Sukkah 48b — the Talmud in English

And perforated

there were the two bowls

like two thin snouts.

At the edge of each of the two bowls there was something resembling a snout, and in the snout there was a hole, and from it the stream of the water or wine flowed from the bowl onto the top of the altar.

And from there it was poured into a hole in the top of the altar, which descended to the sheיתין of the altar, which were “very deep and hollow” [the wording of Rashi].

And since water flows quickly through a hole, whereas wine flows slowly, they made two holes of different widths in the two bowls.

A hole

one,

of the bowl intended for the pouring of the wine, was a hole

thick, and

a hole

one,

of the bowl intended for the pouring of the water, was

thin.

This

so that

the libations

both,

of the wine and of the water,

would finish at one time.

The two bowls were placed near the southwestern corner, close to one another.

The bowl that was on the side

west of it

of the altar was the bowl

of

the pouring of the

water.

And the second bowl, which was close to it, toward

the east of it

of the altar, was the bowl

of

the pouring of

the wine.

And if he

poured

the pouring

of water into

a bowl

of wine, and

likewise if he poured the pouring

of wine into

the bowl

of water—

he has fulfilled

the obligation of the pouring.

Rabbi Judah

disagreed with the First Tanna in two matters, and

would say:

He did not pour into a flask containing three log of water, and he did not pour only during the seven days of the Festival of Sukkot. Rather:

With one log

of water alone

he would pour.

And

all eight

days he would pour.

c.

And to the one pouring, he says

the appointed officer:

Raise your hand,

so that everyone will see the pouring of the water, and they will not suspect you that you are one of the Sadducees, who do not acknowledge the pouring of the water.

Because

once one poured

a Sadducee

one

the water

onto his feet, and he did not pour it into the bowl,

and

all the people pelted him with their etrogim.

d.

Like his practice

of drawing the water

on a weekday—

so was his practice on Shabbat.

Except that on the eve of Shabbat he would fill a golden barrel, which was not consecrated, from the Shiloah, and place it in the chamber.

If

the flask of water spilled

on Shabbat, or

was uncovered, its cover was removed, and he cannot pour the water, as will be explained below

—

he would fill

the flask with water

from the basin,

and pour it.

Because

wine and water that are uncovered are unfit with regard to the altar,

and the reason will be explained in the Gemara.

Gemara:

And we raised an objection concerning it:

From where are these words

that they sound blasts and blasts of alarm at the time of drawing the water?

Rav Einai said: For the verse says [Isaiah 12]

“

And you shall draw water with joy.”

And there is joy in the sounding of blasts.

Those two sectarians,

there was an incident involving two sectarians,

one whose name was

“Joy”

and one whose name was “Gladness,”

who argued with one another.

Joy said to Gladness: I am superior to you, for it is written

in me [Isaiah 35]

“Joy and gladness shall overtake.”

Thus the verse placed Joy before Gladness because of the importance of Joy.

Gladness said to Joy: I am superior to you, for it is written [A0107]]Esther 8] “

Gladness and joy for the Jews.”

And here the verse placed Gladness before Joy.

Joy said to Gladness: One day they will abandon you

they will remove you from your honor,

and make you an emissary,

and from Heaven they will make you a runner, to run to show the roads.

For it is written [A0115]]Isaiah 55] “

For with gladness—

you shall go forth.”

Gladness said to Joy: One day they will abandon you, and fill

and they will fill

you with water.

For it is written, “And you shall draw water with joy.”

That sectarian whose name was Joy said to Rabbi Abbahu: In the future you will

you will be destined

fill

that you will fill

me with water in the World to Come,

the World to Come.

For it is written “

And you shall draw water with joy.”

He said to him: If it had been written “

And you shall draw water

for Joy”—

the matter would have been

as you say.

But

now that it is written “

with joy,”

the meaning of the verse is:

Strip him

his skin

of that man—

we will make him a waterskin,

we will make him into a waterskin,

and fill water into him.

We learned in the Mishna:

He went up the ramp and turned to his left.

The Sages taught: All those who ascend to the altar ascend by way of the right,

for they turn right as they ascend the altar, since it is a mitzva for one who ascends to the altar to turn first toward the east. And since the ramp is on the southern side of the altar, it follows that one who ascends it and reaches the top, and must turn eastward, must turn to the right.

And the turning toward the east is learned from the verse in Ezekiel [43], “And its ascent—turning eastward.”

And they go around

it around,

and descend by way of the left.

And one may not turn backward and descend from the right side, since there is an additional rule: “All turnings that you turn shall be only by way of the right.” And if he retraces his steps backward to the ramp, it follows that the left side of his body faces the altar. Therefore, he must continue to go around the altar, with the right side of his body facing the altar; and when he reaches the place of the ramp, he must turn away from the altar to the left, toward the ramp, and descend from the altar.

Except for one ascending for these three matters, that

in them

they ascend by way of the left, and retrace their steps; and these are they:

The pouring of the water, the pouring of the wine, and the bird burnt-offering [A0158]]whose usual place is on the southeastern side of the altar,

whose usual place is on the southeastern side of the altar,

when

the bird burnt-offering

in the east

became numerous, and there was not enough space there for burning it, in which case they burned it at the southwestern corner.

We learned in the Mishna:

Except that they were blackened.

And we raised an objection concerning it:

Granted,

the bowl

of wine blackens.

But the bowl

of water—

why does it blacken?

And we answer:

Since the Master said: If he poured water into the one of wine, or wine into the one of water—

he has fulfilled,

therefore even

the one of water comes to be blackened,

for it will come to be blackened if he mistakenly pours wine into it.

We learned in the Mishna:

And perforated like two snouts.

And we raised an objection concerning it:

Let us say that this is Rabbi Judah, and not the Rabbis.

For we learned: Rabbi Judah says: With one log he would pour all eight.

Whereas the pouring of the wine was three log, and according to Rabbi Judah it would properly follow that they made the hole of the wine three times larger than the hole of the water, so that the water and the wine would come out in equal time.

For if it is the Rabbis—

then the water and the wine

are equal to one another,

they are equal in their measure, and there would have been no reason to distinguish between them by the size of the hole in the bowls.

And we answer:

You may even say

that our Mishna

is the Rabbis,

and it is nevertheless proper to distinguish between them. For

wine

is

thick,

whereas

water is thin,

and the water comes out more quickly; therefore they had to narrow the hole of the water.

And the Gemara proves:

This too is reasonable,

that our Mishna is according to the Rabbis.

For if it is Rabbi Judah—

we find in a beraita that according to Rabbi Judah the distinction between the holes is—“

wide”

and “

short”

he has it.

That is, we find in Rabbi Judah’s words that he defines the distinction between the holes with the terminology of a short hole and a narrow hole.

And the relative difference between a narrow hole and a wide hole is greater than the relative difference between a narrow hole and a thick hole.

For it was taught: Rabbi Judah says: There were two bowls there, one for water and one for wine.

The one for wine had a wide mouth; the one for water had a short mouth, so that both of them would finish at one time.

And we conclude:

Infer from it.

We learned in the Mishna:

The one west of the water.

The Sages taught: An incident involving one Sadducee who poured onto his feet, and all the people pelted him with their etrogim.

And on that day the corner of the altar was damaged,

by the stones that they threw at the Sadducee,

and they brought a fistful [A0220]]a fistful

[the amount that fills a fist]

of salt and sealed it.

And the reason they did this was

not because the altar was thereby made fit

for this

service,

for the fistful of salt is not considered part of the altar, and the altar remained damaged for service, according to the law of an altar that is lacking.

Rather, because of

the honor of the altar,

so that a damaged altar would not be seen.