Yoma 39a (לט.) — the Talmud in English

And balsam

whose scent is pleasant.

When

the purchaser

comes to measure kerosene, he says to him

the seller:

“Measure it yourself,” [because its smell is unpleasant, and the seller does not want to touch it].

because its smell is unpleasant, the seller does not want to touch it].

When

the purchaser

comes to measure balsam, he says to him

the seller:

“Wait for me until I measure it with you, so that you and I may both enjoy its fragrance.”

And similarly, one who comes to become impure is not assisted, whereas one who comes to become pure is assisted.

The Gemara cites another beraita of the tanna Rabbi Yishmael:

The school of Rabbi Yishmael taught:

A transgression dulls

—it blocks

a person’s heart

so that no wisdom can enter it.

As it is stated [Leviticus 11], concerning the prohibition against eating creeping creatures:

Leviticus 11, concerning the prohibition against eating creeping creatures]:

“And you shall not defile yourselves through them, and you shall become defiled through them.”

The word “you shall become defiled” as it is written in the Torah is missing the letter alef;

therefore, do not read it as “venitme’tam,”

but rather as “venitmatem.”

The Gemara cites another beraita that discusses this verse:

The Sages taught:

It is stated:

“And you shall not defile yourselves through them, and you shall become defiled through them,”

and, seemingly, this is a repetition. [After all, it has already been stated, “And you shall not defile yourselves through them,” and it is obvious that one who becomes defiled is impure.]

From here they derived:

A person

who

defiles

himself

a little

is caused to become defiled

—he is given the opportunity to become impure

a great deal.

And a person who defiles himself

below

by himself

is caused to become defiled from above

by the accusing forces. [That is, there are many accusing forces to mislead him, as it is written in Zechariah 3: “And the Satan was standing at his right to accuse him.” Ritva] .

And a person who defiles himself

in this world is caused to become defiled in the World-to-Come.

The Sages taught:

It is stated [there, in Leviticus]:

“And you shall sanctify yourselves and you shall be

holy,”

and, seemingly, this is a repetition.

From here they derived:

A person

who

sanctifies

himself

a little is sanctified a great deal,

as we learned above: One who comes to become pure is assisted. [“And you shall sanctify yourselves”

—a little; “and you shall be holy”—a great deal. Rashi].

A person who sanctifies himself

below

by himself,

is sanctified

by the holy angels

from above

Ritva].

A person who sanctifies himself in this world

is sanctified for the World-to-Come.

We will return to you, The Appointed Officer Said to Them

The chapter before us continues to discuss the order of the Yom Kippur service.

In the previous chapter we learned that, in the eastern part of the azara, to the north of the altar, they placed the two goats, and there was a box there containing two lots.

Our Mishna explains the procedure of drawing the lots:

Mishna:

He snatched

the two lots quickly —he seized in his hands the two lots that were inside

the box, and lifted

the

two

lots

that were in his hands out of the box [one lot in his right hand and the second lot in his left hand].

One lot

bore the inscription “For the Name”

[the explicit Name ], and

a

lot

bore the inscription “For Azazel”

.

The deputy

of the High Priest was standing

to his right,

the High Priest’s right,

and the head of the “ancestral house”

[the head of the family whose turn it was to serve in the Temple that day ], stood

to his left.

If

the lot

bearing the Name was drawn with his right hand,

the

deputy

standing to his right

would say to him: “My master,”

[my lord,]

“High Priest, raise your right hand,”

so that everyone would know that the lot in his right hand had been drawn for the Name [Meiri].

And if

the lot

bearing the Name was drawn with his left hand, the head of the ancestral house

standing to his left

would say to him: “My master, High Priest, raise your left hand,”

so that everyone would know that the lot in his left hand had been drawn for it.

He placed

the two lots

upon the two goats.

He placed the lot in his right hand upon the goat to his right, and the lot in his left hand upon the goat to his left.

And he would say

[the High Priest] over the goat upon which the lot for the Lord had been drawn:

“A sin-offering for the Lord!”

Rabbi Ishmael says: He did not

the High Priest

need to say

“For the Lord”

“a sin-offering,” but only “For the Lord”

alone.

And they,

those who heard the explicit Name as it emerged from the mouth of the High Priest, would prostrate themselves and

respond after him,

when they heard the Name emerge from his mouth:

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

Gemara:

We learned in the Mishna that the priest snatched [seized] the lots that were in the box.

And we raise a difficulty:

Why did he need to snatch them from the box?

Why did the High Priest not take the lots in his usual manner?

And we answer:

So that he would not intend to take one—

so that he would not deliberately feel around with his hands and identify which lot bore the Name, and take it with his right hand. There was concern that he might do this because, if the lot was drawn with his right hand, it was a favorable sign for Israel. If he deliberately took the lot bearing the Name with his right hand, he would thereby fail to fulfill the mitzva of drawing lots.

The Gemara now describes the box:

Rava said:

The

box was made of wood. And it was ordinary

[non-sacred]

and was

not made from consecrated funds.

And it could contain

[hold]

only

enough to admit

two hands

alone.

The Gemara continues its explanation:

Ravina challenged

Rava’s statement:

Granted,

it is understandable that the box

could contain only

enough to admit

two hands

alone,

so that he would not intend to take one—

so that he could not deliberately feel around with his hands and take the lot bearing the Name with his right hand [since the box was narrow, it was difficult to move his hands inside it].

But,

why did they make the box

ordinary?

Let us consecrate it

—let us consecrate it!

And we answer: Since the box was made of wood,

if so,

if they were to consecrate it,

it would become

a box that was

a wooden vessel used in the Temple service. And

we,

wooden vessels used in the Temple service—

we do not make them!

For vessels used in the Temple service are made only of metal. And we challenge this:

Let it be made

—let us make the box of metal,

of silver! And

likewise,

let it be made

[let us make it]

of gold

and consecrate it.

And we answer:

The Torah has concern for the money of Israel.

We learned in the Mishna: And he lifted [the High Priest] two lots.

The Gemara cites a beraita that disagrees with this ruling in the Mishna:

The Mishna

is not in accordance with this tanna.

Our Mishna is not in accordance with the words of the tanna of the following beraita:

As it was taught: Rabbi Yehuda said in the name of

[on behalf of]

Rabbi Eliezer: The deputy and the High Priest each insert

one of

their

right

hands into the box.

If the Name was drawn with the right hand of the High Priest,

the Name,

the deputy would say to him: “My master, High Priest, raise your right hand!”

And if with the right hand of the

the

deputy the Name was drawn,

the Name,

the head of the ancestral house would say to the High Priest: “Speak your words”

[your statement], and say, “A sin-offering for the Lord”! And we challenge the words of the beraita:

Let the deputy say to him

—let the deputy say to the High Priest, “Speak your words and say, ‘A sin-offering for the Lord’”! Why did the head of the ancestral house say this [as he was less important than the deputy]?

And we answer:

Since it was not drawn by his hand—

since the Name was not drawn by the hand of the High Priest, but by the hand of the deputy, if the deputy were also to say to him, “Say, ‘A sin-offering for the Lord’”!

his spirits would fall

[the High Priest would become dispirited].

And we raise a difficulty:

Over what do they disagree?

What is the subject of the disagreement between the tanna of our Mishna [who holds that the High Priest inserted both his hands] and the tanna of the beraita [who holds that the High Priest and the deputy inserted their right hands]?

And we answer:

One master—

the tanna of the beraita—

held: The right hand of the deputy is superior—

it is more important

than the left hand of the High Priest.

And

if

the other master—

the tanna of the Mishna—

held

that the left hand of the High Priest and the right hand of the deputy

are equivalent,

they are equal in importance.

The Gemara clarifies who the tanna was who taught our Mishna:

And we raise a difficulty:

And who is this tanna—

who is the tanna

who disagrees

with

Rabbi Yehuda?

And we answer:

It is Rabbi Hanina, the deputy of the priests.

As it was taught: Rabbi Hanina, the deputy of the priests, says: Why

did the

deputy

stand to the right of the High Priest? Because

if an impediment occurred to the priest

the

High Priest,

he would

enter,

the

deputy, “and serve in his place.”

This implies that before an impediment occurred to the High Priest, the deputy did not perform any part of the service at all. From here it follows that the High Priest himself lifted both lots, while the deputy did not lift even one lot.

We learn from the Gemara’s words that it was a favorable sign for Israel when the Name was drawn with the High Priest’s right hand. The Gemara cites several beraitot concerning this:

The Sages taught:

The beraita recounts the greatness of Shimon the Righteous: during the period when he served as High Priest, five miracles were performed for Israel:

a. During those

forty years that

he

served, Shimon the Righteous

as High Priest,

the lot

for the Lord

was drawn

every time

with the right hand.

But

from then onward,

after Shimon the Righteous died,

sometimes

the lot for the Lord

was drawn with the right hand,

and

sometimes

it was drawn

with the left hand.

b.

And

during the years of Shimon the Righteous’s tenure,

the strip of crimson wool

placed atop the head of the goat sent to Azazel

would always turn white,

and this was a sign that the Holy One, blessed be He, had forgiven Israel. But

from then onward,

after his death,

sometimes

the strip

would turn white, and sometimes it would not turn white.

3.

And

during the years of Shimon HaTzaddik’s tenure,

the western lamp

of the Menora

was burning

longer than the other lamps of the Menora. For the other lamps burned from evening until morning, whereas the western lamp burned from evening until the following evening [Ritva in explanation of Rashi’s words but

from then on,

after he died,

sometimes it burned and sometimes it went out

like the other lamps.

4.

And

in the time of Shimon HaTzaddik,

the fire of the arrangement

[on top of the altar]

grew stronger

and burned well throughout the entire day,

and the

Kohanim

priests did not need to bring wood

during the day and add it

to the arrangement, except for the two logs

that the priests added to the arrangement between the evenings

in order to fulfill the mitzva of “

And the priest shall place upon it

wood”

[from which they learned that two logs must be added to the burning arrangement before the afternoon Tamid offering].

But

from then on,

after Shimon HaTzaddik died,

sometimes

the fire

grew stronger,

and sometimes it

did not grow stronger.

And the

Kohanim

priests did not refrain from bringing wood

and adding it

to the arrangement

throughout

the entire day

in order to intensify the fire.