QUESTION: The Mishnah states that when the Kohen Gadol mentioned the Name of Hash-m during the recitation of the Viduy on the Sa'ir ha'Mishtale'ach (the third Viduy of the day), all of the people who were gathered in the Mikdash bowed down. By bowing upon hearing the Name of Hash-m, the people gave honor to Hash-m. (The Yerushalmi says that when they heard the Name of Hash-m, the people near the Kohen Gadol bowed down, and the people who were far away proclaimed, "Baruch Shem Kevod Malchuso....")

The Kohen Gadol uttered the Name of Hash-m at other times during the Yom Kippur service. The Mishnah earlier (35b) states that he uttered the Name of Hash-m during the first Viduy on the Par. Similarly, the Mishnah (39a) states that he uttered the Name of Hash-m during the second Viduy on the Par. Another Mishnah (41b) states that he uttered the Name of Hash-m when he performed the Goral to choose the Sa'ir la'Shem. The Beraisa (39b) summarizes and says that the Name of Hash-m was uttered ten times on Yom Kippur -- three times during each of the three Viduyim and once during the Goral.

Why does the Mishnah in all of those places omit mention of the people's prostration at the time of the Kohen Gadol's utterance of the Name of Hash-m?

(a) The VILNA GA'ON emends the text of the Mishnah here so that it makes no mention of the people's prostration. (The DIKDUKEI SOFRIM #100 points out that a number of early manuscripts do not include these words in the Mishnah.) Even though it is true that the people bowed down (as the Beraisa and Gemara mention), the Mishnah does not mention it because it is not a detail in the laws of Yom Kippur, but rather in the laws of Hazkaras Hash-m, mentioning the Name of Hash-m, and thus it does not belong in the Mishnayos which discuss the Avodos of Yom Kippur.

The Mishnah in Sotah (37b-38a) mentions the differences between the recitation of Birkas Kohanim in the Beis ha'Mikdash and the recitation of Birkas Kohanim everywhere else. The Mishnah there says that in the Beis ha'Mikdash, the Birkas Kohanim included the actual pronouncement of the Name of Hash-m. The GEVURAS ARI here (see also Insights to Yoma 37:1) asks that the Mishnah in Sotah should also mention as a difference the prostration that was performed when the Name of Hash-m was uttered, since it was performed in the Beis ha'Mikdash (because the Name of Hash-m was pronounced) and nowhere else. According to the Vilna Ga'on's understanding, the answer to this question is that there is no need for the Mishnah in Sotah to mention the prostration as a difference, because that is not a Halachah which relates specifically to Birkas Kohanim.

(b) In the RAMBAM's text of the Mishnah, the people's prostration is mentioned only in the earlier Mishnah (35b) with regard to the first Viduy, which is the first time that the Mishnah mentions that the Kohen Gadol uttered the Name of Hash-m. Thereafter the Mishnah does not need to mention that the people bowed, because the first Mishnah already mentioned it.

(c) RAV YOSEF DOV SOLOVEITCHIK (Avodas Yom ha'Kipurim, 37a) writes that perhaps the reason why the people bowed at the mention of Hash-m's name was not in order to honor the Name of Hash-m. Rather, it was an act related specifically to the Viduy recited over the Sa'ir ha'Mishtale'ach. Accordingly, it is fitting that only the Mishnah here mentions it and not the earlier Mishnayos.

RASHI (21a, DH Mishtachavim) writes that the people used to bow when they recited Viduy in the Beis ha'Mikdash. If bowing indeed is related specifically to Viduy, then it makes sense that the people bowed only when the Name of Hash-m was said during "the people's Viduy" (the Viduy recited over the Sa'ir ha'Mishtale'ach on behalf of atonement for the sins of the entire nation). Even though the Name of Hash-m was mentioned during the Goral, the Goral was not a Viduy and thus the people did not bow at that time. When the Name of Hash-m was uttered during the first and second Viduyim, the people did not bow because those two Viduyim were for the Kohen Gadol himself (although all of the Kohanim gained atonement through the second Viduy, their atonement was only "b'Kufya" -- secondary to the Kohen Gadol's atonement -- as the Gemara (50b) explains). In contrast, the Viduy of the Sa'ir ha'Mishtale'ach was for all of the Jewish people, and therefore the people bowed when they heard the Name of Hash-m.

(See TOSFOS YOM TOV (DH veha'Kohanim), who alludes to such an approach but eventually rejects it, asserting that the people bowed to honor the Name of Hash-m and not because of the Viduy. The premise of the Tosfos Yom Tov is borne out by the Avodah prayer recited on the Yom Kippur, which mentions three (Nusach Ashkenaz) or four (Nusach Sefard) bowings.)

As an aside, Rav Soloveitchik points out that during the Avodah prayer of Yom Kippur, it is customary to bow down four times -- three times during the description of the three Viduyim, and one time during the description of the Goral (the latter according to the Nusach Sefard text of the Avodah). Why do we bow down four times? If we do not accept Rav Soloveitchik's understanding of the Mishnah, we should bow down ten times, just as the people bowed down in the Beis ha'Mikdash ten times on Yom Kippur when the Kohen Gadol uttered the Name of Hash-m (three times during each Viduy, and once at the time of the Goral). According to Rav Soloveitchik's understanding, we should bow down only once, during the Viduy of the Sa'ir.

He answers that the prostrations during Musaf on Yom Kippur are not for the sake of giving honor to the Name of Hash-m, but rather they commemorate what was done during the Avodah of Yom Kippur in the Beis ha'Mikdash. It suffices to bow once during each Viduy to demonstrate what was done in the Beis ha'Mikdash. (See also PERISHAH OC 621.) He suggests further, based on the Rambam in Hilchos Tefilah (9:1), that when a prayer involves a series of responses (such as a series of prostrations or "Amen"s), it suffices to respond once at the end of the prayer rather than to respond at various points in the prayer. Thus, it was sufficient to bow once at the end of each Viduy, even though the Name of Hash-m was mentioned three times in each Viduy.

QUESTION: The Mishnah describes the procedure of the Viduy with the Sa'ir ha'Mishtale'ach. The Kohen Gadol approached the Sa'ir, laid his hands upon it, and uttered the confession on behalf of the Jewish people. The description of the procedure is incorporated into the Chazan's repetition of Musaf on Yom Kippur recited today. However, there is a difference between the way the Chazan recites the text of the Viduy of the Kohen Gadol, and the way the Kohen Gadol actually said it. The common practice is that when the Chazan reaches the words "Lifnei Hash-m" in the verse, "Ki ba'Yom ha'Zeh Yechaper Aleichem... Lifnei Hash-m Titharu," he pauses while the congregation recites the next words in the Mishnah, "veha'Kohanim veha'Am... Hayu Mishtachavim," and everyone bows down (in some communities, only the Chazan recites those words and bows down). After everyone has bowed down, the Chazan continues and says "Titharu," the last word of the verse he started before the pause. (This is also the order printed in most editions of the Yom Kippur Machzor.)

Why does the Chazan pause before he recites the word "Titharu"? The Mishnah makes no mention of such an interruption. Rather, it says that the Kohen Gadol recited the verse in its entirety, and afterwards it describes how the people and the other Kohanim bowed down when they heard the Name of Hash-m.

ANSWER: RAV SHALOM SHVADRON zt'l, the Magid of Yerushalayim (who served as the Ba'al Tefilah on Yom Kippur for many years in the Chevron Yeshiva in Givat Mordechai, Yerushalayim) said that although the people in the Beis ha'Mikdash bowed down immediately when they heard the Name of Hash-m, there indeed is no reason for the Chazan to split up the verse and mention the last word of the verse ("Titharu") after he says the other words of the Mishnah that describe the people's prostration. Rav Shalom asserted that there is absolutely no source for interrupting the verse. Therefore, when he would serve as Chazan he would complete the verse and say, "Lifnei Hash-m Titharu" before he continued with the words, "veha'Kohanim veha'Am...." This is also the practice in a number of congregations.

Perhaps the source of the common practice to divide the verse is as follows. The TUR (OC 621) quotes RAV SA'ADYAH GA'ON who says that when the Chazan recounts the Viduy that the Kohen Gadol said ("Ana ha'Shem..."), he should not say the actual Name of Hash-m when he quotes the verse, "Lifnei Hash-m Titharu." Rather, he should the say the word "ha'Shem" ("the Name"). When the custom of Rav Sa'adyah Ga'on was introduced, the Chazan no longer recited the Name of Hash-m in the verse, but rather the word "ha'Shem." Since the Name of Hash-m was not recited, there was nothing wrong with interrupting in the middle of the verse. Later, as the Tur relates in the name of RABEINU YITZCHAK IBN GE'AS, the practice was changed again and the Name of Hash-m was recited by the Chazan when he said the verse. However, the printers of the Yom Kippur Machzor neglected to correct the corresponding change in the Machzor and did not remove the interruption between the first part of the verse and the word "Titharu." (M. Kornfeld)