🕯️ Mishnah Yoma 2

בָּרִאשׁוֹנָה כָּל מִי שֶׁרוֹצֶה לִתְרֹם אֶת הַמִּזְבֵּחַ, תּוֹרֵם. וּבִזְמַן שֶׁהֵן מְרֻבִּין, רָצִין וְעוֹלִין בַּכֶּבֶשׁ, וְכָל הַקּוֹדֵם אֶת חֲבֵרוֹ בְאַרְבַּע אַמּוֹת זָכָה. וְאִם הָיוּ שְׁנֵיהֶם שָׁוִין, הַמְמֻנֶּה אוֹמֵר לָהֶם הַצְבִּיעוּ. וּמָה הֵן מוֹצִיאִין, אַחַת אוֹ שְׁתַּיִם, וְאֵין מוֹצִיאִין אֲגֻדָּל בַּמִּקְדָּשׁ:

Initially, the practice among the priests was that whoever wishes to remove the ashes from the altar removes them. And when there are many priests who wish to perform that task, the privilege to do so is determined by a race: The priests run and ascend on the ramp leading to the top of the altar. Any priest who precedes another and reaches within four cubits of the top of the altar first is privileged to remove the ashes. And if both of them were equal and neither preceded the other, the appointed priest says to all the priests: Extend your fingers, and a lottery was performed, as will be explained. And what fingers do they extend for the lottery? They may extend one or two fingers, and the priests do not extend a thumb in the Temple. The reason is that the lottery was conducted by the appointee choosing a number and counting the extended fingers of the priests standing in a circle. As the count progressed, a priest could calculate and manipulate the result in his favor by surreptitiously extending his thumb and an additional finger. Since there is separation between the thumb and the forefinger it could appear as though they belonged to two different priests, skewing the results of the lottery.

מַעֲשֶׂה שֶׁהָיוּ שְׁנֵיהֶם שָׁוִין וְרָצִין וְעוֹלִין בַּכֶּבֶשׁ, וְדָחַף אֶחָד מֵהֶן אֶת חֲבֵרוֹ, וְנָפַל וְנִשְׁבְּרָה רַגְלוֹ. וְכֵיוָן שֶׁרָאוּ בֵית דִּין שֶׁבָּאִין לִידֵי סַכָּנָה, הִתְקִינוּ שֶׁלֹּא יְהוּ תוֹרְמִין אֶת הַמִּזְבֵּחַ אֶלָּא בְפַיִס. אַרְבָּעָה פְיָסוֹת הָיוּ שָׁם, וְזֶה הַפַּיִס הָרִאשׁוֹן:

Initially, that was the procedure; however, an incident occurred where both of them were equal as they were running and ascending on the ramp, and one of them shoved another and he fell and his leg was broken. And once the court saw that people were coming to potential danger, they instituted that priests would remove ashes from the altar only by means of a lottery. There were four lotteries there, in the Temple, on a daily basis to determine the priests privileged to perform the various services, and this, determining which priest would remove the ashes, was the first lottery.

הַפַּיִס הַשֵּׁנִי, מִי שׁוֹחֵט, מִי זוֹרֵק, וּמִי מְדַשֵּׁן מִזְבֵּחַ הַפְּנִימִי, וּמִי מְדַשֵּׁן אֶת הַמְּנוֹרָה, וּמִי מַעֲלֶה אֵבָרִים לַכֶּבֶשׁ, הָרֹאשׁ וְהָרֶגֶל, וּשְׁתֵּי הַיָּדַיִם, הָעֹקֶץ וְהָרֶגֶל, הֶחָזֶה וְהַגֵּרָה, וּשְׁתֵּי הַדְּפָנוֹת, וְהַקְּרָבַיִם, וְהַסֹּלֶת, וְהַחֲבִתִּין, וְהַיָּיִן. שְׁלשָׁה עָשָׂר כֹּהֲנִים זָכוּ בוֹ. אָמַר בֶּן עַזַּאי לִפְנֵי רַבִּי עֲקִיבָא מִשּׁוּם רַבִּי יְהוֹשֻׁעַ, דֶּרֶךְ הִלּוּכוֹ הָיָה קָרֵב:

The second lottery conducted daily among the priests determines 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. This is how the limbs were divided before taking them up to the altar: The head and the right leg were carried by one priest, and the two forelegs were carried by a second priest. The tail, including the lower vertebrae of the spinal column and the fat tail, and the left leg were carried by a third priest. And the breast and the throat and some of the inner organs attached to it were carried by a fourth priest. And the two flanks were taken by a fifth priest, and the intestines by a sixth priest. And the fine flour of the meal-offering accompanying the daily offering was carried by a seventh priest. And the High Priest’s daily griddle-cake offering was carried by an eighth priest, and the wine for libation was carried by a ninth priest. Altogether thirteen priests prevailed in this lottery: Nine priests who carried the daily offering and its accompanying elements, and four who performed the slaughter, sprinkling, and removal of ashes from the inner altar and the candelabrum. Ben Azzai said before Rabbi Akiva in the name of Rabbi Yehoshua: That was not the sequence of taking the limbs up to the ramp; rather, the order in which it was sacrificed was according to the way it walks when alive, as will be explained in the Gemara.

הַפַּיִס הַשְּׁלִישִׁי, חֲדָשִׁים לַקְּטֹרֶת בֹּאוּ וְהָפִיסוּ. וְהָרְבִיעִי, חֲדָשִׁים עִם יְשָׁנִים, מִי מַעֲלֶה אֵבָרִים מִן הַכֶּבֶשׁ וְלַמִּזְבֵּחַ:

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. The fourth lottery was open to those new to the service along with those old hands who had already performed it,to determine who would take the limbs up from the ramp, where they had been placed earlier, to the altar.

תָּמִיד קָרֵב בְּתִשְׁעָה, בַּעֲשָׂרָה, בְּאַחַד עָשָׂר, בִּשְׁנֵים עָשָׂר, לֹא פָחוֹת וְלֹא יוֹתֵר. כֵּיצַד. עַצְמוֹ בְּתִשְׁעָה. בֶּחָג, בְּיַד אֶחָד צְלוֹחִית שֶׁל מַיִם, הֲרֵי כָאן עֲשָׂרָה. בֵּין הָעַרְבַּיִם, בְּאַחַד עָשָׂר, הוּא עַצְמוֹ בְּתִשְׁעָה, וּשְׁנַיִם בְּיָדָם שְׁנֵי גְזִירֵי עֵצִים. וּבְשַׁבָּת בְּאַחַד עָשָׂר, הוּא עַצְמוֹ בְּתִשְׁעָה, וּשְׁנַיִם בְּיָדָם שְׁנֵי בְזִיכֵי לְבוֹנָה שֶׁל לֶחֶם הַפָּנִים. וּבְשַׁבָּת שֶׁבְּתוֹךְ הֶחָג, בְּיַד אֶחָד צְלוֹחִית שֶׁל מָיִם:

The daily offering is sacrificed and its limbs are carried by nine priests, as mentioned in a previous mishna. These nine carry the limbs and the accompanying libations and meal-offerings. Occasionally, the service is performed by ten priests, occasionally by eleven, and sometimes by twelve priests; no fewer than nine and no more than twelve. How so? The daily offering itself is sacrificed by nine priests, as explained earlier. On the festival of Sukkot a priest in whose hand is a jug of water for the water libation is added, and there are ten priests. On Sukkot, a water libation is poured on the altar in addition to the standard wine libation. In the daily afternoon offering, eleven priests participate in the service. How so? The daily offering itself is sacrificed by nine, and there are an additional two priests in whose hands are two logs that are placed on the altar. The mitzva of placing the two logs in the morning was assigned in the first lottery, as the Gemara explained earlier. On Shabbat, eleven priests participate. How so? The daily morning offering itself is performed by nine, and there are an additional two priests in whose hands are two vessels of frankincense that accompany the shewbread. This frankincense is burned on Shabbat. And on Shabbat that occurs within the festival of Sukkot there is an additional priest in whose hand is a jug of water for the water libation, for a total of twelve priests.

אַיִל קָרֵב בְּאַחַד עָשָׂר, הַבָּשָׂר בַּחֲמִשָּׁה, הַקְּרָבַיִם וְהַסֹּלֶת וְהַיַּיִן בִּשְׁנַיִם שְׁנָיִם:

A ram that is brought for a communal burnt-offering is sacrificed by eleven priests. The flesh on the various limbs is taken by five priests, as in the case of the sheep of the daily offering. The intestines, and the fine flour of the meal-offering, and the wine of the libation are carried by two priests each, because the meal-offering and wine libation that accompany a ram are larger than those that accompany a sheep.

פַּר קָרֵב בְּעֶשְׂרִים וְאַרְבָּעָה, הָרֹאשׁ וְהָרֶגֶל, הָרֹאשׁ בְּאֶחָד, וְהָרֶגֶל בִּשְׁנַיִם. הָעֹקֶץ וְהָרֶגֶל, הָעֹקֶץ בִּשְׁנַיִם, וְהָרֶגֶל בִּשְׁנַיִם. הֶחָזֶה וְהַגֵּרָה, הֶחָזֶה בְּאֶחָד, וְהַגֵּרָה בִּשְׁלשָׁה. שְׁתֵּי יָדַיִם בִּשְׁנַיִם. שְׁתֵּי דְפָנּוֹת בִּשְׁנַיִם. הַקְּרָבַיִם וְהַסֹּלֶת וְהַיַּיִן בִּשְׁלשָׁה שְׁלשָׁה. בַּמֶּה דְבָרִים אֲמוּרִים, בְּקָרְבְּנוֹת צִבּוּר. אֲבָל בְּקָרְבַּן יָחִיד, אִם רָצָה לְהַקְרִיב, מַקְרִיב. הֶפְשֵׁטָן וְנִתּוּחָן שֶׁל אֵלּוּ וָאֵלּוּ שָׁוִין:

A bull is sacrificed by twenty-four priests. How so? The head and the right leg are sacrificed first, but due to its size the head is carried by one priest and the leg by two. The tail and the left leg are carried as follows: The tail is sacrificed by two and the leg by two. The breast and the neck are carried as follows: The breast is offered by one and the neck by three priests. The two forelegs are carried by two priests, and the two flanks are carried by two. The intestines and the fine flour and the wine are carried by three each, because the meal-offering and wine libation that accompany a bull are larger than those that accompany a ram. In what case is this statement said, that this is the sequence followed? It is in the case of communal offerings. However, in the case of an individual offering brought to fulfill a vow or an obligation, if a single priest wishes to sacrifice it alone he may sacrifice it alone, or if he chooses he may include other priests in the service. With regard to the flaying and the cutting of both these, individual offerings, and those, communal offerings, they are equal, as will be explained in the Gemara.