Yoma 37 - Remembered for good

The High Priest would next come, with his two attendants, to the two goats prepared for the lot. The chest for the lottery contained two lottery tickets made out of boxwood, one with the inscription "For God" and the other - "For Azazel." He would draw the lots with his two hands and designate the goats, one for the sacrifice and the other to be sent to the desert.

Later Ben Gamla made the lottery pieces out of gold, and the Sages would recall him with praise. Other individuals should also be remembered for good. Ben Katin made twelve spouts for the laver so that the twelve Kohanim involved with the morning sacrifice could wash their hands and feet at once. He also invented a mechanical device that prevented the water in the laver from becoming unfit because of staying overnight.

King Munbaz made all handles of vessels used for Yom Kippur out of gold. His mother Helene made a golden candelabrum at the Temple entrance so that when the sun rested on it, people knew to say the "Shema, Israel" prayer. Finally, Nikanor was a man for whom a miracle happened, and the heavy copper gate he had made for the Temple floated through the storm to the shores of Israel, and they kept that door and named it after him, long after the other doors were replaced with golden ones.

Art: The Candelabrum by John Singer Sargent