Talmud - Yoma 14b יומא י״ד ב׳

the tops of the stems of the hyssop branch into the water and sprinkle it. Apparently, even according to the one who said that there is no minimum measure of water for sprinkling there is a minimum measure of water that must be in the vessel. Abaye said: Even if you say that the mishna is in accordance with the opinion of Rabbi Akiva, who said that the purification water impurifies the pure, the difficulty can be resolved: The High Priest performs the Temple service for the entire day on each of the seven days of sequestering, and toward the evening the priests sprinkle the purification water upon him. Even if he was pure and the sprinkling rendered him impure, he immerses immediately and observes the requirement to wait until sunset, at which point he is purified and prepared to serve the next day.

§ The mishna teaches that on each of the seven days the High Priest burns the incense and removes the ashes from the lamps. Apparently, incense is burned first, and then the lamps are cleaned. And the Gemara raises a contradiction from a mishna in tractate Tamid that discusses the lottery in which the priests performing the various tasks that constitute the morning Temple service are selected. That mishna first mentions the one who was privileged to be selected to perform removal of the ashes from the inner altar, and then the one who was privileged to be selected to remove the ashes from the lamps of the candelabrum, and only then does it deal with the one who is privileged to be selected to burn the incense. According to that mishna, removing ashes from the candelabrum precedes the burning of the incense.

Rav Huna said: Who is the tanna who taught the mishnayot in tractate Tamid? It is Rabbi Shimon Ish HaMitzpa, who disagrees with the tanna of the mishna here. The Gemara asks: But didn’t we learn the opposite, as we learned in the mishna in tractate Tamid: The priest sprinkles the blood of the daily offering on the altar. He comes to the northeast corner of the altar and sprinkles once on the northeast corner. From there he proceeds to the southwest corner and sprinkles once on the southwest corner.

And it was taught in the Tosefta concerning this mishna: Rabbi Shimon Ish HaMitzpa changes the sprinkling of the blood of the daily offering relative to the sprinkling of blood of all other burnt-offerings. He agrees with the first tanna with regard to the first sprinkling of the blood; the priest comes to the northeast corner and sprinkles once on the northeast corner. However, when he proceeds to the southwest corner he does not sprinkle once as he would when offering a burnt-offering; rather, he sprinkles on the west side of the altar and then sprinkles on the south side. Since the disputing opinion is that of Rabbi Shimon Ish HaMitzpa, apparently the unattributed opinions in the mishnayot in tractate Tamid are not the opinions of Rabbi Shimon Ish HaMitzpa.

Rather, there must be a different resolution to the contradiction between the mishna here and the one in tractate Tamid. Rabbi Yoḥanan said: Who is the tanna who taught the Yom Kippur service in tractate Yoma? It is Rabbi Shimon Ish HaMitzpa, and tractate Tamid is in accordance with the opinion of the Rabbis who disagree with him.

The Gemara raises a contradiction from one mishna in tractate Yoma against another mishna in tractate Yoma, as we learned in a mishna: The second lottery conducted daily among the priests determined the following: Who slaughters the daily morning offering; who sprinkles its blood; who removes the ashes from the inner altar; and who removes the ashes and burnt wicks from the candelabrum; and who takes the limbs of the daily offering up to the ramp to be burned later. Following the second lottery the priests dispersed, and they later reconvened for the third lottery. Before the third lottery, the appointee declared: Let only those priests who are new to offering the incense come and participate in the lottery for the incense. Apparently, removing the ashes from the lamps of the candelabrum preceded the burning of the incense, which contradicts the mishna here.

Abaye said: This is not difficult. Here, the mishna is discussing the removal of the ashes from two lamps, which is performed after the burning of the incense; there, the mishna of the lotteries is discussing the removal of the ashes from five lamps, which precedes the burning of the incense. As will be explained, the priest attends to five lamps first, and after a break, he attends to the final two lamps.

The Gemara asks: Is that to say that the burning of the incense interposes between attending to the first five lamps and attending the last two? But when Abaye related the order of the daily priestly functions in the name of tradition, didn’t he state that it was the sprinkling of the blood of the daily offering that interposed between the five lamps and the two, not the burning of the incense? The Sages say in response: This is not difficult. That sequence cited by Abaye is in accordance with the opinion of Abba Shaul, whereas this sequence cited in the mishna is in accordance with the opinion of the Rabbis, as it was taught in a baraita: One should not remove the ashes from the lamps and then burn the incense; rather one should burn the incense and then remove the ashes from the lamps. Abba Shaul says: One removes the ashes from the lamps and then burns the incense. The different sources reflect the dispute cited in the baraita.

The Gemara asks: What is the rationale for the opinion of Abba Shaul? It is as it is written: “Every morning when he removes the ashes from the lamps, he shall burn it” (Exodus 30:7), and then it is written: “He shall burn it” (Exodus 30:8). First the lamps are cleaned, and only then is the incense burned. And how do the Rabbis, who hold that the incense was burned first, interpret this verse? They say: What is the Merciful One saying?

Traduction : The William Davidson digital edition of the Koren Noé Talmud, with commentary by Rabbi Adin Even-Israel Steinsaltz.

Yoma 14b explores the required water measure for purification sprinkling on the High Priest and debates the correct order of burning incense versus cleaning the candelabrum's lamps.