged and burned him.

When the Holy One, blessed be He, wished to give Moses the second Tablets, the verse states [Deuteronomy 10:1]: “

At that time the Lord said to me: Hew for yourself two stone Tablets like the first ones, and ascend to Me to the mountain, and make for yourself a wooden Ark. And I shall write on the Tablets the words that were on the first Tablets that you broke. And you shall place them in the Ark.”

This Ark preceded the Ark that Bezalel made for the Tabernacle. It was entirely wooden, and Moses was commanded to make it in order to place the second Tablets inside it. The Tablets remained in it until the Tabernacle was constructed. Then they made another Ark overlaid with gold, as explained in the passage of Teruma, and the second Tablets were transferred from the wooden Ark that Moses made when he ascended Sinai to this Ark, as it is written concerning the Ark of the Tabernacle: “And you shall place in the Ark the Testimony that I shall give you.” Its place was established in the Tent of Meeting.

The fragments of the first Tablets were placed in the wooden Ark that Moses had made, and they went out with it to war. [Tosafot, Eruvin 63b, and elsewhere]

It was taught: Rabbi Yehuda ben Lakish said: Two Arks traveled with Israel in the wilderness.

One was the Ark that Bezalel made, in which the Torah was placed.

And one was the Ark that

Moses made when he ascended Mount Sinai to receive the second Tablets,

in which the fragments of the Tablets

of the first set

were placed.

This

Ark,

in which the Torah was placed—

was kept in the Tent of Meeting

in the Holy of Holies, and did not go out with them to war at all.

This is what is written

in the passage of Shelach, when the Israelites defiantly attempted to ascend to the top of the mountain to wage war against the Canaanite:

“And the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord and Moses did not move from within the camp.”

Thus, the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord, which was the Ark in which the second Tablets were placed, did not go out with them to war.

And if it had been the practice for this Ark to go out with them to war, why did they not take it with them? Rather, it necessarily follows that this Ark had a fixed place in the Tent of Meeting.

Whereas

this

wooden Ark that Moses made,

in which the fragments of the Tablets were placed—

would go in and out with them

to war.

And the Sages say: There was only one Ark

alone

that existed.

It was the Ark that Bezalel made for the Tabernacle, and both the second Tablets and the fragments of the Tablets were placed in it. They did not go out with it to war at all. Only

once

alone

did it go out

with them to war,

in the days of Eli, and

they were punished, as

the Ark was captured

by the Philistines.

And we say:

This verse [

the verse]

supports the Sages,

who hold that there was only one Ark, and that it did not go out with them to war at all. They took it out only in the days of Eli. This Ark was the sole Ark that was in the Tent of Meeting:

As it is written in Samuel, when the Philistines saw the Ark going out with Israel’s camp, they said:

“Woe to us! Who will save us from the hand of these mighty gods?”

From their saying “Woe to us,” we learn that this was

a thing they had never seen in their days!

It was something they had never seen, for they were not accustomed to seeing the Ark with Israel in its wars. As it is explicitly written there, that they said: “They said, ‘Woe to us, for there has never been anything like this yesterday or the day before.’”

This implies that until then the Ark had never gone out with them at all, in accordance with the opinion of the Sages, who maintain that there was one Ark, and that it went out with them to war only in the days of Eli.

And we say:

Another verse

supports

him

and

Rabbi Yehuda ben Lakish,

who holds that there were two Arks.

As it is written in I Samuel 14:18, when Saul and his men were standing at Gibeah of Benjamin and he was uncertain whether to go to war against the Philistines standing opposite them, he turned to Ahijah the High Priest to consult him through the Urim and Tummim.

“And Saul said to Ahijah: Bring forward the Ark of God,

for the Ark of God was there on that day, together with the Children of Israel.”

And

it is difficult:

Was the Ark not

in Kiriath-jearim?

After it had been returned from the Philistines [and had remained there for twenty years, until King David brought it up to Jerusalem], and not in Gibeah of Benjamin?

It necessarily follows that there were two Arks. In Kiriath-jearim was the golden Ark that Bezalel made, which was located there during this period. The Ark that was in Gibeah of Benjamin was the wooden Ark that Moses made, which went out with them to war.

This proves the opinion of Rabbi Yehuda ben Lakish.

And we object:

What do the Sages do with this? [

How do the Sages, who hold that there was only one Ark, explain this verse?] And we answer: The Sages hold that the Ark mentioned in the verse was not the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord. Rather, it was the chest containing the breastplate and the ephod, the Urim and Tummim, and the High Priest’s frontplate. Since Saul had come to inquire through the Urim and Tummim, Ahijah needed the eight garments of the High Priest, as one may inquire through the Urim and Tummim only while wearing the eight garments.

Therefore he said:

“Bring it to me

—the Ark of God in which

the frontplate

is found” [and he called this chest, which was not the Ark of the Covenant, by the name of the frontplate, although it also contained the other seven priestly garments, because the frontplate was the most important of them, as the Name of God was inscribed upon it].

And furthermore we say:

A verse [

another verse]

supports Rabbi Yehuda ben Lakish,

who holds that there were two Arks:

It is written in the Book of Samuel that Uriah the Hittite said to David:

“The Ark, Israel, and Judah are dwelling in booths,

while my lord Joab and the servants of my lord are encamped in the open field. Should I come to my house to eat and drink and lie with my wife? By your life, and by the life of your soul, I shall not do this thing.”

That is, because the Ark of the Covenant was not in its place but was now in Succot, Uriah imposed upon himself the stringency of not lying with his wife. As we say in Eruvin 62b: When the Ark and the Divine Presence are not in their place, marital relations are prohibited.

And if we say in accordance with the Sages, that there was only one Ark and that it did not go out with them to war, why is it written, “The Ark is in Succot”?