Tamid 27a

תמיד כ״ז ע״א

Learn Tamid 27a step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

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Topic

Young כהנים (רובים and פרחי כהונה), the guard posts of the כהנים and לויים in the בית המקדש, and using בגדי כהונה while sleeping

Overview

The גמרא first explains why our משנה calls the young guards in בית אבטינס and בית הניצוץ 'רובים' but the young כהנים in בית המוקד 'פרחי כהונה'. The רובים are too young to serve, while the פרחי כהונה are old enough. Next it quotes the משנה in מדות: the כהנים guarded the בית המקדש in 3 places and the לויים in 21. A פסוק in דברי הימים is brought as the source, but it adds up to 24 guards. The גמרא answers either by taking away 3 or by saying the 24 include the 3 posts of the כהנים, who are sometimes called לויים. It explains why the corner guards stand inside the הר הבית but outside the עזרה: a tired guard must be allowed to sit, and no one may sit in the עזרה except the kings of בית דוד. It also settles whether the עזרה had five or seven gates, with answers from אביי and רבא. Finally, it discusses whether the משנה about not sleeping in בגדי כהונה proves that a כהן may benefit from them. It concludes that the garments were placed next to the head, not under it, and רב פפא learns from this that תפילין may lie beside a sleeper's head.

Opening lines

The steps (29)

1. QuestionEnd of the question: why the name 'young men of the priesthood'?
2. ResponseThe two names describe two different age groups
3. StatementThe כהנים guarded the בית המקדש in three places
4. StatementThe לויים guarded in twenty-one places
5. QuestionWhere do we learn the guard posts of the לויים?
6. ResponseThe source is a פסוק in דברי הימים about the gatekeepers
7. ChallengeThe verse counts 24 posts, not 21
8. ResolutionOnly two guards at the אספים
9. ChallengeStill 22, not 21
10. ResolutionThe second guard at the פרבר was just company
11. QuestionWhat does the word פרבר mean?
12. Responseפרבר means "toward the outside"
13. ResolutionAll 24 are real: 3 for the כהנים and 21 for the לויים
14. ChallengeBut the פסוק calls all the guards לויים
15. Resolutionכהנים are sometimes called לויים
16. StatementWhere the guard posts stood
17. QuestionWhy inside for one and outside for the other
18. ResponseA tired guard must be able to sit
19. ChallengeDid the עזרה have five gates or seven?
20. Resolutionאביי: Two of the seven gates needed no guard
21. Resolutionרבא: It is a disagreement between תנאים
22. ProofProof from the treasurers: Some held eight gates
23. StatementQuoting the משנה: They did not sleep in the holy garments
24. ProofWalking is allowed, so one may benefit from priestly garments
25. RejectionWalking is also forbidden; 'sleep' matches the next clause
26. ChallengeBut placing them under their heads is itself a benefit
27. ResolutionRead it as 'next to their heads'
28. Statementרב פפא learns that תפילין may be placed beside one's head while sleeping
29. ProofProof that 'next to their heads' is the right reading, because of כלאים