Yoma 35b (לה:) — the Talmud in English

Meitivei, the members of the academy raised an objection to the statement of our Mishna [that the morning garments were more prestigious than those of the evening], from the words of the prophet Ezekiel:

It is stated by Ezekiel [44:19], concerning the service of the High Priest on Yom Kippur: "

And when they go out to the outer court ... they shall remove their garments [the white garments]] ...

and they shall put on other garments."

That is, when he returned and entered the Holy of Holies to remove the spoon and the coal pan, he would wear other white garments.

And we know this through a halakha transmitted to Moses at Sinai [above, 32a]; Ezekiel then supported [reinforced] this matter and established it in Scripture.

And the end of the verse is:

"and they shall not sanctify the people with their garments" [

The Gemara cites the verse through its end, even though this sentence is a separate matter and has no connection to our sugya. Its meaning is as follows]: When they go out to the people, that is, outside the azara, they shall not wear sacred garments [Ritva, in explanation of Rashi].

We learn from the prophet's words that when the High Priest entered in the afternoon to remove the spoon and the coal pan, he wore "other" garments.

And we raised a difficulty concerning this:

What is the prophet's intention in emphasizing and saying, "and they shall put on other garments," rather than simply saying, "and they shall put on garments"?

Is it not that he intended to say that

"other" means different and

more prestigious than them, than the first garments that he wore in the morning?!

And from here there is a difficulty against our Mishna [in which we learned that the morning garments were more prestigious than those of the afternoon]!

And we answer:

No! "Other"

means

inferior to them [the first garments that he wore in the morning], because the morning service was more important, as he offered sacrifices for atonement. But the removal of the spoon and the coal pan does not come for atonement; it is merely to clear the Holy of Holies, since it is not honorable for utensils to remain there.

We learned in the Mishna that the white garments of Yom Kippur are purchased with funds from the sacred treasury. And if he wished to add [more than thirty maneh according to the Rabbis, or more than twenty maneh according to Rabbi Meir], he added from his own funds.

Rav Huna bar Yehuda taught

a beraita.

And some say [others state it]

in the name of Rav Shmuel bar Yehuda: After the service of the public sacrifices had been completed, a

High

Priest

for whom his mother had made a tunic [

from his money or hers]

would wear it and perform the service of an individual

alone.

That is, a service that is not required for the public, namely the removal of the spoon and the coal pan, which was performed only for the honor of the site of the Holy of Holies [and was called the service of an individual because this service was assigned to the High Priest, to clear the place. Rashi].

Provided that he transfers it

the High Priest

to the public.

Since, in the end, the service is partially a public service [Rashi; Ritva].

And we challenge this: Since the High Priest transfers it to the public,

it is obvious

that he may perform service in it!

And we answer:

Lest you say

that perhaps we should be concerned [

lest he not transfer it wholeheartedly

, lest he not resolve wholeheartedly to give it to the public, and we should prohibit him from performing service in it.

It teaches us

that the tanna teaches us in the beraita that we are not concerned about this, and he is permitted to perform service in it.

And apropos of the beraita's statement, "a High Priest for whom his mother made a tunic," the Gemara cites the following incidents [Tosefta, chapter 1]:

They said about Rabbi Yishmael ben Pavi

the High Priest,

that his mother made him a tunic worth one hundred maneh, and he

would

wear it, perform the service of an individual in it, and transfer it to the public

before performing service in it. They said about Rabbi Elazar ben Ḥarsum that his mother made him a tunic worth twenty thousand [

twenty thousand] maneh,

but his fellow priests did not allow him to wear it, because

it was made of such fine threads

that

he appeared to be naked.

And we challenge this:

Could he be visible

? Could his flesh really be visible through the tunic?!

But the Master said

the tanna in a beraita [below, 71b]: Priestly garments concerning which it is stated that they were made of shesh [linen],

their thread

was

sixfold [

and the tunic was made of shesh]. If so, how could his flesh have been seen through garments so thick?

Abaye said

an answer: An analogy:

like wine in a glass jug,

like wine in a glass vessel, which can be seen through it even though the glass is thick. Similarly, Rabbi Elazar ben Ḥarsum's garments were made of bright, transparent linen, so that his flesh could be seen through them.

Since Rabbi Elazar ben Ḥarsum's wealth was mentioned [his mother made him a tunic worth twenty thousand maneh], the Gemara cites another beraita that mentions his wealth:

The Sages taught:

A poor person, a wealthy person, and a wicked person

who follows his desires

will come to judgment

in the World to Come because of the neglect of Torah.

The heavenly court can find them liable in judgment and demonstrate to them that they could have engaged in Torah study.

And the beraita proceeds to explain:

a.

To the poor person, they say: Why did you not engage in Torah study?

If the poor person says: I was poor and preoccupied with obtaining my sustenance,

and I was unable to engage in Torah study,

they say to him: Were you poorer than Hillel

who was utterly impoverished and nevertheless engaged in Torah study?!

For this is what

they said about Hillel the Elder: Every single day he would work

to earn his livelihood,

and he would earn a terapaik [

a coin worth half a dinar, which is a sela medina. Rashi].

Half of it he would give to the guardian of the

beit-midrash

so that he would allow him to enter to study Torah from Shemaya and Avtalion,

and he would spend the other half

for

his own sustenance and that of the members of his household.

Once he could not find

work

from which to earn money,

and

the guardian of the beit-midrash would not let him enter.

Hillel went up to the roof

and hung himself and sat at the edge of

the

skylight [

a window in the roof through which light entered the beit-midrash]

in order to hear the words of the living God from Shemaya and Avtalion.

They said: That day was the eve of Shabbat. It was the season of Tevet, and snow fell upon him from the heavens.

When dawn broke [

of Shabbat morning]

Shemaya said to Avtalion: Avtalion, my brother, every day the house is illuminated [

lit],

but today it is dark. Perhaps it is a cloudy day.

They looked up

with

their eyes and saw the outline of a person in the skylight.

They went up and found three cubits' height of snow upon him. They removed it

They removed the burden of snow from him,

washed him and anointed him

with oil,

and seated him opposite the fire.

They said: This man,

in his frozen condition,

is worthy of having Shabbat desecrated for him.

b. To the

wealthy

person who comes to judgment in the World to Come,

they say to him: Why did you not engage in Torah study?

If he says: I was wealthy, and I was preoccupied with my property,

and I was unable to engage in Torah study,

they say to him: Were you wealthier than Rabbi Elazar

ben Ḥarsum?!

For this is what

they said about Rabbi Elazar ben Ḥarsum: His father left him one thousand towns on the mainland, and opposite them one thousand ships at sea.

And every day

he would

carry a leather bottle of flour on his shoulder

for sustenance,

and travel from city to city and from province to province to study Torah.

Once his servants found him

who lived in one of the towns belonging to him, but they did not recognize him. They thought that he was one of the town's inhabitants.

And they made him perform

that is, they forced him to perform

forced labor,

the work imposed by the town's master upon its inhabitants.

He said to them: Please, let me go so that I may go study Torah.

They said to him:

We swear by

the life of Rabbi Elazar ben Ḥarsum,

the master of the city,

that we will not let you go

from here until you perform the work imposed upon you as a resident of the town. [

He went and gave them a great deal of money so that they would let him go.

This is the version in Ein Yaakov].

And throughout the life of

Rabbi Elazar ben Ḥarsum,

he never went to

his servants

and saw them

how they worked.

Rather, he

sat and engaged in Torah study all day and all night.

c. And the beraita explains the law of the wicked person:

The wicked person

who follows his desires,

they say to him: Why did you not engage in Torah study?

If he said: I was handsome, and I was preoccupied with my inclination,

they say to him: Were you more handsome [

and more preoccupied with your inclination ]

than

Joseph?!

For this is what

they said about Joseph the Righteous: Every day

Potiphar's wife would try to seduce him with words. The garments that she wore for him

in order to entice him in the morning, she did not wear for him in the evening.

And likewise,

the garments that she wore for him in the evening, she did not wear for him in the

morning.

She said to him: Consent to me

to commit a transgression.

He said to her: No.

She said to him: I will imprison you.

He said to her [

based on Psalms 146]:

"The Lord releases the imprisoned."

She said to him:

I will bend your stature. He said to her [based on that same chapter of Psalms]:

"The Lord straightens those who are bent."

She said to him:

I will blind your eyes.

He said to her:

"The Lord opens the eyes of the blind" [

Psalms, there].

She gave him one thousand talents of silver to listen to her, to lie with her, and to be with her,

but he did not wish to listen to her.

And why is it stated [Genesis 39:10], "and he did not listen to her, to lie beside her, to be with her," in repetitive language?

“To lie with her”

means

in this world.

“To be with her”

means

in the World-to-Come.

The beraita now summarizes its statements:

It follows:

Hillel holds the poor accountable [

who did not study Torah] in judgment.

Rabbi Elazar ben Ḥarsum holds the wealthy accountable.

And

Joseph holds the wicked accountable.

Mishna:

The Mishna begins to arrange the services of the day performed in the white garments.

He came

the koen gadol

to

his bull,

the sin-offering bull belonging to him.

And his bull stood between the Entrance Hall and the Altar,

on the north side of the Temple courtyard [as is demonstrated in the Gemara].

Its head

of the bull was facing

south,

and its tail was to the north.

And its face

was turned

westward [

they turned its head to the side, until its face was toward the west] in the direction of the Sanctuary.

And the koen

the gadol

stood in the east, [

with his back to the east]

and his face to the west. And he placed both his hands upon it and confessed.

And this is what he would say

in his confession:

Please, Hashem [

here the koen gadol would pronounce the Name as it is written, yod-he-vav-he ]:

I have acted wickedly, I have transgressed, and I have sinned before You—I and my household.

Please, Hashem!

Please forgive the iniquities, transgressions, and sins that I have committed wickedly, transgressed, and sinned

before You—I and my household.

For You have promised us that You would atone for us today,

as it is written in the Torah of Moses, Your servant [

Leviticus 16:30]:

“For on this day you shall atone

for you, to purify you from all your sins.”

And they—

those standing in the Temple courtyard, when they heard the Name emerge from the mouth of the koen gadol—

would respond after him [

while prostrating themselves. Tiferet Yisrael ]:

“Blessed be the Name of His glorious kingdom forever and ever.”