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Tamid 26a

תמיד כ״ו ע״א

Learn Tamid 26a step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

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Topic

The impure כהן's night routine, the morning lottery for תרומת הדשן, and the source for the כהנים guarding in three places

Overview

The amud opens by finishing the משנה about a כהן who became impure during the night in the לשכת המוקד. He walks through a lit tunnel under the בית המקדש to the immersion room, which has a fire and a private bathroom. There he immerses, dries off and warms up, then waits with the other כהנים until the gates open and he leaves. The משנה then begins the morning service. Any כהן who wants to do תרומת הדשן must immerse before the ממונה arrives around קרות הגבר. The ממונה then runs a lottery among those who immersed. The גמרא asks for the source of the rule that the כהנים guard the בית המקדש in three places. אביי brings the פסוק about משה, אהרן and his sons camping east of the משכן. The גמרא reads that פסוק in two parts: משה stands for the לוים, while אהרן and his sons are the כהנים guarding in three separate places. רב אשי gives another source: the three 'guard' words at the end of the same פסוק.

Opening lines

בִּמְסִיבָּה הַהוֹלֶכֶת לוֹ תַּחַת הַבִּירָה.

Through the winding passage that runs beneath the Temple building.

וְנֵרוֹת דּוֹלְקִין מִכָּאן וּמִכָּאן.

And lamps were burning on this side and on that side,

עַד שֶׁהוּא מַגִּיעַ לְבֵית הַטְּבִילָה.

until he reaches the Chamber of Immersion.

וּמְדוּרָה הָיְתָה שָׁם.

And there was a fire there,

The steps (16)

  1. StatementThe impure priest's path to the immersion room
  2. StatementWhat made the bathroom honorable
  3. StatementImmersing, warming up, and waiting for the gates to open
  4. StatementWhoever wants to remove the ashes must immerse early
  5. QuestionWhen does the appointed officer arrive?
  6. ResponseHis arrival time varies around the rooster's call
  7. StatementThe officer knocks and runs the first lottery
  8. QuestionWhere do we learn the כהנים' guard duty from?
  9. Responseאביי brings the פסוק about guarding the משכן
  10. ChallengeThe פסוק puts כהנים and לוים together, but the משנה separates them
  11. ResolutionRead the פסוק in two parts: משה separately, then אהרן and his sons
  12. QuestionHow do we know to split the פסוק?
  13. ResponseTwo different words, two different groups
  14. ChallengeMaybe all the כהנים guard together in one place
  15. ResolutionLike משה, the כהנים each guard in their own separate place
  16. Responseרב אשי learns the three places from the end of the פסוק