Yoma 15b (טו:) — the Talmud in English

Rather, the reference is to the sprinkling of the blood

on the altar itself

on its upper surface, after it was cleared of the incense ashes; and it was called “purify it” on account of the purification involved in cleaning it, as

it is written

[Exodus 24]

“and like the very heavens for purity,”

the clear meaning of which is purity.

We are still discussing the order of placing the blood of the daily burnt-offering:

What is different about the fact that he places

according to the order of placing the blood

of the burnt-offering first, and then places

according to the order of placing the blood

of the sin-offering?

Let him place first

the two applications that are four, according to the order

of the sin-offering, and then let him place

the one application that is two, according to the order

of the burnt-offering!

And we answer:

Since

ultimately the offering

is a burnt-offering—

it takes precedence first.

And we further inquire:

What is different about the fact that he places

on the corner

of the northeast and

on the corner

of the southwest?

Let him place it on the southeast first, and then on the northwest!

They say: A burnt-offering requires a foundation,

meaning that its blood must be placed where the altar has a foundation beneath it,

and

if

the southeast corner, it would not have a foundation.

But it is still possible to ask:

What is different about the fact that he places it first on the northeast and then on the southwest?

Let him place it first on the southwest, and then on the northeast,

where there is a foundation beneath it [unclear: the source wording is corrupted]!?

And we answer:

Since the Master said

[below 58b]:

All turns that you make

in the Temple service

must be only toward the right,

so that your turn

toward the east

is made by way of the right! That is, if he ascends the altar [by the ramp, which stands on the southern side of the altar], he first turns right, toward the east.

And the first corner that he encounters, the southeast corner, is unfit for placing the blood of a burnt-offering, since there is no foundation beneath it. Only the next corner, the northeast corner, which does have a foundation beneath it, is suitable for beginning to place the blood.

Therefore, even when placing the blood of the burnt-offering below, when he is not ascending the ramp to the altar, he follows the order of ascending the altar’s ramp, so that he will always turn toward the east on his right, and at the northeast corner

first,

at the beginning—

there he encounters it.

And we further inquire:

And from where do we know that with regard to a burnt-offering the Merciful One said to perform the act of a sin-offering with it? Perhaps it is with regard to a sin-offering that the Merciful One said to perform the act of a burnt-offering with it?

And we answer:

It cannot enter your mind.

Do not think so!

For

indeed

it is written

[Numbers 28]: “For a sin-offering”—

“it shall be performed, and its libation, upon the daily burnt-offering.”

And necessarily,

what does the Merciful One say: Take the matter

of the

sin-offering—

and cast it

upon the

burnt-offering.

We learned there

in tractate Tamid [30a]:

The appointed one said

to the priests who had been selected by the lottery, before dawn:

“Go and bring a lamb from the Chamber of the Lambs”

for the daily offering!

But the Chamber of the Lambs was in the northwest corner.

And there were four chambers there: one was the Chamber of the Lambs, one was the Chamber of the Seals, one was the Chamber of the Chamber of the Hearth, and one was the chamber in which the showbread was prepared.

And we raise a contradiction

from the Mishna in tractate Middot [1:6]:

There were four chambers in the Chamber of the Hearth,

which were open onto it

like small rooms

[small chambers]

opening onto a hall,

a large hall.

Two

of the chambers, the southern ones, were built

in the sacred area.

And two

of them, the northern ones, were built

in the non-sacred area,

outside the boundaries of the Temple courtyard.

And the hall in the Chamber of the Hearth was also built half in the sacred area and half in the non-sacred area.

And the ends of beams

pieces of wood protruding from the wall as a marker

separated the sacred area from the non-sacred area.

And

for

what purpose did they serve,

those chambers?

The chamber

in the southwest—

it was the Chamber of the Lamb for the daily offering,

where the lambs that had been inspected for blemishes were kept.