The reference numbers below that appear in parentheses (e.g., TY #43) represent vessels or parts of the structure of the Beis ha'Mikdash. The labeling follows that of the diagram of the Tiferes Yisrael. This diagram, which has been included in a separate mailing and can also be found on our site (at http://www.dafyomi.co.il/midos/mids-charts.htm), is printed both in the Tiferes Yisrael Mishnayos (Midos Chapter 2 or following Midos) and in Rav P. Kahati's Mishnayos (page 290, at the beginning of Midos).
[20a - 35 lines; 20b - 49 lines]
1)[line 4]ìéðäLINAH - (PESULEI KORBAN: LINAH)
See Background to Zevachim 19:40.
2)[line 4]ëéåøKIYOR
See Background to Zevachim 19:35.
3)[line 8]áëìé ùøúB'KLI SHARES- in a sanctified vessel
4)[line 11]ëéåø ùìà ù÷òå îáòøáKIYOR SHE'LO SHIK'O MIBA'EREV- the Kiyor (water basin) that was not submerged [into the well] in the evening, [a Kohen may wash with its water for the night Avodah]
5)[line 14]ùðéí òùø ãã ìëéåøSHNEIM ASAR DAD LA'KIYOR- [Ben Katin made] twelve spouts for the Kiyor. He was lauded for this because up until that time, the Kiyor had only two spouts. He made twelve spouts so that the twelve Kohanim who offered the Korban Tamid would be able to wash simultaneously without having to wait.
6)[line 14]îåëðéMUCHANI- a wheel to raise and lower the Kiyor. (See RAMBAM, PEIRUSH HA'ISHNAYOS to YOMA 37a)
7)[line 17]äàåìíHA'ULAM- the entrance hall to the Heichal
8)[line 17]øàùå ìãøåí åôðéå ìîòøáROSHO L'DAROM U'FANAV L'MA'ARAV- its head to the south and its face to the west; i.e. the animal was situated lengthwise from north to south, with its head to the south and its faced turned westward
9)[line 20]òæøäAZARAH- the inner courtyard of the Beis ha'Mikdash
10)[line 23]î÷åí ãøéñú øâìé äëäðéíMAKOM DERISAS RAGLEI HA'KOHANIM- (lit. the place of the treading of the feet of the Kohanim) the Ezras Kohanim, the area of eleven Amos by 135 Amos between the Ezras Yisrael and the Mizbe'ach
11)[line 23]åî÷åí ãøéñú øâìé éùøàìU'MAKOM DERISAS RAGLEI YISRAEL- the Ezras Yisrael, the area of eleven Amos by 135 Amos between the eastern wall of the Azarah and the Ezras Kohanim. Non-Kohanim did not enter the Ezras Kohanim unless necessary (see Kelim 1:8).
12)[line 24]îï äçìéôåú åìôðéíMIN HA'CHALIFOS U'LIFNIM (BEIS HA'CHALIFOS)
The Ulam culminated at its northern and southern ends in the Beis ha'Chalifos (TY #59). These chambers measured eleven by fifteen Amos, and had a total of twenty-four compartments in which the slaughter knives belonging to each Mishmar (shift of Kohanim) were stored. "Chalif" means knife in Arabic (RASHI).
13)[line 29]çåìùàCHULSHA- weakness
14)[line 30]ìúøåîú äãùïL'TERUMAS HA'DESHEN (TERUMAS HA'DESHEN)
(a)Every morning a Kohen must remove some of the ashes from the consumed sacrifices and place them southeast of the Mizbe'ach alongside the ramp, at a distance of three Tefachim (approx. 10.5 inches) from the ramp and 10 Amos from the foot of the ramp (Vayikra 6:3).
(b)It is forbidden to derive benefit from these ashes even after they are placed at the side of the ramp. Generally, after the completion of a Mitzvah that is performed with a particular object, it becomes permitted to derive benefit from the object (if it was previously forbidden). The Torah specifies that with regard to Terumas ha'Deshen, however, even though its Mitzvah has been completed once the ashes are placed on the floor of the Azarah, they remain Asur b'Hana'ah.
15)[line 33]åìéðä ãøáðï äéàV'LINAH D'RABANAN HI- [according to Rebbi, the Pesul of] leaving Kodesh overnight is only rabbinical in nature. (Accordingly, if they bring up the Kiyor from the well in the early morning before the time of the Terumas ha'Deshen, because of this small amount of time the leaving overnight does not invalidate the Avodah.)
16)[line 33]ãî÷øåú äâáøD'MIKROS HA'GEVER- that from the time that the rooster starts to crow (earlier than dawn)
17)[line 34]öôøàTZAFRA- (lit. morning) dawn. Halachic dawn (lit. when the pillar or ray of the morning rises) marks the border between the last time to do the Mitzvos of the night and the first time to do the Mitzvos of the morning. There are three opinions for the calculation of Halachic dawn: 120, 90 or 72 minutes before sunrise. There is a further difference of opinion as to whether these are minutes on a clock or minutes of a Sha'ah Zemanis (the amount of time between sunrise and sunset divided by 12). A different theory records these times as degrees of the angle of the sun underneath the horizon (as measured in Nisan at the latitude of Yerushalayim): 25.9, 19.75 and 15.99, respectively. (See "Zemanei ha'Halachah - l'Ma'aseh" by Rav Baruch Ezrachi, Yerushalayim 5736.)
20b----------------------------------------20b
18)[line 8]áëäðé çãúéB'CHAHANEI CHADTEI- with new Kohanim; i.e. Kohanim who did not perform Avodah during the night
19)[line 11]ãìà ôøéùD'LO PARISH- the Kohen did not remove his mind from the Avodah (RASHI). (The BACH questions this explanation, because in the Gemara earlier (19b), Rebbi Elazar brei d'Rebbi Shimon does not necessitate a new sanctification upon the following day, even if the Kohen had ceased performing the Avodah in the interim. The BACH therefore learns that the withdrawal referred to here is the exiting from the Azarah of the Beis ha'Mikdash.)
20)[line 13]åðèîàåV'NITME'U - and they became Tamei (TUM'AS YADAYIM)
(a)According to Torah law, the body of a person can acquire the status of an Av ha'Tum'ah should it come into contact with a Mes, or a Rishon l'Tum'ah should it come into contact with an Av ha'Tum'ah. The body of a person cannot acquire the status a Sheni l'Tum'ah or any level of Tum'ah below that.
(b)According to Torah law, there is no difference in the status of one part of a person's body and any other; either all of the body is Tahor, or all of the body is Tamei.
(c)The Chachamim decreed that a person's hands must be considered a Sheni l'Tum'ah unless he has washed them with a proper Netilah and has been careful to keep them Tahor from that point on. They furthermore decreed that should any of the seven liquids touch hands that are considered to be Sheniyim, then that liquid must be considered a Rishon l'Tum'ah.
(d)Another way for a person's hands to be Tamei mid'Rabanan is if they are Yadayim ha'Ba'im Machmas Sefer, hands which have touched one of the 24 books of Tanach (see TOSFOS to Shabbos 14a DH ha'Ochez).
(e)Similarly, the Rabanan decreed that touching the flesh of a Korban which became Pasul because of Pigul or Nosar causes the hands to become Tamei. This is the Tum'ah to which the Gemara here refers.
21)[line 18]áîé îòøäB'MEI ME'ARAH - with water of a cave (MEI CHATAS: Purification from Tum'as Mes)
(a)If a person (or utensil) became Tamei through touching a Mes, he must wait seven days to go to the Mikvah. On the third and seventh days he must have Mei Chatas (spring water mixed with ashes of the Parah Adumah) sprinkled on him. A person who is Tahor dips three hyssops (Ezov) which have been bound together into the Mei Chatas and sprinkles them on the person who is Tamei. Afterwards, he immerses in a Mikvah to complete his purification (Bamidbar 19: 11-19).
(b)The water that is used to make Mei Chatas must be spring water. If it is standing water that comes from a cave, it is unfit for use as Mei Chatas.
(c)A Kohen who asks for a fee to perform the sprinkling process of the Mei Chatas may be penalized that even if he draws water from a spring, it is considered Mei Me'arah. TOSFOS (Kidushin 58b, DH Meimav) states that his water is simply not considered spring water but rather standing water. RASHI (ibid., DH Mei Me'arah) explains that it is considered Seruchim (lit. foul-smelling) because of his poor conduct.
22)[line 22]ãàôé÷ éãéå ìáøD'APIK YADEI L'VAR- [the Kohen stood inside the Azarah and washed his hands by] putting his hands outside of the Azarah
23)[line 27]ìäñê øâìéåL'HASECH RAGLAV- (lit. to cover his feet) to defecate
24)[line 27]åìäèéì îéíUL'HATIL MAYIM- and to urinate
25)[line 30]ôøäPARAH (PARAH ADUMAH)
The Parah Adumah, an exclusively red-haired female cow, is burned on Har ha'Zeisim and its ashes are used for making a person Tahor if he is Tamei Mes. Only a cow that has not had a yoke placed upon it and has had no other work done with it is fit to be used as a Parah Adumah. A place is prepared for its slaughter on Har ha'Zeisim, opposite the gate to the Azarah (the courtyard of the Beis ha'Mikdash). After it is slaughtered, its blood is sprinkled in the direction of the Beis ha'Mikdash seven times. A cedar branch, some Ezov (hyssop) branches and a piece of crimson wool are thrown into the carcass of the cow while it is burning (Bamidbar 19:1-26).
26)[line 33]áî÷éãä ùì çøñB'MEKEIDAH SHEL CHERES- in a type of earthenware vessel
27)[line 38]ãâáøà çæéD'GAVRA CHAZI- the man (the Kohen) is still fit [to reenter the Beis ha'Mikdash and perform the Avodah]
28)[line 40]ã÷ ìéäDAK LEI- he is careful [even during his period of Tum'ah and does not divert his attention from the previous sanctification]
29)[line 44]äòøá ùîùHE'EREV SHEMESH
(a)A Tevul Yom is a person or vessel that was Tamei and then immersed in a Mikvah. This is the first stage in the process of purification from any Tum'ah. The second stage requires waiting for the following night to fall, at which point the person or utensil becomes completely Tahor. The Tum'ah level of a Tevul Yom is minimal; he or it is only considered a Sheni l'Tum'ah. This means that if he or it touches Terumah or Kodesh, the Terumah or Kodesh becomes Pasul and must be burned. Chulin that he or it touches does not become Tamei whatsoever.
(b)A Kohen who became Tamei must immerse in a Mikvah and wait until nightfall before he may perform Avodah.