Gemara Clarity

Yoma 19b

יומא י״ט ע״ב

Learn Yoma 19b step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

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Topic

The night before יום הכיפורים: the כהן גדול's oath against the צדוקים, interruptions during קריאת שמע, and keeping the כהן גדול awake

Overview

This amud covers what happened the night before יום הכיפורים. First, the גמרא explains that the elders' oath to the כהן גדול binds him to the court's understanding of the עבודה. It does not make him their שליח. Then it explains why both sides cry. The oath was needed because the צדוקים lit the קטורת outside the קודש הקדשים, and a ברייתא tells of a צדוקי כהן גדול who did this and was punished from Heaven. A short story about pronouncing the name of רבי זכריה בן קבוטל leads to a discussion of interrupting קריאת שמע. That discussion brings in the readings of 'ודברת בם' and the ban on idle talk. A new משנה then describes how the young כהנים kept the כהן גדול awake: snapping their fingers, asking him to show קידה, and singing פסוקים. The amud ends with the custom of staying awake all night outside ירושלים, which led to sin in נהרדעא. אליהו's report about it continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

מִי אִיכָּא מִידֵּי

Is there anything

דַּאֲנַן לָא מָצֵינַן לְמֶעְבַּד,

that we are unable to do,

וּשְׁלוּחֵי דִידַן מָצוּ עָבְדִי?

and our agents are able to do?

הָכִי קָאָמְרִי לֵיהּ:

This is what they say to him:

The steps (38)

  1. ChallengeCan an agent do what the sender cannot?
  2. ResolutionThe oath means: follow the court's understanding
  3. StatementWhy the כהן גדול cries
  4. StatementWhy the elders cry
  5. QuestionWhy was the oath needed at all?
  6. ResponseTo stop the צדוקים' way of offering the קטורת
  7. ProofA צדוקי כהן גדול who actually did it
  8. StatementThe father's warning
  9. StatementThe son defends himself with a פסוק
  10. StatementThe צדוקי כהן גדול dies a shameful death
  11. StatementA second version: he was struck on the way out
  12. ProofAn angel struck him and left a calf's footprint
  13. Statementרב corrects a name with a hand signal
  14. QuestionWhy didn't רב just say it?
  15. Responseרב was in the middle of שמע
  16. ChallengeBut gesturing during שמע is forbidden
  17. ProofA ברייתא makes the ban even stronger
  18. ResolutionFirst paragraph versus second paragraph
  19. StatementOne may interrupt שמע but not תפלה
  20. StatementInterrupt only for Torah matters
  21. StatementMake Torah fixed, not casual
  22. StatementIdle chatter breaks a positive commandment
  23. StatementIdle chatter also breaks a negative commandment
  24. StatementKeeping the כהן גדול awake all night
  25. QuestionWhich finger is the צרדא?
  26. ResponseThe צרדא is the thumb's partner, the middle finger
  27. Proofרב הונא demonstrates how loud the snap is
  28. Statementרב יצחק reads the משנה's phrase as 'introduce something new'
  29. QuestionWhat is the new thing?
  30. ResponseThey asked him to demonstrate the special bow
  31. StatementThey kept him busy only with singing, not with instruments
  32. QuestionWhat did they sing?
  33. ResponseThey sang 'Unless ה׳ builds the house'
  34. StatementJerusalem's leading men stayed awake all night
  35. Statementאבא שאול: places outside the מקדש copied this, but it led to sin
  36. Statementאביי: אבא שאול was referring to נהרדעא
  37. Proofאליהו tells רב יהודה about the sin in נהרדעא
  38. Questionרב יהודה asks what ה׳ said