Yoma 22a — the Talmud in English

Mishna:

At first,

initially, they did not institute a lottery [“pais”] for the removal of the ashes, but

whoever wished to remove from the altar

and was a koen from the paternal household that served in the Temple on that day

would remove.

And when they were numerous,

when there were many kohanim who wished to remove [the ashes], this is what they would do:

they would run and ascend the ramp

of the altar, whose length was thirty-two cubits.

And

whoever preceded his fellow by four cubits,

who reached first within the upper four cubits of the ramp, close to the altar,

was entitled

to remove the ashes.

And if the two were equal,

when two kohanim reached within the four cubits simultaneously, neither of them was entitled. And they would make a lottery among all the kohanim .

And this was how the lottery was conducted —

The appointed official

over the lotteries in the Temple

would say to them: Point out!

That is, take out your fingers, in order to count the fingers. [

And it is explained in the Gemara that the kohanim would stand in a circle all around, and the appointed official would remove the cap from the head of one of them, to indicate that the lottery began from him. And he would name a certain number, much larger than the number of kohanim present there—for example, one hundred or sixty, and he would begin counting the fingers from that koen whose cap he had removed from his head, and he would go around and continue, counting and returning in a circle, until the end of the count. And the koen at whom the count ended was the winner].

And this was how all the lotteries in the Temple were conducted.

And what did they take out?

A finger

or two!

And the Gemara explains that only a sick koen, whose two fingers came out together, would take out two fingers; and they would not count the two fingers, but only the person taking them out.

And they would not take out a thumb in the Temple

at the time of the lottery, because of frauds. For if they saw that the count was about to end with the koen standing after them, they would take out a thumb and another finger, so that the appointed official would err and count them as two because of the distance between the thumb and the finger, and through this the count would end with them.

An incident occurred in which the two were equal, and they were running and ascending the ramp, and one of them pushed his fellow, and he fell and broke his leg.

And when the court saw that they were coming into danger

through running on the ramp,

they instituted that they should remove from the altar only by a lottery

of pointing, and not by running on the ramp. [And the Gemara explains why they did not initially institute a lottery for the removal of the ashes].

There were four lotteries there

in the Temple every day, for the various services. And they would gather four times a day for the lottery.

And this,

of the removal of the ashes,

was the first lottery!

Gemara:

We raise an objection:

But,

this service of the removal of the ashes,

at first,

before the mishap occurred in their race on the ramp,

for what reason did the Sages not institute a lottery for it,

like all the other services in the Temple, for which they instituted a lottery from the outset, as explained below in our chapter?

And we answer:

At first they thought,

initially they thought:

since

the removal of the ashes

is a night service,

which is valid at night, unlike the other services, which are valid only during the day,

they did not consider it important

to the kohanim,

and they would not come,

they would not come to quarrel over it.

But

when they saw

that nevertheless it was important in their eyes, and they were quarreling over it,

for they came,

many kohanim arrived,

and they came

and were coming

into danger, the Sages instituted a lottery for it.

And we challenge:

But

the burning of

the limbs and the fats [

of the regular offering, which is a night service, for it too is valid at night],

and the Sages instituted a lottery for it

from the outset?!

And we answer: That one,

is the conclusion of a daytime service.

For the burning is the completion of the service of the regular offering, which was slaughtered during the day and whose blood was sprinkled during the day. Therefore it was important in the eyes of the kohanim, despite the fact that it itself was performed at night, and therefore from the outset there was concern that they would come to quarrel over it.

And we challenge: But

this one also,

the removal of the ashes—

is the beginning of a daytime service,

for it is the beginning of the service of the day, and it was important in the eyes of the kohanim from the outset?!

And the proof that it is considered the beginning of the service of the day and is not considered a night service is from this:

Rabbi Yohanan said: If he sanctified his hands

from the laver at night

for the removal of the ashes, on the morrow

at dawn

he need not sanctify them

again for the services of that day [if he had not left the Temple in the meantime], since

he had already sanctified

them

at the beginning of the service.

Thus, the removal of the ashes is called the beginning of the service of the day?!

And we answer:

Say:

Thus Rabbi Yohanan said: Since

he had already sanctified

them

at the beginning for the service.

For the service that is the obligation of the following day.

But in truth, the removal of the ashes does not belong to the services of the day; rather, it is a service in itself, and it is a night service.

There are those who say:

The reason they did not initially institute a lottery for the removal of the ashes was that

at first they thought: since there is the constraint of sleep,

for the kohanim were still sleeping at that time,

they would not come

they would not arrive for this service.

When they saw that they came

the kohanim nevertheless,

and also came into danger—

the Sages instituted a lottery for it.

And we challenge:

But

the burning of

the limbs and the fats, for there is

also

the constraint of sleep,

for it too is performed at night,

and

nevertheless

the Sages instituted a lottery for it?

And we answer:

Sleeping is different from rising.

Delaying sleep is not comparable to rising early.

For the burning of the limbs is performed at the beginning of the night, whereas the removal of the ashes is performed at the end of the night. And it is easier for a person to drive sleep from his eyes even until the end of the night than to rise early.

And we challenge:

And

if

the institution was for this side,

was it only because of the mishap that occurred that they instituted a lottery for the removal of the ashes?

But also

the institution was for that side!

For because of another reason as well they should have needed a lottery.

For the koen who removes the ashes also arranges the wood-pyre on the altar and adds two logs of wood to it. And since one koen performs all three of them, they are important [even though they too are night services, Maharsha], and certainly they will trouble themselves to come for their sake even out of doubt; and if so, they should have needed a lottery from the outset?

For it was taught: Whoever won the removal of the ashes—

won

also

the arranging of the pyre and the two logs,

which he places above the wood of the pyre. For we derive from a verse that two logs must be added to the altar every day, at the morning regular offering and at the afternoon regular offering.

And we answer:

Rav Ashi said: There were two institutions:

1.

At first they thought: They would not come

because of the reasons mentioned above.

When they saw that they came, and also came into danger—

they instituted a lottery for it.

2. But

once they instituted a lottery for it—

they did not come

they stopped coming. For

they said: Who can say that it will happen to us,

that we will win the lottery? And it is not worthwhile to come for such a service on account of the uncertainty.

They then instituted for them,

that

whoever won the removal of the ashes would win

also

the arranging of the pyre and the two logs, so that they would come and participate in the lottery

for all these services.

We learned in the Mishna:

And when they were numerous,

they would run and ascend the ramp; whoever preceded his fellow by four cubits was entitled.

Rav Pappa said: It is obvious to me: The four cubits of the ground,

the four cubits on the ground of the Temple courtyard adjacent to the beginning of the ramp below—certainly

not

is this what the Mishna meant, that whoever reached the beginning of those four cubits first was entitled. For

“they run and ascend the ramp,” we learned.

And likewise

the first ones,

the first four cubits of the ramp—

also not.

It is impossible to say that whoever reached the beginning of those four cubits first was entitled. For

“they run and ascend the ramp,” we learned, and afterward,

only afterward—

“whoever preceded his fellow

was entitled.” And it implies that he was not entitled immediately upon reaching the ramp.

And likewise the four cubits

in between,

whatever four cubits they may be among the thirty-two cubits of the ramp—

also not.

Because

the matter is not marked out, there would be no clear sign by which to know which four cubits they are.

and there would be no clear sign by which to know which four cubits were meant.

Therefore

it is obvious to me that the four cubits

of which

we learned are those beside the altar.

Those at the end of the ramp, adjacent to the altar, and whoever reached their beginning first was the winner.

However, Rav Pappa was uncertain about this:

The altar was built in the form of three stepped cubes, one above the other.

It had one cube of the foundation below, one cubit high, and above it a second cube [five cubits high], which was narrower in its width than the foundation by one cubit all around; thus the foundation protruded beneath it by a width of one cubit.

Above the second cube was a third cube, three cubits high, and this cube was narrower in its width than the cube beneath it by one cubit all around. Thus the altar became narrower in its width and receded inward by a cubit in width around its entire perimeter. And this recess is called the “surrounding ledge.”

The ramp reached below as far as the foundation, and from there it rose, and it “flowered”—[rode]—over those two cubits of the width of the foundation and the width of the surrounding ledge, and touched above at the top of the altar. And in light of this:

Rav Pappa inquired: The four cubits that they said,

do they include

together with them,

within them, also the surface of the ramp that projects over

the cubit of the foundation and

over the

cubit of the surrounding ledge?

That is, are they included within the four cubits adjacent to the edge of the top of the altar?