Yoma 20a — the Talmud in English

He said to him

Elijah: The Holy One, blessed is He, says that Israel has grounds to excuse themselves, because the evil inclination causes them to sin, as it is stated:

“At the entrance sin crouches”

and toward you is its desire.

Rab Judah said to him:

And what does Satan say?

He said to him

Elijah: Satan says nothing, because

on the Day of Atonement Satan has no authority to accuse

, and he does not prosecute at all.

And we raised an objection concerning it:

From where

do we know that Satan has no authority to prosecute on the Day of Atonement?

Rami bar Hama said:

The word

“the Satan”

has the numerical value of three hundred and sixty-four.

It follows that only on

three hundred and sixty-four days

of the year

does he have authority to accuse,

but

on the Day of Atonement he has no

Satan

authority to accuse.

Mishna:

It is stated in the Torah [Leviticus 6:2–3]: “Command Aaron and his sons, saying: This is the law of the burnt-offering: It is the burnt-offering that is upon its fire on the altar all night until the morning. And the fire of the altar shall burn in it.

And the priest shall put on his linen garment, and linen trousers he shall wear upon his flesh, and he shall lift up the ashes to which the fire has consumed the burnt-offering on the altar. And he shall place them beside the altar.”

These verses set out the mitzva of the removal of the ashes, which the priests were required to lift from the altar every day, at least the measure of a handful, from the ashes of the sacrifices that had been burned on the altar, and to place them beside the altar.

This Mishna details the times of the removal of the ashes, as follows:

Every day

they

removed the ashes from the altar at

the time of

cockcrow, or near it, whether

near it

before it or after it.

And on the Day of Atonement

the removal of the ashes was

from midnight

.

And on the festivals,

when there were many sacrifices and it was necessary to clear the altar, because of the abundance of ashes that had accumulated there, in order to sacrifice the morning daily-offering, therefore they removed the ashes from the altar

from

the end of the

first watch

, which is one-third of the night.

And cockcrow—

on the festivals—

did not arrive until

the

courtyard was full of Israelites

, who brought their sacrifices, in order to sacrifice them immediately after the service of the daily-offering.

Gemara:

We learned there: The limbs

that are fit—which had been burned on the altar’s fire but had not yet been completely consumed, so that they had not become ashes—

that fell from upon the altar.

If they fell

before midnight

of the night,

he shall return

them to the arrangement of wood again,

and

for this reason as well

one is liable for misuse of consecrated property through them,

whoever uses them, since they are still designated for the altar.

But if they fell from the altar after midnight, he shall not return them to the altar,

and

therefore

one is not liable for misuse of consecrated property through them,

since there is no longer a mitzva of burning them.

And we raised an objection concerning it:

From where are these matters derived,

to distinguish between whether they fell before midnight or whether they fell after midnight?

Rav said:

Since we find that with regard to burning,

one verse says “all night” and “he shall burn”,

as it is stated: “upon its fire on the altar all night,” and its meaning is that it shall remain upon it all night.

And

if

one verse said “all night” and “he shall lift”,

for the verse in which it is stated “and he shall lift up the ashes” is also connected to the verse in which “all night” is written, and no other time is mentioned with regard to the lifting, and its meaning would be that all night it is possible to perform, from that same burning, the removal of the ashes, with those limbs in which the fire had already taken hold, for the mitzva of burning had already been performed through them,

how

can the contradiction between the implications of the verses be resolved?

Rather, resolve the verses by

dividing it,

the night:

Its first half

is

for

the mitzva of

burning,

and therefore limbs that fell from upon the altar before midnight, he shall return them for burning, since the mitzva of burning them has not yet been completed.

And

if

its second half

of the night is

for

the mitzva of

lifting,

since once they were upon the altar until midnight their burning was completed, and they become ashes at midnight, and from then on they are designated for lifting; and if they fell, it is not necessary to return them.

Rav Kahana raised an objection: Every day

they

removed

the ashes from

the altar at cockcrow or near it, whether

near it

before it or after it.

And on the Day of Atonement from midnight

.

And on the festivals from

the end of the

first watch.