יומא 31 — Soncino English Talmud

¹render this immersion invalid or not? — He replied: ‘Whatever the Rabbis ordained, they endowed with the authority of a law of the Torah’. Said Abaye to R. Joseph: Is a partial entrance of the Sanctuary considered an entrance or not? — He answered: The thumb and toe will prove that, for there but a partial entrance is involved, and it was taught: A leper immerses himself and stands in the Nicanor Gate! — The question was asked: What about making for himself a long knife for slaughtering? This question is asked in accord with the view of both Ben Zoma and the Rabbis who oppose R. Judah. This question is asked on the view of Ben Zoma: Perhaps Ben Zoma does not consider the immersion obligatory except in the case of one who actually enters, but not for one who stands outside; or perhaps even for the latter, because he might gradually enter. The question is also asked according to the view of the Rabbis who oppose R. Judah: Perhaps the Rabbis hold their view only there because he does not perform a service, but where he officiates at a service they would agree, or do they make no difference? — The question remains unanswered. FIVE IMMERSIONS AND TEN SANCTIFICATIONS: Our Rabbis taught: The high priest underwent five immersions and ten sanctifications on that day, all of them on holy ground, in the Parwah Cell, with the exception of the first, which took place on profane ground, on top of the Water Gate, lying at the side of his [private] cell. Abaye said: We infer therefrom that the Etam well was [at least] twenty-three cubits above the ground of the Temple Court. For we have learnt: All the doorways there were twenty cubits in height, ten cubits in breadth, with the exception of that of the Hall and it was taught: And he shall bathe all his flesh in water, I.e., in the waters of a mikweh, in water which covers his whole body. What ‘is its quantity? One cubit square, three cubits high, and the Sages have calculated that the required quantity for [the contents of] a mikweh is forty se'ah. 13^ᵃ^ᵇ^ᶜ^ᵈ^ᵉ^ᶠ^ᵍ^ʰ^ⁱ^ʲ^ᵏ^ˡ^ᵐ

^ᵃnote:An immersion, to be valid, requires utterly undisturbed touch of the water on the body of the person immersing himself, any intervening object rendering the immersion invalid. This, however, in the questioner's mind applies only to such immersion as is commanded by the Torah. R. Judah, who considers it only an immersion for the sake of uniformity, might hence hold that in this case an intervening object might not be considered sufficiently disturbing to render the immersion invalid.
^ᵇnote:Pes. 30b.
^ᶜnote:Lev. XIV, 14: And the priest shall take the blood of the guilt-offering and... shall put it upon the thumb of his right hand, and upon the great toe of his right foot. Ibid. 17: And of the rest of the oil . . . the priest shall put . . . upon the thumb of his right hand and upon the great toe of his right foot. It is to receive of the blood and the oil that the leper stands at the Nicanor Gate and puts his hands and feet inside, v. 11 indicating that: And the priest that cleanseth him shall set the man that is to be cleansed . . . at the door of the tent of meeting.
^ᵈnote:To escape the obligation of an immersion, which is due on entering. With a knife long enough he might slay the sacrificial animal from without.
^ᵉnote:In the case of an ordinary man entering the Sanctuary.
^ᶠnote:Hence they free him from the obligations of an immersion.
^ᵍnote:That such is necessary.
^ʰnote:V. supra.
^ⁱnote:From the Etam well was the water supply for the pool on top of the Water Gate, v. Zeb. 55b.
^ʲnote:V. supra 15a.
^ᵏnote:[The reference is to Lev. XV, 16 and the text is to be corrected accordingly. The verse in cur. edd. is from Lev. XV, 13.]
^ˡnote:Lit., ‘gathering (of water)’ then the term. techn. for the pool for ritual immersion. The water therein must not be drawn, i.e,, through a vessel, but must come directly from spring, river, sea or rain.
^ᵐnote:‘Er. 4b. Forty se'ah correspond roughly to two hundred and sixty-four quarts of water. [The water in the pool on top of the Water Gate had thus to rise to a height of twenty-three cubits above the level of the Temple Court twenty cubits for the height of the doorway and three cubits for the height of the pool, which would have been impossible unless the Etam well was situated on at least a corresponding height.]

²But there is also one cubit of the ceiling and one cubit of the flooring? — Since the gates of the Sanctuary are made of marble these were made of a small [thickness]. But there is some [additional thickness] however small? — Since it is not even as much as a cubit, he does not count it. A LINEN SHEET WAS SPREAD BETWEEN HIM AND THE PEOPLE. Why of linen? — As R. Kahana said [elsewhere]: So that he may perceive that the service of the day is to be performed in garments of linen. Thus here too it is that he might perceive that the service of the day is to be performed in garments of linen. MISHNAH. HE STRIPPED OFF [HIS GARMENTS], WENT DOWN AND IMMERSED HIMSELF, CAME UP AND DRIED HIMSELF. THEY BROUGHT HIM THE GOLDEN GARMENTS, HE PUT THEM ON AND SANCTIFIED HIS HANDS AND FEET. THEY BROUGHT HIM THE CONTINUAL OFFERING, HE MADE THE REQUIRED CUT AND SOME ONE ELSE FINISHED IT FOR HIM. HE RECEIVED THE BLOOD AND SPRINKLED IT. HE WENT INSIDE TO SMOKE THE INCENSE OF THE MORNING AND TO TRIM THE LAMPS; [AFTERWARDS] TO OFFER UP THE HEAD AND THE LIMBS AND THE PANCAKES AND THE WINE-OFFERING. THE MORNING INCENSE WAS OFFERED UP BETWEEN THE BLOOD AND THE LIMBS, THE AFTERNOON [INCENSE] BETWEEN THE LIMBS AND THE DRINK-OFFERINGS. IF THE HIGH PRIEST WAS EITHER OLD OR OF DELICATE HEALTH WARM WATER WOULD BE PREPARED FOR HIM AND POURED INTO THE COLD, TO MITIGATE ITS COLDNESS. GEMARA. The scholars said in the presence of R. Papa: This [Mishnah] is not in accord with R. Meir, for if it were in accord with him, behold he said: There must be two sanctifications for the putting on of the garments, hence there ought to be here, too, two sanctifications for the putting on of the garments! R. Papa said unto then,: Whether on the view of the Sages or of R. Meir, one sanctification is for the stripping off of the holy garments, and one for the putting on and the reason of their dispute is [the interpretation of these words]: He shall put off, he shall bathe and he shall put on. R. Meir holds that Scripture compares the stripping to the putting on [of the garments], i.e., just as in the case of the putting on of the garments he first puts them on and only afterwards sanctifies himself, so also with the stripping off of the garments, he first strips off and then sanctifies himself; whereas the Rabbis hold that [Scripture] compares the stripping off to the putting on, i.e., just as with the putting on he sanctifies himself whilst dressed in the garments, so with the stripping off, he sanctifies himself whilst the garments are yet on him. Said the scholars to R. Papa: How can you say so, has it not been taught: A sheet of linen was spread between him and the people, he stripped off [his garments], went down, immersed himself, came up and dried himself. One brought the golden garments before him, he put them on, and sanctified his hands and his feet. R. Meir said: He stripped off [his garments] and sanctified his hands and his feet, went down and immersed himself, came up and dried himself. One brought the golden garments before him, he put them on and sanctified his hands and feet! — He answered them: If there is such teaching, it is a teaching [to be recognized]. According to R. Meir it is right, because we thus account for the^ⁿ^ᵒ^ᵖ^ᵠ^ʳ^ˢ^ᵗ^ᵘ^ᵛ^ʷ^ˣ^ʸ^ᶻ^ᵃᵃ^ᵃᵇ^ᵃᶜ^ᵃᵈ

^ⁿnote:[I.e.,there must have been an additional cubit for the ceiling of the doorway and one for the flooring of the pool on top?]
^ᵒnote:Infra 35a.
^ᵖnote:His non-holy garments.
^ᵠnote:Lit., ‘sponged himself’.
^ʳnote:The eight garments, which the high priest puts on for service. They are: tunic, breeches, mitre, girdle, breast-plate, ephod, robe and plate. V. Ex. XXVIII, 2ff.
^ˢnote:To enable the high priest to put the knife aside and to take hold of the holy bowl in which he receives the blood. On other days one priest would slaughter, and another receive the blood. Both functions were to be performed by the high priest on the Day of Atonement.
^ᵗnote:xbfb Lit., ‘entered’. The word ‘entered’, however, does not fit the whole of what follows, as Baneth remarks. For whereas’ he entered the Sanctuary (Hekal) to smoke the incense and trim the lamps, he cannot be said to have ‘entered’ to offer up the head etc. which took place outside. Baneth therefore suggests with considerable justification that, as elsewhere, ‘xbfb’ be translated ‘prepared to’, ‘went on to’. But this change is unnecessary as one could translate: He went in to . . . trim the lamps, (afterwards) to offer up the head . ‘ .
^ᵘnote:Ex. XXX, 7.
^ᵛnote:I.e., clean them, provide them with wick and oil, according to Maimonides, also light them.
^ʷnote:V. Rashi.
^ˣnote:[Which prescribes only one sanctification in connection with the first immersion when he changes from his non-holy garments into the garments of gold.]
^ʸnote:[Who teaches infra 34b that in connection with the second immersion, when he changes from the garments of gold into linen garments, he disrobes himself first and then sanctifies himself, in contradistinction to the Rabbis who place the sanctification before the disrobing.]
^ᶻnote:[It is assumed that the reason of R. Meir for prescribing the disrobing before the sanctification is that he holds that the two sanctifications required on the change of garments are for the putting on of holy vestments. Whereas the Rabbis ascribe one for the stripping of holy garments and the other for the putting on of holy garments.]
^ᵃᵃnote:[On the other hand, in the view of’ the Rabbis, there would he no need for more than one sanctification, since the garments of which he strips himself at the first immersion are non-holy.]
^ᵃᵇnote:So that our Mishnah can be also in accord with R. Meir.
^ᵃᶜnote:Lev. XVI, 23, 24.
^ᵃᵈnote:[This shows that R. Meir requires two sanctifications also in connection with the first immersion.]