Babylonian Talmud

Rodkinson 1918 — source 6, scan section 41

Hadudo was three miles. The prominent men had walked one mile, went back one mile, and had tarried as long as a mile is TRACT YOMAH (DAY OF ATONEMENT). 97 gone over. Thus they could calculate that the he-goat had reached the desert. R. Ishmael says : Why, they had another sign. A tongue of crimson wool used to be tied to the gate of the Temple, and as the he-goat had reached the desert, the wool used to become [by miracle] white ; as it is said : " Though your sins be scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red as crimson, they shall become like wool " [Isaiah i. 18]. GEMARA: Said Abayi : From this we see that the Beth Hadudo was in the desert. 7 CHAPTER VII. REGULATIONS CONCERNING THE PASSAGES READ BY THE HIGH- PRIEST AND WHAT GARMENTS HE MINISTERED IN AFTER, AND WHAT GARMENTS OTHER PRIESTS WORE. MISHNA: The high-priest came to read. If he desired to read dressed in linen [white, byssus] garments, he did so ; other- wise, he was reading in a white stole of his own. The Hazzan [servant, attendant] of the congregation takes the scrolls of the Torah, and presents them to the president of the congregation, the president presents them to the Segan, and the latter gives them to the high-priest. The high-priest rises, receives them, and reads standing. He reads the section, "After the death," etc. [i.e., Lev. xvi.], and the section, "Also on the tenth," etc. [i. e.. Lev. xxiii. 26-32]. Then he rolls the scrolls together, and keeps them on his knees, and says: " More than what I have read to you, is written here." The section, "On the tenth," etc. [in the book of Numbers, xxix. 17], he reads by heart, and pronounces over it eight benedictions ; namely, over the Torah, over the service, over the thanksgiving, the atonement of iniquity, the Temple by itself, and Israel by itself (and Jerusalem by itself, /« some versions), the priests by themselves, and the rest of the prayer. He who sees the high-priest reading, does not witness the burning of the bull and the he-goat ; he who wit- nesses the burning of the bull and the he-goat, does not see the high-priest reading : not because he is not allowed, but because there was a great distance, and both were done at the same time. GEMARA : (Let us see 🙂 If he might read in a white stole of his own, then we must assume that this is not a service for which the sacred garments are required ; but at the same time, we see that he could read in the white garments. Hence we see they could be used even at other times than that of service. Infer from this, that the priestly garments he could use for his own benefit. Perhaps reading is different : though not itself a service, it is a preparation for service. Then the schoolmen pro- 98 TRACT YOMAH (DAY OF ATONEMENT). gg pounded a question : May the priestly garments be used for per- sonal purposes or not ? Come and hear: The priest's garments, in the country, may not be used ; but in the Temple, whether during service or not, they maybe used, because it is allowed to derive a benefit from the priestly garments. Infer from this, that he may. You say, in the country it may not be used ? Have we not learned in the following Boraitha : On the twenty-fifth of Tebeth is called the day of Mount Gerizzim, and no mourning is allowed on it. Why? Because on that day the Samaritans petitioned Alexander of Macedon to have our Temple destroyed, and he permitted them. When Simeon the Upright (the high-priest) was notified of it, he put on the priestly garments, and accom- panied by the respectable men of Jerusalem, they all went with torches the whole night till dawn, both parties approaching each other. When it dawned, Alexander of Macedon perceived from a distance the Jews. He asked, Who are these men ? And the Samaritans told him: They are the Jews, who have rebelled against thee. As they reached the town Antipatris, the sun had risen, and they faced each other. As Alexander saw R. Simeon the Upright, he descended from his chariot, and bowed to him. They said to him : Will such a great king as you bow to that Jew ? He replied : His image I saw shining before me, whenever I gained a victory. He asked the Jews: Wherefore are you come ? They said : The Temple wherein we pray for thee, and for thy empire, that it should not be destroyed, is it possible that thou shouldst be misled by the idolaters to bid its destruction ? He asked: Who are those idolaters? They replied : These Samaritans who stand near thee. He said to them : I deliver them into your hands. Treat them as you please. They were soon fastened to the tails of their horses, and thus dragged as far as Mount Gerizzim, which was ploughed, and sowed, as they had intended to do with our Temple. This day was made a festival. (We see that Simeon the Upright went out even into the country in his priestly clothes.) If you wish, I will say, not the priestly clothes were meant, but clothes similar ; and if you wish, I will say, this was in a case of urgency, and it is written [Ps. cxix. 126] : " It is time to act for the Lord : they haye broken Thy law." " Tke Hazzan takes the scrolls,'' etc. Infer from this that honor is given to the disciple even in presence of the Master. Said Abayi : All this was only to honor the high-priest (that he might get it through many subordinate great officers). 100 THE BABYLONIAN TALMUD. " The high-priest rises'' It seems then implied that hitherto he was sitting. Have we not learned in a Mishna (in Sotah) that nobody might sit in the Temple, except kings who are descendants of David? Said R. Hisda : He was then in the v/omen's court, and there all could sit. It is written : [Nehem. viii. 6]: "And Ezra blessed the Lord, the great God." Why is the epithet "great" employed here? Said R. Joseph in the name of Rabh: He then magnified him by calling him expressly "Jehovah." R. Gidel said : By saying as it is written [i Chron. xvi. 36] : " Blessed be the Lord the God of Israel from ever- lasting even unto everlasting." Said Abayi to R. Dimi : Why not as R. Jose said in Rabh's name? R. Dimi answered: Be- cause " Jehovah " must not be pronounced outside of the Temple. Is that so? Is it not written [Nehem. viii. 4]: " Ezra the expounder stood upon an elevated stand of wood," and R. Gidel has said, he then pronounced the name " Jehovah " ? This was only because on that occasion Ezra allowed himself to use it, as he deemed it necessary. It is written [ibid. ix. 4] : " They cried with a loud voice unto the Lord." What did they say? They cried : " Woe ! Woe ! The tempter to idolatry has destroyed the Temple, has killed all the just men, and exiled Israel from their land, and we see him yet among us. Why hast thou created the tempter? To reward us more for overcoming him. We