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Tamid 31b

תמיד ל״א ע״ב

Learn Tamid 31b step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

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Topic

The nine כהנים who carry the תמיד, how the lamb was tied, the tables of the מקדש, and where the תמיד was slaughtered.

Overview

The משנה lists nine כהנים in order. Six carry the parts of the תמיד lamb, and the משנה explains exactly how each part is held. Three more carry the סולת, the חביתין, and the wine. Everything is placed on the lower western half of the כבש and salted, and the כהנים go to לשכת הגזית to say קריאת שמע. The גמרא explains that the lamb was tied foreleg to hind leg, like עקידת יצחק. It then gives two reasons why all four legs were not tied together (כפיתה): disgrace to holy things, or copying the ways of the nations. It quotes a משנה listing the thirteen tables in the מקדש and explains that marble was used because metal heats up. Next, it learns from 'שנים ליום' that the תמיד is slaughtered facing the daylight. The amud ends by opening the story of the ten questions אלכסנדרוס מוקדון asked the זקני הנגב, and the questions themselves come on the next amud.

Opening lines

הָרִאשׁוֹן – בָּרֹאשׁ וּבָרֶגֶל.

The first – with the head and with the leg.

הָרֹאשׁ בִּימִינוֹ,

The head in his right hand,

וְחוֹטְמוֹ כְּלַפֵּי זְרוֹעוֹ,

and its nose toward his arm,

קַרְנָיו בֵּין אֶצְבְּעוֹתָיו,

its horns between his fingers,

The steps (25)

  1. StatementThe first priest carries the head and the right hind leg
  2. StatementThe second priest carries the two forelegs
  3. StatementThe third priest carries the haunch and the left hind leg
  4. StatementThe fourth priest carries the breast and the neck section
  5. StatementThe fifth priest carries the two flanks
  6. StatementThe sixth priest carries the innards and the lower legs
  7. StatementThe seventh, eighth, and ninth priests carry the flour, the griddle-cakes, and the wine
  8. StatementThe priests place everything on the ramp, salt it, and go to recite שמע
  9. StatementHow the lamb was tied: a foreleg with a hind leg, like עקידת יצחק
  10. QuestionWhy didn't they tie up the lamb?
  11. ResponseTwo reasons: disgrace or copying the nations
  12. ResponseThe practical difference: silk or a golden thread
  13. StatementThirteen tables, eight of marble in the slaughter area
  14. StatementTwo tables west of the ramp: marble and silver
  15. StatementTwo tables in the entrance hall for the showbread
  16. StatementWe go up in holiness, never down, plus the golden table inside
  17. ChallengeWhy marble tables in a wealthy place?
  18. ResolutionMetal heats up
  19. QuestionWhere the morning lamb was slaughtered, and the source
  20. Response'Two by day' means facing the day
  21. ProofA ברייתא supports רב חסדא
  22. ChallengeMaybe the words just mean two lambs each day
  23. ResolutionThe daily count is already written elsewhere
  24. ConclusionHow facing the day works, morning and afternoon
  25. Statementאלכסנדרוס מוקדון's ten questions to the זקני הנגב