Yoma 72b (עב:) — the Talmud in English

Had it not been for the priestly garments,

through which the offerings are sacrificed,

not one of the enemies of Israel would have remained [

an expression of euphemism]

a remnant or survivor.

Rabbi Shmuel bar Naḥmani said: The school of Rabbi Shimon taught

that this is the explanation of this verse:

The garments of craftwork are

garments that

were

cut

when

they

were

in their original form,

made as complete garments,

from the outset;

this is how they were removed from the weaving apparatus.

And

they

would leave something of them,

a small portion of woven material on the weaving apparatus that had not been woven together with them.

And we raised the following question concerning this:

What is it?

Why did they leave that small portion of woven material?

Reish Lakish said: These are the work of a needle.

They left it in order to attach it to the garment by means of needlework. And the Gemara will now explain this.

The Gemara raises an objection

to Reish Lakish from that which was taught in a beraita:

The priestly garments are made not by the work of a needle but by the work of a weaver,

as it is stated

[Exodus 28]:

“woven work.”

“the work of a weaver.” Abaye said: It is necessary

that needlework be added to them

only for the sleeve

of the garment

itself.

As it was taught: The sleeve of the priestly garments

is woven separately and attached to the garment,

by sewing with a needle.

And it reaches

the sleeve

until the palm

of the

hand.

Rava bar Rav Yehuda said that Rav Yehuda said: Bezalel made three arks.

The middle one was of wood,

and its height was

nine

handbreadths.

The inner one was of gold—

its external height [including the thickness of its bottom, which was one handbreadth] was

eight.

And it filled the middle ark.

The outer one,

of gold, was

ten

handbreadths high

and something more.

And we challenge this:

But it was taught:

the outer one was

eleven

handbreadths high

and something more!

And we answer:

This is not difficult:

This

that its height was eleven and something more is

according to the one who says that the thickness

of the bottom of this outer golden ark was

one handbreadth,

like the thickness of the bottom of the wooden ark.

That

that its bottom

was not one handbreadth

thick, but only something more.

And what is the “something”

that the latter beraita states in addition to the height of eleven?

The rim.

It served as a crown around the kaporet.

Rabbi Yoḥanan said: There are three rims

on the vessels of the Temple;

they are

symbols of three crowns:

the crown of the altar, the crown of the Ark, and the crown of the table.

The rim

of the altar,

which symbolizes the crown of Torah—

Aaron merited it and took it.

The rim

of the table,

which symbolizes the crown of kingship—

David merited it and took it.

The rim

of the Ark,

which symbolizes the crown of Torah—

it is still lying ready!

Whoever wishes to take it—

let him come and take it.

Lest you say that it is inferior?

The verse states

[Proverbs 8]: The Torah says,

: The Torah says, “By me,

through the power of Torah, by studying its laws,

kings reign!” And one who has the power to make a king reign is greater than the king himself.

And one who has the power to make a king reign is greater than the king himself.

Rabbi Yoḥanan juxtaposed verses: It is written zer, and it is read zer.

If he merits it,

if a person studies Torah for its own sake,

it becomes for him a crown,

a rim that is a crown.

If he does not merit it—

it becomes foreign to him,

it is forgotten

by him.

Rabbi Yoḥanan juxtaposed verses:

It is written

[Deuteronomy 10]:

“And you shall make for yourself

Moses,

a wooden Ark.”

And

on the other hand,

it is written

[Exodus 25]:

“And they shall make

the community

an Ark of acacia wood.”

From here it is derived that the townspeople of a Torah scholar are obligated to perform his work for him.

It is written concerning the Ark

“You shall cover it

“You shall overlay it inside and outside

Rabbi Rava said:

The verse teaches that

any Torah scholar whose inside is not like his outside

is not a Torah scholar.

Abaye, and some say it was Rabba bar Ulla, said:

A Torah scholar whose inside is not like his outside

is called detestable.

As it is stated

[Job 15]:

“How much more so one who is detestable and corrupt,

“How much less one who is detestable and corrupt, a man who drinks iniquity like water [

Torah], and there is

wrongdoing in him!”

Rabbi Shmuel bar Naḥmani said that Rabbi Yonatan said: What is the meaning of that which is written

[Proverbs 17]:

“Why is there a price in the hand of a fool to acquire wisdom, when he has no heart?”

“Why is there a price in the hand of a fool to acquire wisdom, when he has no heart”? Woe to the enemies of the Torah scholars [

an expression of euphemism],

who engage in Torah study but do not possess fear of Heaven.

Rabbi Yannai proclaimed: Woe to

one who studies Torah but does not possess fear of Heaven,

for he has no courtyard,

as he is compared to one who has no courtyard,

and

if he were

a gate

for

his courtyard,

he would be

made.

For Torah is the gate through which one reaches fear of Heaven, and one who studies it but does not possess fear of Heaven has nowhere to enter through the gate that he has built for himself.

Rava said to the Sages: Please

I beg you,

do not inherit two Gehinnoms.

Do not inherit a double Gehinnom: If you toil in Torah without fulfilling it and without fear of Heaven, you lose both the pleasures of this world and the life of the World-to-Come.

Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi said: What is the meaning of that which is written

[Deuteronomy 4]:

“And this is the Torah that Moses placed”?

It does not say, “that he taught.”

If he merits it,

a person—

it becomes for him a potion of life.

If he does not merit it—

it becomes for him a potion of death.

And this is what Rava said: For one who is skilled in it,

one who applies his right side to it, who is occupied with it with all his strength and strives to know its secret, just as “right” is the principal hand that a person always uses, it is

a potion of life.

For one who is not skilled in it,

one who applies his left side to it, so that it is not his right side, but he does not toil in it, it is

a potion of death.

[According to Rashi, Shabbat 88b]

Rabbi Shmuel bar Naḥmani said: Rabbi Yonatan contrasts two verses:

Rabbi Shmuel bar Naḥmani said: Rabbi Yonatan juxtaposed verses: It is written

[Psalms 19]:

“The ordinances of the Lord are upright

“The ordinances of the Lord are upright, gladdening the heart.”

And

on the other hand,

it is written

[Psalms 18]:

“The word of the Lord is refined.”

This implies that it refines him through afflictions and Gehinnom.

Rather:

If he merits it—

it gladdens him; if he does not merit it—

it refines him.

Reish Lakish said: From the body of the verse

“The word of the Lord is refined”

it is derived,

this matter may be learned:

If he merits it—

it refines him

the Torah purifies him

for life.

If he does not merit it—

it refines him

through afflictions

for death.

[Psalms 19]

“The fear of the Lord is pure, enduring forever.”

“The fear of the Lord is pure, enduring forever.” Rabbi Ḥanina said: This refers to one who studies Torah in purity.

What does this mean—

he marries a woman and then studies Torah.

“The testimony of the Lord is trustworthy.”

Rabbi Ḥiyya bar Abba said: It is trustworthy

for the Day of Judgment

to testify concerning those who study it,

who fulfilled it and who did not.

There are things in the Tabernacle concerning which it is stated that they are made

“the work of an embroiderer.”

And there are things concerning which it is stated that they are

“the work of a designer.”

Rabbi Elazar said:

It is all one matter:

They embroider—

in the place where they design!

They would mark the place of the design according to what they had conceived, and afterward they would embroider there.

A tanna taught in the name of Rabbi Neḥemya

a different explanation:

An embroiderer—

it is

the work of a needle

on an existing woven fabric.

Therefore

only

one face

a design emerges on

one

side of the fabric, and not on its other side.

A designer—

it is

the work of a weaver; therefore

from the weaving

two faces

emerge, on both sides of the fabric, for this can be done while weaving.

We learned in the Mishna:

With these

garments, when the priest wears the eight priestly garments,

they inquire

through him

by means of the Urim and Tummim.

When Rav Dimi came

to Babylonia from Eretz Yisrael,

he said: The garments in which the High Priest officiates,

also the priest

“anointed for war”,

who goes out with the people to war,

officiates in them,

in these eight garments, in his service in the Temple throughout the year.

As it is stated

[Exodus 29]:

“And the sacred garments that belong to Aaron

“And the sacred garments that belong to Aaron shall be for his sons after him!”

The word “after him” is superfluous, and it comes to teach that there is another priest who wears eight garments during his service in the Temple. And “after him” means

for

the priest anointed for war, who is

the one who comes in

the rank of

greatness after him,

the High Priest.

Rav Adda bar Ahava raised an objection, and some say it was Kaya,

[the name of one sage], from the following source that was taught:

from that which was taught in a beraita: Could it be that the son of the priest anointed for war officiates in his place, just as the son of the High Priest officiates in his place,

after the death of the High Priest, if he is fit for it?