Talmud - Yoma 39b יומא ל״ט ב׳

a robber [ḥamtzan] until the day of his death.

Rabba bar bar Sheila said: What is the verse that indicates that a ḥamtzan is a robber? The verse states: “O, my God, rescue me out of the hand of wicked, out of the hand of the unrighteous and robbing man [ḥometz]” (Psalms 71:4). Rava said: From here: “Learn to do well, seek justice, strengthen the robbed [ḥamotz]” (Isaiah 1:17), which teaches that one should strengthen the robbed, but not strengthen the robber.

§ The Sages taught: During the year in which Shimon HaTzaddik died, he said to them, his associates: In this year, he will die, euphemistically referring to himself. They said to him: How do you know? He said to them: In previous years, on every Yom Kippur, upon entering the Holy of Holies, I was met, in a prophetic vision, by an old man who was dressed in white, and his head was wrapped up in white, and he would enter the Holy of Holies with me, and he would leave with me. But today, I was met by an old man who was dressed in black, and his head was wrapped up in black, and he entered the Holy of Holies with me, but he did not leave with me. He understood this to be a sign that his death was impending. Indeed, after the festival of Sukkot, he was ill for seven days and died.

Without the presence of Shimon HaTzaddik among them, the Jewish people were no longer worthy of the many miracles that had occurred during his lifetime. For this reason, following his death, his brethren, the priests, refrained from blessing the Jewish people with the explicit name of God in the priestly blessing.

The Sages taught: During the tenure of Shimon HaTzaddik, the lot for God always arose in the High Priest’s right hand; after his death, it occurred only occasionally; but during the forty years prior to the destruction of the Second Temple, the lot for God did not arise in the High Priest’s right hand at all. So too, the strip of crimson wool that was tied to the head of the goat that was sent to Azazel did not turn white, and the westernmost lamp of the candelabrum did not burn continually.

And the doors of the Sanctuary opened by themselves as a sign that they would soon be opened by enemies, until Rabban Yoḥanan ben Zakkai scolded them. He said to the Sanctuary: Sanctuary, Sanctuary, why do you frighten yourself with these signs? I know about you that you will ultimately be destroyed, and Zechariah, son of Ido, has already prophesied concerning you: “Open your doors, O Lebanon, that the fire may devour your cedars” (Zechariah 11:1), Lebanon being an appellation for the Temple.

Rabbi Yitzḥak ben Tavlai said: Why is the Temple called Lebanon [Levanon]? Because it whitens [malbin] the Jewish people’s sins, alluded to by the root lavan, meaning white.

Rav Zutra bar Toviya said: Why is the Temple called: Forest, as it is written: “The house of the forest of Lebanon” (I Kings 10:17)? To tell you: Just as a forest blooms, so too the Temple blooms. As Rav Hoshaya said: When Solomon built the Temple, he planted in it all kinds of sweet fruit trees made of gold, and miraculously these brought forth fruit in their season. And when the wind blew upon them, their fruit would fall off, as it is stated: “May his fruits rustle like Lebanon” (Psalms 72:16). And through selling these golden fruits to the public, there was a source of income for the priesthood.

But once the gentile nations entered the Sanctuary the golden trees withered, as it states “And the blossoms of Lebanon wither” (Nahum 1:4). And in the future hour of redemption, the Holy One, Blessed be He, will restore them to us as it is stated: “It shall blossom abundantly, it shall also rejoice and shout, the glory of Lebanon will be given to it” (Isaiah 35:2).

§ The mishna states that after selecting the two lots, the High Priest places them upon the two goats. Upon placing the lot for God upon the appropriate goat, he says: For God, as a sin-offering. This is just one of the occasions on which he mentions God’s name, as the Sages taught in the Tosefta (Yoma 2:2): The High Priest mentions the name of God ten times on that day: Three times during the first confession; and three times during the second confession, over the bull; and three times when he confesses over the scapegoat to Azazel; and one time with the lots, when placing the lot for God upon the goat.

And there already was an incident when the High Priest said the name of God and his voice was so strong that it was heard even in Jericho. Rabba bar bar Ḥana said: The distance from Jerusalem to Jericho is ten parasangs. Despite the great distance, his voice was miraculously heard there.

The Gemara describes similar miracles in which events in the Temple were sensed a great distance away. And the sound of the doors of the Sanctuary opening was heard from a distance of eight Shabbat limits, which is eight mil. Furthermore, goats that were in Jericho would sneeze from smelling the fragrance of the incense that burned in the Temple; the women that were in Jericho did not need to perfume themselves, since they were perfumed by the fragrance of the incense, which reached there; a bride that was in Jerusalem did not need to adorn herself with perfumes, since she was perfumed by the fragrance of the incense, which filled the air of Jerusalem.

Rabbi Yosei ben Dolgai said: Father had goats in the hills of Mikhmar, a district some distance from Jerusalem, and they would sneeze from smelling the fragrance of the incense. Similarly, Rabbi Ḥiyya bar Avin said that Rabbi Yehoshua ben Korḥa said: An old man reported to me: One time I went to the ruins of the Tabernacle in Shiloh, and I smelled the smell of the incense from between its walls. The Tabernacle stood there during the period of the Judges, and more than a thousand years had passed since its destruction.

§ Rabbi Yannai said: The drawing of the lot from inside the receptacle is an indispensable part of the service, as it determines which goat will be for God and which for Azazel. However, the actual placing of the lots upon the goats is not indispensable. And Rabbi Yoḥanan said: Even the drawing of the lots from inside the receptacle is not indispensable, since the High Priest may designate the goats himself, without employing the lottery.

The Gemara explains the dispute: In accordance with the opinion of Rabbi Yehuda, who said that matters that are performed in the white garments outside of the Holy of Holies are not indispensable, everyone agrees that the drawing of the lots is not indispensable, since it is held outside the Holy of Holies. When they disagree, it is in accordance with the opinion of Rabbi Neḥemya. He holds that all matters performed in the white garments, even those performed outside the Holy of Holies, are indispensable. The one who said the drawing of the lots is indispensable holds in accordance with the straightforward application of the principle of Rabbi Neḥemya. And the one who said the drawing of the lots is not indispensable claims that this principle applies only with regard to matters that are classified as a Temple service. The drawing of the lots is not a Temple service, therefore it is indispensable, even according to Rabbi Neḥemya’s principle.

Some say a different version of the dispute:

In accordance with the opinion of Rabbi Neḥemya, who said that all matters performed in the white garments, even those performed outside the Holy of Holies, are indispensable, everyone agrees that the drawing of the lots is indispensable.

When they disagree, it is in accordance with the opinion of Rabbi Yehuda, who holds that matters that are performed in the white garments outside of the Holy of Holies are not indispensable. The one who said that the drawing of the lots is not indispensable holds in accordance with the straightforward application of the principle of Rabbi Yehuda. And the one who said that the drawing of the lots is indispensable claims that although Rabbi Yehuda’s principle is generally true, it is different here, in the case of the lottery, because the verse repeated the phrase “which came up” (Leviticus 16:9) “which came up” (Leviticus 16:10) two times. In the laws of sacrifices, a repeated phrase indicates the matter is indispensable.

The Gemara raises an objection from that which was taught in a baraita: It is a mitzva to draw the lots, and if the High Priest did not draw the lots but instead designated the goats without using the lots, the designation is valid.

The Gemara considers the opinion presented in the baraita: Granted, according to that first version of the dispute, in which you said: In accordance with the opinion of Rabbi Yehuda everyone, i.e., Rabbi Yannai and Rabbi Yoḥanan, agrees that the drawing of the lots is not indispensable, in accordance with whose opinion is this baraita taught? It is in accordance with the opinion of Rabbi Yehuda, according to all opinions.

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

Yoma 39b explores the meaning of ḥamtzan as robber through biblical proof texts, then recounts Shimon HaTzaddik predicting his own death via a mystical vision.