Yoma 59a — the Talmud in English

And if you wish, say: If we hold

that it was agreed

: the encircling

that he encircles the corners of the inner altar

on foot

he would perform it, and just as he would encircle the outer altar when he places [the blood] on the corners—for the altar was thirty-two cubits by thirty-two cubits, and it is possible [to encircle it] only by encircling it on foot

everyone would not

have

disagreed, for we derive the inner from the outer.

And here they disagree about this: one

Rabbi Akiva

holds: the encircling

of the inner altar

is by hand

: he stands in his place and encircles the corners with his hand; and it is not similar to the outer altar, which he encircled on foot.

And one

Rabbi Yosei the Galilean

holds: the encircling is on foot

like the encircling of the outer altar, and we derive [the law] from it.

And if you wish, say: everyone

holds:

the encircling is by hand

in the case of the inner altar.

And here they disagree about this: one

Rabbi Yosei the Galilean

holds: we derive

the encircling of the

hand from

the encircling of the

foot; and one

Rabbi Akiva

holds: we do not derive

the hand from the foot.

And we object:

And

is it so that

Rabbi Yosei the Galilean holds: the encircling is by hand

and he would stand in his place?!

But from that which the latter clause teaches

of our Mishna

: “Rabbi Eliezer says: He would stand in his place and sprinkle,” it follows that the first teacher

in the Mishna, who is Rabbi Yosei the Galilean [for the order of the sprinklings in our Mishna follows Rabbi Yosei the Galilean]

does not hold

that he would stand in his place and encircle by hand?!

Rather, it is clarified as we answered initially: one

Rabbi Akiva

holds: the encircling is by hand, and one

Rabbi Yosei the Galilean

holds: the encircling is on foot—

And in this

they disagree: one

who holds that the encircling is on foot

holds:

and he placed [the blood] on the corners of the altar

“around” of the inner altar, like

the sprinkling

“around”

stated in the Torah concerning the

outer altar.

And the one

who holds that the encircling is by hand

holds: the entire inner altar

which was one cubit by one cubit

stood in place of one corner of the outer altar

[the entire inner altar was equivalent to one corner of the outer altar, which was also one cubit by one cubit, and therefore it was not necessary to encircle it except with his hand [R. A. L.]].

It was taught: Rabbi Yishmael said

[son of Elisha, according to the version of the dikdukei sofrim]:

Two High Priests remained in the Temple

[“from the Temple,” according to the version of the dikdukei sofrim]

the first: This one says, “With my hand I encircled”; and this one says, “With my foot I encircled”; this one provides a reason for his words, and this one provides a reason for his words;

and they did not disagree about the matter. Rather, it was possible to perform the encircling by hand, and it was possible to perform the encircling on foot, and each one related his practice [Targum Yonatan and Ritva ].

“This one provides a reason for his words: ‘around’ of the inner altar is like ‘around’ of the outer altar; and this one provides a reason for his words: the entire inner altar stood in the place of one corner of the outer [altar].

We learned in the Mishna:

Rabbi Eliezer says: He would stand in his place and sprinkle,

and for all of them he would place [the blood] from below upward, except for this one that was before him, for which he would place [it] from above downward:

Whose opinion is the Mishna? It is Rabbi Yehuda,

who holds this as Rabbi Eliezer’s opinion.

For it was taught: Rabbi Meir says: Rabbi Eliezer says: He stands in his place and sprinkles, and

because with regard to the one before him he needed to place [the blood] from above downward, therefore

: for all of them he would place [it] from above downward—

except for that one on the diagonal

[the corner that stands at the head of the diagonal from the corner with which he began: if he began at the southeastern corner, the diagonal corner is the northwestern corner, and if he began at the northeastern corner, the diagonal is the southwestern corner, Ritva]—

for

on it he

places [the blood] from below upward;

for it is troublesome for him to place upon it from above downward, since he would have to bend and extend his arm until completing the placing; rather, when he bends his body and extends his arm, he begins below and straightens himself while going upward [the wording of Rashi].

Rabbi Yehuda says: Rabbi Eliezer says: He stands in his place and sprinkles, and for all of them he places [the blood] from below upward

since this is more convenient,

except for this one that was directly before him, for which he places [it] from above downward, so that his garments should not become soiled,

[that his garments should not become dirty].

We learned in the Mishna:

He sprinkled from it upon the purity of the altar:

What is its “purity”?

Rabba bar Rav Sheila said: Half of the altar

at the midpoint of the height of the altar’s wall

as people say: “The midday became clear”

[the midday shone brightly, R. A. L.]

and it is half of the day

[and it is midday]; here too, he places it at the midpoint of the altar.

He objected

from a beraita that proves that he sprinkled upon the roof of the altar and not upon its wall:

When he sprinkles, he does not sprinkle either upon the ashes or upon the coals

that are on the altar

but he moves the coals this way and that

above the top of the altar, and thoroughly sweeps it until the gold of the altar becomes visible [R. A. L.],

and then he sprinkles?!

Rather, Rabba bar Sheila said,

to explain “upon the purity of the altar”:

upon the exposed part of the altar,

he purifies it and clears away the incense that had burned upon it in the morning, and because he beautifies it and exposes it, he calls it “its purity” [Rashi, Zevachim]—and

as it is written: “And like the essence of the heavens, ‘for purity’”

[meaning: clear and lucid, Rashi in the Chumash].

It was taught: Hanania says: On the northern side

of the roof of the altar

he places

the sprinklings that are upon its roof.

Rabbi Yosei says: On the southern side

of the roof of the altar

he places.

About what do they disagree?

One

Hanania

holds: the entrance

of the Holy of Holies in the Second Temple

was situated in the south,

and he would begin on this side; therefore he would finish at the northern corner, according to Rabbi Akiva’s view, and therefore he would sprinkle on the northern side.

And one

Rabbi Yosei

holds: the entrance was situated in the north

[and this was his view above, Yoma 49b], and he would begin at the northern corner and finish in the south, and at the place where he finished, there he would place [the blood] upon the roof of the altar.

Everyone—

both Hanania and Rabbi Yosei—

at least, wherever the offerings of the corners are completed,

at the place where the offerings of the blood upon the corners are completed,

there he places

there he gives

upon its roof—

what is the reason?

The verse says: “And purify it and sanctify it,”

in

the place where he sanctified it

upon its corners,

there he purified it

with the sprinklings.

We learned in the Mishna:

The remainder of the blood

of the bull and the goat

he would pour upon the western base of the outer altar:

For the verse says

concerning the bull of the anointed priest, whose blood was placed upon the golden altar:

“And all the blood of the bull he shall pour

upon the base of the altar of the burnt offering that is at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting,” and it was taught in the Torat Kohanim: “The bull”—to include the bull of Yom Kippur, that its remainder should be poured upon the base that is at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting—

and which is the “base that is at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting”? You must say: the western base, for the western side of the altar was opposite the entrance.

We learned in the Mishna:

And that of the outer altar he would pour upon the southern base:

The Sages taught:

It is written in the passage of the sin-offering: “And all its blood he shall pour upon the

base of the altar”

[Leviticus 4:30]:

this is the southern base; you say the southern base, or perhaps it is only the western base,

as we find with the inner sin-offerings; and one may derive what is obscure from what is explicit [Rashi, Zevachim].

You have said: Let its descent from the ramp

of the outer altar, with the remainder in his hand,

be learned from its going out from the Sanctuary,

with the remainder in his hand after the inner sprinklings

; just as its going out from the Sanctuary

was poured

near it—and what is it? This is the western base—so too its descent from the ramp,

which stands in the south of the altar, was poured

near it—and what is it? This is the southern base,

for it was nearer to him when he descended than the other directions.

It was taught: Rabbi Yishmael says: This

the remainder of the blood of the inner altar

and this

of the outer altar he would pour upon the

western base

of the outer altar.

Rabbi Shimon ben Yohai says: This and this [are poured upon] the southern base.

Granted

the reason of

Rabbi Yishmael

is satisfactory, because

he holds: let what is obscure be learned

—the remainder of the outer altar, concerning which Scripture did not specify upon which base it is poured—

from what is explicit,

the remainder of the inner altar, concerning which it is stated: “upon the base of the altar that is at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting,” and this is the western base, as explained above.

But Rabbi Shimon ben Yohai—what is the reason?

Rav Ashi said: He holds

Rabbi Shimon ben Yohai

: the entrance

of the Sanctuary

was in the south

of the altar

was situated,

that is, Rabbi Shimon’s view was that the entire altar stood north of the entrance, “and none of the altar was before the entrance, except for one cubit of the southern base” [Rashi, Zevachim, and see the note ], and it follows that the “base that is at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting” is the southern base.

The school of Rabbi Yishmael taught in the school of Rabbi Shimon ben Yohai,

that is, in Rabbi Shimon ben Yohai’s house of study they would study Rabbi Yishmael’s Mishna and recite it as follows:

“This and this [are poured upon] the southern base,”

to say: Rabbi Yishmael retracted his position.

And your sign

so that you do not exchange it and say: “This and this [are poured upon] the western base”:

“They drew the man toward the man,”

the students of Rabbi Shimon drew Rabbi Yishmael to say according to their words, for they would say: “This and this [are poured upon] the southern base.”

We learned in the Mishna:

These and those become mixed in the channel and flow out

to the Kidron Valley, and so on, and one commits misuse with them:

The Sages taught:

One commits misuse

by rabbinic law [as it will explain],

with the blood

of the offerings after atonement, as in the anonymous Mishna, which teaches: “and one commits misuse with them” [Ritva, Siach Yitzchak ], and after they have gone out to the Kidron Valley [Me’ila 11 and Rashi there],

the words of Rabbi Meir and Rabbi Shimon.

And the Sages say: One does not commit misuse with them.