Yoma 52b — the Talmud in English

And these are:

1.

“Forgiveness,”

as it is written: “And the Lord said to Cain, and so forth: Is it not so that if you do well, there is forgiveness, but if you do not do well, at the entrance sin crouches.” And it is not determined—

whether: “Is it not so that if you do well” your deeds, then “forgiveness” is an expression of pardon— “

but if you do not do well, at the entrance”—your grave—“sin crouches.”

Or: “Is it not so that if you do well” your deeds, then it is good—but “forgiveness” is an expression of bearing iniquity—“but if you do not do well,” meaning: if you do not improve your ways, then you will bear your iniquity.

2.

“Engraved,”

as it is written: “And on the menorah were four cups, engraved, its knobs and its flowers.” And it is not determined—

whether: “And on the menorah” there were “four cups” that were “engraved” [depicted]—

and there were also in it “its knobs and its flowers.”

Or: “And on the menorah” there were four cups,

and “its knobs and its flowers” were engraved.

3.

“Tomorrow,”

as it is written: “And Moses said to Joshua: Go out, fight against Amalek; tomorrow I shall stand on the top of the hill.” And it is not determined—

whether: “Go out, fight against Amalek tomorrow”—and therefore “I shall stand on the top of the hill” today, in order to pray before the war.

Or: “Go out, fight against Amalek” immediately—

and “tomorrow I shall stand” in order to pray; but today you do not need my prayer.

4.

“Cursed,”

as it is written: “Simon and Levi are brothers; into their counsel may my soul not enter, for in their anger they killed a man and in their will they uprooted an ox. Cursed be their anger, for it is fierce, and their wrath, for it is harsh; I shall divide them in Jacob and scatter them in Israel.” And it has no determination—

whether: “Into their counsel may my soul not enter”—this shall be theirs, “for in their anger they killed a man and in their will they uprooted an ox,” that of Shechem, who is “cursed” among the accursed sons of Canaan—

and because of “their anger, for it is fierce, and their wrath, for it is harsh,” there shall be for them: “I shall divide them in Jacob.”

Or: “And in their will they uprooted an ox”—

and therefore: “Cursed be their anger.”

5.

“And he shall rise,”

as it is written: “And the Lord said to Moses: Behold, you are lying with your fathers, and this people shall rise and go astray after the foreign gods of the land.” And it is not determined—whether: “Behold, you are lying with your fathers”—behold, you are dead, lying—and “he shall rise”—behold, you shall rise [Rashi, Sanhedrin]; and from here there is a hint of the revival of the dead from the Torah.

Or: “Behold, you are lying with your fathers”—

and after you lie down, “this people shall rise and go astray after the foreign gods of the land.”

We have therefore learned: for according to Issi ben Judah, there are only five verses whose determination is lacking—

and

therefore

it was taught: He is ‘Joseph the man of Hutzal,’

he is Joseph the Babylonian, he is ‘Issi ben Judah,’

he is Issi ben Gur Aryeh, he is Issi ben Gamliel, he is Issi ben Mahlalel; and what was his name? Issi ben Akiva

[in Pesachim 113b:

Akavya]

was his name—

it follows that according to Joseph the man of Hutzal, only five verses lack determination, whereas all the rest have determination; and how could he himself have been uncertain about the determination of the word “within”?

And we answer:

In the Torah there are not

more than five verses, but

in the Prophets—

there are.

But we still wonder:

And in the Torah there are not

verses whose determination is lacking apart from these five verses?!

But there is

that

which Rav Hisda asked:

It is written: “And Moses wrote all the words of the Lord, and he arose early in the morning”—on the fifth of Sivan, before the giving of the Torah—“and he built an altar. And he sent the young men of the children of Israel” [the firstborn], “and they offered burnt offerings and sacrificed peace-offerings to the Lord, bulls.”

And Rav Hisda asks:

whether: “bulls” belongs only to the latter part of the verse, and this is what it says:

“And he sent the young men of the children of Israel, and they offered burnt offerings”

from the

lambs, and they sacrificed peace-offerings

to the Lord

from the

bulls.

Or perhaps: “bulls” applies to the entire verse, and

“bulls”

both

[the burnt offerings]

and both

[the peace-offerings] were from the

bulls

.

And we answer:

For Rav Hisda

alone it was that

uncertain

to him,

but

for Issi ben Judah it was obvious

what the determination of the verse was [but we do not know what his determination was].

Mishna:

The openings of the two curtains that were between the Sanctuary and the Holy of Holies [according to the Sages, as explained above in the Mishna] were not aligned one opposite the other, for had they been so, those standing in the Sanctuary could have seen into the interior.

And the Sages did not want the curtains to be closed, so that the High Priest would have to lift them when he entered, since his hands were not free to lift them [Meiri]; and therefore—

the

outer curtain

on Yom Kippur was

looped

[attached to itself]

from the south,

meaning: it was doubled on the southern side, facing outward toward the Sanctuary, and was held to the curtain on its outer side by a golden hook [“golden hooks” is translated: “they loop with gold hooks”], so that it would remain open and standing [explained according to Rashi, Shabbat 65a s.v. “loops,” and Rashi here, as understood by Rashash; and see Tosafot Yom Tov]—

And

the

inner

curtain was

looped from the north.

And the High Priest would enter—with the coals and incense in his hands—through the southern opening of the outer curtain, and

walk between them

in the cubit between the curtains, pushing the curtains with the bends of his arms so that they would not be burned [Jerusalem Talmud],

until he reached the north

of the building, at the opening of the Holy of Holies.

The dimensions of the Holy of Holies were twenty by twenty cubits, and the Ark was two and a half cubits long and one and a half cubits wide. In the First Temple it stood—in the length of the Ark across the width of the building—in the middle of the Holy of Holies, and around it there remained ten cubits in every direction , and it was a miracle that “the place of the Ark is not included in the measurement.”

There were two rings on the north of the Ark and two rings on its south, and within them the poles by which the Ark was carried were fixed; one end of each was toward the west and the other toward the east, and between the two of them were the two and a half cubits of the length of the Ark.

The poles protruded from the Ark and reached as far as the curtain that in the First Temple was in the middle of the cubit of the traksin; [some say—Meiri—that it was on the inner side of the partition, and some say—Maimonides—on the outer side of the partition].

He reached the north

and entered through the northern opening of the inner curtain into the space of the Holy of Holies, and

immediately turned

his

face toward the south

so that his right would be alongside the Ark, which was west of the curtain [Rosh, in the order of the service]—and

walked

with the curtain to his left,

meaning: with the curtain to his left [for his face was toward the south and the curtain was in the east],

until he reached the Ark.

between the two poles. He piled the incense from his handfuls onto the coals in the coal pan , and when it was filled he would wait until the entire House was filled with smoke. He emerged and returned by the way he had entered [that is, in the same manner in which he had entered]. He did not turn his face away from the Ark in order to leave; rather, he walked backward, with his face toward the south, facing the Ark as when he entered, until he left through the opening on the north. He then proceeded between the curtains to the opening on the south and emerged into the Sanctuary. And he would recite a brief prayer [the Gemara explains what he would pray]

He reached the Ark,

and stood facing the Ark , and

placed the censer

with the coals in it—

between the two poles.

He piled up the incense

from his handfuls

upon the coals

that were in the censer , and

when it became filled

he would wait until it became filled [Maimonides]

the entire House with smoke.

He exited

and came by the way of his entrance

[in the same manner in which he entered], meaning: he did not turn his face away from the Ark in order to exit, but went backward with his face toward the south, toward the Ark, as his face had been when he entered, until he exited through the opening in the north; and he walked between the curtains until the opening in the south, and exited into the Sanctuary.

And

he would

pray a brief prayer

[the Gemara explains what he would pray]

in the outer House,

which was the Sanctuary,

and he would not prolong

there

his prayer,

in order

not to frighten

[terrify]

Israel—

Since had he been delayed, they would have been afraid lest death had occurred to him, for many High Priests died in the Holy of Holies

if they were not fit, or if they altered the procedure of the incense.

Do you not see that He, blessed be He, said to Aaron [Leviticus 16:2]: “And he shall not come at all times into the Holy, from within the curtain, before the cover that is upon the Ark, ‘so that he shall not die, for in a cloud I shall appear upon the cover’” [Rambam in his commentary on the Mishna].

Gemara:

And we raise this matter:

With what are we dealing—

with which Temple does our Mishna speak: whether the First Temple or the Second?!

If you say, with the First Temple,

did we not learn in the Mishna that there were two curtains there, and

were there curtains

in the First Temple? But the amah traksin was there, [Rashi; see note ]?!

Rather,

say that

with the Second Temple

the Mishna speaks. But

was there an Ark

in the Second Temple? And how did we learn: until he reaches “the Ark”?!

And

indeed

it was taught

that there was no Ark there:

For it was taught:

When the Ark was hidden, the jar of manna was hidden with it,

for Moses was commanded and said to Aaron: “Take one jar and put there a full omer of manna, and place it before the Lord as a safekeeping for your generations” [Exodus 16:33].

And

likewise was hidden

the flask of anointing oil,

the twelve log of anointing oil that Moses made to anoint the Tabernacle and its vessels, and from it High Priests and kings were anointed; and all of it remains for the future, as it is said: “And to the children of Israel you shall speak, saying, Anointing oil of holiness shall this be to Me ‘for your generations’” [Exodus 30:31; Horayot 11b].

And

likewise was hidden

Aaron’s staff, its almonds and its blossoms,

as it is said after the dispute of Korah and his assembly: “Speak to the children of Israel and take from them a staff, a staff for each father’s house, from all their princes according to their fathers’ houses, twelve staffs, etc. And you shall write Aaron’s name upon the staff of Levi, etc. And it shall be that the man whom I choose, his staff shall blossom, etc. And it was on the following day, etc., and behold, Aaron’s staff had blossomed for the house of Levi, and it brought forth a blossom, and flowered a flower, and produced almonds” [Numbers 16]. And it is written there: “And the Lord said to Moses, Return Aaron’s staff before the Testimony as a safekeeping, as a sign for the rebellious children, etc.”

And

likewise was hidden

the chest that the Philistines sent as a gift to the God of Israel,

when Israel fought the Philistines in the days of Eli the priest. They took the Ark with them to war from the Tabernacle of Shiloh, and the Ark was captured by the Philistines, and the hand of the Lord weighed very heavily upon them, and there was a deathly turmoil in every city where the Ark was. They decided to send it to its place, and with it a chest containing gold vessels as a gift to the God of Israel.

And from where is it known that the chest was hidden with the Ark?

For it is said: “And

the gold vessels that you return to Him as a guilt-offering, place in a chest ‘beside it’ and send it away, and it shall go”;

thus the chest was standing beside the Ark, and it necessarily follows that when the Ark was hidden, it too was hidden with it [Rashi; and below the Gemara explains from where they knew about the other things that were hidden with it].

And who hid it

for the Ark?

Josiah hid it.

And

what did he see that he hid it?

Since he

saw that it is written

in the Torah:

“The Lord shall lead

you and your king whom you will set over you

to a nation that you have not known, neither you nor your fathers” , and Josiah was afraid lest the Ark be exiled with them to Babylonia [Rashi], for since they are exiled, the Ark too is exiled with them [Rabbeinu Elyakim]—

and

therefore

he hid it.

That

is how it

is stated

that Josiah hid it:

And he said—

Josiah—

to the Levites who had understanding for all Israel [

who taught the people],

the holy ones of the Lord:

“Place the holy Ark in the House that Solomon son of David, king of Israel, built,

for

you have no burden on the shoulder [

if it is exiled with you, you will no longer return it on your shoulders],

now serve the Lord

your God

with song

and His people Israel

to slaughter and flay their Passover offerings [explained according to Rashi, Horayot 12a, and in Chronicles, and its translation]—

And necessarily, what he said, “Place the holy Ark in the House that Solomon built,” he intended for hiding, since the Ark was already there.

And Rabbi Eleazar said

the source for all these things mentioned as having been hidden with the Ark [Rashi, Horayot 12a]: The jar of manna—

it comes

from that which is written: Take one jar and put

“there”

a full omer of manna, from

“there”

which is stated concerning the Ark: “where I shall meet with you there.”

And

the flask of anointing oil—

it comes: “generations”

that is stated concerning the flask of anointing oil [“Anointing oil of holiness shall this be to Me ‘for your generations’”], from

“generations”

that is stated concerning the jar of manna [“and put there a full omer of manna as a safekeeping ‘for your generations’”].

And

Aaron’s staff

comes

from that which is written concerning it: for a

“safekeeping”

as a sign for the rebellious children, and it is written concerning the jar of manna: “and put there a full omer of manna for a

“safekeeping”

for your generations.

We have thus learned that the Ark had already been hidden in the days of Josiah, and in the Second Temple one cannot find “reaches the Ark”;

and if so, with which Temple are we dealing?!

And we answer:

In fact, with the Second Temple

does the Mishna deal,

and what does “he reached the Ark” mean?—

he reached the

place of the Ark.

But we still ask:

Does it not teach

in our Mishna:

“He placed the censer ‘between the two staves’,”

yet there were neither Ark nor staves in the Second Temple?!

And we explain:

Say: as though between the two staves,

as though they had been there, and he placed it between them.

We learned in the Mishna:

He heaped the incense upon the coals:

In the beraita above, on 49b, we read:

And he heaps it—the incense that is in his handfuls—upon the coals, so that its smoke will be delayed in coming; and some say: he scatters it—upon the coals—so that its smoke will come quickly. And since in our Mishna we learned: “heaped” the incense upon the coals—

We have learned in accordance with the one who says: he heaps it

the incense upon the coals!

One

beraita

teaches

concerning the order of heaping the incense upon the censer:

He heaps it

he begins to heap the incense from that side of the censer which is

inward

in relation to the interior of the Holy of Holies,

which is [

that side of the censer]

outside it

external in relation to the priest, that is, farther from him.

For the High Priest stands with his back toward the curtain and his face toward the Ark, and the censer is before him. It follows that one end of the censer is farther from him, toward the interior of the Holy of Holies, and from that end he begins to place the incense, drawing his hand toward his body [see note ].

And another beraita was taught,

in which the order is reversed:

He heaps it

he begins to heap the incense from that side of the censer which is

outside

in relation to the Holy of Holies,

which is [

that side of the censer]

inward to him, inner in relation to him, that is, nearer to him.

Abaye said:

these two beraitot are

a dispute among tannaim,

who disputed concerning it, and the one who taught this did not teach that.

And

Abaye

further

said: It stands to reason according to the one who says: “inward, which is outside it!”