Gemara Clarity

Yoma 22a

יומא כ״ב ע״א

Learn Yoma 22a step by step: Aramaic beside English, every question, answer and proof colour-coded.

Open Yoma 22a in Gemara Clarity

Topic

The race and then the פייס for תרומת הדשן: why the lottery came, the two תקנות, and which four אמות decided the race

Overview

This amud opens the second פרק of יומא. The משנה explains that at first any כהן who wanted to do תרומת הדשן could do it. If many wanted it, they raced up the כבש, and a tie was settled by a finger-count lottery with no thumbs allowed. After one כהן pushed another and broke his leg, the בית דין ruled that the job would only be given out by פייס, the first of four daily lotteries. The גמרא asks why there was no פייס from the start. One answer is that it is a night service, so few were expected to come; the גמרא tests this against אברים ופדרים and against רבי יוחנן's ruling on washing hands. A second version (איכא דאמרי) says the רבנן expected sleep to keep כהנים away, since getting up early is harder than staying up late. The גמרא then asks whether the פייס was really made because of danger, given a ברייתא that bundles the job with סידור מערכה and the two logs. רב אשי answers that there were two separate תקנות. Finally, רב פפא proves that the deciding ארבע אמות are the ones next to the מזבח, and he begins asking whether they include the יסוד and סובב. That question continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

בָּרִאשׁוֹנָה כׇּל מִי שֶׁרוֹצֶה

Initially, whoever wishes

לִתְרוֹם אֶת הַמִּזְבֵּחַ — תּוֹרֵם.

to remove the ashes from the altar removes them.

וּבִזְמַן שֶׁהֵן מְרוּבִּין

And when they are many,

רָצִין וְעוֹלִין בַּכֶּבֶשׁ

they run and go up the ramp.

The steps (17)

  1. StatementThe original system: whoever wants it, and a race to break ties
  2. StatementWhich fingers may be extended for the lottery
  3. StatementAn injury leads the court to require a lottery
  4. QuestionWhy was there no lottery from the beginning?
  5. ResponseThey thought few would come to a night-time job
  6. ChallengeLimbs and fats are also burned at night, yet they had a lottery
  7. ResolutionBurning limbs and fats is the end of a daytime service
  8. ChallengeRemoving the ashes should then count as the start of a daytime service
  9. ResolutionReread רבי יוחנן: he washed at the outset for service
  10. ResponseAnother explanation: the רבנן expected sleep to keep כהנים away
  11. ChallengeLimbs and fats also involve sleep, yet they had a lottery
  12. ResolutionStaying up late is different from getting up in the middle of the night
  13. ChallengeWas the lottery really made because of danger?
  14. ResolutionTwo separate enactments, one after the other
  15. StatementWhich four אמות? Ruling out the ground and the bottom of the ramp
  16. ConclusionThe four אמות are the ones next to the מזבח
  17. QuestionDo the base and ledge count in the four אמות?