Yoma 19b — the Talmud in English

And Rav Huna, son of Rav Yehoshua, proved his position from this:

For if you say

that the priests

are our agents

in their Temple service, then what?

Is there anything

that is possible

for us to do

when the Temple service performed by a non-priest is invalid,

yet our agents can do it? After all, it is a general principle in the laws of agency that an agent cannot do something that the one who appointed him is unable to do himself.

And we answer: When they said to him, “You are our agent and the agent of the court,” this does not mean that he was their agent for performing the service. Rather,

they meant this:

This is what they said to him:

This oath

we administer

to him

on your behalf, according to our understanding and the understanding of the court,

so that he would not think of deceiving them by intending, when accepting the oath, something different from the intention of those administering it.

We learned in the Mishna:

He withdraws and weeps, and they withdraw and weep

and so on.

And we explain:

He

the High Priest

would withdraw and weep

after they administered the oath to him, because

they suspected him

of being

a Sadducee, and

they too,

they

who had administered the oath to him,

would withdraw and weep

because

Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi said: Anyone who suspects the worthy is punished in his body.

For we find this with Moses our teacher. He said to the Holy One, Blessed be He, concerning the Children of Israel in Egypt: “But they will not believe me and they will not heed my voice, for they will say: The Lord has not appeared to you.” And because he suspected them without cause, he was immediately punished in his body: the Holy One, Blessed be He, told him to place his hand inside his garment, and when he took it out, his hand was afflicted with leprosy.

And we explain further:

And why did they go to such lengths

to suspect him and administer an oath to him?

It was

so that he would not prepare

the incense on the coals outside the Holy of Holies,

and

afterward

bring in

the pan and the incense already burning,

as

the

Sadducees used to do.

The Sages taught: There was an incident involving one Sadducee—

who served as High Priest on Yom Kippur—

who prepared

the incense on the fire

outside

that is, in the Sanctuary,

and

afterward

brought it in

inside, and

when he left

from there,

he was extremely happy.

His father encountered him,

who was also a Sadducee, and

said to him: My son, although we are Sadducees, we are afraid of the Pharisees.

He said to him,

his son:

All my days I was troubled by this verse: “And he shall not come at all times into the Sanctuary

“And he shall not come at all times into the Sanctuary

for I appear over the Ark-cover in a cloud.”

The Sadducees interpreted it contrary to halakha, as though one was permitted to enter the Holy of Holies only after the cloud of incense had already risen over the fire.

And I said: When will this verse come into my hands

so that I can fulfill

it? Now,

that I have been appointed High Priest,

it has come into my hands,

and should I

not fulfill it?

They said: Not many days passed before he died,

that Sadducee,

and was thrown into a refuse heap, and worms emerged from his nose,

because the nose is the first organ to enter inside; since his entry was not according to halakha, he was punished through that organ.

And some say:

Immediately

when he left

the Holy of Holies for the Sanctuary,

he was struck down.

As Rabbi Hiyya taught: A sound resembling a voice was heard in the Temple courtyard

when he left:

an angel came and struck him on the face, and his fellow priests entered

the Sanctuary and found a mark

like the sole of the foot

of

a calf between his shoulders, as

so

it is said

about the angels:

“Their legs are a straight leg, and the sole of their feet is like the sole of a calf.”

We learned in the Mishna:

Rabbi Zekharya ben Kavutal said: Many times I read before him

from the book of

Daniel.

Rav Hanan bar Rava taught this before Rav: “Rabbi Zekharya ben Kapוטal,”

with a pe rather than a bet.

And Rav gestured to him with his hand

that one should say

“Kavutal”,

with a bet.

And we ask:

Why did he not simply tell him

verbally? Why did he need to instruct him with a gesture?

And we explain: Rav

was reciting the Shema

at that time, and he was not permitted to interrupt by speaking.

And we raise a difficulty:

Is such a thing permitted

—to interrupt during the recitation of the Shema, even without speech?

But Rabbi Yitzḥak bar Shmuel bar Marta said: One who recites the Shema may not signal with his eyes, wink with his lips, or point with his fingers.

And

so

it was taught:

One who recites the Shema and,

while doing so, signals with his eyes, winks with his lips, or points with his finger, Scripture says about him:

Isaiah 43:22,

“Yet you have not called Me, Jacob.”

And we answer:

This is not difficult.

This

that it is forbidden to interrupt, even without speech,

in the first section

of the Shema, because concentration is essential there. And

this

that Rav gestured with his hand was because

he was reading the second section

at that time.

The Sages taught: The verse says, “And you shall teach them diligently to your children

and speak of them.”

and you shall speak of them,” and we infer that specifically when one speaks

And they infer that specifically when one speaks

“of them”,

and recites the Shema,

one must make audible to his ear what one is bringing forth from his mouth,

but not in prayer,

for it is stated concerning Hannah’s prayer: “Only her lips moved, but her voice could not be heard.”

And one may likewise expound

“and speak of them”

to mean that specifically “of them,” in words of Torah,

you are permitted to speak, but not about other matters,

such as children’s chatter and frivolity.

Rabbi Aḥa says: “And speak of them”—make them permanent and do not make them casual.

Rava said: One who engages in ordinary conversation transgresses a positive commandment, as it is stated: “And you shall speak of them”,

and he expounds

“of them,” but not about other matters.

Rav Aḥa bar Yaakov said:

that one

also transgresses a negative commandment, as it is stated: “All things are wearisome; no man can speak.”

Mishna:

If

the High Priest wished

to

doze

on the night of Yom Kippur, the

young priests would strike before him with the forefinger against the thumb,

producing a sound in order to wake him.

And

they would also

say to him: My master, High Priest,

господин мой, великий коэн,

stand

on your feet

and dispel

your sleep by walking and removing your drowsiness

once on the floor.

And they would keep him occupied

with such diversions

throughout the night until the time arrived for slaughtering

the daily offering of dawn.

Gemara:

What is

a

finger of Tzerada?

Rav Yehuda said:

the rival of this finger,

meaning a finger that is like a rival wife to this finger [as will be explained immediately].

And we explain:

What is it?

To which finger is this finger a rival?

The thumb.

They would join the finger to the thumb and forcefully snap it against the palm of their hand, producing a sound.

He demonstrated

showed

Rav Huna

with his hand how one strikes with the finger of Tzerada,

and the sound traveled throughout the entire house of study,

so that it was heard throughout the entire house of study.

We learned in the Mishna:

And they say to him, “My master, High Priest,”

“Stand and

dispel your sleep once on the floor,” and so on.

Rav Yitzḥak said:

They would say to him: Show us

something new

that is, a novel demonstration.

And we explain:

What is it?

They would say to him: Show

us how to perform

a full prostration,

a type of bowing in which he bent down until he reached the ground, without his body touching the ground.

We learned in the Mishna:

And they would keep him occupied until the time arrived for slaughtering.

A tanna taught: They would not keep him occupied

with musical instruments,

not with a harp and not with a lyre; rather,

they would sing before him

with their mouths.

And what would they say?

The verse

“If the Lord does not build the house, its builders labor on it in vain”,

to teach him that unless his service was acceptable before the Holy One, Blessed be He, all his effort in the service was worth nothing. Therefore, he had to take care that his service would be performed for the sake of Heaven.

We learned further in a

baraita: It was customary for

the

distinguished people of Jerusalem

not to sleep at all

that night,

but to engage in Torah study,

so that

the

High

великий

Priest would hear the sound of commotion, and

as a result

sleep would not

его

overcome him.

It was taught: Abba Shaul says: Even outside Jerusalem—

after the destruction of the Temple—

they would do so,

that is, they would remain awake throughout the night,

but

as a result, it sometimes happened

that they sinned.

Abaye said, and some say it was Rav Naḥman bar Yitzḥak: The statement that they sinned should be interpreted as referring to the city of

Nehardea, for Elijah

the

prophet

said to Rav Yehuda, brother of Rav Sala Ḥasida: You say

that is, you wonder:

Why has the Messiah not come?

But today is Yom Kippur,

which is especially holy,

and

even so

I have intercourse

on this night

with several young women in Nehardea.

He said to him,

Rav Yehuda said to Elijah the prophet:

And what did the Holy One, Blessed be He, say?