Yoma 45a — the Talmud in English

“refined gold”

is called so because of

that

it

resembles fine gold [yellow and shining like a pearl].

yellow and shining like a pearl].

“drawn gold” —

is called so because

it was spun like a thread,

because it is soft.

“closed gold”

is called so because

when it is opened [when it is offered for sale],

when it is offered for sale],

all the shops close,

because they are unable to compete with gold of such high quality.

“Parvaim gold”

is called so because

it

is red,

resembling the blood of bulls.

Thus far are the words of Rav Ḥisda, who holds that there are seven types of gold.

Rav Ashi said: Five

types of gold alone

are there,

and “gold” and “good gold” are not to be counted among them [as Rav Ḥisda counted them as separate types]. Rather—

each and every one,

in each of the five types of gold,

there is in it,

there is in it some gold that is not so excellent, called

“gold”,

and there is in it some gold that is excellent

and

is called

good gold.

It was taught likewise,

we learned in a beraita in accordance with the words of Rav Ḥisda above, that “Parvaim gold” is called so because it resembles the blood of bulls:

For it was taught:

Every day its gold was

of the firepan

green, but today red. And this is

the gold called

“Parvaim gold”,

because of

its resembling

in its red color

the blood of bulls.

We learned in the Mishna:

Every day he offered half a handful in the morning

and half a handful between the evenings, etc.

Every day it was

the incense

fine [finely ground]

thoroughly pulverized]

and

the special incense of

today,

which he would bring into the Holy of Holies, was

finer than fine.

The Gemara brings a beraita that explains from where we learned that the incense in the Holy of Holies was finer than fine.

The Sages taught:

It is stated [Leviticus 16:12], concerning the incense of Yom Kippur offered in the Holy of Holies: “And he shall fill his cupped hands with fine incense of spices.”

“Fine”—

what does it come to teach?

What does the word “fine” come to teach us?

But has it not already

been stated [Exodus 30], concerning the incense of all the days of the year,

“And you shall grind some of it finely”,

from which it follows that the incense was fine [and we know that on Yom Kippur as well the incense was fine]?

Rather,

the verse

comes to add [to supplement] that on Yom Kippur the incense was

to add] that on Yom Kippur the incense was

finer than fine [they ground it an additional time, on the eve of Yom Kippur].

it was ground a second time, on the eve of Yom Kippur].

We learned in the Mishna:

Every day priests ascend on the eastern side of the ramp

of the altar.

The Gemara explains the reason for this:

For the Master said [Rami bar Yeḥezkel, below 59b]:

Rami bar Yeḥezkel, below, on 59b]:

All turnings [turns]

movements]

that you turn shall only be by way of the right!

The ramp stood to the south of the altar, and when the priest ascended it, his right was on the eastern side; and when he reached the top, he had to turn

eastward

of the altar. Therefore the priest ascended on the eastern side of the ramp, so that he would be close to the eastern side of the altar and would not have to walk an unnecessarily long way on the altar.

We learned in the Mishna:

But today

the High Priest

ascends in the middle

of the ramp,

and descends in the middle.

And we explain:

What is the reason—

because of the honor of the High Priest.

To display his importance, that he is like a member of the household before the Omnipresent and walks wherever he wishes.

We learned in the Mishna:

Every day the High Priest sanctifies his hands and feet from the basin,

but today from a golden pitcher.

And we explain:

What is the reason—what is the reason that on Yom Kippur the High Priest sanctified himself from a golden pitcher?

what is the reason that on Yom Kippur the High Priest sanctified himself from a golden vessel?

Because of the honor of the High Priest

on Yom Kippur.

We learned in the Mishna:

Every day there were

on the altar

four arrangements [piles of wood to kindle them with fire ],

and today five, the words of Rabbi Meir. Rabbi Yosei says: Every day [there were] three [arrangements], and today four. Rabbi Yehuda says: Every day [there were] two, and today three.

And the Gemara brings a beraita explaining which arrangements they arranged on the altar every day and on Yom Kippur:

The Sages taught: Every day there were

on the altar

two arrangements, and today three.

And these are they:

One—

the great arrangement,

on which they offered every day all the offerings [Rashi above 33a].

And one—

the second arrangement of incense,

from which they brought coals to the inner altar in the Sanctuary, to offer upon them the incense of every day [in the morning and between the evenings].

And one—

which they add on that day [on Yom Kippur]—for the incense in the Holy of Holies.

on Yom Kippur] - for the incense brought into the Holy of Holies.

These are

the words of Rabbi Yehuda.

Rabbi Yosei says: Every day

there were on the altar

three

arrangements,

and today four.

And these are they:

One—

of the great arrangement. And one—

of the second arrangement of incense. And one—

for maintenance of the fire.

For if the fire in the great arrangement is insufficient, they add wood to it from this arrangement.

And one that they add on that day—

on Yom Kippur, for the incense in the Holy of Holies.

Rabbi Meir says: Every day

there were on the altar

four

arrangements,

and today five.

And these are they:

Every day:

one—

of the great arrangement. And one—

of the second arrangement of incense. And one—

of

maintenance of the fire. And one—

for

the offering of

limbs and fats [fats]

from the offerings of yesterday

that had not been consumed by evening,

because they had not been placed on the fire of the great arrangement, or had been placed there but had not been sufficiently consumed .

And one—

which they add on that day [on Yom Kippur] for the incense in the Holy of Holies.

on Yom Kippur], for the incense brought into the Holy of Holies.

And the Gemara proceeds to explain from where they learned all these arrangements:

Everyone agrees, in any event, that they have two.

Everyone agrees that there were at least two arrangements every day—

from where do we know it?

From where did we learn this matter?

The verse says: “It

the continual burnt offering

that burns on its fire on the altar all night.” [Leviticus 6:2].

Leviticus 6:2].

“Its fire”—that is a wood fire, and

this is the great arrangement

on which they offered the continual burnt offering [mentioned at the beginning of the verse] and the other offerings,

“And the fire of the altar shall burn upon it” [“burn” is an expression of the burning of a wood fire]—

“shall burn” refers to the burning of a wood fire] -

this is the second arrangement of incense.

And the Gemara asks:

And Rabbi Yosei,

who added another arrangement every day for maintenance of the fire—

maintenance

of the fire, from where does he derive it?

From where does he know that there was an arrangement for maintenance of the fire?

And we answer:

He derives it,

he derives this law

from

the word “burn” later in the passage [in verse 5]:

“And the fire on the altar shall burn upon it.”

We learn from here that there was an additional arrangement on the altar, and this was the arrangement for maintenance of the fire.

And from here there is a difficulty against Rabbi Yehuda, who holds that there were only two arrangements [since in verse 5 a third “burning” [wood fire] was mentioned].

And Rabbi Yehuda

will answer:

That “burn”—

in the verse

comes for the kindling of thin wood!

It comes to teach about kindling thin sticks, with which they kindled the fire in the great arrangement. And the verse teaches that this kindling is to be done on the altar.

For it was taught: Rabbi Yehuda would say: From where is it derived that the kindling of thin wood

[thin sticks]

shall be only at the top of the altar,

and not that he should kindle it below, on the floor of the courtyard, and raise them while they are burning to the altar?

The verse says: “And the fire—

on the altar shall burn upon it.”

Rabbi Yosei said: From where is it derived that he makes

on the altar

an arrangement for maintenance of the fire?

The verse says: “And the fire on the altar shall burn upon it.”

And we raise an objection against Rabbi Yosei:

And Rabbi Yosei—

from where does he derive the kindling of thin wood?

From where does he know that it is performed at the top of the altar?

And we answer:

He derives it,

he derives this law

from the source from which Rabbi Shimon derives it.

From the same place from which Rabbi Shimon learned this law, as follows:

For it was taught:

It is stated [Leviticus 1:7]:

“And the sons of Aaron the priest shall place fire on the altar”—

the verse taught

that

the kindling of thin wood shall be performed only by a fit priest.

And

the priest shall then be clothed

in sacred vessels,

priestly garments,

the words of Rabbi Yehuda.

Rabbi Shimon said to him,

to Rabbi Yehuda:

Would it enter your mind that a non-priest approaches the altar

to kindle the thin wood? Surely it is self-evident that only priests are fit to kindle the thin wood, since you have already learned [from the verse “and the fire ... shall burn”] that the kindling of the thin wood is at the top of the altar, and non-priests are forbidden to ascend the altar!

If so, why did the verse need to say that the sons of Aaron were the ones who kindled the thin wood?

Rather,

necessarily, the verse

taught

here

about the kindling of

the

thin wood

itself,

that it shall be only at the top of the altar.

And not as you say [Rabbi Yehuda], that you already learned this law from the verse: “And the fire on the altar shall burn upon it.”

Rather, I [Rabbi Shimon] hold in accordance with Rabbi Yosei, who learned from there that there was an additional arrangement on the altar for maintenance of the fire. One cannot learn from there that the kindling of the thin wood was at the top of the altar, but rather from “And the sons of Aaron the priest shall place fire on the altar.”

And Rabbi Yehuda

will answer:

If from there,

if you would come to learn that a non-priest is disqualified from kindling the thin wood from the verse “And the fire on the altar shall burn upon it,” from which we learned that the kindling of the thin wood was at the top of the altar,

I might have thought

I could say that although the kindling of the thin wood was on the altar, nevertheless a non-priest could kindle it when he

stands on the ground and operates a bellows,

when he stands on the ground and kindles the thin wood on the altar with the aid of a bellows.

It teaches us

and therefore the verse “And the sons of Aaron the priest shall place fire on the altar” informs us that a non-priest is disqualified from kindling the fire with thin wood.

And the Gemara asks:

And Rabbi Meir,

who added another arrangement every day for offering limbs and fats that had not been consumed by evening—

limbs and fats that had not been consumed

by evening, from where does he derive it?

From where does he know that there was a separate arrangement for limbs and fats that had not been consumed by evening?

The Gemara answers:

He derives it from “and fire.”

Rabbi Meir learned from the superfluous letter vav in the verse “And the fire of the altar shall burn upon it” [in verse 2] that there was an additional arrangement. And he explained that they made it for the offering of fats and limbs that had not been consumed by evening].

And the Sages,

that is, Rabbi Yehuda and Rabbi Yosei, who disagree with Rabbi Meir—

do not expound the vav!

They do not derive anything from the letter vav, because it is the way of the verse to write in this manner.

And the Gemara asks:

And

according to

the Sages, what about limbs and fats that had not been consumed by evening—

what shall they do with them?

What shall he do with them? And the Gemara answers:

He returns them—

he returns them

to the great arrangement.

For it was taught: From where is it derived concerning limbs and fats

of offerings of the previous day

that had not been consumed by evening,