Yoma 21a (כא.) — the Talmud in English

And some say

and add:

even

the voice of the angel called

Ridya

who is appointed to call forth the upper waters of rain and the lower waters of the deep in order to water the earth.

And the Sages petitioned for mercy

from Heaven,

“May the soul”

not hear his voice

when it departs from the body,

and their prayer was accepted,

and they nullified him.

A beraita was taught in accordance with the opinion of Rabbi Sheila

that gever means rooster:

one who sets out on a journey

at night

before the rooster’s call, his blood is upon his head,

as it is dangerous to travel at night.

And some say

that even after the rooster’s call he should not set out

until it calls a second time

in its crowing,

and some say, until it calls a third time.

And with regard to which rooster did they say this? With regard to an average rooster,

which neither calls early nor calls late.

Rav Yehuda said in the name of Rav: When

the

Jewish people would ascend for the Festival pilgrimage,

they would

stand

in the Temple courtyard

crowded together

because of the multitude of people,

and

nevertheless they would

prostrate themselves with ample space,

four cubits apart from one another,

and

the Jewish people would

be drawn

and disperse from the press of the crowd into the area of

eleven cubits

on the western side of the courtyard,

behind the House of the Ark.

And we ask:

What is he saying

that they would be drawn away? Was a miracle not performed for them, causing the space to become larger? Why, then, did they need to disperse?

And we explain:

This is what he is saying: Even though

because of the great press they would

be drawn

—when they were standing—into

eleven cubits

on the western side of the courtyard,

behind the House of the Ark, and

they would

stand

there

crowded together,

in any event,

when they prostrated themselves,

a miracle was performed for them, and they would

prostrate themselves with ample space.

And this was one of the ten miracles performed in the Temple.

As we learned: Ten miracles were performed in the Temple,

and these are they:

a.

A woman did not miscarry

her fetus

from the scent of the flesh of sacred offerings,

even though, by natural consequence, when the smell of food enters the nose of a pregnant woman, she may miscarry if she is prevented from eating it.

b.

And the flesh of sacred offerings never became putrid,

even limbs that remained over and had not yet been consumed by the fire of the altar.

c.

And no fly was ever seen in the slaughterhouse,

where the innards of the sacred offerings were washed.

d.

And the High Priest never experienced a seminal emission on Yom Kippur.

e.

And no disqualification was found in

the offering of the

omer,

for had it been disqualified, there would have been no other omer to bring in its place, since its mitzva is that it be harvested on the night on which it is offered.

f.

And

likewise

with regard to the two loaves,

which were baked on the eve of the Festival of Shavuot; had they become disqualified, they could not have offered others.

g.

And

likewise

with regard to the showbread,

whose baking also does not override Shabbat; and if it became disqualified, the Table would remain without bread until the following Shabbat, when it was time to arrange the bread on the Table.

h.

They would stand

in the courtyard

crowded together, and prostrate themselves with ample space.

i.

And a snake or scorpion never harmed

a person

in Jerusalem.

j.

And no person ever said to another: “The place is too cramped for me to lodge in Jerusalem,”

for their dwellings were not cramped there, nor were their provisions scarce.

And we challenge this:

The tanna began

with miracles performed

in the Temple, and concluded

with miracles performed

in Jerusalem.

And we answer:

There are another two

miracles

other

[ones] that were performed

in the Temple,

as it was taught: It never happened

that

the rain

extinguished

the

fire of the woodpile

of the altar,

and

likewise

the

smoke of the woodpile

would rise and ascend above the altar, and

even

if

all the winds in the world came and blew upon it, they would not move it from its place.

And we refute this:

And are there no more

miracles?

But didn’t Rav Shemaya of Kalnevo teach

[a place name]:

Fragments of earthenware vessels

in which sacred offerings had been cooked, and which required breaking in the courtyard because the vessel absorbed the flesh of the sacred offerings and became prohibited as notar, would

be swallowed in their place,

by way of a miracle.

And

likewise

Abaye said: The crop and feathers

of a bird burnt-offering, which he would cast onto the floor of the courtyard, at the place where he would place the ashes removed each day,

and

likewise

the clearing of the inner altar and the clearing of the menorah,

which were also placed in that same location, would

be swallowed in their place

by way of a miracle.

And we answer: Those

disqualifications

mentioned in the Mishna—that no disqualification was found in the omer, the two loaves, or the showbread—

were three,

they are three in the enumeration of the Mishna;

he counted them

[enumerated them]

as one.

And now,

remove two

[subtract two from the count]

and add two,

the miracles of Rav Shemaya and Abaye, and there are found to be ten miracles.

And we challenge this:

If so,

since you count the three miracles involving disqualification as one miracle because they are of one kind, then the miracles of

the swallowed objects too,

even though

they were two, count them

[enumerate them]

as one,

and you will find that

they are lacking

from the count of ten.

And we answer:

There is also

a

different

miracle that was performed in the Temple.

For Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi said: A great miracle was performed with the showbread,

for the bread was hot and fresh at the time of

its removal

from the Table on Shabbat,

just as

it had been at the time of

its arrangement

on the Table on the preceding Shabbat,

as

so

it is stated

with regard to it [I Samuel 21:7]:

“To place hot bread on the day it is taken.”

And now, when this miracle is added to the count, there are found to be ten miracles.

And we challenge this:

And are there no more

miracles?

But didn’t Rav Levi say:

We have this tradition from our ancestors: The area of the

place

of the

Ark,

which measured two and a half cubits by one and a half cubits,

does not

diminish

from the measure

of the Holy of Holies, which was twenty cubits by twenty cubits.

For we learned in a beraita: The Ark that Moses made had ten cubits of empty space on every side.

Thus, the place of the Ark did not diminish anything from the area of the Holy of Holies.

And

likewise

Ravnai said in the name of Shmuel: The thickness of the bodies of the

cherubim

that Solomon made in the Temple and set on the ground beside the Ark

stood by means of a miracle,

for the wings of the cherubim alone extended from wall to wall and filled the entire space of the Holy of Holies, leaving no room for the thickness of their bodies; and necessarily, the thickness of their bodies did not diminish from the measure.

And we answer: The tanna of the Mishna

counts the miracles that occurred outside

[the miracles performed outside the building]

in his enumeration,

for they are publicized and known to everyone; but the miracles that occurred inside

[those miracles that occurred within]

he does not count.

And we refute this:

If so, this miracle of the

showbread

that remained hot as it had been when it was placed, should not have been counted, since

it is

also a miracle that occurred inside

[a miracle within]

it is.

And we answer: This miracle of the

showbread

is also among the

miracles that occurred outside.

For Reish Lakish said: What is the meaning of that which is written

with regard to the showbread [Leviticus 24:6]: “And you shall place them, two stacks, six to a stack,

on the pure Table

before the Lord”? From the fact that the Torah was particular that it be

“pure,”

by inference

[it follows]

that it

could be

impure.