Yoma 52b (נב:) — the Talmud in English

And these are:

1.

“Se’et”,

as it is written: “And the Lord said to Cain, etc.: Is it not so that if you improve, se’et; but if you do not improve, sin crouches at the entrance.” And it is not decided—

whether: “Is it not so that if you improve” your deeds, then “se’et” means forgiveness— “

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

Or: “Is it not so that if you improve” your deeds, then all is well—but “se’et,” meaning the bearing of iniquity, “but if you do not improve,” that is: if you do not improve your ways, then you will bear your iniquity.

2.

Meshukadim,

as it is written: “And on the menorah were four cups, meshukadim, with its knobs and its flowers”; and it is not decided—

whether: “And on the menorah” there were “four cups” that were “meshukadim,” that is, decorated—

and in addition it had “its knobs and its flowers.”

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

and they were “meshukadim, its knobs and its flowers.”

3.

“Tomorrow,”

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

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

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

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

4.

“Arur,”

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

whether: “Into their council may my soul not enter”; this will be their fate because “in their anger they killed a man and at their will they hamstrung an ox” of Shechem, who was arur among the accursed sons of Canaan—

and because of “their anger, for it is fierce, and their wrath, for it is harsh,” they will have: “I will divide them in Jacob.”

Or: “And at their will they hamstrung an ox”—

and therefore: “Arur is their anger.”

5.

“Vekam,”

as it is written: “And the Lord said to Moses: You are about to lie with your fathers, and this people will rise and stray after the foreign gods of the land”; and it is not decided—whether: “You are about to lie with your fathers”—behold, you are dying, lying down—and “will rise,” behold, you will rise, as Rashi explains in Sanhedrin; and from here there is an allusion to the resurrection of the dead from the Torah.

Or: “You are about to lie with your fathers”—

and after you lie down, “this people will rise and stray after the foreign gods of the land.”

We have therefore learned that according to Isi ben Yehuda there are only five verses whose meaning has no determination—

6

Thus,

it was taught: He is “Yosef Ish Hutzal,”

he is Yosef the Babylonian, he is “Isi ben Yehuda,”

he is Isi ben Gur Aryeh, he is Isi ben Gamliel, he is Isi ben Mahalalel; and what was his name? Isi ben Akiva

[in Pesachim 113b:

Akavya]

was his name—

It follows that according to Yosef Ish Hutzal, only five verses have no determination, whereas all the rest do have a determination. How, then, could he himself be uncertain about the determination of the word “mifnimah”?

And we answer:

In the Torah there are not

more than five verses, but

in the Prophets—

there are.

We nevertheless wonder:

And in the Torah there are not

any verses whose meaning has no determination 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 rose 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 end of the verse, and this is what it means:

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

from sheep, and they sacrificed peace-offerings

to the Lord

from bulls.

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

both

the burnt offerings and

both the peace-offerings were

from bulls.

And we answer: Only Rav Hisda was uncertain about it, but for Isi ben Yehuda it was obvious what the determination of the verse is—although we do not know what his determination was.

[the burnt offerings]

and these [the peace offerings]

[the peace-offerings] were from the

were both from bulls

.

Mishna:

The openings of the two curtain partitions that were between the Sanctuary and the Holy of Holies [according to the Sages, as explained above in the Mishna] were not aligned with one another, for if they had been, those standing in the Sanctuary could have seen into the inner area.

The Sages did not want the curtains to be closed, requiring the High Priest to raise them when he entered, since his hands were not free to raise them [Meiri]. Therefore—

the outer curtain

was on Yom Kippur

folded back

[attached to itself]

from the south,

that is, it was doubled over on the southern side, outward toward the Sanctuary, and held to the curtain on its outer side by a golden hook [“golden hooks” is translated as “golden fasteners,”] so that it would remain open and in place.

And the inner curtain was folded back from the north. The High Priest would enter—with the coals and incense in his hands—through the southern opening of the outer curtain, and proceed between them along the cubit between the curtains, pushing the curtains aside with his elbows so that they would not be burned [Jerusalem Talmud], until he reached the north side of the building, at the entrance to the Holy of Holies.

The Sages did not want the curtains to be closed, requiring the High Priest to lift them when he entered, since his hands were not free to lift them [Meiri]. Therefore—

The

outer curtain was

on Yom Kippur

folded back [attached to itself]

[attached to itself]

from the south—

that is, it was folded back on the southern side, toward the outside, facing the Sanctuary, and was fastened to the curtain on its outer side with a golden hook [“golden hooks” is translated as “gold fasteners”], so that it would remain open and upright. [This is explained according to Rashi in tractate Shabbat 65a, the commentary beginning “folds back,” and Rashi here, as understood by Rashash; see also Tiferet Yisrael.]

And

the

And the

the curtain was

The dimensions of the Holy of Holies were twenty by twenty cubits, while the Ark was two and a half cubits long and one and a half cubits wide. In the First Temple, it stood in the center of the Holy of Holies, with the length of the Ark oriented across the width of the room, and ten cubits remained around it in every direction,

and a miracle occurred, for “the place occupied by the Ark was not included in the measurement.”

There were two rings on the northern side of the Ark and two rings on its southern side. The poles by which the Ark was carried were fixed in them, with one end of each pole toward the west and the other toward the east; between the two poles was the two-and-a-half-cubit length of the Ark. The poles protruded from the Ark and reached the curtain that, in the First Temple, stood in the middle of the cubit-wide partition called the tarksin. [Some say—Meiri—that it was on the inner side of the partition; others—Maimonides—that it was on the outer side of the partition.] When he reached the north he entered through the northern opening of the inner curtain into the space of the Holy of Holies, and immediately turned his face southward so that his right side would be alongside the Ark, which was west of the curtain [Rosh, in the order of the service]. He proceeded with the curtain to his left,

along the cubit-wide space between the curtains, pushing the curtains aside with his elbows so that they would not burn [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 cubits by twenty cubits. The Ark was two and a half cubits long and one and a half cubits wide. In the First Temple, it stood in the center of the Holy of Holies, with the length of the Ark running across the width of the building, and ten cubits remained around it on every side . A miracle occurred, for “the place occupied by the Ark was not included in the measurement.”

that is, with the curtain on his left [for he was facing south and the curtain was to the east],

until he reached the Ark.

When he reached the north,

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

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

his

turned his face southward

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

When he reached the Ark,

he stood facing the Ark and

placed the coal pan

containing the coals

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]

,

When he reached the Ark, he stood facing the Ark

and

placed the coal pan, containing the coals,

between the two poles.

He heaped the incense

from his handfuls

upon the coals

in the coal pan ,

and when it became filled

he would wait until

the entire House was filled with smoke.

in the outer House,

which was the Sanctuary,

and he would not prolong

his prayer there, in order not to alarm [that is, frighten] Israel— Because if he had delayed, they would have feared that he had died, since many High Priests had died in the Holy of Holies if they were not fit, or if they altered the procedure of the incense.

And he

would recite a brief prayer [the Gemara explains what he would pray]

[the Gemara explains what he would pray]

in the outer chamber,

which was the Sanctuary,

and he would not prolong

there

his prayer,

in order

not to frighten [to alarm]

[terrify]

the Jewish people—

Because had he been delayed, they would have feared that he had died, since many High Priests died in the Holy of Holies

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

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

Gemara:

And we raise a question concerning this:

With what are we dealing

—which Temple is our Mishna discussing? Is it the First Temple or the Second Temple?!

If you say it is the First Temple

, the Mishna states that there were two curtains there; but

were there curtains

in the First Temple? There was the amah tereksin there [Rashi; see note ]?!

Rather

, say that

the Second Temple

is under discussion in the Mishna. But

was there an Ark

in the Second Temple? How, then, did we learn: Until he reaches “the Ark”?

But

it

it is taught

that there was no Ark there:

As it is taught:

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

, the jar concerning which 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 keepsake for your generations” [Exodus 16:33].

And

the

flask of anointing oil

was likewise concealed—the twelve log of anointing oil that Moses made to anoint the Tabernacle and its vessels, and from which High Priests and kings were anointed. All of it remains for the future, as it is stated: “And to the children of Israel you shall speak, saying: This shall be holy anointing oil for Me ‘throughout your generations’” [Exodus 30:31; Horayot 11b].

And

the

staff of Aaron, with its almonds and blossoms

was likewise concealed, as it is stated after the dispute of Korah and his assembly: “Speak to the children of Israel and take from them a staff for each ancestral house, from all their leaders according to their ancestral houses, twelve staffs, etc. And you shall write Aaron’s name on the staff of Levi, etc. And it shall be that the man whom I choose—his staff shall blossom, etc. And it came to pass on the following day, etc., and behold, the staff of Aaron for the house of Levi had blossomed; it brought forth a blossom, put forth a flower, and yielded almonds” [Numbers 17].

And it is written there: “And the Lord said to Moses: Return the staff of Aaron before the Testimony as a keepsake, as a sign for the rebellious children, etc.”

And the

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

was likewise concealed. When Israel fought the Philistines in the days of Eli the priest, they took the Ark with them from the Tabernacle at Shiloh. The Ark was captured by the Philistines, and the hand of God weighed very heavily upon them; there was a deadly panic throughout every city in which the Ark was located. They decided to send it back to its place, together with a chest containing golden objects as a gift to the God of Israel.

And from where do we know that the chest was concealed with the Ark?

As it is stated: “And

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

the chest was thus standing beside the Ark, and it follows that when the Ark was concealed, it too was concealed with it [Rashi; below the Gemara explains how they knew that the other objects were concealed with it].

And who concealed it

for the Ark?

Josiah concealed it.

And

what did he see that led him to conceal it?

Since he

saw that it is written

in the Torah:

“The Lord will lead

you and your king whom you will appoint over you”

to a nation that neither you nor your fathers have known , Josiah was concerned lest the Ark be exiled with them to Babylonia [Rashi], for once they were exiled, the Ark would also be exiled with them [Ra’AL]—

and

therefore

he concealed it.

That

this is how it is

stated

that Josiah concealed it:

And he said

—Josiah—

to the Levites who impart understanding to all Israel

[who teach the people],

who are holy to the Lord:

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

for

you have no burden on your 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 Paschal offerings” [explained on the basis of Rashi in Horayot 12a and in Chronicles, and its Aramaic translation]—

And we are compelled to say that when he said, “Place the Holy Ark in the House that Solomon built,” Josiah intended that it be concealed, for the Ark was already there.

And Rabbi Elazar said

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

it is derived

from that which is written: “Take one jar and put

‘there’

a full omer of manna,” from

“there”

stated concerning the Ark: “where I shall designate a meeting for you there.”

And

the flask of anointing oil—

it is derived from “generations”

written concerning the flask of anointing oil [“This shall be holy anointing oil for Me ‘throughout your generations’”], from

“generations”

written concerning the jar of manna [“and put there a full omer of manna as a keepsake ‘for your generations’”].

And

Aaron’s staff

is derived

from that which is written concerning it: “as a

‘keepsake’

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

‘keepsake’

for your generations.”

We have thus learned that the Ark had already been concealed in the days of Josiah, and the phrase “reaches the Ark” cannot apply in the Second Temple;

if so, which Temple are we discussing?!

And we answer:

In fact, the Mishna is speaking of the Second Temple,

and what is meant by

“he reached the Ark”

is that he reached the

place of the Ark.

We nevertheless ask:

But it is taught

in our Mishna:

“He placed the firepan ‘between the two staves,’

and there were neither an 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 piled the incense upon the coals”:

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

And he piles it—the incense in his cupped hands—upon the coals, so that its smoke will be slow to arrive. And some say: He scatters it—upon the coals—so that its smoke will arrive quickly. Since our Mishna states: “He piled” the incense upon the coals—

We have learned in accordance with the one who says: “He piles it,”

the incense upon the coals!

A

single

beraita

was taught concerning the order in which the incense is piled on the firepan:

He piles it

—he begins to pile the incense from the side of the firepan that is

inward

relative to the interior of the Holy of Holies,

which is

[that side of the firepan]

outward from him

—external relative to the priest, meaning farther from him.

For the High Priest stands with his back toward the curtain and his face toward the Ark, with the firepan before him. One end of the firepan is therefore farther from him, toward the interior of the Holy of Holies, and he begins placing the incense from that end, drawing his hand toward his body [see note ].

And another beraita was taught

, in which the order is reversed:

He piles it

—he begins to pile the incense from the side of the firepan that is

outward

relative to the Holy of Holies,

which is

[that side of the firepan]

inward from him

—internal relative to him, meaning closer to him.

Abaye said:

These two beraitot reflect

a dispute between tannaim

; the one who taught this did not teach that.

And

Abaye

also said: It stands to reason that the view of the one who says: “Inward, which is outward from him,” is correct!