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Yoma 58

58b

QUESTIONS: We saw earlier (57a) that Rebbi Elazar b'Rebbi Yosi testified that he saw the Paroches in Rome, and upon it he discerned droplets of blood from a Par He'elem Davar. There are a number of questions that may be asked on this testimony.

(a) The Beraisa in our Sugya teaches that the Kohen Gadol who sprinkles the blood of the Par He'elem Davar upon the Paroches must stand behind the Mizbe'ach ha'Penimi (that is, on the eastern side of the Mizbe'ach). The Mizbe'ach was situated half of the length of the Heichal away from the Paroches (Yoma 33b, Shekalim 6:3). Since the Heichal measured 40 Amos until the Paroches, the Kohen would had to have thrown each drop of blood a distance of 20 Amos (30-35 feet) for it to hit the Paroches! How could the blood have stained the Paroches, as Rebbi Elazar b'Rebbi Yosi testified (57a)? (Rav Eliezer Chrysler; the Tosfos ha'Rosh notes that the Mizbe'ach was a distance from the Paroches, but he does not point out that it was *so* far away.)

(b) In addition, the Paroches that Rebbi Elazar b'Rebbi Yosi saw in Rome must have been the Paroches which was captured by the Romans at the time of the Churban. How could this Paroches have stains of blood from the Par He'elem Davar? We find that the Par He'elem Davar is only brought for a misruling of "the Sanhedri Gedolah that sits in the *Lishkas ha'Gazis*" (YERUSHALMI Horayos 1:1; TOSEFTA Horayos 1:3; TORAS KOHANIM Vayikra Parsha 4:1). During the last forty years before the Churban, the Sanhedrin no longer sat in the Lishkas ha'Gazis (but in Chanuyos, Shabbos 15a), so they could not have brought a Par He'elem Davar! And if the Paroches was stained with blood 40 years earlier, *before* the Sanhedrin left the Lishkas ha'Gazis, the Paroches would have been changed long before the Churban, since they used to prepare two new Parochos each year (Mishnah, Shekalim 21b)! (HARAV YEHUDAH LANDY -- See also question and answer of TOSFOS, DH Ani Re'isiha.)

ANSWERS:

(a) The answer may be as the Gemara in Zevachim says, "See how great was the strength of the Kohanim, who were able to throw the Marah a distance of 30+ Amos." Similarly, here, too, they were able to throw the blood a very far distance when they tried. (Rav Y. Landy)

Alternatively, the Gemara may not mean that the Mizbe'ach was halfway across the Heichal from the Paroches. When it says (in Yoma 33b and Yerushalmi Shekalim 6:3) that the Mizbe'ach was "exactly the middle," it appears that the Gemara is referring to the middle of the *width* of the Heichal, but not the middle of its length. (The Rambam, Hil. Beis ha'Bechirah 3:15, only requires that it be somewhere "in the inner two thirds of the Heichal," see Menachos 98b, but does not specify exactly how far it had to be from the Paroches.) If so, it could be that at least sometimes (such as when the Kohen had to sprinkle blood on the Paroches, according to those that maintain the blood must actually reach the Paroches) the Mizbe'ach ha'Zahav was not placed very far from the Paroches. (M. Kornfeld)

(b) It could be that in the last years of the Beis ha'Mikdash, they did not change the Paroches because they did not have enough money from the donations of Shekalim. Also, as many commentaries seem to learn, when the Mishnah says that they changed the Paroches each year it is referring to the Paroches of the Ulam and not the Kodesh ha'Kodashim. Or the Romans may have found a cache of old Parochos, such that the Paroches Rebbi Yosi saw was not the one that was hanging before the Kodesh ha'Kodashim at the time of the Churban. (In fact, TOSFOS (57a DH Ani) even suggests that the Paroches that was in Rome was originally from Bayis Rishon!)

It may also be answered that Rebbi Yosi held that the Sanhedrin did not have to actually be in the Lishkas ha'Gazis at the time of their ruling in order to bring a Par He'elem Davar. The RAMBAM (Hil. Shegagos 12:2) does not specify that the Sanhedrin must be in the Lishkas ha'Gazis to bring a Par. Either he understood that other Tana'im disagree with the ruling of the Yerushalmi, Tosefta and Toras Kohanim, or he did not take those sources literally. He took them to mean that the ruling must be passed by the Sanhedrin the *normally* sits in the Lishkas ha'Gazis (see Mar'eh ha'Panim in the Yerushalmi).

QUESTION: The Gemara records a Beraisa in which Rebbi Akiva and Rebbi Yosi ha'Glili argue whether the Kohen Gadol did the first Haza'ah on the south- east corner of the Mizbe'ach ha'Pnimi or on the north-east corner. Rabbi Akiva says that the first Haza'ah was done on the south-east corner, and Rebbi Yosi ha'Glili says that it was done on the north-east corner.

RASHI explains that the argument is based on another argument -- on which side the Paroches opened. According to Rebbi Akiva, the opening of the Paroches was on the south. Since the Kohen Gadol emerged from the Kodesh Kadoshim through the opening of the Paroches on the south, he sprinkled the blood on the south side of the Mizbe'ach first, for that is the side he encountered first coming from the Kodesh Kadoshim. According to Rebbi Yosi ha'Glili, the opening of the Paroches was on the north. Since the Kohen Gadol first encountered the north side of the Mizbe'ach after exiting the Kodesh Kadoshim, he sprinkled the blood on the northern side first. (See diagram in Chart #13.)

What difference does it make where the opening of the Paroches was located? Whether it was on the north or the south, the Kohen Gadol -- immediately after exiting the Kodesh Kadoshim -- would sprinkle the blood on the middle of the *Paroches* opposite the area of the Aron ha'Kodesh (53b) before walking to the Mizbe'ach to sprinkle the blood there. That is, the Kohen Gadol went to the middle of the Paroches before approaching the Mizbe'ach, and thus he approached from the middle regardless of which side the opening of the Paroches was on! (RASHASH)

ANSWERS:

(a) The RASHASH answers that perhaps since the Kohen Gadol initially emerged on the south side (according to Rebbi Akiva), he is required to go back to the south even though he goes to the middle of the Paroches to sprinkle there. He must go back to where he came from, as the Gemara says at the end of the Amud that he must go back to the place where he should have sprinkled first.

(b) We know that the Aron was two and a half Amos wide. Perhaps the Kohen Gadol only had to sprinkle at a place that was opposite the Aron at any point, but not at the exact center of the Aron. Consequently, if he was coming from the south, he would stay at the southern end of the two-and- one-half Amos as he sprinkled the blood towards the Aron. Thus, when he came to the Mizbe'ach from there he would still be on the south side of the Heichal, as the Mizbe'ach ha'Penimi was narrower than the Aron (the Mizbe'ach was only one Amah wide).