Yoma 59a (נט.) — the Talmud in English

And if you wish, say instead: If we hold []that it was agreed

it was agreed

that the circling

around the corners of the inner altar

was performed on foot,

just as he circled the outer altar when he placed the blood on its corners—for the altar was thirty-two cubits by thirty-two cubits, and it was possible to circle it only on foot

everyone would not

have

disagreed, as we derive the inner rite from the outer rite.

And here they disagree about this: One Master,

Rabbi Akiva,

holds: The circling

of the inner altar

was performed by hand,

one would stand in his place and circle the corners with his hand; and this is not comparable to the outer altar, which he circled on foot.

And the other Master,

Rabbi Yosei HaGelili,

holds: The circling was performed on foot,

like the circling of the outer altar, and we derive the law from it.

And if you wish, say instead: Everyone

holds that

the circling was performed by hand

with regard to the inner altar.

And here they disagree about this: One Master,

Rabbi Yosei HaGelili,

holds: We derive

the circling by

hand from

the circling by

foot; and the other Master,

Rabbi Akiva,

holds: We do not derive

hand from foot.

And we raise a difficulty:

And

is it so that

Rabbi Yosei HaGelili holds that the circling was performed by hand,

and that he would stand in his place?!

But from the fact that the latter clause

of our Mishna

teaches: Rabbi Eliezer says: He would stand in his place and sprinkle, it follows that the first tanna

in the Mishna, who is Rabbi Yosei HaGelili—for the order of the sprinklings in our Mishna follows Rabbi Yosei HaGelili

does not hold

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

Rather, it is clearer as we answered initially: One Master,

Rabbi Akiva,

holds: The circling was performed by hand, and the other Master,

Rabbi Yosei HaGelili,

holds: The circling was performed on foot—

And in this

they disagree: One Master,

the one who holds that the circling was performed on foot,

holds that when he placed the blood on the corners of the altar,

he placed it

“around” the inner altar, as

the sprinkling

“around”

that is stated in the Torah with regard to the

outer altar.

And the other,

the one who holds that the circling was performed by hand,

holds: The entire inner altar,

which was one cubit by one cubit,

stood in the 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 necessary to circle it only with his hand [Ra’L]].

It was taught in a baraita: Rabbi Yishmael said [

son of Elisha, according to the precise reading

Two High Priests remained in the Temple [

from the Temple, according to the precise reading

The first one said: I circled with my hand; and the other said: I circled with my foot. This one provides a rationale for his words, and that one provides a rationale for his words;

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

This one provides a rationale for his words: “Around” with regard to the inner altar is like “around” with regard to the outer altar; and this one provides a rationale 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, which was before him, for which he would place it from above downward:

Who is the tanna of the Mishna? It is Rabbi Yehuda,

who holds that this was Rabbi Eliezer’s opinion.

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

since, 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 at the far end 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

would place it from below upward;

for it is burdensome to place it upon it from above downward, since he must bend over and extend his arm until the completion of the placement. Rather, he bends his body and extends his arm, beginning below, and straightens himself as he proceeds 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, which was directly before him, for which he places it from above downward, so that his garments will not become soiled,

[so that his garments will not become dirty].

We learned in the Mishna:

He sprinkled from it upon the purity of the altar:

What is meant by “its purity”?

Rabba bar Rav Sheila said: The midpoint of the altar,

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

as people say: “The sun has reached noon” [

the midday has shone brightly, Ra’L

and it is the midpoint of the day [

and likewise here, he places it at the midpoint of the altar.

The Gemara raises an objection

from a baraita that proves that he sprinkled on the roof of the altar, and not on 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

at the top of the altar and thoroughly clears it until the gold of the altar is visible [Ra’L],

and then sprinkles?!

Rather, Rabba bar Sheila said,

explaining “upon the purity of the altar”:

upon the exposed part of the altar,

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

as it is written: “And like the very heavens for clarity”,

[meaning: clear and lucid, Rashi in his commentary on the Torah].

It was taught in a baraita: Hananya says: On the northern side

of the roof of the altar

he places

the sprinklings performed on its roof.

Rabbi Yosei says: On the southern side

of the roof of the altar

he places.

With regard to what do they disagree?

One Master,

Hananya,

holds: The entrance

of the Holy of Holies in the Second Temple

was situated in the south,

and he would begin on that side; thus he would finish at the northern corner, in accordance with Rabbi Akiva, and therefore he would sprinkle on the northern side.

And the other,

Rabbi Yosei,

holds: The entrance was situated in the north [

and this was his position above, on page 52b], and he would begin at the northern corner and finish at the southern one; at the place where he finished, there he would place the blood on the roof of the altar.

Everyone—

both Hananya and Rabbi Yosei—

at least, wherever the placements on the corners are completed,

at the place where the placements of the blood on the corners are completed,

there he places

it there

on its roof—

why?

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

in

the place where it was sanctified

on its corners,

there he purifies it

through 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:

As the verse states

with regard to the bull of the anointed priest, whose blood was placed on the golden altar:

“And all the blood of the bull he shall pour

at the base of the altar of the burnt offering, which is at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting.” And it was taught in the Sifra: “The bull” includes the bull of Yom Kippur, that its remainder should be poured at 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”? It is the western base, since the western side of the altar was opposite the entrance.

We learned in the Mishna:

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

The Sages taught:

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

base of the altar”

[Leviticus 4:30]:

This is the southern base. Do you say that it is the southern base, or is it perhaps the western base,

as we find with regard to the inner sin offerings, and one should derive the unstated from the explicit [Rashi, Zevachim]?

You have said: Let its descent from the ramp

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

be derived from its departure from the Sanctuary,

with the remainder in his hand after the inner sprinklings.

Just as when he departed from the Sanctuary

he would pour it

near it—and which is this? The western base—so too, when he descended from the ramp,

which stood on the southern side of the altar, he would pour it

near it—and which is this? The southern base,

which was nearer to him during his descent than the other sides.

It was taught in a baraita: Rabbi Yishmael says: This,

the remainder of the blood of the inner altar,

and this,

the remainder of the blood of the outer altar, he would pour upon the

western base

of the outer altar.

Rabbi Shimon ben Yohai says: Both this and that are poured upon the southern base.

Granted,

the reason of

Rabbi Yishmael

is understandable, because

he holds: The unstated is derived

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

from the explicit

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

But Rabbi Shimon ben Yohai—what is his reason?

Rav Ashi said: He holds,

Rabbi Shimon ben Yohai holds:

the entrance

of the Sanctuary

was in the south

of the altar

and stood there,

meaning: Rabbi Shimon held that the entire altar stood to the north of the entrance, “and none of the altar was before the entrance except one cubit of the southern base” [Rashi, Zevachim; see the note ; consequently, the “base that is at the entrance of the Tent of Meeting” is the southern base.

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

meaning: In Rabbi Shimon ben Yohai’s house of study, they would teach Rabbi Yishmael’s Mishna and read in it:

“Both this and that are poured upon the southern base,”

to say that Rabbi Yishmael retracted his opinion.

And your mnemonic

so that you will not reverse it and say that both are poured upon the western base:

“The men drew the man to the men,”

the students of Rabbi Shimon drew Rabbi Yishmael to say as they did, for they would say: Both this and that are poured upon the southern base.

We learned in the Mishna:

Both these and those become mixed in the channel and emerge

into the Kidron Valley, and one derives benefit from them in violation of the prohibition of misuse:

The Sages taught:

One derives benefit in violation of the prohibition of misuse

by rabbinic decree, as will be explained

from the blood

of the offerings after atonement, as in our anonymous Mishna, which teaches: “And one derives benefit from them in violation of the prohibition of misuse” [Ritva, Siach Yitzchak ], and after they have emerged into the Kidron Valley [Me’ila 11 and Rashi there],

the words of Rabbi Meir and Rabbi Shimon.

And the Sages say: One does not derive benefit from them in violation of the prohibition of misuse.