Zevachim 21b (כא:) — the Talmud in English

And according to this,

the difference between them

is the dispute between Rabbi Ḥiyya bar Yosef and Rabbi Yoḥanan:

the decree concerning submerging it.

According to Rabbi Yoḥanan, the Sages decreed that one may not raise it, whereas according to Rabbi Ḥiyya bar Yosef there is no basis for such a decree; rather, the very act of raising the basin from the pit renders the water immediately unfit for the avodah of the matirim.

But this still presents a difficulty:

Yet Rabbi Yoḥanan said: If one sanctified his hands for the removal of the ashes, on the following day he need not

again

sanctify them, since he had already sanctified them at the beginning of the avodah

of that day [which is the avodah of removing the ashes]! The difficulty is this: You said that Rabbi Yoḥanan decreed that one may not raise it from the basin, lest they forget to return it. If so, why did Rabbi Yoḥanan not say that immediately after sanctifying themselves from the basin for the removal of the ashes, they must immediately submerge it again in the water, lest they subsequently forget to submerge it?

The reason that he raises it for the sanctification required for the removal of the ashes is that the priest who won the lot for the removal of the ashes cannot begin the avodah without this sanctification.

Granted, according to Rava, who

earlier

interprets that statement

of Rabbi Yoḥanan—“If one sanctified his hands for the removal of the ashes, on the following day he need not sanctify them, since he had already sanctified them at the beginning of the day’s avodah”—as having been said

in accordance with Rabbi Elazar, son of Rabbi Shimon,

who holds that overnight invalidation does not apply to the sanctification of the hands and feet, it can be explained that they are not required to submerge it again, because Rabbi Elazar, son of Rabbi Shimon, holds that overnight invalidation does not apply to the water of the basin, just as it does not apply to the sanctification of the hands and feet. It is possible to answer:

This

statement of Rabbi Yoḥanan—“Once the basin has been submerged, one may no longer raise it”—was said according to the opinion

of Rabbi,

who holds that overnight invalidation applies to the sanctification of the hands and feet; all the more so does it apply to the water of the basin, which is sanctified with the sanctity of a sacred vessel!

But according to Abaye, who earlier interprets it

as Rabbi Yoḥanan’s statement, “If one sanctified his hands and feet for the removal of the ashes, on the following day he need not sanctify them”—

according to Rabbi [

and Rabbi holds that overnight invalidation disqualifies the sanctification of the hands only by rabbinic decree, and they did not decree this for the short interval between the removal of the ashes and dawn], if so,

there is a difficulty from one statement of Rabbi to another!

For what is the difference there,

in the statement that Rabbi Yoḥanan made according to Rabbi—“Once the basin has been submerged, one may no longer raise it”—where Rabbi decreed

that one submerge it

and not raise it throughout the night, lest the water become invalid through overnight invalidation,

and what is the difference here,

in the statement that Rabbi Yoḥanan made according to Rabbi, that one who sanctifies his hands for the removal of the ashes need not return and sanctify them on the following day,

that he does not submerge it

in the basin?

That is, we do not find that Rabbi Yoḥanan [according to Rabbi] said that after raising the basin in order to sanctify the hands for the avodah of removing the ashes, they are required to return it immediately to the pit so that the water will not become invalid through overnight invalidation when dawn arrives.

And we answer: Abaye holds that here too Rabbi decreed

that one remove it

from the basin, raising it for the sanctification of the hands required for the avodah of removing the ashes,

and then submerge it again

immediately in the pit so that the water will not become invalid through overnight invalidation at dawn. Rabbi Yoḥanan did not state this explicitly, however, because he was not discussing the laws of the water of the basin, but rather the laws of the sanctification of the hands and feet, to teach us that the Sages did not decree overnight invalidation for the sanctification of the hands during the short interval between the removal of the ashes and dawn!

The Gemara returns to explain what was said earlier: According to Rabbi Yoḥanan, the water of the basin does not become invalid at sunset or during the night, but only when dawn arrives:

If so,

since Rabbi Yoḥanan holds that the water of the basin does not become invalid through overnight invalidation during the night, but only when dawn arrives, there is a difficulty with what Rabbi Yoḥanan said in the name of Ilfa: A basin that was not submerged at sunset may be used to sanctify one’s hands from it for the night avodah,

but on the following day one may not sanctify himself.

The Gemara now assumed that the statement “on the following day one may not sanctify himself” means that the sanctification of the hands for the following day’s avodah is invalid because the basin was not submerged before nightfall, and the water became invalid at sunset for sanctifying oneself for the following day’s avodah. But we had established that Rabbi Yoḥanan holds that the water does not become invalid during the night, but only when dawn arrives!

And we answer: This is what Rabbi Yoḥanan said in the name of Ilfa:

On the following day one need not sanctify himself!

That is, one might have said that although the water did not become invalid through overnight invalidation at sunset, the sanctification of the hands would nevertheless become invalid through overnight invalidation at dawn. Rabbi Yoḥanan therefore teaches us that he holds like Rabbi Elazar, son of Rabbi Shimon, who says that overnight invalidation does not invalidate the sanctification of the hands at all!

We inquire:

Does this mean that

Rabbi Yoḥanan holds that one who sanctifies his hands at night finds that his sanctification is fit even

for

the avodah of the

matirim

on the following day?

Is his sanctification evidently fit,

despite having been performed during the preceding night? If so, Rabbi Yoḥanan’s words

are

the same as the words

of Rav Ḥisda,

who said that sanctifying one’s hands at night is fit even for the avodah of the matirim on the following day. What, then, is the difference between them?

And we answer:

The difference between them is the mitzva of submerging it

before nightfall. According to Rabbi Yoḥanan, there is a mitzva to submerge it in the basin before nightfall, so that it will be found submerged when they come to sanctify themselves from it for the removal of the ashes. This submerging will remind them to submerge it again immediately after the sanctification for the removal of the ashes, so that the water will not become invalid through overnight invalidation at dawn. This is what Rabbi Yoḥanan said: “Once the basin has been submerged [before nightfall], one may no longer raise it,” implying that it is initially a mitzva to submerge it before nightfall. Rav Ḥisda, by contrast, holds that there is no concern to submerge it before nightfall; rather, they submerge it shortly before dawn, and this is sufficient to prevent its becoming invalid through overnight invalidation.

An objection is raised

against Rav Ḥisda from what we learned in tractate Tamid: For the one who won the lot to remove the ashes, when he entered the courtyard to sanctify his hands and feet, he would not bring a lamp or torch in his hand. Rather, he would walk by the light of the fire on the altar,

and his fellow priests would not see him

who were in the Chamber of the Hearth,

and they would not hear his voice until they heard the sound of the wood that

iz nego

Ben Katin had made into a mechanism

of wheels

for the basin,

and then

they would say

to one another, in order to urge themselves to the avodah:

The time has arrived for the sanctification of the hands and feet from the basin!

It was now time for them to sanctify their hands in order to perform the avodah of gathering the ashes on the altar into the pile at its center.

And we infer: How could the sound of the wooden wheels be heard?

Is it not that he removed it

from the pit upward, and consequently its sound was heard when he raised it from the pit?

Evidently, he had submerged it

before nightfall and raised it for the sanctification required for the removal of the ashes; they did not wait to submerge it until shortly before dawn. This is a difficulty for Rav Ḥisda!

And we answer:

No,

it was not the sound of the wooden wheels when he raised it. Rather, it was the sound that the wheels made when

he submerged it

the basin, at which time it was shortly before dawn, and he submerged it then so that it would not become invalid through overnight invalidation at dawn.

And we challenge this: Granted, if you say that the wooden wheels made their sound when the basin was raised, your statement is understandable, since when he raises it he needs the assistance of those wheels. But

if

you say that he did not raise it, but only

submerged it, could its sound be heard?!

For he was lowering it into the water without using the wheels, so the sound of the wood would not be heard then? And we answer: Even when he came to submerge it, the case was one in which

he submerged it

the basin

with the wheel mechanism,

using the wooden wheels, so that the wood of the mechanism would make its sound [and the sound was loud enough to be heard in Jericho], awakening the priests who were sleeping in the courtyard, so that they would come to participate in the allotment of the avodah.

Alternatively, [

this is an alternative version of the same answer, with a continuation]:

He submerged it with its mechanism [

that is, with the wheel mechanism]

so that its sound would be heard and they would hear it,

the priests, and awaken,

and come

to participate in the allotment.

And we challenge this: Why was it necessary for the sound of the wood to be heard?

But there was Gevini,

who was

a herald,

and he would proclaim: “Rise, priests, to your avodah”!

And we answer:

There were two means of recognition [

a double indication]

that they employed—

whoever heard this one would come, and whoever heard that one would come!

The essential matter: Rabbi Yosei, son of Rabbi Ḥanina, said: Any basin that does not contain,

that is, is not capable of holding water in a sufficient quantity

to sanctify four priests from it, may not be used for sanctification.

As it is stated:

“And they shall wash from it, Moses, Aaron, and his sons,”

and it continues.

An objection is raised: All the vessels [

sacred vessels]

sanctify

the water contained within them, rendering it fit for sanctifying the hands and feet from it,