Babylonian Talmud

Rodkinson 1918 — source 6, scan section 57

too numerous to be counted, and our sins too mighty to be told of." R. Hamnuna says: He shall begin: "My God, before I was created I had not been worthy to be created ; and now when created, I am the same as previously. I am earth during my life, and so much the more when I will be dead. I am entirely before Thee as a vessel full of disgrace and shame. May it be Thy will that I may not sin more ; and my sins hitherto mayest Thou in Thy great mercy wipe off, but not by means of suffer- ing." And this was the confession of Rabha the whole year, and that of R. Hamnuna the Younger on the Day of Atone- ment. Said Mar Zutra : All this has to be said, if he has not said previously, " It is true we have sinned." If, however, he has pronounced this, he need add nothing to it. As Bar Hamduri related, when he stood once before Samuel on the Day of Atonement, he perceived that as soon as the reader came to this sentence, " It is true we have sinned," all rose. Hence he understands that this is the principal part. Ulla b. Rabh was a reader in the presence of Rabha: He began the concluding prayer with : "Thou hast chosen us," etc., and concluded with, " What are we and what is our life?" etc.; and Rabha praised him. R. Huna the son of R. Nathan, however, said : When an individual reads the concluding prayer, he should say, "What are we and what is our life," etc., after it. Rabh said : The prayer of N'ilah substitutes the evening prayer also. Rabh is in accordance with his theory elsewhere, that it is an additional prayer, and if it has been read, no other prayer is needed for the evening. Did Rabh say so ? Did he not say elsewhere that the evening prayer is in general voluntary, not a duty ? He means, even according to him who would say it is a duty, the " concluding prayer " substitutes it. An objec- tion was made : We have learned in a Boraitha : In the begin- ning of the evening before the Day of Atonement, one shall read as prayers the seven benedictions, and confess. The same one does in the morning, and also in the additional prayer, the seven benedictions, and confessions ; the same in the " con- cluding prayer " : but in the evening one shall say as prayers seven of the eighteen week-day benedictions.* R. Hanina b. * What the seven of the eighteen are, will be explained in Tract Berachoth. 142 THE BABYLONIAN TALMUD. Gamaliel said in the name of his ancestors : He shall say all the eighteen week-day benedictions, because he must include the Habdalah in the benediction of Wisdom (Honen Hadaath). The opinions of the Tanaim differ about it. The disciples of R. Ishmael taught : He who sees Qeri on the Day of Atonement, he shall pray the whole year; but if he has survived this year, he shall be sure of entering the world to come. R. Na'hman b. Itz'hak said: The proof is when the v/hole world is hungry, he was full. When R. Dimi came from Palestine, he said : He will live long, he will see children and grandchildren, as it is written [Is. iii. lo] : " Shall see seed, hve many days." END OF TRACT YOMAH. APPENDIX. We think it will please our readers to have placed before them the following letter, written by a Gentile who had wit- nessed the services at the Second Temple on the Day of Atone- ment. We give the entire extract as it is translated in " Shevet Jehudah " by Solomon Aben Virga, who translated it from a letter written by Versovius to King Alfonso the Pious, although it began with the Feast of Passover, part of which is already mentioned in Tract Pesachim, as it will be of much interest to the historian to know some details of the Jewish services at the Temple. Extract from a Letter Written by Versovius to King Alfonso the Pious, Who Copied It from a Written Report Sent by Marcus, Consul of Jerusalem, to Rome. . . . Tenth. — Concerning the service at the Temple, these Jews were reluctant to inform me about it, as they declared it was against their law to inform a Gentile about the manner of their serving God. They have enlightened me upon two sub- jects only, part of which I saw with my own eyes, and was greatly rejoiced thereat. One was the sacrifice which they brought on the feast that they call Pessach, and is considered to be the greatest of all their feasts ; and the second is the entrance of the high-priest, whom we call sacerdote mayor, into the Temple on the day which to them, in regard of holiness, purity, and strengthening of the soul, is the most important of all the days in the year. The Pessach sacrifice, which I have partly witnessed, as also, as I was told, the entire ceremony, takes place in the following manner. When the beginning of the month which they call Nissan approached, by the command of the king and the judges, swift messengers visited every one in the vicinity of Jerusalem who owned flocks of sheep and herds of cattle, and ordered him to hasten to Jerusalem with them, in order that the pilgrims should have sufficient animals for sacri- fices and 'food ; for the people were then very numerous, and whoever did not present himself at the appointed time, his pos- sessions were confiscated for the benefit of the Temple. Conse- quently all owners of flocks and droves came hastily on, and brought them to a creek near Jerusalem, and washed and cleaned 143 144 APPENDIX. them of all dirt. They believed that in regard of that Solomon said [Solomon's Song iv. 2] : "A flock of well-selected sheep, which are come up from the washing." When they arrived at the mountains which surround Jerusalem, the multitude was so great that the grass was not seen any longer, as everything was turned white, by reason of the white color of the wool. When the tenth day approached — as on the fourteenth day of the month the sacrifice was brought — every one went out to buy his paschal lamb. And the Jews made an ordinance, that when going forth on that mission, nobody should say to his neighbor, " Step aside," or " Let me pass," even if the one behind was King Solomon or David. When I remarked to the priests that this was not seemly nor polite, they made answer that it was so ordered, to show that there is no rank before the eyes of God, not even at the time of preparing to serve Him, more especially at the service itself; at that time all were equal in receiving His goodness. When the fourteenth day of the month arrived, they went to the highest tower of the Temple, which the Hebrews called Lul, and whose stairway was made like those in our church towers, and held three silver trumpets in their hands, with which they blew. After the blowing, they proclaimed the following: "People of the Lord, listen! The time for slaughtering the paschal lamb has arrived. In the name of Him who rests in the great and holy house ! " As the people heard