Tamid 26b — the Talmud in English

We learned in the Mishna: in

the House of Avtinas and

in

the House of the Spark

there were upper chambers!

They raised a dilemma before them:

whether

they were actual upper chambers,

like all upper chambers that are built above houses, with the house beneath them made for use.

Or perhaps,

there was no house built beneath them, but they were built on pillars or on a raised place in the courtyard. And that which it calls them upper chambers was because

they were raised high

above the ground of the courtyard,

like upper chambers,

since the guarding by the priests had to be in a high place.

And we resolve it:

come and hear, as we learned:

One of the gates

that was on the

side of

the north

of the courtyard was

the Gate of the Spark.

And it was like an open portico

open

it was.

And an upper chamber was built upon it

on the back of this portico. And in it the priests guarded. Since all three places

in which the priests guarded

had to be

above.

But all twenty-one places of the guarding of

the Levites

were not in a high place, but

below,

at ground level.

Part of the House of the Spark was built in the courtyard, but

it had an opening to the unconsecrated area!

To a place on the Temple Mount that was not sanctified with the sanctity of the courtyard.

It is explicitly taught that it was an actual upper chamber.

And we inquire about it:

From where are these words

that the priests guard above and the Levites below?[ ^15] And we answer:

as the Sages taught:

It was said to Aaron the priest: “And also your brothers, the tribe of Levi, the tribe of your father, bring near with you,

and they shall join themselves to you and serve you,

and you and your sons with you, before the Tent of the Testimony”—

in your service

of yours

the verse is speaking!

That the Levites should participate in the service of the priests and be ancillary to them.

And from where

do you say that “

in your service the verse is speaking,”

or

perhaps

it is not

that the verse is speaking

but in their service

of the Levites? For example, in song and carrying. And this is the meaning of the verse: that you shall perform the principal service at the altar, and they shall join themselves to you and “serve you” with their service, which is carrying the vessels of the Tabernacle.

It is impossible to say so.

For

when it says

afterward, “

And they shall join themselves to you and guard

the charge of the Tent of Meeting, for all the service of the Tent” [in the Gemara we read:

for all its vessels and for all its service

but this is not found in the verse],

behold

this verse has already

spoken of their service.

How, then, do I understand

the verse of “

and they shall join themselves to you and serve you”?

Rather, certainly,

in your service the verse is speaking!

And there is no service of priests in which the Levites participate other than guarding. And since it writes the expression “they shall join themselves,” it indicates that the Levites are ancillary to the priests in this service, and they do not guard at the same height as they do.

How is this so?

The priests guard above and

the

Levites

guard

below.

.

We learned in the Mishna:

the Chamber of the Hearth was domed.

And it was a large building.

And it was the third place of the priests’ guarding.

And we challenge this:

And

since

there was only one guarding for the Chamber of the Hearth?

And we juxtapose a contradiction:

We learned:

There were two gates in the Chamber of the Hearth.

One gate

one

was

open

outward

to the enclosure [

the part of the Temple Mount adjacent to the courtyard, which had sanctity of its own],

and

one gate

one

which, from its inner side, was

open to the courtyard.

And

Rabbi Judah said: in

the gate

through which they entered

by way of it

into the courtyard, there was a small wicket

opening

it had.

Through it

they

entered

each night

to inspect the courtyard!

As is stated below, before the removal of the ashes they would inspect the courtyard to see whether everything was in order. And because they did not wish to open the doors of the courtyard before the time of the daily offering, they entered through the wicket.

And this is difficult: In every gate of the courtyard made for entrance and exit, guarding is required. And since there were two gates there, should two guardings not be required!?

Abaye said: Since

the two gates of the Chamber of the Hearth

stood adjacent to one another,

one opposite the other, and they were also close to one another [Rosh], therefore

one guard sufficed for them. For that guard

would

see

there, and

would see

also

there, and he would see both of them at once.

We learned in the Mishna:

surrounded by rows of stone!

And we inquire about it: “

Rows”—

what are they?

And we answer:

Cut stones of platforms [

hewn stones] they were. And they protruded from the wall.

They ascended upon them [

they would ascend upon them]

to

the row of stones above them, which also were made as

a platform,

and served as a place for lying down.

And it might enter our minds that after they built the wall, they would hew the stones in this manner.

And we challenge this:

Were stones split

in the courtyard? But it is written, “And when the House was built,

whole stone

it was built as brought.” For they built each stone in its wholeness: just as they brought it from the mountain, so they built it. And they did not add to repair it at the place of construction.

Abaye said: They were prepared

these stones before they brought them into the courtyard.

And initially they brought

before the construction two types of stones.

Small stones

for the upper row,

and large stones

for the lower row.

As it is written, “

stones of ten cubits and stones of eight cubits.”

And those two cubits between the lower row and the row above it served as a platform.

We learned in the Mishna:

The elders of the ancestral house slept there,

on the rows!

And we inquire about it:

And why

did they sleep there? And

let them bring beds

into the Chamber of the Hearth and sleep on them.

And we answer:

It is not proper conduct to bring beds into the Temple.

We learned in the Mishna:

The young men of the priesthood

would sleep

each

on

his garment on the ground!

And we inquire about it:

Why there,

at the beginning of the Mishna,

does it

call them

the young priests who guard there

“

young men,”

and

here, does it

call them ![](pamud.bmp "

“young men of the priesthood”)?

”?