Tamid 31b — the Talmud in English

The

first

koen holds

the head and the right

leg in his hands.

The head in his

hand

right.

And its nose

of the lamb faces

toward

above,

his arm

of the koen,

and

it follows that

its horns

of the lamb are held

between his fingers.

And

he would carry the head with

its place of slaughter above, and the feder placed upon it

to cover it, because of the honor of what is above.

And the

right leg

was placed

in his left hand

of that koen.

And

the

place of its skin

of the leg [the place from which they began to remove the skin, which is the outer side of the leg] he held

to

the

outside.

And he held the inner side, where it was cut from the body, facing himself, since the place of the cut is disgraceful, and therefore they conceal it.

The

second

koen held

with both hands.

A

right

hand he held

in

hand

his right, and

hand

of the left in his left!

For this is the manner appropriate to their importance, since the right is more important than the left.

And their places of skin were toward the outside.

The

third

koen held

the tailbone [tail],

and

the leg

left. The

tailbone

he held

in his right hand.

And the fat-tail

attached to the tail when it was

hanging down,

the koen held

between his fingers.

And

also

the finger of the liver, and the two

the

kidneys [and four ribs], attached

to it,

with it.

And the

left leg

was placed

in

hand

his left

of that koen,

and its place of skin was toward the outside.

And the

fourth

koen held

the breast and the neck. The breast in

hand

his right, and the neck in his left,

because the breast is more important than the neck.

And

the

four ribs

of the lamb attached to the neck, he held

between two of his fingers.

And he also held the neck and the breast with their places of skin toward the outside. But it was not necessary to state this explicitly, for if the ribs were between his fingers, necessarily the outer side was toward the outside.

The

fifth

koen held

the two

the

flanks.

A flank

of the right in his right, and of the left in his left. And their places of skin [their outer sides, from which the skin was removed]

were

toward the outside.

The

sixth

koen held

the innards,

which were

placed in a bazakh [palm].

For since they were not in one piece, they placed them in a vessel.

And

the

legs upon their backs, above.

For they were placed upon the altar-fire together, as it is written: “And the innards and the legs he shall wash with water, and he shall place them upon the altar-fire.”

The

seventh

koen held

a

issaron of

fine flour,

for the meal-offering offered with the daily offering.

The

eighth

koen held

the chavitin!

Although they were not offered on account of the daily offering, but were made for the meal-offering of the High Koen, since the time of their placing upon the altar-fire was between the meal-offering of the daily offering and the libations, they brought them up together with the daily offering.

And the

ninth

koen held

a

quarter of a hin of

wine,

for the libations of the daily offering.

They went

all these koanim,

and placed them

for the limbs on the ramp,

from halfway

of the

ramp and below, on its western side, in its lower sixteen cubits. For after the placing of the incense upon the altar-fire, they still had to carry the limbs to the top of the altar. And if they now brought them up to the upper part of the ramp, afterward an important carrying would not be recognizable .

on its western side, in its lower sixteen cubits. After the burning of the incense, they still had to carry the limbs to the top of the altar. If they now brought them to the upper part of the ramp, the importance of the later carrying would not be apparent.

And likewise they would not place them except

on the western side

of the ramp, on its eight western cubits, in order to clear the eight eastern cubits for the koanim ascending the ramp to the top of the altar, because the arrangement upon which they placed the daily offering upon the altar-fire was in the east of the altar.

And they salted them,

for they placed salt on the limbs and on the meal-offering , as it is written: “With every one of your offerings you shall offer salt” .

And

when they finished bringing the limbs up to the ramp,

they descended

from it

and came to the Chamber of Hewn Stone, to recite

the recitation of

the Shema

of the morning.

For it is proper to recite the Shema before the placing of the incense and the daily offering upon the altar-fire, so that by virtue of its recitation their offering would rise as a pleasing fragrance.

Gemara:

The tanna: A hand and a leg

of the daily offering, they would tie one to the other,

like the binding of Isaac son of Abraham,

in order to recall the merit of the binding [Biurei ha-Gra].

We learned in the Mishna:

They would not bind the lamb.

And we raise an objection concerning it:

What is the reason

they did not bind it by all four of its legs together?

Rav Huna and Rav Hisda

gave a reason for this .

One

of them

said: Because of

the fact that this involves

disgrace of consecrated things,

since they treat them as ordinary objects. For this is the practice of sellers of lambs: to tie them when displaying them for sale.

And one said: Because

everyone who binds the offering is

following the customs of the nations,

for this is their practice: to bind the sacrifice when they offer it before idolatry.

And we explain:

What is the difference between them,

these two reasons?

The difference between them is the case

where

he bound it

the daily offering

with silk cloth [a silk fabric, which is expensive and choice].

a silk cloth, which is expensive and fine].

Alternatively: the case where he bound it

with

with a golden thread [a gold thread]. For if it is because of disgrace, this does not apply to these, and it is permitted to bind it with them. But the reason of the customs of the nations applies even to these, and even with them it is forbidden to bind it .

a gold thread]. For if the reason is disgrace, that does not apply in these cases, and it would be permitted to tie it with them. But the reason involving the practices of the nations applies even in these cases, and it is forbidden to tie it with them.

We learned there: There were ten tables in the Temple

[in the Courtyard].

Eight

tables

of marble, in the slaughterhouse,

which was north of the altar, beside the rings,

upon which they washed the innards

of the offerings.

And further,

two

tables stood

on the western side of the ramp.

One

of them

was of marble, and one

of them

was of silver. On

the table

of

the

marble,

they

would place the limbs

of individual burnt-offerings before bringing them up to the altar, since sometimes only one koen would offer them, place them on the table, and bring them up one by one, one after the other.

And on

the table

of

the

silver,

they would place the ninety-three

vessels

of the

service

that they had brought out at the beginning of the day from the Chamber of Vessels, as stated above in the third chapter.

And

there were also

in the Hall,

before the Sanctuary, tables:

two inside

the Hall,

at

[beside]

the entrance of the House

[the Sanctuary], for the showbread:

one table of marble,

and

one table of gold.

On

the table

of marble, they would place upon it the showbread

after it was baked,

by

the

way of its entering

the table in the Sanctuary, until they placed it upon it.

And on

the table

of gold

they would place the showbread on Shabbat,

at the

time of

its departure

from the table in the Sanctuary, until its frankincense bowls were placed upon the altar-fire; afterward they would divide it among the koanim of the division to eat it.

And they did so because

one raises in holiness and does not lower!

Since once the showbread had already been placed on this golden table, they no longer brought it down to a less important table. Rather, they placed it upon a golden table even when it was taken out.

And

one further table

of gold

was

inside

the Sanctuary, and it was the table of Moses mentioned in the work of the Tabernacle.

Upon it

was placed

the showbread always,

from Shabbat to Shabbat!

There were found among them all thirteen tables in the entire Temple. [And there were also ten tables that Solomon made in the Sanctuary. They are not counted here, because they did not place anything upon them.]

And we raise an objection concerning it:

Now,

we have established

“There is no poverty in a place of wealth,”

and all the actions of the Temple were performed with wealth and grandeur. If so,

why did they make

a table

of marble

for the bread when it entered ?

Let them make

for it also, when it entered, a table

of silver or of gold.

Rav Hinnana said in the name of Rav Asi, and Rav Asi

said it

in the name of Rabbi Shmuel son of Rabbi Yitzhak: They placed it when it entered on a marble table

because

it

[the gold and silver] boils the bread and heats it, and through this it hastens to become moldy.

We learned in the Mishna: The daily offering

of the morning was slaughtered at the northwestern corner.

And the afternoon offering was slaughtered at the northeastern corner!

And we raise an objection concerning it:

From where are these words

that the morning offering is slaughtered in the west and the afternoon offering in the east?

Rav Hisda said: For the verse says, “Two each day

a continual burnt-offering.” And we expound: “Each day”

opposite the day!

That is, facing the sun, in the place illuminated by the day. In the morning, when the sun is in the east, it illuminates the western part of the Courtyard opposite it. But the eastern side is shaded by the walls of the Courtyard, and it does not illuminate there. Whereas in the afternoon, when the sun is in the west, it illuminates the eastern side that faces it, and not the west.

It was also taught so: “Two each day”

is written. And we expound:

opposite the day!

You say opposite the day, or is it only

the verse in its plain sense, namely, two daily offerings that are

the obligation of the day?

It cannot be said so. For

when it says, “You shall make the one lamb in the morning, and the second lamb you shall make in the afternoon,” the obligation of the day

has already

been stated. How, then, do I fulfill “two each day”?

—Necessarily, its meaning is

“opposite the day.”

How is this so?

The morning daily offering

was

slaughtered at the northwestern corner, on the western ring

in the

second

row from the altar .

And

the daily offering

of the afternoon was slaughtered at the northeastern corner, on

the

ring

of the east in the

second

row from the altar. [And above, in the words of the Mishna, it was explained why they did not slaughter it at the first ring.]

Ten matters Alexander of Macedon asked the Elders of the South.