Yoma 32 - Five immersions and ten washings of hands and feet

"Five immersions and ten washing of hands and feet" in the Yom Kippur service done by the High Priest - that was a rule about which all agreed. Therefore, everyone's interpretation had to fit these counts.

For example, let us analyze this phrase, "Aaron shall then go into the Communion Tent, and take off the white linen vestments that he wore when he entered the [inner] sanctuary. He shall leave [these vestments] there." It could not possibly mean what it says. Why would Aharon remove his clothes in the Holy of Holies and leave them there? Rather, "leaving them there" means that he cannot use the same garments for the next Yom Kippur. If so, what is Aaron coming to do in the Holy of Holies?

The answer is that the earlier the High Priest went there to bring in the incense. Then, he left the ladle and the coal-pan there. Now he is going back to retrieve these. The phrase "Aaron shall go into the Communion Tent..." is out of order, but it makes a necessary interruption, adds two changes of vestments, and brings the total number of immersions from six to ten. An immersion accompanies every change of vestments.

Art: Washing hands by Bernhard Keil (1624-1687)