Rambam: Letters and Introductions Rabbi Yitzchak Breitowitz

Hi Shat everybody. Uh first uh our today is dedicated anonymously for the refu of leas basel. Uh this is a very very important time of year. On one level, it's a time when many people go crazy as I can show you my email uh with guilt, anxieties, fears, reliving traumas with their parents and then applying it to God. There's a whole I have no doubt whatsoever one can write a psychological study of orthodox Jewish reactions to the aser shamesha. Uh but you know the same thing that I said about El and the same thing that I said about Arashana I will say about Chuva and I will say about Yum Kipper. Uh these are days of seriousness. These are days of awe but they are days of joy. They are days of opportunity. They are days of reconciliation. And we just got to get we got to get rid of the garbage. And and I'll tell you the truth. One of the best chouos a person can make is to try to cultivate less anxiety about chuva. That would be a chuva. That would be a genuine spiritual progress. People look at it as oh I'm sherking my responsibility by not being compulsive. Uh I'd say exactly the opposite. To have peace of mind and to have serenity and to have calmness and to feel Hashem's love is not an abdication of responsibility. It is a spiritual endeavor of the highest order. So, as I say, maybe I'm saying it selfishly because I' I'd rather get less email than I get. So, maybe maybe I'm shal but but I think I think it's still it's still a a very very true uh true sentiment. Think about, you know, something you can do in this year to improve your relationship with Hashem. Let it be a small step. But sees that we want to do something and that counts for an awful lot. Writes that innual matters there is no such thing that is so small that it's insignificant. The smallest thing can count for a lot. So, I hope that all of us will be able to feel what the Mishna says that Yum Kipper together with the 15th of Aav was the happiest day of the year. Not sad, a very very happy day. Uh and in fact it's very very interesting when the Rambam gives you the laws of fasting. He actually breaks it up into two different sections in the Mishna Torah. We might have discussed this when we looked at the Mishna Torah. The laws of tishabove and the other fast days are in a section of the Mishna Torah that's called hilos tanos the laws of fasting. Now you'd figure yum kipper is the fast par excalance. It ought to be there but no yum kipper is in a different section where the ram actually invented a name. It's called hilos shisas osar the laws of resting on the 10th of tre. So the ram is intimating to us that the fast of yam kipper is fundamentally a different experience than the fast of the nth of a. The fast of the ninth of a is a fast of mourning, a fast of grieving, a fast of sadness because of tragedy. The fast of yam kiper, the Rambam considers it to be a fast of resting. We rest from the physical demands of the body so we can concentrate on our relationship to God. In other words, it's not called a tanis. It's called a shvita. Shvita is kind of a resting or a sensation. So the same way we rest from not doing, we also rest from not eating and drinking. So that's why people sometimes ask uh is it appropriate to wish people to have a s to have an easy fast right? So some say yeah they shouldn't suffer. The others say no you should have a you should have a hard fast. So I would draw a little compromise. I would say for tishabove perhaps we should not wish you at samca because the purpose of the fast is to suffer yum kipper samca is very good because the whole point of yam kiper might be we shouldn't be thinking about food in fact that might be why there's a special mitzvah eat a big meal before yum kipper so that the pangs of hunger might be less by tishab the suda mapse is a small thing it's a matzah you know it's matzah dipped in ashes and egg etc there's no inion of a big meal before tishab but there is an inion of a big meal uh before before yum kipper uh some have a min because yum kipper is a yamt in fact yon says why is there a mitzvah eat a big meal of yum kipper because yum kipper is a yumto and in reality there should be a sue do yumto but you can't have one because it's a fast so yum kipper you make a sudat yumto that's why it should be a tablecloth In other words, the same way you set the table for Yum, one should set the table on Arab. >> Yeah. Yeah. So, it does say does mean affliction. That That's a very good question. So, it says uh you should afflict your nephesh. So again perhaps using cababalo is not totally warranted always but nephesh refers to the animal part of you. So to be m the animal part of you is don't give the animal soul it what it wants in order that you can concentrate on spiritual spirituality. In fact, some even have a min, although I'm not aware of anyone that does it today, but it's recorded that there were among certain people a certain min that they would actually set a yumptive table on yum kipper itself with dishes. They would actually set the table even though obviously you know you don't uh you don't eat a meal. And uh a final thing I'm I'm going to go on to something else in a minute, but I just want to tell you a a beautiful beautiful thought. uh it was a throwaway observation from the amn of reb but everything the rebi says is something that's worthwhile you know aminov for reasons that I cannot possibly explain or get into is really lalum and they are at least the rebi is above time shak can be at night and my can be in the morning everything is simished although shabas and yamt are kept properly although shabas may not end till till Wednesday but but they do begin he does begin shabas on time. So the story goes there was one yum kipper when it was getting pretty late. They he was still having a sudam it was getting pretty late. So finally uh some of the older they were very afraid but they said to the rebby you know the rebi it's it's almost time. So the rebi pulled out another watch that said it was he had some more time whatever he had two different watches but he said a Jew has to have two watches at all times. One watch says it's getting late and the other watch says you still have some time and that actually is the balance of you know it is getting late because you know yam kipper coming the final day of judgment although hashem gives us a lot of chances there's oshana raba then there's kaneka according to some but so finality kind of changes based on god's mercy so on one hand it is getting late time to do chuva on the other hand you still have time right don't don't give up there's still a lot a lot that that that we can do so I think that dichotomy kind of expresses uh aerisa also called this is taken from the but it's become a very uh common expression I'm sure many of you have heard it already besur now kess means the throne K although it's spelled with a he but and this is based on the hill the day of enthronement the day that god is coronated so rashashana is called yuma the day of coronation it's also connected to the moon being covered up it's the only holiday where the moon is not visible because other yam to are towards the middle of the month so whether kessa means coronation or whether it means is the the covering up of the moon. But Rashashana is called Yom Hakessa and Osur is the festival of Somor. Yum Kipper, one of the names of Yumkipper is the fast of the 10th uh I'm sorry, the fast of the 10th day of the seventh month. So is called Benas Leosur and that that's a poetic phrase that appears in the in the right. So this is uh again an important time but a time where one should look at it as opportunity one should look at it as sima one should not necessarily go crazy over it because when you go crazy when you get anxious you actually shut down and then you can't really make progress. Um I remember reading uh I was once reading something about uh military surgeons in times of combat sometimes they're acting under very very extremely stressful conditions. somebody's artery is cut and they have to repair it in the middle of a middle of a war. So the standard military protocol was you can do it in two minutes if you don't rush. If you rush you're going to mess up, you're going to get anxious and yeah just take your time and you can do it in two minutes. You can do it but just take your time be calm. And that's I think a very important blessing in Abodr in a cardiac arrest before you do anything take your long pulse. [laughter] >> It's very good. That's very good. It makes a lot of makes a lot of sense. Uh that's what they say in the airplanes too. You know, put the parent puts the oxygen on himself first before herself first before he does the the child. Okay. >> Huh? >> What about airplanes? No, I was saying when when the oxygen when they when they have to uh when you have to use oxygen, they always instruct you put it on your face before you put it on your child's face. Okay. So anyway, what I do want to talk about though is something a little bit off the beaten track, but it's a very very important part of the Yum Kipper service and that is the seder of the avoda. If you remember in Musaf in the repetition of the Amida there's a very long dramatic rendition of the stepbystep service of Yum Kipra. Uh now Rev. Salvich Revasher Salvichek who uh in addition to teaching at YU for so many years was a Rav in Boston in fact that's where he lived he actually commuted from Boston to New York writes about his utter amazement that when he first came to Boston in the 1940s uh people were just when the Khas was doing the avoda people were just walking around they were bored. I mean the president was having conversations like it didn't make any sense to them. Now the truth is formed this is f the most fascinating part of of the whole because it really incorporates a great deal of Talm Torah in the seder of the aod. Uh so for example the seder aod in the Babylonian Talmud is in Yuma. Most of musuma which is the trackate about yum kipper mas yum is eight. Only the very last perk is about the fast of yam kiper. The first seven praim are not about the fast of yum kiper. It's seven chapters devoted to the avod in the ba mikash. That's why for example when you look at the riff and the rush who only codify those sections of the talmud that are that are relevant to they have nothing for the first seven chapters of the mas. they only start codifying in chapter 8. So we have seven chapters over almost a hundred blocks dealing with the ins and outs of the avod and we have a maklo rashi and tovos and the ramam and other opinions. So when you look at the poetic renditions, so a like would like to point out ah the poem here is only following toos and not rashi or this line is according to rambom and not toos because they compare the poetic accounts with the talmudic discussions because obviously in the liturgy it's not going to say this is a makus it's going to take a position and it's infinitely fascinating. For example, there's a passage in the sedraod that goes like no opinion and the maporum try to say well what opinion and they find oh this is following the tama shi and the like so it's a very very fascinating aspect but spiritually it's extremely important as well because as kazal say when we don't have a bas mikdash so the way we get the great atonement of these corbanos is by learning about it by studying about it by trying to understand uh what is going on. So as a result at a very very early time one of the put the poem poems that were incorporated in the repetition of the amida are the poems going through the detailed sequence of the seder raod now again everything is based on the Mishna and the garamora and the ram that that's very true but one needs to know that there are many many many many avoda that were extent uh probably more than 50 or 60 of them and different kahilot at different times used different poetic renditions. Now obviously hakly most of them are more or less this more or less the same but poetically these were different different poetic renditions. today of all of the different sidraod that once existed and again if you want to see all the different ones I refer you to the yum kipper maker of professor Denil Goulmra which again he has you know 50 different sidri there are basically two survivors today uh the avoid that is recited in the ashkanazic maker is a p that begins amit kak god who is mighty and strength uh in the uh it is a that is right. So some say some say uh so as a compliment to the all of the commentaries say that atanta in certain details is halogically more accurate than and as a result there are some Ashkanazim who even in the Ashkanazic will say uh most most do not most go with Amitak etc. But that is why has a certain priority. Now the author >> is in what >> has both. Yeah, that that's correct. That's correct because yeah, >> that's correct because in in Poland there there were those who Ashkanazim who said because it's more accurate. Again, I'm not I don't want to overstate the differences, but there are some differences. And usually when there are differences, isally a bit more accurate. Now, >> I think you'll find my experience anyway, most places. >> Is that true? >> Yeah. >> Wow. Okay. It's not Okay. I I I was not aware of that as far as I know. And I know in we do, but Okay. Okay. when I was there. >> Yeah. >> Oh, they didn't even they didn't even have copies. [laughter] Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So, here the the the possibly the reason for its accuracy might be based on authorship. And this is actually an interesting point. uh and that is Amitz Kokak was written by a very very very well-known python mushulam ben clonus uh who wrote many other pyam andos and the like and um amitz starts off as an olive phase but after the olive phase it spells out his name mashulam verbbeamus uh this was uh a little before Rashi uh in Italy he was a python in Italy uh and again a very very well-known and respected pythons. But when it comes to atonanta, there are some who say the composer of atonanta is a python yosi ben yosi who is called cohenado. Yosi benosi kohhenado. Now some have posited that cohenadal actually means he was a cohen all the way back uh to the time of the the last years of the second basikdash which number one would not only make this the earliest pot that we have but it would also be kind of an eyewitness account because who is the one who does the service on yum kipper the cohen god oh so if he tells this is how he did it then this is how he did it. On the other hand, there are two points to be made about this. Number one, some have said although there is certainly a python yosi coengal but some have suggested that coen god does not mean he was a co-engole he himself was later and it simply means he was a distinguished coho. Number two, Gmid points out and this is a real surprise because a lot of max have to be corrected. There are actually two different pin of a called atonanta and Yosi Benosi wrote the atakon that's not in the moxer and therefore printers made a mistake uh taking yosi and atakonanta one and attaching it to atakonanta 2 when in fact it belongs to one and we don't even have one. again Goldman has it but we don't have one in our in our Mox. So there's a lot of mysteries here and the like but these are Pute Pute Aoda. So um what I want to go over is what we don't have the time to go over the differences between atan and kalak. So I am basically going to give you an overview of the seder raod according to the Rambam which is more or less what Amitz what what can follow Amit Kak deviates a little bit but once you have the the overall structure you can then look at the moxer in more detail and see oh this fits this doesn't fit and the like so a few things you need to know number one all of the service of yum kipper with some very very rare exceptions ions has to be done only by the ken gadal and this does not only refer to the yum kipper mitzvot but even the daily corbent and the daily incense and the daily lighting of the manora these are things that are done every day of the year and normally they can be done by any cohen on yum kipper even the daily aodos must be done exclusively by the coen god okay that's number one number do as we'll see the coen goes to the mikvah five times on yum kipper even though normally you're not supposed to wash but he is to go to the mikvah five times and I'll discuss when those things happen. Uh number three uh that means washing his hands and feet is going to be done 10 times. So this is called to right 10 immersion uh sorry five immersions 10 sanctifications and the third point is that the Coen Guttle has two uniforms that he goes back and forth between the Coen Guttle's normal garments that he would wear the whole year contain including the breastplate and all of those things contain a lot of gold thread. They are called big day zahav. But for a lot of the service, he is not allowed to wear the golden garments. He must wear plain white linen garments that are called big day lavan. And the coing guttle will change five times. In fact, the immersion, the five immersions is when he's going between gold, white, gold, white, gold, white. But you'll see act one is big day zahav takes off big day zahav goes to the mikvah puts on big day lavan and that's act two. Then after act two takes off big day lavan goes to the mikvah puts on big day zahav a second time. Then does what he has to do and I'll discuss briefly what he does. Then he takes off big day zahav, goes to the mikvah, puts on big day lavan the second time, big day lavan. Then he takes off, does what he has to do. Again, I'll I'll mention what he does. Uh then takes off big day lavan, goes to the mikvah, puts on big day zahav for the last time, does what he has to do. Now at this point when he takes off the big day zahav he doesn't have to go to the mikvah because he's taking this is the end of yum kiper he's taking off the big day zahav and now he puts on his regular street clothes. So when he removes the big day zahav for the very last time there is no immersion that's involved. The last immersion is when he took off the big day lavan and he was going to put on the big day. He goes back and forth. Right. Okay. So now essentially therefore the avoda of yamipur can be described as a play in five acts although the acts are not of equal length. Act two is going to be much longer uh than all the other acts. Act one. By the way, I should also mention as a preliminary, the Cohen guttle was not allowed to sleep the night of Yamiper lest he have a seinal emission in the course of sleep and he would be disqualified from doing the avod. So in addition to the fact that he's going to work for hours and hours and hours on Yum Kipper, he was not even given the benefit of any sleep and it mentioned that if he would be drowsing off the young kohan would flick flick his cheek with their fingers. I'm sure the kids had a lot of fun doing that. And uh he was supposed to either learn or if he was not capable of his own learning, we would read to him things that were interesting. And it mentions by the way specifically that uh one of the things that was especially engrossing uh was the book of Danil. Uh that was one of the things that was read the different prophecies and visions of Denil about the future uh redemption uh and and the like. Okay. So the Cohen Duttle is pretty exhausted by the morning already. Uh but now uh what he does is uh he uh goes to the mikvah and he goes to the mikvah he washes he sanctifies washes his hands and feet and then he uh he puts on the big day zah. So act one is he's wearing big day zahav. In act one he does primarily the things that are done every single day. He brings the carbon tumid, the lamb that is brought every morning. He brings the incense not in the holy of holies but incense in the um in the golden altar of the of the uh right. So essentially act one is a vod. It is the daily tamid. It is the ctor. It is the incense uh on the golden misbayak and it is again the manura is not lit till the afternoon but he prepares the lamps in other words every day the manura is not lit in the morning but he prepares the lamps by uh putting in new oil and new wicks that is calledos okay that is act one at the end of act one he sanctifies his hands and feet uh takes off the big day zahav, goes to the mikvah, puts on big day lavan, sanctifies his hands and feet. Meaning there is a kush before he takes off the zahav and there is a kush after he puts on the lavan. Okay, there was only one kush after he put on the zahav because he was going from street clothes. But there's a kosh before he takes off the zahav and a kosh after the lavan. In the middle is immersion in the mikvah. And now we have act two. Act two is big day zahav. I'm sorry a big day lavan pure white garments. And this is where the the yum kipper service is done. Essentially again I'm I'm I'm simplifying. He goes into the kode shakim in act two a total of three times. He'll go in a total of four times. But in act two, it's only three times. The first time he brings incense and he brings the incense in one hand and coals, hot coals in the other hand. He goes into the keshak dashim. He puts down the coals and he takes the incense and he puts it on the coals and the smoke is generated. Let me remind you the keshak dashim is windowless. The koteshak dashim is totally dark. So in addition to the general fear that you would have in walking into the kotesak dashim uh it's totally dark. The only light would be the light of the coals generating the smoke of the well their own flame and then the the kuras. Now in the first mikdash what do you see when you walk into the keshashim? You have the ars assuming you see something by the coals the aura and hakodesh with its staffs that you know because the staffs why you carry the ark they remain in the on the aura [snorts] the coango puts the ktor between the two staffs of the auron kodesh now the gammoran yuma tells us that shortly before the destruction of the first basikdash Yoshi Hamelik who was a righteous king hid the arakodeses so it shouldn't be taken and desecrated by the Babylonians and for the entire second basikdash there was no Aronakesh there was no arakodesesh >> he concealed it uh under the subterranean tunnels under the temple mount uh and every once in a Uh this was more popular in 19th century. There are some expeditions kind of raiders of the lost ark that are looking uh looking for the oresh. >> Well, yeah. Well, the Yeah, the movie is not right. It's it's in it's in uh that part is not right. It's in now. But they do say somebody uh claimed that who have discovered it and they went to the and the took the paper with the directions how to get there destroyed it and then made the person swear that he would never never reveal it. Now that does mean that for the 420 years of the second basikdash there was no auron hakesh in the kesh. So what would the Cohen goal encounter when he went into the Keshak dashim? He encountered nothing. There was the Evans Shysia, the outcropping of rock, dome of the rock, although that may not be the right location uh from which God took the dirt that he made from uh etc. And he uh put the ktorus on the Evanchia. He put it on top of the top of the rock. Now the Zor says that they used to tie a chain or a rope around the leg of the Coen Gag because of a fear that the Cohen god might die because he was not worthy. Many of the Kohanim Gdoleum of the second temple were saddes and or they were not that worthy and uh if he doesn't show up for a while perhaps he would be dead. so they could pull his body out. I do want to mention that the Babylonian Talmud does not mention that. Now, it's true the Babylonian Talmud mentions that most of the Kohanim Gdoleim uh did of the Bay Sheni did not survive the year. But that does not mean they died on Yum Kipper itself. It meant that uh they didn't live the whole year. So the Babi does not say directly that there was any type of chain. And as a matter of fact, likely would be very very problematic. First of all, if it would be a metal chain and the coane dies, the metal chain would be mabel to you're not allowed to have to utensils in the azora. Second of all, a coane any coane is not allowed to wear any garment over and above the big de kahuna. If a Cohen wore a tie or a whatever it is or sock socks or whatever it would be the whole avoid puzzle. So one could argue that tying a rope or a chain around his leg might be a problem of extra garment. So as I say the babi does not necessarily accept the zar but it does say that after the coen brought the incense and he left the kotesak dashim walking backwards he uttered a short prayer. that Hashem should forgive Ben Israel and give them blessing. But it emphasizes this was a short prayer not to scare the people who wouldn't see him coming out. Right? So the guttle himself his tila excuse me was a tila kitsara. So that's the first time he enters. Then he enters a second time with the blood of a bull that was shefted. It was not shifted in the kotesak tashim. It was shefted in the regular place. But he brings the bull the the blood of the par uh into the keshak dashim and he sprinkles it eight times because he has a bowl of blood. Uh he puts his right index finger in it and he flicks once up in an up direction and seven down. And that's when he counts to keep count. He says and that that's called so it's a total of eight sprinklings of the dam hapar. Then he goes out, this is going to be the third time, and he takes the blood of a goat that was slaughtered and he does the same thing in the uh so so far that mean that gives you 16 sprinklings. Then he does the same thing on the outside of right what separates the keshak from the aus. So on the outside of the paroas, he also does eight and eight. >> Huh? No, no, no. We're still act two. Act two. Act two. Act two. Act two. >> The same act the same time. I mean, >> no, no. This is the third. This is the third time. In other words, the first time was the second time was the blood of the bull. >> Then he went out and he came in a third time with the blood of the goat. We didn't do the fourth is not in this act. The fourth is later. Now after he finished his three entries into the keshdashim he then he's not he's not in the keshashim anymore. He then does eight and eight uh on the outside of the parroat. >> Say again. >> Bull and goat. >> Bull and goat. So, so far we now have a total of 32 32 Hzot 32 Hazot. Now, still you still have a big two big bowls of blood, right? You only use a tiny little bit of the blood. And then what happens is remember he's not in the kesh, but he's still wearing his white linen garments. >> Huh? >> The third. * 3 is 24. >> No, no, no, no. He did eight eight. One second. Eight par in the keshak dashim. Eight goat in the keshak dashim. Eight par on the perohus. And eight uh eight goat on the perohus. That's 32. >> It's 30. Yeah. Act two. Act act two. Act two. I I'll tell you when we change acts. So this is 32. Then what happens is the goat's blood and the bull blood are mixed together and their blood is applied and this is the only time blood is applied to this altar. Most corbanos are the outer altar in the courtyard. The golden altar is only used for incense. But on yum kipper, the coin applies the mixed blood to the four corners of the msbak and seven times on the top. So I don't want to be overly technical, although this is highly technical, but I hope if you're following the math, we have a total of 43 sprinklings of the blood. We have eight of the par in the keshakashim. Eight of the sir, the goat in the keshaktashim. Eight of the par on the paro. Eight of the par of the soy on the paro. Then the bloods are mixed and you have four on the corners of the msbayak and seven on top of the msbayak. And this is done with the index finger, the right index finger. Now again, you still have a lot of blood. You have a big bowl of blood and that is poured on the outer MSB on the base where leftover blood is poured. That that actually is a standard that is a standard practice of Shirim. Uh it's interesting that the sedraod doesn't mention but the risk who was risk was an expert in Torakula but Kutchin was his famous thing. So they recount that whenever they got to that part of the Avod the Briskov would always say in a loud voice they would pour the Shirim. You know most of us aren't even following what's going on anyway. But he said this is the point at which you pour you pour the Shir. Again this is still act two. He's wearing big day lavan. Now he then goes to the most mysterious part of the kiper service the scapegoat. Now the scapegoat now remember there were two goats in fact one goat that's whose blood was in the toes we just talked about the other now is the scapegoat >> he undoubtedly I surely he surely did but >> got to keep going right you don't you don't stop that's 100% true uh Was she by other? >> No, he had to he had to she the animal too. He had to she uh he had to receive the blood and then he brought it into the keshakim. Okay. Now the sir this goat the second goat not the one whose blood was brought into the keshakim. Uh this goat uh is goes by different names. In the Torah, it is called, which is a very, very, very kind of risky name. That means the goat that is brought to the demons of the field. Kazal I I'll give you a little explanation on it, although not too much. Kazal pro my guess, this is my speculation, but I I think it makes sense to me. Kazal didn't want to use the phrase because it may create misunderstandings like idolatry, demons. So they gave it a much more neutral term and that is what's used in the seda hamish which simply means the goat that's sent away. That's a par. So again, they didn't want to use because of its connotations. They called it. Now, what exactly does the Tyra mean by the goat that is brought to the demons? So I'll tell you a Ramban. I'm not sure if the Ramban will help you much more, but the Ramban says the following. The Ramban brings from the makubim that this is a bribe to the satan not to be mach in shmayim against us and the mush that's given is that if you are a burglar and you're breaking into a house and you are afraid that there are dog guard dogs there so a good burglar will bring some raw meat so it can throw it to the dog and distract the dog And then you can rob. Of course, a very well-trained guard dog learns not to get distracted, but most dogs are not. Although, I have to say, I once saw a video of somebody had a um a golden retriever as their guard dog, and this guy breaks into the house, and the golden retriever just wants to play with the burglar. So, uh golden retrievers are great pets, but don't don't use them for uh for guard dogs. Okay. But in any event, the Ramban says the following. So too when we want to approach the melam for there are dogs that are trying to stop us and therefore the zel is the raw meat you throw to the dogs to get them off your back so you have access to hashem again this hardly solves the the theological problem but this is what the raman brings now on the soil zel the coenado puts his hands on that boat and recites a confession for all of the sins of the Jewish people. The way it's described in a physical way, just in a physical way, physical way is it's as if all of the sins are transferred onto that goat. Now, the goat is then sent away. Now, this is the one thing the Cohen guttle doesn't do, and the Coen guttle gets a break at this point. Meaning the coing guttle is not allowed to do anything until the goat is sent out and reaches its destination and dies and that that I estimate would be at least an hour and a half based on the distance. So the coen guttle does get an hour and a half break where he does nothing. And who takes the surf? It could be anybody. Could be a Israel. >> It could be a Cohen. Huh? Ishit is a designated person but it could it could be it could be anybody at all and uh he has to take it he has to leave the the the the settled areas into the desert. He has to go essentially where the desert begins. In fact you know when you leave uh to the south you see all of these uh these this desert area and it kind of all looks the same. It's a very monotonous series of hills, but people point out a tour guide can tell you, at least it's a guess. This is the Now that particular hill, although it looks the same as every other hill, I don't know, but that particular hill is where they take they took the scapegoat and the scapegoat was pushed off the mountain. It's hard to push >> walk with this goat. >> They have to walk with the goat. It's >> really hot outside. >> That's correct. And that's why it mentions that there were refreshment stands all along the route that some people's job on yum kipper was to man the refreshment stands. So in case because of nephesh a hot day you're walking in the heat in the desert uh with a goat. Uh so is that uh you'd be allowed to eat and every at every there were 10 sukot 10 refreshment booths from the basa mikdash to where the desert area would be and then each one the people who manned the stands would call out if you feel that you have to eat or drink eat or drink. So when he finally gets there, uh, he would tie, uh, a red ribbon on the goat and half of the red ribbon would be tied on a rock, so to speak, as he would split the ribbon and the goat would be pushed off and in years that we merited divine forgiveness, not every year, the red would miraculously turn turn white. And that's a remesk. If your sins are as red or as scarlet uh like scarlet uh I will make it as white as snow and in the time of the basikdesh there was a physical miracle for that it's also mentions that in the ba mikdash there was also a red and so when the t was kicked off the thread in the ban mikdash would turn white and that is how the cohen guttle knew that he could continue the service remember he's not allowed to continue the service until the sur mishtalak has been kicked off. How would he know that? He would know that because of the miracle of the red string in the temple turning white. Uh others say he simply knew that because he estimated the walking time. He was able to work with an estimation of how long it took to get there, you know, etc. in the Mishna. Uh did he rely on a miracle because he didn't have a miracle every year or did he rely on estimation? But as I say, be er this gives us uh kind of an hour and a half, maybe two hours where the Cohen guttle does get a a break. At this point, he's still wearing white garments. He's still wearing white garments. >> Are there two red threads? Like I don't really understand. >> Yeah, there were two things. In other words, uh when a red thread a red Okay, I misspoke a little bit. The red thread was tied on the in the B mikdash itself. When they got to the site, uh the person would then split it and tie half of it to Iraq. So now in the basikt no in the B mikdash there was another red thread. Yeah. But yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So there there were two red threads. Yeah. Okay. But the red thread on the goat was split in half at that point. Yeah. Kipper you said >> no >> generally the red thread. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. >> Well, uh it's hard to say because you know uh red is actually not a good sign. Uh the whole idea is that the red should u turn white and unless you have a red that's turning white uh I don't know but yeah I know some people do the red thread. Uh many Ashkenazm do it as well although its origin is is spartum. I remember that reading when Rosh Schwab's daughter uh came back from seminary. So she was wearing a red thread because all the seminary girls wear a red thread and he asked her what's on your wrist. She said, "Oh, a red thread to ward off the iron har." So he took some a pair of scissors, >> he cut it off. He says, "We don't do that." Okay. So again I'm not here to be misal in anyone's minhagim and the like but you know somebody once asked us what is the best sigula for braos so he said the best sigula is a make yourself a precious treasure in God's eyes that's the best sigula mola just like they say a skoola for parnosa is to get a uh you know there are there are schoolos but you know we don't like schoolos that involve effort we like schoolos that don't that don't involve effort [laughter] >> yeah okay very again. Okay. Now, what the Cohen guttle now does, he's still wearing his white garments. White garments. You'll notice I didn't give you another mikvah immersion. >> Yeah, they're probably red. They're probably red with blood. That's That's probably true, but they're kosher. They are kosher. So, at this point, he reads the Torah. He has to be a balor as well. And he's the only ola. No other alias. uh and he reads the Torah. Essentially, it's the order of aoda in paratos. It happens to be my barmissaf. Maybe that's why I I like the aboda a lot. I talk about it a lot. Uh and then after he finishes the that reading, he recites eight special blessings. Not just one blessing, but a blessing for Israel, a blessing for forgiveness, a blessing for Shina. Eight eight blessings. out while he is reading the Torah >> in another part of town, meaning outside of the temple complex, the carcasses of the of the goat and the bull are burnt. They're not corbanos. They are not burnt on the misbeh. And that that obviously is done by people who are not the coento. And it mentions that people had to decide, you know, yam kipper was kind of a spectator sport in those days. Many people would instead of a long long davening, people would hang around if they were there and watched the service in the temple. But it mentions that some people wanted to watch the burning of the bull and some people wanted to hear the Cohen guttle's Torah reading and the Mishna says you couldn't do both. Meaning anyone that went to the burning of the par missed creassa. Anyone that went to the creassa missed the burning of the par because they were paring the because they both were done exactly at the same time. Yeah. >> Yeah. Yeah. Yes. So, so the short the short answer is that in a sense you still got to keep going. Mean meaning even if Shalom it did not turn white which means our forgiveness was not complete. We got to still keep on doing the service. We still still keep on doing the fasting. Uh the show must go on. It does not stop. And we hope in the course of the year maybe even later in later on or if not even in the course of the year we will be z to forgiveness but it absolutely is not a heter to truncate uh the service. Okay. Uh now I just want to very yeah >> yeah the the bull and the goat were slaughtered in the courtyard of the temple where all all corbanas are slaughtered. There was nothing special about where they were slaughtered. Their blood was brought into the keshak dashim and the different >> No, no, the a bowl. The the coen would would receive the blood gushing out in a bowl and the blood was brought into the keshakim and then on the paro and then on the golden misbayak uh and the shirim were poured on the out the base of the outer misbak but the meat was burnt not in the base of mash. Okay. Now the is huh? >> Not in the where was it burnt? >> No. Uh not in the Azar at all. It was burnt in the Torah itself. If you learn paras you will see not only certain the meat of certain for various reasons was not always burnt on the misbeh. Sometimes it was burnt and this is one of them. the par and of yum kipper the meat is not on the misbeh it is burnt >> so it's just like burnt in a barbecue >> well yeah it's not eaten but it has to be totally burnt there was a designated area there was a designated area for the uh near the basa mikdash but you don't have to go to the desert it's not as far as the soy land in fact people identifi again people identify it too is they identify it um it's near the mir yeshiva I'm not creating any association but the The place where they burnt the corbanote that are burnt is around the base Israel neighborhood. I mean that that kind of so it's not far but it's not in the temple. It's not on the it's outside of the Yeah. >> change the whole nature of what is here. >> Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So, so, so, so, right. Yeah. >> Yeah. So, that's a good point. So, so, so one thing I would say is that remember though that Yam Kipper was not a pilgrimage festival. So, the vast majority of the Jewish people were not in the Bikav and as a result they were doing very much like we were doing. The question I guess you would ask isam were there services inlay? So you do get the impression there is no question you get the impression from the Mishna that people were just hanging around watching a very passive type of thing. On the other hand, the Maporum explained that that obviously maybe it's a uh there was prayer, there was chuba, there was vidoy and remember at various times the cohen guttle would recite the special name of god and people would bow down as we still do and they would say bor shame kod. I didn't have a chance to really cover all of that because I'm trying to be very very quick. Uh so there was elements of prayer, there was elements of chuba but indeed it did not seem to be as long of a dabining as we have today. Yeah. >> Question that like a lot of people were doing different things like were there bunches of people at each one of those where he was walking and who was accompanying him? >> Well, nobody ac Nobody accompanied him. >> All by himself. >> He went by himself. But uh the Sukkot had had had staff. But again, these were not full these were not, you know, gourmet restaurants. I mean uh as far as you know like >> it seemed like it was like at the marathon where you just have like >> Yeah, that that's correct. It was like one or two people were were manning the stab wasn't a lot of people were there. Um okay now after creator he is madesh yavlav takes off big day lavan immerses in a mikvah puts on big day zahav and then is madesh yadav vaglav and now we are in act three which is a relatively short act in act three he brings the corbantoid according to the ram of the afternoon because it's already afternoon, uh, etc. And, uh, that's kind of about it. It's really the abod and the kto of the afternoon and the lighting. No, no, no. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. In act three is just the carbon tidb and some remaining musafim that were the musafim of the holiday. Okay. Now he then is mad takes off the big day zahav goes to the mikvah puts on big day and now he is going to enter the keshak dashim the fourth and final time what is there left to do this is quite amazing he goes into the keshak dashim simply to remove the bowl of coals and the bowl of incense that has already been burnt up takes away the garbage. Now you need a special trip. I mean he could have done that in the earlier trips and the Bali Muser liked to say you see from here that cleaning up your mess in a holy place is so significant that it even permits an extra journey into the kotakashim. He wants to leave the kod shakashim in a clean state and that's all he does. the the the second time the four the fourth act but the second time he wears big day lavan and the fourth time he enters the keshim is simply to remove the bowl of incense and the coals then he goes out once again you're familiar he's mad yaglav uh he uh goes takes off the he goes to the mikvah puts on big day zahav for the last time and then He brings the incense of the afternoon and the lighting, the lighting of the manura. The lamps are prepared in the morning, but they're lit in the afternoon. And that is it. That is the end of his day. If it's not yet dark, he has to fast like everybody else. But at that point, madesh takes off the big day zahav. There's no longer any immersion. Uh he puts on big day atmo and the Mishna says there was a great if yam kiper is over this was a great great great joy in Kali Israel uh that the coenal brought kapara for ami Israel uh the garra gives us a wonderful story that one time a cohen was walking after yum kipper and there were tens of tens of thousands of people following him but then from the other end camea and afalong who was the head of the Sanhedrin they were the teachers of Hil and Shami and all the people saw them and they left the Coen Gut and they went to be with Shay and Afalion and the Coen Gut who was not such a righteous person and in the second temple many were not righteous uh and felt very offended and he even insult the Nataly because they came from Gaim they were not their families were not born Jews they they came from converts and uh they basically taught the idea that the honor of Torah is greater than even the coloring gut goes into the shak. Okay. So this is the seder of I left out a lot of details uh but I think if you then look at even the art scroll or any translation or whatever uh you'll be able to understand at least how it works. Yeah. Well, well, the purpose basically is this. You know, Khazal say in rather that why does the coming not enter the keshim in gold garments? Why does he switch to white at all? Because gold is reminiscent of the sin of the golden calf. And when you're seeking mercy for Clai Israel, you don't bring your sins to God. Now the question then becomes a very good question. So why does he wear gold garments on yum kipper at all? We ought to say on yum kipper he only wears white. Why does he wear gold at all? So zman says a very good voice. When he's in the kotesak dashim it's just him and God. Nobody else is there. >> So when you're with God you don't bring up the sins of the Jewish people. But when you're doing things outside of the kotes and people can see you let them be reminded of their because they have to do chuva. So we need to have the big day when he's doing stuff outside of the so people will remember the and do chuva. But when he's with Hashem, you don't, you know, there's no reason to bring up AOS. Yeah. >> A couple of different outfits of white. >> Yeah. So, as a matter of fact, it does mention he had two different outfits of white. The outfit that he wore in the long act two was more expensive and more precious than what he wore for act act four. Act four was essentially removing the garbage. He actually wore uh an inferior quality of that. So we did have and by the way those garments have to be buried. They cannot be used again. They cannot be used again even by him next kipper. Every new yum kipper there have to be these new garments that were said at the very beginning >> the laws of yum kipper. >> No yum is the track date of the dealing with yam kipper and seven out of eight chapters are just [snorts] about the corbanos. And only one >> only one the very last chapter are the laws of the fast of Yamiper. So all of the that we practice today are in the eighth perk of Musuma. So Musuma although it's in sed mo dealing with holidays topically is much more connected to Sed Kim the order of Corbanos but is a holiday so we keep it there. Anyway, again I wish you all and may have on all of us. Be a good year ahead. Please God. >> Amen. You too. >> Yeah. Let me just uh Yeah. She says,