When a sacrifice was brought in the Temple, the hide remaining from it belonged
to all the Kohanim (priests). They used to leave these hides in a special
chamber in the Temple for later distribution. However, the bullies among the
Kohanim would take the hides by force. They tried to push the hide distribution
to the end of the week, hoping that bullies would not misbehave in the presence
of multitudes. But now, the high-ranking Kohanim would appropriate the hides.
Since nothing helped, the owners dedicated the hides to the Temple treasury. As
a result, the treasury gained much money, and soon the Sanctuary was covered
with gold plates. These beautiful plates were then displayed for the pilgrims on
the Holidays.
Sometimes, the Temple courtyard itself cried out in anguish because of the
wrongdoings. The first was "Depart from here, the sons of Eli, the High
Priest!" The second was because of Issachar from Barkai - who wore silken
gloves while doing the services. This invalidated the service, which has to be
done with bare hands. But for a High Priest Yochanan ben Narbi, the courtyard
proclaimed, "Raise your heads, O gates!" He generously served his guests three
hundred calves for dinner, three hundred wine barrels, and the volume of
mikveh of meat of young birds for dessert. As a result, there were never
sacrifice meat leftovers.
Art: Weaning the Calf by Winslow Homer
No comments:
Post a Comment