Tamid 28b (כח:) — the Talmud in English

And they would not hear its sound until

he lifted the basin from the water pit.

When

then

they would hear

the

sound

of the wheel of

wood, which

he

Ben Katin

had made into a

mechanism

pulley

for the basin.

The water of the basin becomes disqualified through remaining overnight, since it is sanctified with intrinsic sanctity. Anything sanctified with intrinsic sanctity becomes disqualified through remaining overnight. To prevent this disqualification, they immersed the basin and the water inside it [before nightfall] in the water pit that was in the courtyard. The water in the basin was thereby connected to the water of the pit, and water connected to the ground does not become disqualified through remaining overnight.

And before dawn they would raise the basin from the pit by means of this mechanism .

And

when they heard the sound of the wooden wheel,

they would say: the time

for its service had arrived!

He sanctified his hands and feet from the basin.

He took

the

silver coal pan

from its place,

and ascended

on the eastern side of the ramp

to the top of the altar.

He cleared the coals

of the arrangement

this way and that

[this way and that, in order to reach the inner coals. And he

would scoop

taking them with the coal pan

the

coals

that had been thoroughly consumed

[burned thoroughly]

inside.

As it is written: “from the ashes that the fire consumed.” They are called “ashes” because they became fine. But the outer ones are not called “ashes,” but coals .

And he descended

from the altar . As he descended, his face was directed southward, since the ramp descended from north to south. When he

reached the floor

of the courtyard,

he turned his face

from south

to north.

And he

would walk in the

courtyard toward the

eastern side of the ramp, about ten cubits ,

and there he poured out the coals. He did not scatter them; rather, he piled the coals in a heap on the floor, as it is written: “and he shall place it beside the altar.” And we expound: “and he shall place it” means that he must not scatter it!

And the place where the ashes were deposited was

three handbreadths distant from the ramp .

It was

the place where they put

there the

crop of

the

bird burnt offering,

and the

removal of the ashes from

the

inner altar, and

the

removal of the ashes from the menorah .

Gemara:

We learned in the Mishna: These would walk in the colonnade!

And at this point it entered our minds that the colonnade was made of wood.

We raise a difficulty:

But were there colonnades in the courtyard?

But it was taught in a beraita: Rabbi Eliezer ben Yaakov says: From where do we know that one may not make wooden colonnades

of

wood in the courtyard?

The verse states: “

You shall not plant for yourself an Ashera, any tree, beside the altar of Hashem your God that you shall make for yourself.”

Two distinct prohibitions are stated in this verse.

And this is what

the verse

says:

“You shall not plant for yourself an Ashera”

for the sake of idolatry. One transgresses the prohibition through the planting itself, even without worshipping it.

b.

“You shall not plant for yourself any tree beside the altar of Hashem your God.”

For anyone who plants a tree in the Temple transgresses a prohibition. The Sages prohibited every wooden structure in the Temple, even when it does not involve planting, as an additional safeguard. They based this on this verse, in which “any tree” is written. [Maimonides, chapter 6 of Avodat Kokhavim, halakhot 9–10, according to the Kesef Mishne there ].

Accordingly, it is difficult: How could they have built wooden colonnades in the courtyard?

Rav Ḥisda said:

In

the courtyard there were

stone-built colonnades!

Their columns were made of stone, and they placed a stone roof upon them.

We learned in the Mishna:

They would inspect and proceed, etc.

They stationed those who prepared the ḥavitin to prepare the ḥavitin.

We raise a difficulty:

Does this mean that the ḥavitin preceded

all the services of the day?

But it was taught in a beraita: From where do we know that nothing on the altar precedes the morning tamid?

The verse states: “And he shall arrange upon it the burnt offering.”

And Rabba said

to explain: Since “the burnt offering” is written with the definite article, rather than “a burnt offering,” this implies the following: “And he shall arrange upon it,” upon the arrangement, first

“the burnt offering”

the important one, which is

the burnt offering

mentioned

first

among all the burnt offerings in the passage of the offerings in Pinḥas; and this is the tamid offering. [Rashi, Pesaḥim 58b].

Rav Yehuda said:

When it teaches “to prepare the ḥavitin,” it is not referring to offering them upon the altar, but only to preparing them. This means

to heat

water

hot for kneading

the flour of the ḥavitin! They would scald it with boiling water before kneading and baking it. But they would not offer it until after offering the limbs of the tamid.

We shall return to you, chapter “In three places.”

Mishna:

His brothers saw him

the priests [the priest who performed the terumat ha-deshen

descend

from the ramp after performing it],

and

immediately

they ran and came

to the basin, to be ready for the service .

They hurried and sanctified their hands and feet from the basin .

After they had sanctified them,

they took the rakes [

with which they raked the ashes and moved them onto the tapuaḥ],

and the forks [

the forks with which they turned over the limbs],

and ascended to the top of the altar.

The limbs

of the burnt offerings,

and the fats [

the fats of the other offerings]

that had not been consumed

and had not become ashes

from

the previous day

in the evening—

were

removed [

cleared away]

them

with the forks

onto the sides of the altar,

in order to return them to the pyre afterward. For it was not yet possible to burn them, since nothing may be offered before the morning tamid offering.

And if

there were

many limbs, and the sides could not contain

them, because they were already filled with them,

they arranged them on the sovev [

the ledge projecting from the altar at mid-height], or they placed them

on

top of

the ramp.

For if they removed the limbs entirely from the altar, they would become unfit to be burned once daylight arrived, since dawn renders an item invalid through overnight disqualification. But on top of the altar, overnight disqualification does not render them invalid. And the ramp is equivalent to the altar in every respect.

They began

to rake the ashes, and

they brought up with

the rakes

the ashes onto the tapuaḥ.

And the

tapuaḥ [

the heap of ashes]—

was in the middle of the altar.

And because it was round like an apple, it was called by that name . [Before the terumat ha-deshen, they could not clear it, since first the portion of the ashes had to be removed, and only afterward did they clear the remaining ashes onto the tapuaḥ.]

When the ashes on the tapuaḥ accumulated to the point that no room remained for arranging the wood of the pyre, they removed them, as it is written: “And he shall remove the ashes outside the camp, to a pure place.”

And

at times there were three hundred kor

of ashes on it before they removed them.

But on the Festivals they did not remove its ashes [

take out the ashes],

because

the tapuaḥ

is an adornment for the altar.

For the abundance of ashes demonstrated that many offerings had been brought and that the altar had not been idle.