Tamid 33b (לג:) — the Talmud in English

Mishna:

1.

When the High Priest entered to prostrate himself

in the Sanctuary after the burning of the incense,

three

priests would

hold him:

one on his right, one on his left, and one by the precious stones

in the breastplate! [Rosh. And in Rambam it is stated: by the shoham stones on the shoulders of the ephod].

And once the appointed official heard

the

sound of the High Priest’s footsteps [

by means of the golden bells on the robe],

as he was leaving

the Sanctuary after completing his prostration,

he lifted the curtain for him

that was before the entrance to the Sanctuary.

The curtain was spread across the entrance while the High Priest was entering the Sanctuary, out of respect for the High Priest, to conceal him when he was alone with his Creator. [Tosafot Yom Tov. Some explain that this refers to the curtain of the Entrance Hall].

And before that,

the

High Priest

entered, prostrated himself, and departed.

And afterward,

his fellow priests entered, prostrated themselves, and departed.

2.

The three

priests who had performed the service of burning the incense [the one who burned it, the one chosen to bring the coal-pan, and the one holding the ladle]

came and stood on the steps of the Entrance Hall

that descended to the Courtyard.

The

two

first

priests [who had been chosen to clear the inner altar and the candelabrum] stood on the steps of the Entrance Hall,

to the south of

those three

fellow priests

who had now stood there on the north side. The north is more important, since the most sacred offerings are slaughtered there; therefore, the priests who burned the incense, which is the most important service, stood there. [Rosh].

And five vessels were in their hands

of these five priests:

The tani in the hand of one —

the one who cleared the inner altar.

And the kuz in the hand of one —

the one who cleared the candelabrum.

And the coal-pan in the hand of one —

the one who brought in the coals for the incense.

And the bazikh in the hand of one —

the one who burned the incense.

And the ladle and its cover in the hand of one —

the one who assisted the priest who burned the incense.

And

from there

they blessed the people with one blessing!

They recited all three verses of the Priestly Blessing together, because Amein is not answered in the Temple.

Although in the Temple they would answer “Blessed be the name of His glorious kingdom forever and ever” after the blessings, they did not answer this way after the Priestly Blessing, because it served only to bless Israel.

Rather, in the provinces they recite it —

the Priestly Blessing — in

three blessings.

This is because they interrupt between each verse by answering Amein. But

in the Temple,

where they did not interrupt, they recited it as

one blessing.

There was another distinction between the Priestly Blessing in the Temple and elsewhere:

in the Temple they would pronounce the Name as it is written,

with the letters yod-he-vav-he.

But elsewhere

they pronounce it

by its substitute name,

with the letters alef-dalet-nun-yod.

Likewise,

elsewhere,

when the priests bless the people, they

raise their hands level with their shoulders,

and no higher. But in the Temple they would raise their hands

above [

higher than]

their heads!

This is because the Divine Presence rests above the joints of their fingers.

And all the priests in the Temple did this,

except that the High Priest does not

himself

raise his hands above the frontplate!

Since the explicit Name is written on it, it is inappropriate for him to raise his hands above it.

Rabbi Yehuda says: Even the High Priest raises his hands above the frontplate!

As it is stated: “And Aaron raised his hands toward the people and blessed them.” The expression “raising” indicates raising them above the head.

3. The High Priest performs in the Temple any service that he wishes, without a lottery.

And

when the High Priest wishes to burn

the limbs of the daily offering on the altar,

he would ascend the ramp, and the deputy

would ascend

on his right.

And when

the

High Priest

reached the midpoint of the ramp,

and had already become tired from ascending,

the deputy would grasp his right hand and raise him

to the top of the ramp.

The nine priests who had been chosen to carry the limbs of the daily offering stood on the ramp, one after another, with the limbs in their hands.

And the

priest

first

would hand him

the head and the leg. And he would lean on them

the High Priest [this is not the leaning performed for offerings, since that applies only while the offering is alive; rather, it was an expression of honor, to demonstrate the importance of the High Priest’s service. Menahot 62b:],

and cast them

onto the altar.

Afterward,

the

priest

second would hand to the first

the

two forelegs

of the daily offering, and the first

would give them to the High Priest.

For it is an expression of honor for the High Priest that he receive all the limbs from the hand of one priest.

And he

would lean

on them

and cast them.

And

the second would withdraw

from there and leave.

And so would

all the priests

hand him

the first

all the remaining limbs

that were in their hands, and he would give them to the High Priest, and

he would lean on them and cast them

onto the altar.

And whenever he wished, he would lean

on the limbs,

and

the

other

priests who had been chosen to carry them

would cast

them onto the altar.

When he finished burning them,

the

High Priest

would come to circle the altar

for the wine libation, which followed the burning of the offering.

From where would he begin

his circuit? —

From the southeastern corner!

The ramp stood to the south of the altar. When he reached the top of the altar, he turned right, as one must always turn to the right, and consequently encountered the southeastern corner first. From there he continued to the

northeastern corner.

From there to the

northwestern corner.

And from there

to the southwestern corner,

where the bowls into which the wine was poured were located.

Only a High Priest who wished to pour the libation would circle the altar in this manner, because he did not hold the wine in his hands until he reached the place of the libation. There, the priest chosen to perform the libation would hand the wine to the High Priest. But when the priest chosen by lottery performed the libation himself, he would not circle to the right, since the wine would become smoky from the smoke of the altar as he walked around it, and wine that has absorbed smoke is unfit for libations. Rather, immediately upon ascending the altar he would turn to his left, to the southwestern corner, and pour the wine there. [Zevahim 63a.] Likewise, the priest who handed the wine to the High Priest for the libation would turn left and give it to him. [Rosh].

They gave him

the High Priest

wine for the libation!

The priest who had been chosen to bring the wine up to the altar turned to his left and handed the wine to him.

The discussion before us concerns any priest who performs the libation, and not specifically the libation of the High Priest.

And

the deputy stands on the corner

of the altar,

and the cloths [

the banners]

are in his hand,

to wave them during the libation.

And

two priests stand

on

the table of the fats,

on which the fats of the offerings were placed before they were burned. It was higher than all the tables in the Courtyard.

And two trumpets were in their hands.

When they saw the deputy standing on the corner,

they sounded a tekia, a terua, and a tekia,

in order to notify the musicians to pay attention to the cloths in the deputy’s hands, so that they would see them when they were waved.

Afterward, the two trumpeters descended from there

and came and stood beside ben Arza,

who was in charge of the music.

One

stood

to his right and one to his left.

The

priest

bowed

to pour the wine, and

the deputy then waved

the

cloths. This was the signal to begin the song, because “one does not recite song except over wine”!

!

And ben Arza struck the cymbal [

a musical instrument],

and the Levites began the song.

The song consisted of three sections. When

the

Levites

reached the

end of a

section

, the priests sounded

the trumpets—a tekia, a terua, and a tekia.

And the people prostrated themselves

in the Courtyard.

For each section

they sounded a

tekia,

a terua, and a tekia, and

for each blast

they performed

one prostration.

This is the order of the daily offering for the service of the House of our God.

May it be His will that it be rebuilt speedily in our days, amen!

4.

The song that the Levites would recite in the Temple.

On the first day they would recite: “The earth is the Lord’s and all that fills it; the inhabited world and those who dwell upon it”!

Because this day was the beginning of the work of Creation, and on this day He acquired His world and watches over and rules His world [Rosh HaShana 31a]. [

The Gra, in the name of the Zohar, explained that the song of each day corresponds to the “day” of the Holy One, blessed be He, in the world that He created, which is a thousand years, and a separate song was recited for each thousand years. See note 3].

On the second day they would recite: “Great is the Lord and exceedingly praised, in the city of our God, His holy mountain”!

Because on that day He divided His works: the upper waters were separated from the lower waters, and He reigned over them, was exalted, and sat upon His throne of glory [there].

On the third day they would recite: “God stands in the divine congregation; among the judges He judges”!

Because on that day He revealed the inhabited world [through the utterance “Let the waters be gathered”] by His wisdom, and prepared everything for His service. [There].

On the fourth day they would recite: “God of retribution, Lord, God of retribution, appear”!

Because of the sun and moon that were created on that day, against whose worshippers He will ultimately exact retribution [there].

On the fifth day they would recite: “Sing joyfully to God, our strength; sound a shout to the God of Jacob”!

Because on that day birds and fish were created to praise His Name [there].

On the sixth day they would recite: “The Lord has reigned; He has clothed Himself with pride; the Lord has clothed Himself with strength; He has girded Himself”!

Because on that day His work was completed, and He reigned over them.

On Shabbat they would recite: “A psalm, a song for the day of Shabbat”!

For it is

a psalm, a song for the World to Come, for the day that is entirely Shabbat and rest, for eternal life!

For the day of the Holy One, blessed be He, is a thousand years, as it is written: “For a thousand years in Your eyes are like yesterday that has passed.” Shabbat corresponds to the seventh millennium. The world will endure for six thousand years, and one [in the seventh millennium] will be desolate. Then the verse “And the Lord alone will be exalted on that day” will be fulfilled. Therefore, they recite this psalm on Shabbat.

The order of this chapter, When the High Priest, is concluded, and the tractate Tamid is completed