Talmud - Yoma 32a יומא ל״ב א׳

ten sanctifications, as according to his opinion each of the five immersions is accompanied by two sanctifications. However, according to the opinion of the Rabbis who do not require sanctification before donning the garments for the first time, only nine sanctifications are performed. The Gemara answers that The Rabbis could have said to you: With regard to the final sanctification, when he removes the sacred garments and dons non-sacred garments, he performs it there. According to the Rabbis’ opinion, he sanctifies his hands and his feet when he removes the sacred garments. Rabbi Meir holds that sanctification of his hands and feet is performed only before donning sacred garments.

§ The Sages taught the following with regard to the verse: “And Aaron shall come into the Tent of Meeting” (Leviticus 16:23). Why does he come there? He already completed the service in the Sanctuary. He comes only to remove the spoon and the coal pan that he left in the Holy of Holies, as the entire Torah portion in which the Yom Kippur service is discussed was stated in the order in which it is performed in the Temple except for this verse, which should have been written after the sacrifice of the burnt-offering in the following verse. The High Priest does not remove the spoon immediately after he places it in the Holy of Holies. Rather, after placing it there, he emerges and performs certain services outside the Sanctuary and changes his garments again. The Gemara asks: What is the reason that the High Priest interrupts the inner rite of the incense to offer his ram and the people’s ram before removing the spoon and the coal pan?

Rav Ḥisda said: We learned as a tradition that five immersions and ten sanctifications the High Priest immerses and sanctifies his hands and feet, respectively, on the day of Yom Kippur; and if the service is performed in the order that appears in the Torah, you find only three immersions and six sanctifications. The first immersion is before sacrifice of the daily morning offering; the second is between the daily offering and the rest of the service of the day, including the removal of the spoon and the coal pan from the Holy of Holies. The High Priest immerses a third time between removal of the ladle and the coal pan from the Holy of Holies and the sacrifice of his ram and the people’s ram, which were part of the additional offering and the daily afternoon offering that follow. According to the revised sequence, the High Priest performs a service outside the Sanctuary after placing the spoon and the coal pan in the Holy of Holies, and then he reenters the Holy of Holies to remove those vessels. The High Priest immersed and changed his garments both before entering and after exiting the Holy of Holies, for a total of five immersions.

It was taught in a baraita that Rabbi Yehuda said: From where are derived the five immersions and ten sanctifications that the High Priest immerses and sanctifies his hands and feet, respectively, on the day of Yom Kippur? They are derived from the verse that states: “And Aaron shall come into the Tent of Meeting and he shall remove the linen garments that he put on when he entered the Sanctuary and leave them there. And he shall wash his flesh in water in a sacred place and put on his garments, and he shall go out and perform his own burnt-offering and the burnt-offering of the people” (Leviticus 16:23–24). From this you learned: Anyone who moves from an inner service, in the Holy of Holies, to an outer service, and vice versa, requires immersion. According to the order of the services there are a total of five immersions.

Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi said: From where are derived the five immersions and ten sanctifications that the High Priest immerses and sanctifies his hands and feet, respectively, on the day of Yom Kippur? They are derived from that which is stated: “He shall be dressed in a sacred linen tunic, and with linen trousers next to his flesh, and he shall be girded with a linen belt, and he shall wear a linen mitre; they are sacred garments, and he shall wash his flesh in water and then put them on” (Leviticus 16:4). From this you learned: Anyone who moves from an inner service, in the Holy of Holies, to an outer service requires immersion. And the verse says: “They are sacred garments”; all of the garments are equated to one another. Just as the High Priest immerses when donning the linen garments, so he immerses when donning the golden garments.

And they are five services: The sacrifice of the daily morning offering, performed in golden garments; the service of the day, the sacrifice of the bull and the goat, which is performed in white garments; the sacrifice of his ram guilt-offering and the ram of the people in golden garments. After that he removes the spoon and the coal pan from the Holy of Holies in white garments. He emerges from the Holy of Holies and sacrifices the daily afternoon offering in golden garments.

And from where is it derived that each and every immersion requires two sanctifications of the hands and the feet? It is derived from the verse that states: “And Aaron shall come into the Tent of Meeting and he shall remove the linen garments that he put on when he entered the Sanctuary and leave them there. And he shall wash his flesh in water” (Leviticus 16:23–24). And it says: “And he shall wash his flesh in water in a sacred place and put on his garments” (Leviticus 16:24). This indicates that one sanctifies his hands and feet when he removes garments, and one likewise sanctifies his hands and feet when he dons garments.

Rabbi Elazar, son of Rabbi Shimon, says that it is derived by means of an a fortiori inference: Just as in a place where the Torah does not require immersion, i.e., for a priest before he enters the Temple to perform service, it nevertheless requires sanctification of the hands and feet; in a place where the Torah requires immersion for all changes of garments, i.e., on Yom Kippur, is it not right that it requires sanctification of the hands and feet?

If based on that inference the suggestion arises: Just as there, in the case of a priest entering to perform the Temple service, only one sanctification is required, so too here, on Yom Kippur, only one sanctification should be required for the changes of garments throughout all the services of the day. Therefore, the verse states: “And Aaron shall come into the Tent of Meeting and he shall remove the linen garments that he put on” (Leviticus 16:23). What is the meaning when the verse states: “That he put on”? Does a person remove any garments other than those that he put on? Rather, this phrase comes to equate removal of garments to donning of garments: Just as donning garments requires sanctification, so too, removal of garments requires sanctification.

The Gemara explains the position of Rabbi Yehuda that was mentioned earlier. Rabbi Yehuda said: From where are derived the five immersions and ten sanctifications that the High Priest immerses and sanctifies his hands and feet, respectively, on the day of Yom Kippur? They are derived from the verse that states: “And Aaron shall come into the Tent of Meeting and he shall remove the linen garments that he put on when he entered the Sanctuary and leave them there. And he shall wash his flesh in water in a sacred place” (Leviticus 16:23–24). From this you learned: Anyone who moves from an inner service, in the Holy of Holies, to an outer service, and vice versa, requires immersion. The Gemara asks: We found proof that the High Priest requires immersion when he changes from white garments to golden garments; however, from where is it derived that he requires immersion when he changes from golden garments to white garments?

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

Yoma 32a explores the High Priest’s Yom Kippur immersions and hand-and-foot sanctifications, debating their exact count and sequence per the Torah’s order.