Yoma 12b — the Talmud in English

And Rav Pappa said:

There is no need for consecration through an increase of garments, but rather

his service

of the priest on Yom Kippur, since it is valid only when performed by a high priest, contains within itself a distinguishing sign and expression of the high priesthood, and it by itself is sufficient to be

consecrating him

to be a high priest, even without an increase of garments.

And there is a basis for this reasoning in the laws of consecrating the vessels of the Temple, for they too require consecration in order to become sacred vessels, to render them fit for service.

Is it not taught

in a beraita:

All the vessels that Moses made

in his generation, at the time of the erection of the Tabernacle,

their anointing

with the anointing oil, during the eight days of the inauguration,

consecrates them.

For so it is stated: “And he anointed them, and consecrated them.”

But the vessels that were made

from then onward,

were not anointed with the anointing oil. For we expound “them” as referring to anointing, but not [the vessels of] later generations as requiring anointing.

Rather, the beginning of

their service

as sacred vessels

consecrates them.

Since the law of this service is that it be performed with sacred vessels, the service performed with the vessel itself is therefore considered its consecration to sanctity.

And here too,

since the law of the service on Yom Kippur is that it be performed only by a high priest,

his service

of the priest who performs the service

consecrates him

to become a high priest through it.

When Rav Dimi came

from the Land of Israel to Babylonia,

he said:

Regarding

the belt of an ordinary priest,

they disagreed,

Rabbi and Rabbi Elazar, son of Rabbi Shimon,

as to what it was made of.

One said: It was of mixed kinds,

made of wool and linen.

And one said: It was of linen,

[flax], without an admixture of wool.

And we say:

It may be established

[it may be proven]

that it is Rabbi who said

that the belt was

of mixed kinds.

From this

which is taught: There is no difference between

the garments of

a high priest and

the garments of

an ordinary priest, except for the belt,

in which there was a difference between them,

the words of Rabbi.

Rabbi Elazar, son of Rabbi Shimon, says:

There is no difference between them,

not even

in the

belt.

And the Gemara infers:

When,

with regard to what matter did Rabbi and Rabbi Elazar, son of Rabbi Shimon, disagree in this beraita?

If you say

that they stated their words with regard to the garments worn

during the rest of the year,

but

there is much

[a difference in many garments]

there

between a high priest and an ordinary priest.

For the

priest

who is

the high priest serves in eight

garments [the breastplate, ephod, robe, and frontplate, in addition to the tunic and trousers, turban, and belt],

whereas

the

ordinary priest

serves

in four

garments only.

Rather, is it not

necessarily that they disagreed

about

the priestly garments for the service of

Yom Kippur,

when even the high priest serves in only four white garments, and his belt on Yom Kippur is not of mixed kinds.

And if so, Rabbi, who says that on Yom Kippur the high priest and the ordinary priest differ in the type of belt, holds that the belt of an ordinary priest was of mixed kinds [whereas the belt of the high priest was of linen alone, as is explicitly explained in the verse].

And we reject this:

They said: No,

prove from here that this is Rabbi’s view.

For

indeed

we must explain their words as meaning that they disagreed

about

the priestly garments of

the rest of the year,

and they did not deal at all with the additional garments of the high priest; rather, they disagreed

about those

garments

that are equal

in them, namely, the four white garments.

And with regard to them Rabbi holds that they differ in the belt: the belt of the high priest during the rest of the year is of mixed kinds, whereas the belt of an ordinary priest is of linen fabric alone.

And Rabbi Elazar, son of Rabbi Shimon, holds that both serve with a belt of mixed kinds.

When Ravin came, he said: The belt of the high priest on Yom Kippur—

according to everyone

it

is of “linen”,

linen fabric alone, as it is explicitly stated in the Torah: “And with a linen belt he shall gird himself.”

And likewise, the belt of the high priest

during the rest of the year—

according to everyone

it is

of mixed kinds,

for this too is explicitly stated regarding it: “And you shall make the belt of twisted linen and blue wool,” and blue wool is wool.

They disagreed

Rabbi and Rabbi Elazar, son of Rabbi Shimon,

only about the belt of an ordinary priest, both with regard to

the belt of

the rest of the year, and with regard to

that of

Yom Kippur [for there is no difference between the days].

there being no difference between the two days.

For Rabbi says

that it is

of mixed kinds, and Rabbi Elazar, son of Rabbi Shimon, says

that it is

of linen.

Rav Naḥman bar Yitzḥak said: We too have learned

in accordance with Ravin’s words, that Rabbi is the one who holds that the belt of an ordinary priest was of mixed kinds, and not like the belt of a high priest on Yom Kippur.

For we learned in a beraita: It is written in the Torah in the passage concerning the removal of the ashes: “And the priest shall put on his linen tunic [which is the tunic], and linen trousers he shall put on

upon his flesh.”

What does “he shall put on” teach,

when “and he shall put on” has already been stated at the beginning of the verse?

Rather,

to include

additional garments not mentioned in this passage, namely,

the turban and the belt,

which he too must put on

for the raising of the ashes,

for it is a complete service and requires the four priestly garments like the other services,

the words of Rabbi Yehuda.

Rabbi Dosa says:

It is stated here “he shall put on,” and likewise in the passage concerning the service of Yom Kippur it is stated: “He shall put on the sacred linen tunic.” And we derive through a gzera shava:

to include

the

garments of the

of the

priest who is the

high

in which he served

on Yom Kippur, which are fit

for an ordinary priest to perform service in them after Yom Kippur; and not like the one who holds [below] that the garments of the high priest on Yom Kippur are stored away and may never be used for service.

Rabbi says:

The verse may not be expounded as Rabbi Dosa does, since

two refutations,

objections, exist

against the matter.

One,

an ordinary priest cannot use the white garments in which the high priest served on Yom Kippur, because

the belt of the high priest

in which he serves

on Yom Kippur is not the belt of an ordinary priest.

For the belt of the high priest on Yom Kippur is of linen, whereas the belt of an ordinary priest is of mixed kinds.

Furthermore,

there is a reason based on logic that the garments of the high priest used for the service of Yom Kippur should not be fit for the service of an ordinary priest throughout the year:

And would you, with those

garments in which you served

for the service of Yom Kippur, which is

a more stringent sanctity,

for he entered in them to serve in the innermost place,

serve in them

for the service of the entire year, which is

a lesser sanctity

than it!?

Rather, what does “he shall put on” teach?

To include worn garments.

Do not say that the garments must be new and not ones that have already been used for an extended period.

And Rabbi Dosa follows his own reasoning

in another beraita.

For it is taught:

It is stated in the passage concerning the service of Yom Kippur: “And he shall remove the linen garments that he put on when he entered the Sanctuary,

and he shall leave them there.”

The first tanna holds:

This teaches that

these garments

require being stored away.

Rabbi Dosa says: This “leaving” does not mean that they are no longer fit for any service. Rather,

he shall not use them

the high priest for service on

another Yom Kippur,

in the following year.

The Sages taught:

If

there occurred to him

the high priest

a disqualification

of ritual impurity,

and they appointed

a priest

another in his place

to serve on Yom Kippur. Afterwards the first became pure and was rendered fit to serve—then the high priest

the first returns to his service

as a high priest, as he had been before he was displaced because of his disqualification.

And also the

second

[the one who served in his place] remains with the sanctity of the high priesthood, and

all the mitzvot of the high priesthood apply to him.

Thus, he is prohibited from allowing his hair to grow long and from tearing his garments, as is the law of a high priest; likewise, he may not become impure for relatives, is prohibited from marrying a widow, and serves in eight garments,

the words of Rabbi Meir.

Rabbi Yosei says: The first returns to his service.

But the

second—

is fit neither to

serve in eight garments as a

high priest, nor to

serve in four garments as an

ordinary priest.

And

further,

Rabbi Yosei said: It happened with Yosef ben Elam in Tzippori, that a disqualification occurred to the high priest, and they appointed him

Yosef ben Elam to serve

in his place.

And

after the first returned to his fitness,

the Sages said: The first—

returns to his service.

But Yosef ben Elam, who was the

second—

is fit neither to

serve as a

high priest, nor to

serve as an

ordinary priest.

And they explained the reason that he is not fit to serve as a

high priest: because

they are concerned lest

enmity

prevail between the two of them.

And the reason that he is not fit to serve as an

ordinary priest

is

because of “one elevates in sanctity and does not lower”,

for since the second has already been elevated in his sanctity to become a high priest, they do not lower him from his sanctity to make him an ordinary priest.