Tamid 32b (לב:) — the Talmud in English

He said to them: “Do people eat golden bread?”,

Is this the custom here?

They said to him:

“It is not our custom to eat bread of gold. Rather, we brought it before you because it seemed astonishing to us” —

“If you wanted bread”,

and this was all you were seeking,

“did you not have bread to eat in your own place, that

because of this

you took up and came

as far

as here?”

That is why we gave you this golden bread: We thought that you had come because of the silver and gold found here.

When he departed and went out

from that city,

he wrote on the gate of Meḥoza

[on the city gates]:

“I, Alexander of Macedon, was a fool”

[a fool],

“until I came to the land of Africa,”

to the city

that

was entirely

ruled by sages. And I learned wisdom from a ruler

[who taught me wisdom]!

When

Alexander

took up and came

on his way,

he sat by a certain spring and ate bread. In his hands were salted fish

[salted fish].

As he washed them

[when he washed them in the spring water] to remove their saltiness,

a pleasant aroma emerged from them.

[And some read: “a spirit emerged from them,” and they came back to life].

Alexander said

:

“This proves that this spring”

[spring]

comes from the Garden of Eden!”

Some say:

When he learned this,

he took some of that water and washed his face with it

[washed his face with it].

And some say: He went along the entire length of it

[he went along the entire length of the spring],

until he reached the entrance to the Garden of Eden. He raised his voice

[he raised his voice] and said:

“Open the gate for me!”

They said to him: “This is the gate of the Lord —

“the righteous shall enter through it!” And not everyone has permission to enter here.

He said to them: “I too am a king. I am a person of importance.”

And if you do not wish to open the gate for me, at least

“give me something”

from the Garden of Eden!

They gave him an eyeball

[an eyeball] . [And the commentator’s version reads “a skull,” meaning a human skull].

Alexander brought it

Alexander

and weighed it

[weighed it]

against all his gold and silver

in one pan of a balance,

alongside it

the eyeball, which he placed in the other pan of the balance.

But his

silver and gold

did not outweigh it

[did not outweigh it], for the eyeball tipped the pan of the balance.

He said to

Alexander

the Sages: “What is this

matter, that I cannot find anything whose weight equals that of this eyeball?

They said to him: “The eyeball

of the eye

of flesh and blood

[of a human being of flesh and blood]

is. It is never satisfied

with what it possesses. Therefore, its weight draws toward it all the silver and gold in the world.

And so too, your eye was not satisfied, until you went beyond the Mountains of Darkness to bring silver and gold from there.

He said to them: “From where

is there proof

“that this is so,”

as you say?

They said to him: “Take a small amount of dust

[a little dust]

and cover it

over the eyeball, so that it cannot see; then it will be satisfied and will not draw toward itself the weight of anything.

And he did so, and

immediately it was weighed down

and instantly tipped the pan of the balance that he had placed opposite it.

And this is

what is written: “The netherworld and destruction are never satisfied,

and the eyes of man are never satisfied.”

The tanna of the school of Elijah taught: “Gehenna is above the firmament!”

For it is formed from the sweat of the living creatures in the firmament.

And some say:

Gehenna is

“behind the Mountains of Darkness!”

As it is written: “Behold, darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the peoples” .

The tanna of the school of Rabbi Ḥiyya taught: “Anyone who engages in Torah study at night —

the Divine Presence is opposite him! As it is stated: ‘Arise, cry out in the night, at the beginning of the watches; pour out your heart like water before the presence of the Lord.’”

For if you arise and cry out at night through engaging in Torah study, your heart will be before the presence of the Lord .

Rabbi Elazar ben Azarya said: “Torah scholars increase peace in the world! As it is stated: ‘And all your children shall be disciples of the Lord, and great shall be the peace of your children

. Do not read

‘your children,’

but rather, ‘your builders.’”

That is, Torah scholars. And it is written afterward:

“Great peace have those who love Your Torah,”

and there is no obstacle for them.” From here it is derived that they increase peace in the world.

We have completed the chapter “They Were Not Binding”

Mishna:

1.

The supervisor said to them

regarding the order of the day's service, to the kohanim of the paternal division who had come to the Chamber of Hewn Stone:

Recite one blessing

of the blessings of the recitation of Shema!

[This is the subject of a dispute in tractate Berakhot 11b: According to one opinion, they recited the blessing “Who forms light.” According to another opinion, they recited the blessing “With abundant love,” because the time for “Who forms light” had not yet arrived, as sunrise had not yet occurred.]

And they recited

this blessing,

and

afterward

recited

the

Ten Commandments,

which are the essence of the Torah [Bartenura]. And the three passages of the recitation of Shema, the passage of

Shema,

the passage of

And it will be, if you heed,

and the passage of

And He said.

They did not have time to pray the entire Eighteen Benedictions, but

recited only three blessings,

namely:

1. The blessing

True and Certain

[at whose conclusion is the blessing “Who redeemed Israel”].

2.

And

the blessing of

Service

[the prayer “Accept,”] so that their offering would be accepted as a pleasing fragrance. They conclude it: “That You alone we serve in awe.”

3.

And the Priestly Blessing [“Our God and God of our fathers, bless us with the threefold blessing written in the Torah.”] This is not the Priestly Blessing with which they blessed the people, since that took place after the completion of the service. Rather, they now prayed concerning the raising of the hands that they would perform afterward: that the Holy One, blessed be He, should consent to bless Israel through them. They omit the verses of blessing and conclude with “Grant peace.”

And on Shabbat,

they

would add

another

blessing for the outgoing division!

For on Shabbat the priestly divisions would change. The division that had served throughout the entire week would complete its service after the morning service, and afterward the next division would enter. The outgoing division would bless the incoming division: “May He who caused His Name to dwell in this House cause love, brotherhood, peace, and fellowship to dwell among you!”

He said to them

the supervisor: The

newcomers for the incense

[who had never yet merited offering it]—

come and cast lots

to merit offering it! For the incense makes whoever offers it wealthy, as it is written concerning the sons of Aaron: “They shall place incense before You—bless his resources.” Therefore, each time they would seek new kohanim, so that all of them would become wealthy.

They cast lots, and

the one who merited

the lot

was the one who merited it.

Afterward

he said to them: Newcomers together with those who had served previously

[both kohanim who had already merited carrying up the limbs and those who had not yet merited it], all of you

come and cast lots

to determine

who will carry the limbs from the ramp to the altar!

Rabbi Eliezer ben Yaakov says:

They did not cast lots for this matter. Rather, the kohen who

carried

the

limbs

from the tables

to the ramp—he

was the one who

carried them onto the top of the altar!

For it is not proper conduct to begin carrying something and leave it for another to complete. Yoma 26a.

The limbs were divided among nine kohanim. Each kohen carried up the limb assigned to him, as explained in the previous chapter.

And in Yoma 24a the amoraim disputed the explanation of the Mishna. According to Rav Naḥman, the Mishna means as follows: They cast lots while wearing ordinary clothing. Those kohanim who won the lot now had to put on priestly garments for the service.

They handed them over

—those kohanim—

to the attendants

[servants] who had been appointed to dress the kohanim. The kohanim would remove their ordinary trousers and put on sacred trousers, which precede all the other garments, as it is written: “They shall have linen trousers upon their flesh.”

And afterward

the

attendants

would strip them,

the kohanim, of

the

rest of their

garments

of ordinary clothing.

And they would not leave

[the attendants would not leave]

upon them

any garment whatsoever

except

[other than]

the trousers

of sacred clothing

alone, which they had already put on beforehand. Afterward, once they had stripped the ordinary garments from them, they would dress them in the sacred garments.

which they had already put on. After they had removed the ordinary garments from them, they dressed them in the sacred garments .

And windows

[compartments]

were there

in the Chamber of Hewn Stone, within the wall.

And the use of the vessels was written on them!

Each compartment was designated for a different garment, and the name of the garment placed in it was written on it.

The one who merited the incense would take the shovel

designated for this purpose.

And

that

shovel resembled a tarkav

[a vessel holding three kav, an acronym formed from “two” and “kav”]

a large one of gold,

and it

held three kav.