Baruch Hashem. We come to learn Seder HaYom. We are up to the section on page yod called Seder HaAvodah (Order of the Service). He writes, “inyan haketoret hu inyan gadol” (The matter of the incense is a great matter). The reading of the ketoret (incense offering) is a big item. “levatel kol nega vechol pega ra” (To nullify every affliction and every evil occurrence). The reading of the ketoret is a big thing, because it can ward off all bad things. The Zohar Hakadosh says in Parashat Vayikra—and some say it’s Shemot—that “shehu meshaber hakelipot umone'a mimenu yetzer hara” (it breaks the shells and keeps away the evil inclination). It also wards away the yetzer hara (evil inclination).
“Vezeh leshono”: “kol man de'istakal vekarei be'uvada deketoret bechol yoma” (Whoever looks into and reads the account of the incense every day), “yishteziv mikol milin decharashaya” (will be saved from all matters of witchcraft), from all bad occurrences, bad thoughts, death, and pestilence, “ve-lo yitzak kol hahu yoma.” Look at that: he won’t be damaged the whole day. However, “uvilvad sheyechaven bah”: you have to have kavanah. The ketoret is a big item. There’s nothing to skip, that’s for sure. It’s an insurance policy for the day. “Hineh bedavar nakal yachol adam lehinatzel mikamah inyanim gedolim.” Very easily, you read the ketoret with kavanah, and you get saved from a lot of stuff. Sof sof (in the end), yehei koreh oto bekavanah. Well, that’s what I meant: just read it with kavanah, with clarity of mind, and you’re okay.
“Od sham vezeh leshono amar Rabi Shimon: Ei benei nasha havo yad'in kamah ila'ah ihu uvada deketoret kamei Kudsha Berich Hu (the Holy One, blessed be He).” If people would know—Sam, baruch haba. We’re talking about the value of reading the ketoret on a daily basis. We just read that those who read the ketoret on a daily basis are saved from a lot of bad things, including death, bad decrees, sicknesses, and “including according to all stuff.” Behatzlachah, Sam.
Anyway, he says that if people appreciated and understood the value of the ketoret, “havo natlei kol milah umilah minah,” they would take every word of the ketoret, “vehavo salkei la'atarah lerisha,” and make a crown for it. We learned this already. Again, if our members understood the value, you’d go to the jeweler and count the words of the ketoret: 11 spices. You’d say, “I need 11 gold crowns. How big should the crowns be? Small little crowns. I want to put them in my siddur over the words of the ketoret. This is going to cost you $10,000 in gold.” So you’d do it. “Vechitra dedahava.” “Uman de'ishtadel bah ba'ei le'istakalah be'uvada deketoret, yechaven bah bechol yoma.” He should have kavanah. “Ve'it leh chulaka behai alma uve'alma de'atei.” It also brings you to Olam Haba (World to Come). Look at that. “Veyistalek motana mineh,” no death, “umikol alma, veyishteziv mikol dinin,” and all judgments, “dehai alma, mistrin bishin umidinah deGehinam.” Ad kan.
So it’s a cure-all. It might not grow hair on your head, but besides that, you get a lot of benefits. Again, rabotai (gentlemen), everybody should accept upon themselves, beli neder (without a vow), to reinforce the recitation of the ketoret with kavanah. “Hachoshesh alav ve'al nafsho”—now look at this, rabotai—there’s another source: a person who is concerned about his welfare, “ra'ui lehishtadel bechol oz ba'inyan hazeh velichtov kol inyan haketoret beklaf kasher.” He should make every effort in this matter and write the entire account of the ketoret on klaf (parchment). Here it is. We’re always looking for the source for this. Again, another source. Ma'aseh Tzedakah also brought it. “Bichtivat Ashurit” (in Assyrian script), write it in Sefer Torah writing, “velikrot oto pa'am achat baboker uve'erev bekavanah gedolah va'ani arev.” Read it once in the morning and once in the evening with great kavanah, and I guarantee it.
He said, “I’m the guarantor.” You know what a guarantor is? A guy comes along and says, “The guy asked me for a million dollars. I don’t want to lend it to him.” “Why don’t you want to lend it to him?” “I don’t know if he’s going to pay me back.” All of a sudden, Warren Buffett comes and says, “Lend him the money. I guarantee it.” “So why don’t you lend it to him?” “I don’t lend money, but I’ll guarantee it.” If Warren Buffett guarantees a loan, you don’t have to worry; he’s going to guarantee it. AIG? Bediyuk. So here he’s telling you: say the ketoret twice a day from the parchment, and I guarantee it. I’m the guarantor—the Seder HaYom’s guarantor.
Whose guarantor do you trust more, Warren Buffett’s or the Seder HaYom’s? “What’s his source?” Again, is that a no? That means you’re answering Warren Buffett, David. Okay, I don’t have a problem. I’m sure it’s 50/50 among our members. Warren Buffett is very rich. 100%. That’s why I asked the question: I didn’t think this question was a slam-dunk answer. Some of our members say, “I take Warren Buffett’s guarantee over the Seder HaYom.” No problem. Jaime? Jaime takes the Seder HaYom. So, again, the jury is divided on this. We have a split decision. I think I’m going to break the tie by siding with Jaime and taking the Seder HaYom’s guarantee. Ein emunah bagoyim. We can trust our rabbi, and therefore, “ani arev.”
So what do you want, rabotai? If you read the ketoret from klaf twice a day with kavanah, and then all of a sudden something goes wrong during the day, you go and say, “Hey, Rabbi, you guaranteed it! You have to call in the guarantor! You guaranteed that I’ll be okay.” He has to pay; he has to come in and intervene. Understand what’s going on here, rabotai? Any time you get these types of words in the book, “ani arev,” you get excited. That means he’s giving you his word, and these rabbis, by the way, don’t give you fluff.
It’s not like these guys, mekubalim, who come from Israel and say, “Oh, I guarantee it. You’ll have a baby within two months.” “Yeah, but it takes nine months to have a baby, and my wife’s not pregnant yet.” “You’re going to see.” Two months later, nothing happened. Nine months later, nothing happened. So, you understand? They’re guaranteeing nothing. They’re guaranteeing money in their pocket. Ah, the money in their pocket, for sure. That mekubal comes and says, “Your wife is expecting? Where is she? Bring her over here.” He looks at her: “Oh, Baruch Hashem, you have nothing to worry about; it’s a baby boy.” First of all, it’s 50/50, so it’s a toss. Then what does he do? He whispers into somebody’s ear, “It’s a girl.” Now watch: if it’s a boy, he says, “Yeah, I told you.” If it’s a girl, he says, “What did I tell you? Tell them what I told you afterward. I told you.” So he hedges, and he’s always right. We know these scam artists. False prophets, 100%.
So anyway, he’s telling you—does everybody have one? Sam, you have a ketoret on klaf? “Yeah, of course.” Of course. Danny? “I’ve got to get one.” Oh! Sam, do me a favor. Let’s buy Danny one. We have them sitting in my house. I asked him, and he didn’t want it. Do me a favor. We’re going to Sam—are we going to Israel or not? We’ll go to Partners and buy him a gift. Oh boy, okay. A beautiful one. That’s it, we have you a gift. A holder—they sell them inside. No holder! No, the leather—we’re not getting you the accessories. I didn’t get—We’re getting you a parchment, the klaf. Accessories are on you, honey. I’m not a rich guy over here. I’m getting you a gift, I told you. Say thank you and finish. Next thing he’s going to ask us, “Could you get me a pair of tefillin (phylacteries) also?” This is how these guys start. “Since it’s Partners, could you get me two pairs of tefillin?” Of course.
Well, it’s simple: the kavanot are there. “Kavanah gedolah,” meaning a lot of intent. Not Kabbalah; just meaning concentration. That’s the right word. Right, on the—Hey, look, we have one here. Yeah, like that. He told you to read this? He told me, “Read this.” I said, “What is it?” “Read it.” You read it? I read it. Yeah. So I read the whole thing, then I got with my kids into the car, we went down the mountain, went the wrong way—Arabs with guns. Wow, wow, wow, wow, wow, wow. And look, you’re alive. Okay, Baruch Hashem. See that? 100%, you got saved. No, no, no, you got saved. Good story, good story. So there you go. Ma'aseh shehayah (A story that happened). Ma'aseh shehayah kach hayah.
After you finish the ketoret—see, that’s why these books are very good. We’re doing this anyway, but when you read it, you get a chizuk (encouragement), a reinspiration to do it the right way. You forget. “Ve'achar kach”—you see, when I went to Eretz Yisrael (Land of Israel), I made a separate curacha for the ketoret. See that, the ketoret? I’ll put it up here. This is what I got from Sam Sasson. I don’t know where he got it from. It’s beautiful; look how gorgeous, with the silverware. I was trying to find it again to get it for my kids, but I couldn’t. It’s such a beautiful piece he got me. I know I have two ketorets. I’m looking—no, I can’t find the piece. He wrote, “Mazkeret tamid mat.” Can’t read it. Sammy Sasson, yeah. Babajan. It’s beautiful, incredible, Baruch Hashem. We should ask him. I have one already. Want to ask him? Ask him; I’ll give you his number.
Okay, rabotai, “ve'achar kach yomar: Abaye havah mesader seder hama'aracha,” which is the order of the service in brief. Since it’s extremely brief and a person can’t understand everything he wants to, “ra'iti lichtov kan seder avodat hayom metechilah ve'ad sof bebi'ur uvekitzur, hora'at haRambam.” Beautiful. There’s a section called Abaye in the siddur: “Abaye havah mesader seder hama'aracha mishma digmara ve'aliba d'Abba Shaul.” What is that section about Abaye talking about? It’s the service of the Beit HaMikdash (Temple), from the morning when the kohen (priest) gets there until the night. You’re reading the whole service, but in a short version: first the kohen did this, then this, then this, then this. You’re not getting into the details; he’s just giving you the bullet points of what the kohen did.
So the rabbi says, “Listen, rabotai, since it’s written in a short version, I’m going to give you the elaboration so you know exactly what the kohen gadol (high priest), or the kohen, did when he came into the Beit HaMikdash.” So now we start. This is a story now, the story of the Temple. “Samuch la'alot hashachar”—that means close to dawn. Dawn this morning would be, let’s say, sunrise at 5:50, so 4:50, around 4:30 in the morning. “Ba memuneh al hapiyasot”: there’s a person in charge of the lottery, because every day in the Beit HaMikdash there’s a lottery to see who’s going to serve, since there are so many kohanim.
“Hikish al sha'ar Beit HaMoked.” He bangs on this place called Sha'ar HaMoked, “ufotchin lo petach katan,” and they open a small door. “Vehapishpash shebasha'ar hagadol, venichnas la'azarah.” They open the gate, basically, and enter the azarah (Temple courtyard), with the kohanim walking behind him. So, at 4:30 in the morning, there’s roll call. “Venechleku lishtei kitot va'avukot shel or beyadam.” Now it’s dark. There are no electric lights, so they’re all walking with torches in the morning so they can see. “Elu mehalchim derech yamin ve'elu mehalchim derech semol.” Some kohanim are walking on the right, and some are walking on the left.
“Higiyu elu va'elu limkom lishkat oseh chavitin.” Now they get to an office where they make the chavitin (griddle-cakes). Chavitin is a certain type of minchah (flour offering). They get to the office, “ve'elu va'elu omrim, ‘Hakol shalom.’” They all say “Shalom” to each other. “Vehe'emidu et oseh chavitin sheya'aseh chavitin.” Then they allow the person who makes this minchah to make it. “Uminchat chavitin hu minchat kohen gadol.” That minchat chavitin is brought by the kohen gadol every single day. The kohen gadol must bring a korban (offering), a minchah, a flour offering, every day. “Makriv otah bechol yom machatzitah baboker umachatzitah ba'erev.” He brings half in the morning and half in the evening. The kohen gadol is the only one who does that. He has to bring what’s called “minchat chavitin shel kohen gadol bechol yom.” So they start the morning by going into the chavitin office to make the chavitin. Fine. Not a chavitah. Chavitah is an omelette. They’re not making omelettes in the Beit HaMikdash. Chavitin.
“Vezeh ma'aseh chavitin.” Now they’re going to teach you how to make minchat chavitin. How do you make it? Three eggs, cheese, peppers, huh? And onions also? “Vezeh ma'aseh chavitin: loke'ach isaron solet.” You take an isaron, a certain amount of solet (fine flour), “vechotzehu bachatzi isaron shebamikdash,” and then they divide it. “Veloke'ach sheloshah lugin shemen,” three lugin (liquid measures) of oil, “shehem yud-bet revi'it.” That’s twelve revi'iyot (quarter-log measures). A revi'it is about three ounces, so twelve times three is thirty-six ounces of oil. “Leyud-bet chalot, revi'it lechol chalah.” Fine. “Uvolel hasolet im hashemen,” and they mix the flour with the oil, “umash'ir mimenu me'at, ve'achar kach cholet et hasolet berotchin.” Then they poach it. They don’t fry it, but put it in hot water. Like a doughnut that they put in oil, but this is done in water. A bagel is put in hot water.
“Velash mikol chatzi isaron vav challot.” From each of the two half- isarons, they make six loaves. “Ve'achat achat hayu na'asot, ve'ofeh hachallah me'at.” They bake each loaf a little. “Ve'achar kach koleh otah bemachavat bishe'ar hashemen,” and then they fry it in the pan with the rest of the oil, “shenish'ar min harevi'it.” “Ve'eino mevashel otah harbeh, shene'emar tufinei afui na.” They don’t bake it too much; it has to be a little on the raw side. Basically, they poach it, then pour some of the leftover oil into the pan and fry it a little. That’d be a good idea for a restaurant, guys. Sounds like a good idea.
“Uleda'at haRambam hayah cholek kol challah lishnayim, ushnayim le'arba. Uleda'at haRavaad lo hayah cholek klal ela shishah makriv baboker veshishah bein ha'arbayim.” So basically, according to most opinions, he made six loaves; he would bring the six loaves in the morning and six in the afternoon. “Umakriv chatzi kometz levonah” (frankincense). With it comes a smidgen of frankincense: half in the morning and half in the afternoon. “Vechol hashneim asar kalil la'ishim.” All twelve are entirely burned on the mizbe'ach (altar). That’s a chiddush (new insight): six loaves in the morning and six in the afternoon go on the mizbe'ach.
Now what happens? “Kol hakohanim sheba'azarah tavlu velavshu bigdei kehunah al yedei hamalbish.” They had a dresser. You know how sometimes at a wedding they bring a lady who dresses the bride? Sometimes a zipper breaks, sometimes the buttons, so they bring a dressmaker to make sure everybody’s dressed properly. In the Beit HaMikdash, we would have a dressmaker there to dress the kohanim. A wardrobe guy in charge of the wardrobe. So he would dress the kohanim in the morning. “Uva'u ve'amdu beLishkat HaGazit.” They would stand in the area called Lishkat HaGazit. “Vehamemuneh al hapeyasot,” the guy in charge of the lotteries went there again, “lefa'yes payis rishon.” Now they do the first lottery. The first lottery of the day is a Powerball. It’s six numbers. They take the ping-pong balls and put them in the—We’re not talking about that type of lottery, rabotai.
“Vezehu inyan hapayis.” This is how the payis works. “Amdu kulam beheikef.” They all stand in a circle. “Vehamemuneh notel mitznefet sheberoshechad mehem umechazirah lo miyad.” The person in charge takes the mitznefet (turban) off one of them and immediately puts it back in his hand. He wants to know where he’s starting from because he’s going to count. He starts counting from the fellow holding the mitznefet, “kedei lehar'ot shemisham kavanato lehatchil limnot haminyan sheyaskimu me'ah o matayim.” Now they pick a number. Rabotai, what number do you want to pick? 100. They count, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and wherever number 100 lands, that’s the guy chosen to do the first avodah (service).
“Vehामemuneh omer lahem hatzbi'u.” Now how does he count? He doesn’t count them by heads; he tells them to put out a finger. “Vehem motzi'im etzba'ot,” each person puts out one etzba (finger). Remember we used to do that, the 21st finger? Exactly, that’s where they got it from—the 21st finger. Each guy puts out one finger. Now, some people can’t do this. Could you believe this? Some people can’t. If they put out one finger, automatically another finger comes out too. So it says, “vehacholeh shtayim”: if a guy is sick, he can put out two fingers. “Chutz min ha'agudal”: but you can’t use a thumb. Why can’t you put out your thumb? Because you can fool around with it; you can hide it or put it in. So these are in front of you. Therefore, no thumbs.
“She'ein motzi'im oto shelo yavo leramot, mipnei sheyesh harchek min ha'agudal la'etzba.” There’s also a separation. The person in charge might miss the count: “Veyit'eh hamemuneh shem shel shnayim ve'einam ela shel echad.” He might think it’s two people. If you go like this, he might think it’s two people, so instead of counting the two fingers on one guy, he’ll count one, two, and the count will move to somebody else. When he goes like this, it looks like there are two people. No, but what about when he goes like this? No, you see, it’s close, so that’s two. He counts two. You have to imagine the number is 100. He counts one, two, three. But if he sees this, he’ll think it’s two people and go two, three. Meanwhile, the count is on you. The count stops where it stops; the final one. Exactly, the guy who gets 100 is the one. You’re right, but it’s going to be thrown off by one. If you put a thumb out like this, the count is on you: one, two, three. But if the kohen sees this, he’ll go one, two, three. Oh. So now you’ve moved the count off. Basically, no thumbs, rabotai.
“Ve'im shanah ve'asah chen kedei sheyashlim bo haminyan.” What happened? The guy saw that the count was coming, so he stuck out his thumb. Ah, the sketch. He saw it was landing on him. He saw it coming—99—then he put out his thumb for 100. They don’t want this. “Veyit'eh hamemuneh shehem shel shenayim ve'enam ela shel echad, she'asah chen.” Why did he do it? “Kedei sheyashlim bo haminyan.” He wants the count to land on him. “Vehotzi'o achar ha'etzba.” He stuck it out after the etzba. Now, the guy who wins the lottery—what does he win? Bediyuk. “Zocheh la'avodah achat.” He gets to do one service.
Today, on the contrary, the guy who has to do the service loses. They tell him, “Oh, you won.” “What did I win? A trip to Hawaii?” “No, you have to clean the mizbe'ach.” What kind of winner is that? I don’t want to win. I want to go to sleep. In the olden days, the winner was the guy who did the service. Today, if you tell your kids, “Rabotai, we’re doing a lottery,” they ask, “What’s the lottery?” “Who’s going to help Mommy clean the dishes?” “No, who wants to clean the dishes? Who wants to be part of that lottery?” Pick a number, 100, and it lands on you. They’re laughing at him: “You lost. You loser.” They all go upstairs and play on their computers, and this guy’s cleaning the dishes with his mother. In the olden days it was the opposite.
So, who’s going to clean the ashes off the mizbe'ach? “Ooh! Yeah, I’m in! I’m in! I’m in!” They’re putting their fingers in. The guy who wins that has a zechut (merit). You understand the difference? Who’s in that lottery? Huh? Who’s in it? All the kohanim of that week. You’re in, Joe. “Joe, listen, I’m not in.” “You’re in. You’re in, Joe. But no thumbs.” Don’t scratch your mouth, Tal. We know that’s a Miami trick. Guys didn’t stick their thumbs in there. We know that. You learned that in the yeshiva. “If the Beit HaMikdash is built, maybe the firstborn—aren’t the firstborn like—” Oh, they’re going to do that? If they do that, I’m in. Okay, I hope so, David. Are you a firstborn? Yeah. That’s why you’re saying it. I knew it. I know he’s not going to say a chiddush unless he gets some benefit from it. Tonight, you don’t care about me.
So now it says, “Vehu torem terumat hadeshen me'al hamizbe'ach.” The first avodah: he removes the ashes from the mizbe'ach. Zechut. “Ve'achar kach hem osim payis sheni.” Now they do the second lottery, “usheloshah asar zochim.” There are 13 winners in the second lottery, “al haseder shel hashlamat haminyan.” Same thing: they pick a number, and whoever gets the number wins. Before he removes the ashes from the mizbe'ach from the night before, “tovel shenit”: he has to go to the mikveh (ritual bath) again. “Velovesh bigdei kehunah pechutim me'otam shel shimush.” He has to put on clothes, but not the actual clothes of the kehunah (priesthood), because you don’t want to go up to the mizbe'ach in the clothes of the kehunah to clean it, since they’ll get dirty. He puts on lower-grade begadim.
“Ve'achar kach mekadesh yadav veraglav.” Then he has to wash his hands and feet at the kiyor (laver), which we’re learning in Gemara now. “Kodem sheyiga bichli sharet.” Before he touches any keli sharet (service vessel), he has to wash his hands and feet, even though he went to the mikveh. He has to go to the mikveh, get dressed, wash his hands and feet at the sink, and then pick up the shovel, because that’s how he’s going to scoop up the ashes from the mizbe'ach.
“Veloke'ach machtah shel kesef.” He takes a machtah (fire pan) made of silver. “Vehi netunah bema'arav shel kevesh bemiktzo'o.” It’s on the ramp, in a certain corner. That’s where they kept it. “Ve'oleh lerosh hamizbe'ach,” and he walks up the ramp to the mizbe'ach. “Umefaneh et hagechalim helach vehelach.” There are old coals on the mizbe'ach from the night before, so he moves them. “Vechoteh min hame'ukalot hapenimiyot,” and he goes into the inner coals that are burning. “Veyored lematah, lematah la'aretz vehofech panav latzafon veholech lemizrach hakevesh.” He turns around like ten ten steps, “vetzover et hagachalim al haritzpah,” and places the coals on the floor, “rachok min hakevesh sheloshah tefachim.” He walks down the ramp and puts the pile of coals from the mizbe'ach next to the ramp. Go do that in your mother’s house. Go practice, “Hey, Mom, I’m practicing terumat hadeshen (removal of the ashes).” Go pour ashes on the living-room floor next to the dining-room table and see what she does to you.
“Makom shenotnim mur'at ha'of.” Fine. After he comes down, “ratzu echav hakohanim lekadesh yedeihem veragleihem,” his fellow kohanim go wash their hands and feet. “Venotlim hamagreifot vetzinorot ve'olim lerosh hamizbeach.” They take other utensils and run up to the mizbe'ach. “Vechol evarim uferadim shelo nitaklu mibalailah.” The night before, they burn all the bones and fats. By the time it’s morning, not everything has always burned. Whatever hasn’t burned, they move to the side of the mizbe'ach. “Machzirim otam letziddei hamizbeach.” Basically, the first service in the morning is maintaining the mizbe'ach: taking some coals off and moving the stuff that didn’t burn to the side.
“Ve'im ein hatzedadim machzikim”—let’s say there isn’t enough room on the side—“sodrim oto bakevesh keneged hasovev.” They take the pieces off and put them on the ramp. “Ve'achar kach gorfin et hadeshen uma'alim oto al…” Whatever ashes are left on the mizbe'ach, they make a pile and put it all in one place. Some of the ashes are taken off the mizbe'ach; that’s called terumat hadeshen. Terumat hadeshen means the actual taking of the deshen (ashes) off the mizbe'ach. Then there’s the piling of the deshen on the mizbe'ach. “Vehi nikret tapuach.” That pile is called tapuach.
“Ume'olam lo avar hatapuach ein tavlah meruba'at kishtayim ve'esrim amot al shtayim ve'esrim amot begovah amah vehu mishtameret eser amot shel hamizbe'ach.” The pile was square, 22 amot by 22 amot, one amah high, and it was kept ten amot from the edge of the mizbe'ach. “Mehadeshen shehamizbeach gorfin otah bifsechter.” They used a special vessel called a psechter (copper ash pan). “Vehu keli nechoshet,” it’s made of copper, “umachzik chamesh esreh se'in umoridim oto lematah.” It holds fifteen se'in. Whoever wants to take ashes outside the city, to the shefech hadeshen (ash-dump site), takes them there.
That means when the mizbe'ach sometimes gets too much ash, they need to clean it off. They take this psechter, which is a metal item, and take the ashes outside the Beit HaMikdash to a place called shefech hadeshen, and throw them there. It’s maintenance of the mizbe'ach. Obviously, they put it somewhere without wind, otherwise it would blow all over the place. They put it in a place, and fine. That’s the process.
Now, “achar kach, mi shezachah biterumat hadeshen,” the guy who won the first lottery for terumat hadeshen, “mesader ma'arachah gedolah shel esh.” Now you have to set up the mizbe'ach with wood. That means put a new pyre in place. Chazak ubaruch (Be strong and blessed), the pyre—P-Y—. Now we need to make the mizbe'ach functional for the next day. We cleaned out all yesterday’s ashes; maybe we put them to the side, and the extra ashes we put outside. Beautiful. The same guy who cleaned the mizbe'ach for terumat hadeshen now has to make the pyre. How does he do it? “Gezarim al gabei gezarim,” he puts wood over wood, “vereivach beineihem.” Basically, you need to be in the Boy Scouts to do this. This is a Boy Scout item. You’re making a campfire. How do you make a campfire? The key is to put the wood in place but leave air between the pieces, so the air can get in and the fire can—It’s a chochmah (wisdom) how to set up the wood.
“Verashei hagezarim penimiyim nog'im ba'efer shebatapuach.” The ends of the inner pieces of wood touch the pile of ashes. “Ve'achar kach mesader ma'arachah sheniyah shel esh.” Now he sets up two pyres on this big mizbe'ach. “Uvorer lo atzei te'enah yafim.” He chooses good fig-tree wood for the fire, “umesader keneged keren ma'aravit deromit,” and puts it at the southwest corner, “meshuchah min hakeren klapei tzafon arba amot,” four amot north of the corner. “Uva hayu kemo chamishah se'im gechalim, uvehabbat kemo shemoneh shemonah se'im,” fine, “mipnei shemaktirim aleha shenei bazichei levonah shel lechem hapanim.” Afterward, he takes two large pieces of wood, each amah long and amah wide, and places them on the big pyre to increase the fire. All right, so now you have two different fires on the mizbe'ach.
“Ve'achar kach nichnasim lelishkat hakelim.” Now they go into the office of the vessels. They take out all the keli sharet they need for that day. They go to the equipment room and take out all the equipment they need: dodgeballs, soccer balls, baseball gloves, hockey sticks. All the equipment for the day’s activities—they go in there, and there’s a guy in charge. “Okay, we need all this stuff over there.” They give them all the vessels they need.
“Umashkin et hatamid bekos shel zahav.” Wow, he has a korban tamid (daily offering). “Mah zeh mashkin?” They give him something to drink? A golden cup? Important. Now, rabotai, we start the service of the korbanot. What’s the first korban of the day? Tamid. The korban olah (burnt offering), which is olat tamid. The korban tamid is the first service of the day. So now what happens? “Rishon moshcho leveit hamitbachayim.” They take the first one—Hey, doctor! Good morning. Boker or. Boker or. Give the rabbi a sefer.
They take the korban and bring it to the slaughterhouse, the beit hamitbachayim. “Veholchim acharav hakohanim shetzrichim,” and the kohanim follow him. “Veshohin sham ad sheyiftechu sha'ar haheichal hagadol.” They wait for the great gate of the heichal to open. “Uvesha'ah shepotchin oto, shochatin et hatamid, az hu shochet rishon.” When they open it, they slaughter the tamid, and he is the first to slaughter. That’s shechitah (ritual slaughter). “Hasheni mekabbel et hadam.” The second guy receives the blood, which we learned today in the Gemara as well. “Vehashelishi veharevi'i,” the third and fourth guys, “nichnasim laheichal.” What do you need these guys for? “Hashelishi ledashen et hamizbe'ach,” the third guy cleans the mizbe'ach, “veharevi'i ledashen et hamenorah.” The fourth cleans the menorah (lampstand).
Keep in mind, the menorah was lit the night before. Now somebody has to clean it so we can light it again the next day. They also do what’s called dishun hamenorah, cleaning out the ashes of the menorah. It’s a lot of maintenance, by the way. “Uvishe'at shechitat hatamid, medashen et hamizbe'ach.” At the time they slaughter the korban, that’s when they clean the mizbe'ach. “Vecheitzad oseh?” How do they do it? “Notel keli zahav machazik kabayim vachatzi, vetani shemo,” a certain vessel called a tani (ash vessel). “Umanicho ba'aretz, vechofen beyado ha'efer vehapecham she'al gabei hamizbe'ach venoten letocho.” With his hands! He takes the ashes and charcoal from the mizbe'ach—I guess they’ve cooled off already—and puts them into this vessel. “Ve'achar kach mechabbed et hashe'ar letocho, umanicho sham, veyotze.” Then he sweeps the rest into it, leaves it there, and goes out.
Now, the one who received the blood: what does he do with it? “Zorko shtei shefichot al gabei alachson, mechut hasikra ulematah.” On the mizbe'ach there was a line. He has to take the blood in two throws and sprinkle it from the line and below. That’s the chut hasikra (red line). “Kedei sheyir'u otam shtayim matanot shehen arba, bekeren mizrachit tzafonit uvekeren ma'aravit deromit.” He sprinkles it on two corners, which is really four, because the corners are on two sides: southeast, northwest, and so on. “Ush'ar hadam hashofech liyesod hamizbe'ach.” The rest of the blood is poured at the base of the mizbe'ach. Beautiful. Now they’ve sprinkled the blood; finished.
“Achar zerikat hadam, medashen et hamenorah.” Before they put the animal on the mizbe'ach—they haven’t put the animal on yet; they just sprinkled the blood—the other guy cleans the menorah. He cleans it and “umetiv et hanerot,” sets up the lamps. Not candles, but the oil. “Harevi'i shebaheichal, kol ner shekavah,” any lamp that went out, “mesir hapetilah vehashemen shebetocho, umekanecho.” He takes out the old wick and the old oil and cleans it. “Venoten letoch keli shebeyado, vekuz shemo.” They put the old stuff into a vessel called a kuz (small vessel). “Umesim petilot acherot,” and they add new wicks, “veshemen chatzi log,” and add half a log per lamp, “umadlik umadlikan zeh mizzeh velo emtza'i.” They don’t light the menorah with a separate candle. They light one lamp from another, because one of the lamps would always stay lit.
“Shemoshech hapetilah ad shemadlikah bimkomah, vechol hapetilot she'asur lehadlik bahem beShabbat, mutar lehadlik beVeit Hamikdash.” I thought you said one of the lamps always stayed lit, that they went out on their own? “One said that the ner ma'aravi (western lamp) would stay lit.” Well, right now—Yeah, but they cleaned that one out. Joe, I’m reading this with a grain of salt because I don’t do this. You have to read this. We’ve got to learn it. This is you; you’re going to do this. All right, fair enough. Very hard. Ten minutes. What’s very hard? I told you the difference. The olden days, they they’re very hard. It’s the first time doing it. You want to give up your kehunah now? I’ll pay you. How much do you want to give it up? I’ll buy it. How much do you want to give up your kohen-hood? Yeah, because my father’s a kohen, my grandfather’s a kohen.
“Veyesh omrin she'ein hadlakat nerot baboker.” Some say they didn’t light the menorah in the morning; they just cleaned it in the morning. “Ela metaknan hanerot hadolkot umetivan sheyadliku heiteiv.” They only fixed the lamps that were still lit so they would continue to burn properly. “Vehakevuyot,” the ones that went out, “metaknan sheyihyu muchanim lehadlakat ha'erev.” The ones that went out were prepared for the evening. So there’s a machloket (dispute) about whether they lit in the morning or in the afternoon. “Vechen peireish Rabbeinu Ovadiah.” The Bartenura learned it that way. “Vener hama'aravi shekavah.” Now, let’s say the ner ma'aravi, the center lamp according to one opinion, went out. “LehaRambam, ein madlikin oto ela mimizbach hachitzon.” According to the Rambam, you light it only from the outer mizbe'ach. The fire has to come from the mizbe'ach. “UlehaRavad, kol heicha de'efshar miner uvei adif.” According to the Ravaad, whenever possible, it’s preferable to light it from the menorah itself. “Umetiv hanerot shehem mitzad ma'arav umani'ach et hakuz lemalah mishnei avadim.” Fine.
Now we go back to the beit hamitbachayim. It’s like a split screen: you have the guys in the slaughterhouse; they’ve just slaughtered the animal. While that’s happening, they’re cleaning the menorah. Now we go back to the beit hamitbachayim. What’s happening over there, rabotai? We have our reporters in the beit hamitbachayim to give us an update. “Mafshitin ha'olah.” You have to skin the olah. Get the skin off. Joey, you like animals? Okay, good. No, Joey, you have no choice. If you’re a kohen, you have to like animals, and you can’t be squeamish. You don’t like blood too much, it looks like. No, you’re going to have a problem then. Yeah, maybe we’ll put you on wardrobe. Wardrobe, yeah. “Umenat'chim otah.” Then they cut the animal into pieces. Rabbi, there must have been kohanim who—Yeah, I’m just saying. We’ll give him a different job, no problem. Maybe you could be the—Yeah, 100%. Fine, we’ll give him a different job.
“Umenat'chim otah.” Now it tells you how to cut it into pieces. There’s a procedure to everything. “Nokeiv regel shel yamin”—they make a hole in the right leg. Sorry, the right leg. “Vetoleh bah me'eiver.” That’s how they hang the animal. They put it on a hook, but they have to make a hole so they can hang it. “Umafshit,” and now they skin it. They pull the skin all the way down “ad shemagi'a lechazeh,” until they get to the chest of the animal; then they’re halfway down. “Chatach et harosh.” Now they cut the head off, “venotno lemi shezachah vo.” Somebody who won the lottery gets the head. What does he do with it? He puts it over his fireplace, like a moose head? They put it over the fireplace like a trophy, like in a cabin. Right, in the cabin, next to the moose. No, he has to put it on the mizbe'ach.
We’re going to need a lot of kohanim here, because each kohen carries a different part to the mizbe'ach. “Vechotech et hakra'ayim” (lower legs)—then he cuts the kra'ayim. Which were the insides? The legs? Kra'ayim. “Notnam le'echad.” Another kohen gets them. “Umashlim lehafshit,” and after that they finish skinning. “Vekorei'a haleiv,” they pull out the heart, “umotzi et damo,” and have to drain its blood. “Vechotech hayadayim,” they cut off the forelegs and give them to another guy. While this is going on, you have PETA protesting outside the Beit HaMikdash over the cruelty to animals, but we don’t pay attention to them. “Ushtei veitzim imahem.” The beitzim also go to that guy. “Ve'achar kach korei'a et habehemah ad shemegaleh,” and they open the animal until they get to the intestines. Have you had breakfast yet? Even PETA wouldn’t, because this is after it’s already dead, no? Yeah, but still, the way they’re ripping it apart, you know. Huh? This animal was shechted already. Yeah. Oh, it’s a dead animal. Yeah, but it just doesn’t look right.
“Venotel et hapeder (suet) venotno al beit shechitato,” they take the inside fats and place them by the neck. “Harosh milemalah.” “Venotel hakerevim venotnam le'echad.” They take the innards and give them to another guy. He has to clean them, because they’re dirty; he cleans them with water, but not with wine or other liquids. Any water is kosher. “Ve'ein medichin otam pachot migimel pe'amim.” You have to clean them three times, on the marble tables they had in the Beit HaMikdash. “Vehakeres medichin otah.” They wash the keres, the stomach, too, “beveit hamedichin.” They had a special place called Beit Hamedichin. It’s amazing. Until you get this thing on the mizbe'ach, there are a lot of rules; you have to clean it.
“Natal sakin, vehifrish hare'ah min hakaved.” You have to separate the lungs from the liver. So they cut that down the middle. “Ve'eino meziz hakaved mimkomo.” You leave the liver in its place. “Venokev hare'ah,” they pull out the lungs, “venotnam le'acher,” and give them to another guy. “Umeni'ach bet tzela'ot rakot milema'lah.” They leave two ribs above. “Veyored vechotech dofen hayemanit, samuch lashidrah,” and they cut its right side, next to the spine, “ad shemagi'a levet tzela'ot rakot milematah,” until they get to the two soft ribs. “Venotnah le'acher.” They give them to another guy. “Vehakaved teluyah bah.” The liver hangs from those ribs. “Ba lo lagera”—what’s the gera? Also a type of stomach. “Meni'ach bah bet tzela'ot mikan ushtayim mikan.” They leave two ribs around it. “Vechotech im hashidrah kulah,” with the spine, “vehatechol”—and the techol is what, the spleen?—“talui bah.” So you get a whole piece with all that stuff on it. “Venotnah le'acher.” “Veha'alyah” is the tail, “ve'etzba hakaved, uvet kelayot”—and the kidneys. “Venotel regel semali, venotno le'acher.” Then he gets the left leg and gives it to another guy.
Basically, you have a whole line of kohanim, each holding a different part. “Ve'elu ha'evarim (limbs) olim lakevesh.” They bring all this up the ramp to the mizbe'ach. “Chamishi shel payis.” The number five man—number one was terumat hadeshen, then number two cleaned the mizbe'ach or put the pyre up, and numbers three and four did the menorah, each guy doing something—so now number five brings the head up. “Ma'aleh harosh bimino.” Like we learned today, or on yesterday’s daf (Talmud page), the head is in the right hand. “Chotmo klapei zero'o vekarnav bein etzbe'otav, uveit shechitah lema'lah vehapeder natun aleha.” Fine. We said they put the fats on the head. “Veregel shel yamin bismolo.” He holds the right foot in his left hand as he walks up to the mizbe'ach, “uveit orah lachutz.”
“Hashishi,” number six on the roster, “samuch lo lema'lah, shtei yadayim shel yamin bimino, veshel smol bismolo.” He has the right hand in his right hand and the left hand in his left hand. “Uveit oran lachutz.” “Hashvi'i, ma'aleh ha'oketz bimino, veha'alyah meduldelet bein etzbe'otav.” He holds the tail between his fingers, “ve'etzba hakaved uvet kelayot,” and the kidneys, “verregel shel smol bismolo,” and the left leg in his left hand. “Uveit oran lachutz.” “Hashemini, ma'aleh hachazeh bimino.” He has the chest, “vehagera bismolo, tzal'oteha,” and some of the ribs. “Tshi'i ma'aleh dofen shel yamin bimino veshel smol bismolo.” It basically tells you what everybody is doing. There are 13 guys altogether. All of them carry everything up to the mizbe'ach.
Now, what happens? You have a parade, the korban olah parade every morning. Not like today, when parents take their kids to Disney to see the nonsense Disney parade. Take your kids to the Beit HaMikdash; you get to see the real parade: the kohanim bringing the parts of the korban to the mizbe'ach every morning, walking up the ramp. How about it, David? What do you think? “I’m wondering which is the best of the 13.” Probably the head. “Kol eleh notnim ha'evarim mechatzi kevesh ulematah letzad ma'arav.” They don’t bring it onto the mizbe'ach yet. They bring it halfway up the ramp and leave the parts there. “Veshel musafim letzad mizrach.” The korban olah goes on the west side, and the korban musaf (additional offering) goes on the east side of the ramp. Either you’re taking the FDR or the West Side Highway. “Veshel Rosh Chodesh bein keren lekeren bimkom hiluch haKohanim.” Rosh Chodesh (New Moon) is a different spot.
Now they salt the limbs. “Umolchin ha'evarim.” They salt them on the ramp. “Vezorkin melach al gabei hakevesh.” They pour salt on the ramp. They bring the salt machines—what do you call them, the salt trucks?—and salt the ramp. “Afilu beShabbat, kedei shelo yachliku.” Ah, look at that! They salt the ramp so the kohanim don’t slip, because naturally there’s blood and whatever else. They put salt on the ramp so the kohanim don’t slip. Now what happens? You don’t find this interesting? Like we’re doing it. Yeah.
“Achar she'alu evarim lakevesh,” after they bring the limbs up to the ramp, “mitkansim hakohanim kulam leLishkat HaGazit.” Now the kohanim go to Lishkat HaGazit. What are they doing there? A cup of coffee. Right? They have breakfast; they’ve been working for a couple of hours. So they had a Starbucks concession in Lishkat HaGazit. They went in for a cup of coffee and a little croissant, then went back to work. No, that’s not what happened yet. “Vehamemuneh omer lahem, ‘Barchu berachah achat.’” The person in charge says, “Make one berachah (blessing), rabotai!” “Ufotchin Ahavat Olam.” They recite the berachah of Ahavat Olam, like we do in the morning. “Vekorin Aseret HaDibrot” (Ten Commandments), Kriat Shema (recitation of Shema), Emet VeYatziv, Retzei, and Sim Shalom. Wow, a quick amidah (standing prayer).
“UveShabbat they had another berachah, Mishmar hayotzei lemishmar hanichnas.” On Shabbat, the kohanim’s families and groups changed: the old group left and the new group came in. The old group would bless the new group and tell them, “Mi sheshiken et shemo babayit hazeh, hu yashken beineichem ahavah ve'achavah veshalom vere'ut.” May the One who caused His glory to dwell in this House cause love, brotherhood, peace, and friendship to dwell among you. Just like we make the Mi Sheberach on Shabbat.
“Achar kach mefisin payis shelishi.” Now you get to the third lottery. What’s the third lottery? “Ve'omer hamemuneh lechol beit av, ‘Mi shelo zachah biketoret kol yamav yavo veyapis.’” Rabotai, we’re about to make the lottery for the ketoret, but we want to give everybody a chance. So whoever has never brought the ketoret is part of the lottery. If you’ve had a chance in your life already, you’re out. “Achar kach mefisin payis revi'i.” Then they do the fourth lottery. “Chadashim im yeshanim,” whoever wants to join. “Mi ma'aleh evarim min hakevesh lamizbe'ach?” Who will bring the meat from the ramp to the mizbe'ach?
Now the guy who won the ketoret has a great job. “Natal keli shel ketoret gadush.” He takes a vessel filled with ketoret. “Vechisui hayah lo, bazach hayah shemo.” It has a special covering; it’s called a bazach. “Venoteno malei letoch kaf acher,” and he puts it into another spoon, “umechaseh hakaf,” covers the spoon with a little beged, and holds it. “Venichnas imo achar hasamuch lo bapayis.” Another guy follows him, “veloke'ach machtah shel esh,” carrying a silver fire pan. He takes this fiery item, these coals, and brings them to the mizbe'ach. “Ufinah et hagechalim helach vahelach.” He spreads them around on the mizbe'ach. “Vechoteh min hagechalim hame'ukalot bama'arachah sheniyah.” Remember, we said there are two pyres on the mizbe'ach? He goes to the second pyre and takes some good coals from there, “veyored ume'aran letoch machtah shel zahav,” and puts them into the golden fire pan he has.
“Ve'im nitpazru min hagechalim kekav o pachot mechabdan le'amat hamayim o bor ba'azarah.” If some of the coals scatter, a kav or less, they sweep them into the water channel or a pit in the azarah. “UveShabbat kofeh aleihem psachter vehu keli gadol shel nechoshet.” On Shabbat, they cover them with a psechter, a large copper vessel. “Ve'im bazu yoter mikav, ve'otan makdim lifnim min hamizbe'ach venotel hateni sheheni'ach sham umishtachaveh veyotzei.” If more than a kav scatters, they bring them inside the mizbe'ach, take the tani they left there, bow, and leave. “Vezeh shebeyado hamachtah tzover et hagechalim al gabei hamizbe'ach.” The one holding the fire pan piles the coals on the mizbe'ach, “umishtachaveh veyotzei,” bows and leaves.
“Vezeh shebeyado hakaf notel habazach mitoch hakaf noteno le'ohavo o kerovo.” The one holding the spoon takes the bazach out of it and gives it to his friend or relative. “Nitpazer min haketoret me'at bakaf, ohavo o kerovo notelo letoch chofnav im haketoret shebabazach umishtachaveh veyotzei.” If a little ketoret has scattered in the spoon, his friend or relative takes it into his hands with the ketoret from the bazach, bows, and leaves. One of his friends, somebody who likes him, empties the ketoret from the vessel into his hands.
Then he tells him, “Hizaher shelo tatchil milfanecha shelo tikaveh.” He has to put the ketoret onto the coals with his hands. If he does it like this, he’ll burn himself. So he starts from the end and moves toward himself; otherwise, he’ll end up over the fire. They warn him: “Hizaher shelo tatchil milfanecha shelo tikaveh.” “Mashlich haketoret al ha'esh, benachat, kemi shemenaked.” He drops the ketoret onto the fire gently, like someone sifting. Menaked doesn’t mean dancing; it means sifting.
He doesn’t put it on the fire until the person in charge tells him, “Hakter!” He has to get orders. “Im hayah kohen gadol,” and if the kohen gadol is doing it, “omer: ishi kohen gadol.” He has to call him by his name. You don’t just say, “All right, go!” You have to say, “Mr. Kohen Gadol, bekhavod, hakter.” “Umaktir, umishtachaveh,” he offers it, bows, “veyotze,” and leaves.
“Achar kach nichnas mi shezakhah bedishun hamenorah.” Now the person who cleaned the menorah comes in, “umetiv shetei nerot hamizrachiyot,” and cleans two lamps. At the beginning they clean only five; after the ketoret, they clean another two. “Venotel hakuz shehiniach sham.” He takes the kuz that had all the old stuff in it, bows—“like China, bows”—and walks out.
“Achar kach omdim maktir umedashen al ma'alot ha'ulam im acheihem hakohanim.” The one who brought the ketoret and the one who cleaned the mizbe'ach stand on the steps by the ulam with their fellow kohanim. “Ucheshehigi'u levein ha'ulam velamizbe'ach natal echad et hamagreifah vezarkah sham, vehayah lah kol gadol.” They take one of the vessels and throw it on the floor, making a big noise. “Vehayah lah kol gadol.” Every kohen who hears the noise knows his fellow kohanim are coming in to bow, and he runs in. Likewise, a Levi knows that his fellow Levites are coming in to speak in song. “Veratz.” The head of the ma'amad stands the ritually impure people at the eastern gate, “lefi she'adayin lo hevi'u kaparatam,” because they haven’t yet brought their kaparah (atonement).
There are a lot of people who are tamei (ritually impure) and come to the Beit HaMikdash to get kaparah, so they put them in a certain section. “Achar kach ma'alin et ha'eivarim.” Then they start bringing the pieces of meat up the ramp. The ones who won the lottery bring them up. “Achar kach omdim elu she'alu al ma'alot ha'ulam umevarchin birkat kohanim (Priestly Blessing).” They give the Priestly Blessing to the people there. “Berachah achat beshem meforash.” They say God’s name, “vehu shem ben arba kichtavo.” They read Hashem’s name, Yud-Kei-Vav-Kei, as it is written. “Umishemet Shimon HaTzaddik pasku mizeh.” Once Shimon HaTzaddik passed away, they stopped doing that.
“Ve'achar gemar gimmel pesukim,” after they finish the three verses of the Priestly Blessing, the people say, “Baruch Hashem Elokim Elokei Yisrael min ha'olam ve'ad ha'olam.” “Umagbihim yedeihem lema'lah merasheihem.” They raise their hands above their heads, except for the kohen gadol, because he can’t raise his hands above the tzitz (forehead plate), which bears Hashem’s name. It isn’t proper for him to put his hands above the tzitz, “mishum kevod Hashem hanikhbad vehanora.”
“Ve'achar kach ma'alim hayayin lanesachim.” Now they have to pour wine on the mizbe'ach. They pour three lugin for a lamb, four for a ram, and six for a bull. Each animal, depending on what you bring, has a certain amount of wine. “Ve'ein notnim oto al ha'esh.” They don’t put the wine on the fire. There are holes on the side of the mizbe'ach called shitin (altar channels), so they pour the wine into those holes. “Ela magbi'ah yado al hasefel shehayah bekeren ma'aravit deromit vehayah lo nekev ulematah be'esek chalul vesham yored lashitin, vechamo amok amok tachat hamizbe'ach verachav hayotze chutz lamizbe'ach lema'lah me'emtzayit hamizbe'ach, asui…” Shitin, fine.
“Ucheshehayu notnim hayayin lamnasech,” when they give the wine to the person pouring it, “shenei kohanim omdim al shulchan hachalavim.” Two kohanim stand at the table of the fats. They have two chatzotzerot (trumpets) in their hands. “Vehasgan omed bekeren ma'aravit deromit vesudarin beyado,” meaning, to wave a flag so the trumpet players know when the wine is being poured on the mizbe'ach. “Vehem tak'u veheri'u vetak'u.” They start blowing the trumpets. That’s for Dutch, that’s—
“Uva'u ve'amdu etzel hamemuneh al hatzeltzel vehe'emid et hasho'arim kedei lashir.” Now they start the music. “Schahah hamnasech lenasech.” The person pouring the wine bends down to pour it, “vehenif hasgan besudarin vehikish betzeltzel.” I guess the tzeltzel (cymbal) is the cymbals? “Vehem inyenei nigun,” the instruments, “vetak'u,” and the trumpet players blow, “vehaLevi'im beshir,” and the Levites start to sing. “Higi'a leperek tak'u veheri'u vetak'u.” At the next chapter, they do all sorts of things.
They would sing songs every day. On Sunday, they would sing “LeDavid... LaHashem ha'aretz umlo'ah” (Of David... The earth and all it contains belong to Hashem). On Monday, they would sing “shir mizmor livnei Korach” (A song, a psalm of the sons of Korach), like we do. “Hashir shehayu haLevi'im omerim al haduchan.” That’s the song they sing every day in the next paragraph: “Hashir shehayu haLevi'im omerim al haduchan: beyom rishon, LaHashem ha'aretz umlo'ah.” They divide it into three sections, and there are nine shofar blasts for that one. They would sing the song twice, in the morning and in the afternoon, at the Tamid shel shachar (morning daily offering) and in the evening at the tamid shel bein ha'arbayim. On Monday they sang, “Gadol Hashem…” All the songs they sang. Fine.
Now they continue: “Seder bein ha'arbayim.” That’s the morning service. What a service! Mamash, what a service! Now, the afternoon service. What’s the afternoon service? “Shechitat hatamid.” Now you have to slaughter another korban, the same as you did in the morning, “katamid shel shachar, uchefi she'hirachnu bashavu'ot she'avru.” It’s the same story. “Hazoceh bepayis rishon,” the person who wins the lottery, “tovel velovesh bigdei rikmah” (embroidered garments), puts on special clothes, “umkadesh yadav, machtah shel kesef, ve'oseh ma'arachah gedolah.” Again, he has to clean the mizbe'ach. It’s the same story in the afternoon. He goes up the ramp, takes the ashes, goes to the side of the mizbe'ach, and drops them there. “Sham amok betoch hapachim.” Then he sets up two pyres on the mizbe'ach and puts two big pieces of wood on the fire. It’s repeated in the afternoon.
They slaughter the korban, one guy receives the blood, and numbers three and four go into the back of the Beit HaMikdash. The fourth guy does the menorah. In the morning they clean two, two, two, two; in the afternoon they clean five. That’s it: two and five. Then they pour the blood on the mizbe'ach and bring the pieces up the ramp. When they put them on the ramp, they salt them. It’s the same as we said above; I can’t read the whole thing every single time. Birkat kohanim again.
Now, rabotai, open your siddur. Now you’ll see. David, bring me the siddur and open it there. All this that we said in the long version is in the siddur. Huh? We say it every day. Where do we say it every day, actually? Open your siddurim. Well, the Tamid shel shachar had to be done by 9:00. Yeah, and then that’s siesta. No, then they had all the other work, the korbanot of the people, shelamim (peace offerings), this and that. But this was mandatory stuff, and so they—
So, rabotai, open your siddur. How beautiful this is now. Now you finally understand what you’re saying every single day. Open to page 96. Let’s get Sammy a book over here. Bring him a book. Abaye. Abaye is the name of a rabbi. “Abaye mesader seder hama'arachah.” He gave us the order of the service based on the Gemara, according to a rabbi called Abba Shaul.
“Ma'arachah gedolah kodemet lema'arachah sheniyah shel ketoret.” He starts the service from when they set up the pyre. They set up two pyres on the mizbe'ach. First is “ma'arachah gedolah,” the big pyre, and then “ma'arachah sheniyah,” the second pyre, which was built for the ketoret. You have one big one for the animals and a smaller one for the ketoret. “Uma'arachah sheniyah shel ketoret kodemet lesidur shene gezirei etzim.” After they set up the ketoret pyre—remember we said they put two big pieces of wood on top to make the fire big?—“vesidur shene gezirei etzim kodem ledishun mizbe'ach hapenimi.” Then they go in and clean the inner mizbe'ach, taking off the ashes. “Vedishun mizbe'ach hapenimi kodem lehatavat chamesh.” Then they clean five lamps from the menorah. “Vehatavat chamesh nerot kodemet ledam hatamid.” Then they take the blood of the korban tamid and pour it on the mizbe'ach. “Vedam hatamid kodem lehatavat shtei nerot.” Then they go back and clean the two lamps. “Vehatavat shtei nerot kodemet laketoret.” Then they put the ketoret on the pyre.
“Uketoret le'evarim.” After the ketoret, they bring the limbs of the tamid up. “Yeah, mizbe'ach haketoret.” “Ve'evarim laminchah.” Then they put the limbs down, and they bring the flour offering. “Uminchah lachavitin.” After they bring the minchah, the kohen gadol brings his offering. Remember, we learned about chavitin? “Vachavitin linscahim.” After the chavitin, they pour the wine on the mizbe'ach. Then they bring the musaf (additional offering), if it’s Shabbat or Rosh Chodesh, and then they bring the bazichin (incense bowls). Bazichin is the frankincense they put on the mizbe'ach. “Uvazichin letamid shel bein ha'arbayim.” Then they bring the afternoon korban, and that’s the end of the day. “Aleha hashlem kol hakorbanot.” “Upon it, complete all the offerings.” Once the afternoon korban is brought, that’s it; there’s nothing else for that day. So you have to bring all the other voluntary or mandatory offerings before the Tamid shel bein ha'arbayim. Some guy shows up late: “I have a korban.” “Too late. We brought the Tamid shel bein ha'arbayim. Come back tomorrow.”
So basically, that’s the order. It’s a little different from what we read here, but it’s according to Abba Shaul, obviously. Okay, we’ll stop here. Baruch Adonai le'olam, amen ve'amen. “Is the Tamid shel bein ha'arbayim the latest they could do it?” Yeah, on days they were busy, yeah. “Is it just before sunset?” Yeah.