Meilah 37 – The Sanctuary (Tamid)

The Sanctuary, which contained the Holy of Holies, was situated in the western part of the Temple. It had an entrance of twenty amot high (about 30 feet), and 10 amot wide. This entrance had four doors, two on the outside, and two on the inside of the entranceway. Additionally, the main gate had a smaller door to the south and another one to the north. The one to the south, no man ever entered through it, because, as Ezekiel said, “only God, the Lord of Israel, comes through it; it shall be closed.”

Inside the Sanctuary, there were thirty-eight cells (small rooms), arranged in three stories, and they were used to store gold, silver, and other valuable articles owned by the Temple.

The special chamber was the Chamber of Hewn Stone, where the Great Sanhedrin would sit. It was partially inside the Courtyard, where the Kohanim would come with their questions and stand, and the other half of it was outside the Courtyard, where the Sages would sit and judge. A Kohen in whom a disqualification was found would wrap his head in black, leave the chamber and go. And the Kohen in whom no disqualification was found would clothe himself in white, enter the Courtyard, and serve with this brethren the Kohanim. Those in whom no disqualification was found would make a day of celebration, and they would proclaim, “Blessed is the Omnipresent, Who Chose Aaron and his sons to stand an serve before God in the chamber of the Holy of Holies.”

Art: Pieter Bruegel - The Peasant Dance

Meilah 36 – The Construction of the Altar (Tamid)

The Altar measured thirty-two amot (about 50 feet) by thirty-two amot at its base. It was constructed by bringing a wooden base of that size, one amah high, and filling it with the mixture of lime, molten lead, and tar. After the mixture hardened and the wooden frame was removed, the remaining structure formed "the base" of the Altar.

The second form was thirty by thirty amot, and it was five amot (about 8 feet) high. It was filled with the same mixture.

The third tier was twenty-eight by twenty-eight amot, and had the height of three amot. On it corners there were protrusions, called “horns,” and the outside of it formed a shelf, known as “the ledge,” which could be used for walking. A ramp led up the Altar from its south side. It was as long as Altar itself, and its width was half that.

Both the stones of the Altar and of the ramp were quarried from the valley of Bait Kerem. They would dig beneath virgin soil and bring from there whole stones that were never touched by iron. Since iron renders the stones, and consequently the whole Altar, unfit by simply touching them, they went to great length to find stones that were unlikely to have been touched by iron. The Altar was protected by a layer coat of lime, and it was only wiped by web cloth.

Art: Gottlieb Daniel Paul Weber - Boulder Crossing, Pennsylvania

Meilah 33 – The Prayer of a Kohen (Tamid)

Since the Kohanim were busy with the Temple service, they could say only the absolutely necessary prayers. At the command of the appointed Kohen, they would say the blessing before the “Shema Israel” prayer, the one that deals with the study of the Torah, then the Ten Commandments, then the Shema itself, then the blessing for the Divine acceptance of the Temple service, and then the blessing of the Kohanim for the people. Then they went back to the service.

The appointed Kohen told them, “Those who are new to the incense service, come and draw lots” – since this service was conducive to riches. After that, all of the Kohanim would draw lots for bringing the sacrificial limbs to the fire (these limbs were previously left on the ramp). Some say that six Kohanim won that, and some say that it was one Kohen. Rabbi Eliezer ben Yakov says that the same Kohanim who put the limbs on the ramp now carried them to the fire.

The non-selected Kohanim would return their holy garments and dress into their own. Those who continued the service brought the incense and the limbs, and then one of them threw a specially designated shovel on the floor, whose sound signaled for the Kohanim to go prostrate in the Hall, the Levites to start singing, and Kohanim who became impure to stand at the eastern entrance, either to preclude suspicion of eschewing the service, or to shame them into being more careful in the future.

Art: Ludwig Deutsch - At Prayer

Meilah 32 – Alexander of Macedon and the Elders of the South (Tamid)

Since on the previous page we mentioned the sun, the Talmud here recounts a story that also mentions the sun: Alexander asked the Sages about ten matters, the first dealing with the sun. He said, “Which distance is greater, from heaven to earth, or from east to to west?” The question was of a spiritual nature, concerning the two types of Divine Providence for the righteous, but nevertheless it had to be clothed in physical matters. They answered, “From east to west is greater, since people can see the sun in the east and in the west, but not when it is directly above.”

He asked, “Were the heavens created first, or the earth?” They answered, “The heavens,” based on the verse, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” He then asked “What was created first, light or darkness?” They said, “This matter has no resolution.” But let them respond that darkness was created first, based on the verse, “And darkness was upon the face of the earth, and God created light!” They did not want to give him the answer, lest he continues exploring what was before the Creation. If so, they should not have answered the first question either! At first they thought that he was asking about the plain meaning of the verses in the Torah, but when they saw that he was intent on knowing the mysteries also, they stopped there. He also asked many questions about proper conduct in life, and an advice in war.

Art: Ivan Fedorovich Choultse - Sunrise

Meilah 31 – The Order Of The Morning Sacrifice (Tamid)

Usually, when one transports a sheep to the market for sale, he binds all of its legs together, to prevent the sheep from running away. However, it would be disgraceful for the morning lamb sacrifice, so instead they bound it in the manner of the binding of Isaac: the right foreleg with the right back leg, and the left foreleg with the left back leg, except that in the case of Isaac his hands and feet were bound behind his back.

There were multiple rings in the floor of the Temple, between the Altar and the Temple Hall, because the slaughter had to be done “in front of God,” which meant opposite the Hall entrance. Each group of the Kohanim had a ring assigned to them, and each group served for a week about two times a year. However, for the morning sacrifice all groups used the same ring, near the northwest corner of the Altar, because the sacrifice had to be slaughtered in a sunlit area. The daily afternoon sacrifice was slaughtered, correspondingly, using the ring in the northeast corner.

The ring itself was used to immobilize the sacrifice before slaughter. The sheep was positioned with its head pointing to the south, its face to the west, while the slaughterer was to the east of the sheep, with his face to the west. They would hang the lamb using a hole in its knee, not like the butchers who break its leg, then they would skin, dismember, wash, and salt the lamb, and carry the pieces to the Altar.

Art: Theo van Sluys - Sheep And Chickens In A Farm Interior

Meilah 30 – Temple Morning (Tamid)

After the Kohanim enter the Chamber of Hewn Stone, the appointed Kohen tells them, “Come and cast lots for the services: Who slaughters the morning daily offering? Who throws its blood on the Altar? Who clears the ashes of the Inner Altar? Who clears the ash from the Menorah? Who brings the limbs of the morning offering to the ramp of the Altar?”

The Kohanim cast lots by each raising a finger and counting, and one on whom the count would end would get the first service, while the other Kohanim to his right would get the rest. The bringing of the limbs to the ramp, together with libations, required nine Kohanim, and larger sacrifices required more.

The appointed Kohen would tell them, “Go out and see if the time for slaughtering the morning offering has arrived.” If it had, the observer says, “Dawn!” To prevent a possible error, they restate, “Has the entire eastern sky lit up?” and the observer says, “Yes!”

The would go and bring a lamb from the Chamber of the Lambs, and give it to drink from a golden up. The would offer it, and proceed with the other services. Some of the sounds of the Temple were heard as far as Jericho.

Art: Dwight William Tryon - Dawn

Meilah 29 – The Pyre (Tamid)

After the Kohanim saw the one who removed the ashes descend from the Altar, with the pan of consumed coals in his hands, they would rush to sanctify their hands and feed with water from a special vessel. Then they took the shovels and forks and went on the top of the Altar. There they removed the limbs of the burned offering remaining from the day before, and put to them to the side of the Altar, or on the ramp. They would not remove them altogether, so as not to disqualify them.

They would begin piling the ashes on top of the mound, located in the center of the Altar. At times, this mound was like 300 kors in volume (50,000 cubic feet, which is an exaggeration, one of the few found in the Torah, Prophets, and Talmud). On the Festivals, they would not remove it, because it is an adornment for the Altar, but normally they were never lax to remove the ashes out of the city, when the mound became too large.

They began bringing up shaven and smooth logs and arranging the pyre toward the east side of the Altar. They would leave spaces between rows of logs and insert small chips there, to start the fire. They also brought fine pieces of fig-tree wood for the second pyre, opposite the Temple Hall door, for coals to burn the incense. Now they would return the leftover limbs to the fire, descend from the Altar, and proceed to the Chamber of Hewn Stone, where they drew lots for the remaining services.

Art: Niko Pirosmanashvili - Firewood Seller

Meilah 28 – Temple at the Break of Dawn (Tamid)

After settling the question of who would be doing the first service, separating the ashes, the appointed Kohen would take a key and open a small door that led from the Hall of Fire into the Courtyard. The main door would be opened later on in the day. Two groups of Kohanim followed him, and each carried a torch. Once in the Courtyard, one group walked in the east colonnade and one in the west, checking the vessels as they walked. If all the vessels were in order, they said, “Peace, all is well.”

When they met again, they appointed from among their number the makers of the wafers that the High Priest would bring. At that point, one chosen to remove the ash from the Altar would go to his task. They would tell him, “Be careful not to touch the shovel until you sanctify your hands and feet with water” – not because he actually had to, but because, being alone, he might be carried away and start the real service, which would be prohibited.

No one entered with him between the Altar and the Antechamber, and he had no lamp but rather walked in the light of the pyre. They would not see or hear him until he started pulling the vessel out of the mikveh with a wooden wheel, and the other Kohanim would say, “Time to sanctify the hands and feet” and be ready to do it.

He would take a silver shovel, ascend to the top of the Altar, and scoop from the most consumed, innermost coals. He would then descend, walk along the northern side, and pile the coals on the floor at a distance of three handbreadths from the ramp.

Art: Boy blowing at a Lamp by Georges de La Tour

Meilah 27 – Use of Priestly Garments (Tamid)

In addition to the Kohanim guarding the Temple Courtyard from the outside (because they were forbidden to sit inside), there were twenty-one guards of the Levites guarding the Temple at the gates and other places from the inside.

The Kohanim did not sleep in their garments to return to the previous subject but rolled them under their heads. Do we see from here that only sleeping in them was prohibited, but daytime use, such as walking in them, was in fact allowed, even when not doing the service? – No, this is no proof. Perhaps daytime use was also prohibited, but the teacher chose to speak about sleep to tell us that the garments should be treated respectfully. If so, how could they put the garments under their heads? – Don’t read “under” but read “next to” their heads.

But consider the story of Alexander the Macedonian marching to destroy the Temple at the incitement of the Cutheans. What did Shimon the Righteous, High Priest, do? He donned the priestly garments and went to meet Alexander. They were traveling all night, and at dawn, when Alexander saw the High Priest, he alighted from his horse and bowed down to him. They asked Alexander, "Why are you bowing down to this Jew?" He replied, "I see this image every time I go into battle, and it protects me." Don’t we see from this story that priestly garments can be used for personal needs? – No, we don’t. Perhaps they were garments fit for service, but not actual priestly garments. Or perhaps they were the real garments, but “Time to act for God” is an exception.

The conclusion is that priestly garments can be used, but then there is further disagreement about using them even before the service or not taking them off after the service.

Art: Alexander the Great in the Temple of Jerusalem by Sebastiano Conca

Meilah 26 – The First Service of the Day (Tamid)

The first service of the day in the Temple was “separation of the ashes.” Since the Torah said, “and he will separate the ash… and place it beside the Altar,” the Kohen would go up on the Altar, scoop a shovelful of ash, then come down, and deposit it to the east of the Altar ramp. Any Kohen who wanted to do this service would wake up early, immerse himself in a mikveh, and be ready before the Kohen appointed over the distribution of services arrives. If more than one Kohen wanted to do the service, they would draw lots.

At what time did the appointed Kohen arrive? Sometimes a little before and sometimes a little after the rooster’s cry. He would knock upon the Temple gates, and they would open it for him. He would say to them, “Whoever has immersed himself should come and participate in the lottery.” They made a lottery (we will learn about this in the tractate Yoma), and whoever won, won.

Art: Rooster with Hens and Chicks by Carl Jutz

Meilah 25 – Kohanim Guarding The Temple (Tamid)

There were three places in the Temple where Kohanim stood honorary guard. These were chambers elevated above floor of the Temple, and one of them was called “The Hall of Fire.” It was a dome, where large fires were burning throughout the night, because Kohanim had to perform their service barefoot and in only one layer of clothing. Young Kohanim were used for guarding: since they could not yet bring sacrifices, they could therefore afford to be up all night.

The Hall of Fire was a large structure, whose interior was encircled with ledges of stone. The heads of the group of Kohanim who were to serve the next day slept on these ledges. The ledges were not sanctified, which allowed sitting and sleeping on them, for otherwise sitting in the Temple is prohibited for everybody except for kings of the Davidian dynasty. Young Kohanim were not accorded this privilege, but slept each with his cushion on the ground. They would not sleep in their holy vestments, but would rather remove them, and fold them under their heads, and cover themselves with their personal garment.

If one of them experienced a seminal emission during the night, he would exit the Hall of Fire and proceed through an underground tunnel, where lamps were burning to illuminate his way, until he reached the Immersion Room, where he would immerse himself in a mikveh. A large fire was burning there for people to dry and warm themselves after immersion. There was also a “latrine of dignity,” whose door was closed when someone was there, and thus one never had to speak in it.

Art: Charles Bargue - A Footman Sleeping

Meilah 24 – Kohen Who Did Not Consult

All of the cases of mixed-up bird sacrifices that we learned above were in a situation where a Kohen comes to the Sages and asks them what to do in each doubtful situation. However, if the Kohen did not consult anybody but simply took all birds from all women and brought all of them as burned offerings, above the red line in the middle of the Altar, exactly half of them are valid – because indeed half of all birds were burned offerings. If he brought all birds as sin-offerings, below the line, again half of them are valid. Finally, if he brought some of them as burned offerings above and some as sin-offerings below, half in the first group and half in the second group are valid.

If during her pregnancy a woman promised an additional pair of birds as a voluntary offering, they are burned offerings, and the Kohen who brings the resulting four birds, must make three of them burned offerings, and one – a sin-offering. If the Kohen did not do so, but rather made two of them burned offerings and two – sin-offerings, she has to bring an additional burned offering.

If she tries to designate the offerings, in order to correct for errors, and the Kohen keeps making mistakes, she may bring up to seven extra bird pairs. Better she be silent, and this agrees with a popular saying that a live ram has just one voice, but when dead, it has seven uses: shofar, flutes, drums, harps, etc. And in the same vein, simple men, when growing old, have their minds more and more confused, but Sages who study all their lives, the older they grow, the more their mind matures.

Art: Govert Teunisz. Flinck - Rembrandt as Shepherd with Staff and Flute

Meilah 23 – A Bird Flew Away (Kinnim)

If one bird of the pair flew away, either to freedom, or it landed among birds that cannot be offered, one simply has to add a bird to the one that remained, and then can bring a pair. However, if the bird that flew away landed among other pairs, then we have a problem. If the remaining bird is brought, for example, as a burned offering, then its pair, the escapee, becomes a sin offering. This, in turn, makes all the birds in the group that it flew into invalid, and we lose all these offerings. To prevent this, we declare the remaining bird invalid, which makes the one that flew away also invalid. Thus we have a rule: if a bird flies away but lands with other birds, it is invalid, and makes one bird in the group that it left also invalid.

For example, if one woman had a pair of birds, the next – two pairs, and so on, until a woman with seven pairs, and a bird flew from the first woman to the second, from the second to the third, and so on, until the seventh, then each time a bird flies away, it makes one remaining birds in the group it leaves invalid. If a bird then flew back from the seventh to the sixth, from the sixth to the fifth, and so on, until the first, each woman lost two pairs of birds, except the seventh – since for her there was only one bird that flew in and left, not two.

Art: Martin Johnson Heade - Two Hummingbirds With Their Young

Meilah 22 – Bird Pairs (Kinnim)

The next three Tractates are relatively short, and their pages are numbered as if they were part of the Me'lah Tractate. They deal respectively with bird pairs brought as sacrifices, order of the day in the Temple, and dimensions of the Temple.

A pair of birds is brought in a number of cases, such as anyone who has to bring an animal sin-offering but is too poor for the expense, a woman who gave birth, or a spiritual leper on his purification. The birds have to be either two turtledoves, or two young pigeons.

One of the birds is a burned offering, whose blood is sprinkled on the upper part of the Altar wall, above the red line that designates the middle, and the other one is a sin-offering, and its blood is applied on the lower part of the wall. Therefore, the offerings are completely incompatible, and if one is brought as another, it is invalid. For example, if in a pair two birds were already designated, one as a burned offering, and the other as a sin-offering, and then they become mixed, the offering cannot be brought at all, and the birds have to die.

Therefore, the owner would prefer not to designate the birds, but allow the Kohen to do it, just before sacrificing them, and the Kohen is given the power of designating them. The owner can actually designate the birds when he or she buys them, and these are the only to moments in time when a designation can be done.

If a bird pair of one woman mingled with the the pair of another, only two out of four birds can be brought. Why? We can definitely bring one pair, since the mixture contains two undesignated burned offerings, and two sin-offerings. However, we cannot bring the second pair, because perhaps the first two birds were really burned offerings, and there are no more burned offerings left. The same is true if two pairs mixed with two pairs, three with three pairs, and so on – half of them can be brought, but not more.

Art: (After) Pieter Aertsen - A woman holding a duck and a bird cage with chickens and a dove

Meilah 22 – Money-changer And Storekeeper

If one deposited money with a money-changer, and it was tied up in a bundle, the money-changer may not use it. Therefore, if the money-changer spent the money, and it was later discovered that it belonged to the Temple, he is liable for misappropriation. However, if the money was loose, the money-changer may use it, and if it was the Temple's, it is the depositor who is guilty of misappropriation. The money-changer's main occupation is to deal with money, and it is presumed that he has the permission to use the loose coins deposited with him.

If one deposited money with a private householder, whether it was tied or untied, the householder may not use it. Therefore, if the householder spent the money, and it belonged to the Temple, the householder has committed misappropriation.

A storekeeper is treated like a private householder. Even though he often gives change, money-changing is not his main occupation – these are the words of Rabbi Meir. However, Rabbi Yehudah treats a storekeeper like a money-changer: since he often gives change, it is presumed that he can use loose coins that are deposited with him. Appropriate laws of misappropriation apply to him.

Art: Frederick Childe Hassam - Provincetown Grocery Store

Meilah 21 – Money From The Wrong Bag

If one said to his agent, “Bring me money from an alcove or from the bag,” and he meant that alcove or bag that contained his private money, but the agent brought it from another bag, with the money of the Temple, he has committed misappropriation. Actually, he is a Temple treasurer, just like before, and he will commit it when he uses the money. However, if he said, “from an alcove,” and the agent brought money from the bag, then the agent commits misappropriation, since deviated from the instruction.

If one sends an agent to a store, unintentionally giving him money of the Temple, but then recalls that it was consecrated money, then, to spare the store-owner the unwitting transgression, he should take his own perutah (small coin) and say, “The perutah of the Temple, wherever it maybe is hereby deconsecrated on upon this perutah.”

Art: Ernst Graner - The General Store Vienna

Meilah 20 – An Agent Who Did As He Was Told

If one picked up a stone belonging to the Temple, he has not misappropriated it yet. Actually, this is talking about a Temple treasurer, who is authorized to handle Temple's property. Even though lifting normally effects acquisition, his lifting leaves it in the domain of the Temple. If he then gave it to another, he has transgressed, but his fellow has not. The treasurer, by his giving the stone over, removed it from the domain of the Temple, and no further misappropriation will apply. If he built it into his house, he also has not transgressed, until he has lived in the house, deriving the benefit of a perutah (small coin).

If an agent misappropriated the property of the Temple, by following precisely the instruction given him by another, the one who gave the instruction is responsible for misappropriation, but the agent is not. However, if the agent deviates from the instruction, he becomes liable. For example, if one told his agent, “Give my guests meat,” and the agent gave them liver, (and later it was discovered that it was Temple property) the agent has committed misappropriation.

If one told his agent, “Give my guests one piece of meat each,” and the agent told them to take two, but they took three – then all of them: the host, his agent, and his guests, have committed misappropriation.

Art: Gustave Courbet - The Stone Breakers

Meilah 19 – How Misappropriations Do Not Combine

If one benefited from an article belonging to the Temple in the amount of half a perutah (small coin), and also deteriorated it for half a perutah (for example, he wore a garment for a short time and also tore it while wearing), he has not committed misappropriations. Also, if he used one article but caused deterioration in another – he is still not liable, since both the amount of benefit and of deterioration must be at least a perutah.

Misappropriation cannot be committed twice. For example, if one used a Temple's ax, it became deconsecrated through his action. Now if he or someone else uses it again, they do not commit misappropriation. The exception to this rule are sacrificial animals and Temple vessels: since they cannot be redeemed, they cannot be deconsecrated either, and if people rode on a sacrificial animal one after another, they have all committed misappropriation.

Rabbi Yehudah the Prince states a rule: whatever cannot be redeemed is subject to misappropriation after misappropriation. But that is the same as the first teacher!? – Rabbi Yehudah refers to his own opinion that we saw a while back, that if one donates wooden blocks, they are viewed as a sacrifice, and other blocks of wood are needed to burn these ones. Accordingly, donated wood cannot be redeemed, and one who uses it commits misappropriation.

Art: Blaise Alexandre Desgoffe - Still Life with Gold Box

Meilah 18 – Does One Have To Ruin The Temple Property?

The remaining combinations that the Talmud discusses include pieces of sacrifices brought with wrong intentions, and those left over, meat of reptiles and animals killed without slaughter, items with different levels of ritual impurity, items carried on Shabbat, and foods eaten on Yom Kippur; sometimes they combine, and sometimes they don't.

One commits misappropriation of Temple property as soon as he uses it, even if the item itself did not loose anything because of it, and did not suffer deterioration – this is the opinion of Rabbi Akiva. However, the Sages make this distinction: if an item does not deteriorate, like a golden vessel, then one commits misappropriation once he uses and derives some benefit, worth at least perutah (small coin). If it does deteriorate, then one is liable if he used up some of it (like a garment), in the amount of a perutah. Actually, Rabbi Akiva only disagrees with the Sages about items that can deteriorate but are normally kept very carefully, such as very expensive garments of fine material, or the middle garments.

What is the source for the requirement of using up some of the item? Misappropriation is compared to terumah, kohen's portion, and just as with terumah, one needs to eat and reduce it, to be liable, so too with misappropriation.

Art: Willem Kalf - Still Life with Chafing Dish, Pewter, Gold, Silver, and Glassware

Meilah 17 – How Reptiles Meats Combine

There are eight reptiles that transmit ritual impurity. Their blood and meat combine to form the volume of a lentil, and if one eats this volume, he transgresses a full prohibition. They combine to transmit impurity in the same way.

Rabbi Yehoshua stated a general rule: all items that transmits impurity in the same amount (for example, blood and meat of reptiles), and make one impure for the same length of time (one day, until nightfall, in our case), combine. However, if they transmit impurity in different amounts (for example, flesh of a dead human transmits impurity when there is an olive volume of it), or for a different length of time (impurity of a dead human body lasts for seven days) – these items do not combine with one another.

Art: Dirk Valkenburg - Still Life of Fruits from Surinam and Reptiles