1)

(a)'They brought the Kohen Gadol the Kaf and the Machtah (the former, from the Lishkas ha'Kelim - empty; the latter, from the Lishkas Avtinas - full of Ketores).

(b)Chafinah is the taking of two handfuls of Ketores from the pan.

(c)Every Kohen Gadol took his two handfuls, each one depending on the size of his hands.

(d)He then took the pan in his right hand and the Kaf in his left.

2)

(a)The pan that the Kohen Gadol filled with coals (which was discussed earlier) contained coals, and was not the one currently under discussion, which contained Ketores.

(b)But why a Kaf, asks the Gemara, when the Pasuk categorically writes that the Kohen Gadol must take two handfuls and go with them into the Kodesh Kodshim?

(c)There has to be a Kaf, answers the Gemara, because there is no way that he could manage without it (as we shall soon see).

(d)We learn that it must be specifically a Kaf - from the Princes (at the inauguration of the Mizbe'ach), who brought the Ketores in a Kaf.

3)

(a)The Kohen Gadol could not bring the pan into the Kodesh Kodshim with his hands, and bring in the Ketores separately - because the Torah writes "Veheivi" only once, from which we learn that he must bring the two in simultaneously.

(b)Nor can he place the pan on top of the Ketores, and then, once he is inside the Kodesh Kodshim, take the pan with his teeth - because it is too unconventional (one would not do it in front of a human king, so how can one do it in front of Hash-m)?

(c)It would indeed have been more appropriate to hold the Kaf with the Ketores in his right-hand, and the pan with the coal in his left - however, seeing as the Kaf containing the three Kabin (72 egg-volumes) of coals was generally heavier than the two handfuls of the Kohen Gadol, carrying it in his right-hand made it easier for him (and Beis-Din made this standard practice, even by a Kohen Gadol who had exceptionally large hands).

(d)Rebbi Yishmael ben Kimchis was special inasmuch as he had such large hands that when he did the Chafinah, they held four Kabin.

4)

(a)When Rebbi Yishmael ben Kimchis said that the 'Zered' of his mother was special, he might have been referring to the type of health-food made from wheat which they used to give pregnant women - or he might have meant that his mother's womb gathered the best part of the semen.

(b)Yeshevav and Yosef were brothers of Rebbi Yishmael ben Kimchis, both of whom substituted for him when he became Tamei (when, on two separate occasions, spittle from an Arab with whom he was speaking fell on his clothes - and Chazal gave all gentiles the Din of a Zav in this regard).

(c)Kimchis had seven children. All of them served as Kohanim Gedolim at one time or another - due to the fact that she never allowed 'the beams of her house to see her hair' (she never uncovered her hair at home).

(d)The Yerushalmi connects this with the Pasuk "Kol Kevudah bas Melech Penimah, mi'Mishbetzos Zahav Levushah" - from which we can learn that a woman who is exceptionally modest, merits to have a son who serves as Kohen Gadol, who wears the Choshen Mishpat, which contained golden settings.

5)

(a)We learn from "v'Heirim Mimenu *b'Kumtzo" - that the Kohen is forbidden to make a measure the size of his hands in order to take the Kemitzah with it.

(b)The fact that by the Chafinah, the Torah writes "Melo Chafnav" (and not "be'Chafnav" like it does by the Kemitzah) - gives rise to the She'eilah whether the Kohen Gadol is permitted to make a measure the size of his hands for the Chafinah; or perhaps not, because we will learn the Chafinah from the Kemitzah with a 'Gezeirah-Shavah' "Melo" "Melo".

(c)We attempt to resolve the She'eilah from our Mishnah 've'Kach Hayesah Midasah' - by explaining it to mean that the measure must be the same size as his hands.

(d)We reject this proof, because the Mishnah could also mean that in the same way as he made the Chafinah in the Heichal, so too, he should make the Chafinah in the Kodesh Kodashim.

6)

(a)According to the previous answer, we can learn that the Kohen Gadol made a second Chafinah when he was in the Kodesh Kodshim.

(b)Alternatively, 've'Kach Hayesah Midasah' teaches us that the handfuls must be exact, no more and no less.

7)

(a)We learn from the Pasuk ...

1. ... "b'Kumtzo" - that the flour of the Kemitzah may not protrude from between his fingers or from the sides of his hands.

2. ... "Melo Kumtzo" - that he must take a handful, and not just a little flour in his finger-tips.

(b)The Kohen performed the Kemitzah - by bending the tips of the fingers of his right-hand (to form a letter 'u') and then pushing his hand held sideways through the flour to catch the flour in his palm.

(c)The Kemitzah by a Minchas Machavas or Marcheshes was more difficult to perform than a Minchas Soles - because it was pre-baked, before being broken up into small pieces, from which the Kemitzah was taken.

(d)Consequently, the Kohen had to use his thumb and little finger to remove any pieces that protruded from them.

8)

(a)Melikah (piercing the neck of the bird-offering) and Chafinah, combine with the Kemitzah to form the triumvirate of most difficult Avodos in the Beis Hamikdash.

9)

(a)Rebbi Yehaoshua ben Uza'ah asked whether the flour between the fingers (that did not protrude) was considered part of the Kometz or part of the Shirayim (leftovers that are supposed to be eaten by the Kohanim).

(b)Rav Papa divides the flour under discussion into three - the flour that is on the outside - which is clearly considered Shirayim; that on the inside - which is clearly considered part of the Kometz, and the flour in the middle - which constitutes the She'eilah.

(c)Rebbi Yehoshua ben Uza'ah himself concluded that it remains a Safek. Consequently, one first burns the Kometz, and then the flour under question.

(d)Not the other way round - because if one were to first burn the flour from between the fingers, then, should it be considered Shirayim, it will be a case of Shirayim which diminished between the Kemitzah and the burning of the Kemitzah, in which case it will disqualify the Kometz from being burned.

10)

(a)When Rebbi Chanina rules that the flour from between the fingers must be burned, he means that one does so, not as part of the Kemitzah, but having in mind as if he was burning wood - like the opinion of Rebbi Eliezer .

(b)Rebbi Eliezer is dealing with the limbs of a Chatas which were leftover and then became mixed up with limbs of an Olah after the fat-pieces of the Chatas had already been burnt. He rules that one places all the limbs on the Mizbe'ach, and considers the flesh of the Chatas as if it was merely wood.

(c)According to the Rabanan of Rebbi Eliezer, we answer 'de'Kamtzi Shemeini' - meaning that the Kemitzah is performed by fat Kohanim (whose fingers are fat and where there are therefore no gaps from which the flour could protrude).

(d)Rebbi Eliezer will most certainly concede the concept of 'de'Kamtzi Shemeini'. In fact, even according to him, that is preferable to using ordinary Kohanim, and then burning the flour from between the fingers, as wood.

11)

(a)Rav Papa asked about the Ketores that was caught in between the fingers. If he was asking whether or not, we learn a 'Gezeirah Shavah' ("Melo" "Melo") from Kemitzah - then is this not the same She'eilah that we asked above (on the previous Amud) with regard to making a measure for the Chafinah?

(b)We answer that even without the 'Gezeirah Shavah', the She'eilah will be whether we Darshen "Melo Chafnav v'Heivi" - meaning that whatever is in his hands must be brought into the Kodesh Kodshim (including the Ketores between the fingers) or "v'Lakach v'Heivi" - implying only the Ketores that he took deliberately (but not that which came there inadvertently - i.e. the Ketores between his fingers).

12)

(a)We already learned above that the Kemitzah was normally performed with the hand sideways. Rav Papa asks whether the Kemitzah will be valid if he does it in an unusual way.

1. 'Roshei Etzbe'osav' - means that he places the palm of his hand on the flour, and pushes flour into it using the tips of his fingers.

2. 'mi'Lema'alah l'Matah' - means that he does the same thing, but he first pushes the back of his hand into the flour, palms facing upwards.

3. ... 'min ha'Tzedadim' - means that he puts his hands into the flour sideways (as one would normally do), but then, instead of moving it through the flour (as we learned above), he pushes the flour into his hand with his fingers.

(b)Rav Papa asks the same three She'eilos with regard to Chafinah - and he also asks what the Din will be if the Kohen Gadol fills each hand separately, and then brings the two handfuls together.

(c)One normally performs the Chafinah - by pointing the tips of the palm downwards and scooping up the Ketores in an upward motion.