Tamid 1:3-4
משנה תמיד א:ג-ד
Seder: Kodashim | Tractate: Tamid | Chapter: 1
📖 Mishna
Mishna 1:3
משנה א:ג
Hebrew:
נָטַל אֶת הַמַּפְתֵּחַ וּפָתַח אֶת הַפִּשְׁפָּשׁ, וְנִכְנַס מִבֵּית הַמּוֹקֵד לָעֲזָרָה, וְנִכְנְסוּ אַחֲרָיו וּשְׁתֵּי אֲבוּקוֹת שֶׁל אוּר בְּיָדָם. וְנֶחְלְקוּ לִשְׁתֵּי כִתּוֹת, אֵלּוּ הוֹלְכִים בָּאַכְסַדְרָא דֶּרֶךְ הַמִּזְרָח, וְאֵלּוּ הוֹלְכִים בָּאַכְסַדְרָא דֶּרֶךְ הַמַּעֲרָב. הָיוּ בוֹדְקִין וְהוֹלְכִין עַד שֶׁמַּגִּיעִין לִמְקוֹם בֵּית עוֹשֵׂי חֲבִתִּים. הִגִּיעוּ אֵלּוּ וָאֵלּוּ, אָמְרוּ שָׁלוֹם, הַכֹּל שָׁלוֹם. הֶעֱמִידוּ עוֹשֵׂי חֲבִתִּים לַעֲשׂוֹת חֲבִתִּים:
English:
At some time near dawn the appointed priest took the key that was kept beneath a marble tablet set in the floor of the Chamber of the Hearth and opened with it the wicket [hapishpesh] in the gate of the Chamber of the Hearth. And he entered through the wicket from the Chamber of the Hearth to the Temple courtyard; and the priests of the patrilineal family entered after him, and two torches of fire were in their hands, to light the way. The priests divided into two groups; these priests would walk along the portico that surrounded the Temple courtyard, starting in the direction of east, and those priests would walk along the portico starting in the direction of west.The priests would ensure that all the service vessels were in place, ready for use in the daily service. Both groups would continue inspecting the vessels until they reached the place where the Chamber of the Preparer of the High Priest’s daily Griddle-Cake Offering was located. When they reached that place, these priests and those priests said to each other: It is well; all is well, and all the vessels are in place. They then set the preparer of the griddle-cake offering to prepare the griddle-cake offering.
קלאוד על המשנה:
This mishna describes a beautiful pre-dawn ritual: the priestly patrol of the Temple courtyard. After the appointed priest opened the wicket gate from the Chamber of the Hearth into the courtyard, the priests split into two groups and walked in opposite directions along the portico, carrying torches in the darkness. Their task was to verify that all the service vessels were in their proper places, ready for the day’s work.
The two groups met at the Chamber of the Griddle-Cake Offering (Chavitin), where the High Priest’s daily meal offering was prepared. Their exchange — “It is well; all is well” — is both a practical status report and a moment of ritual reassurance. In the pre-dawn silence of the Temple, this greeting confirmed that the sacred space was intact and ready. The setting of the griddle-cake preparer to work marks the transition from nighttime guard duty to active morning service.
This patrol system reflects a deep respect for the vessels and infrastructure of the Temple. Nothing was taken for granted; each day began with a fresh verification that everything was in order. The image of two lines of priests moving through the dark colonnade with flickering torches, converging on a central point, evokes the coordinated precision that characterized the entire Temple service.
Key Terms:
- פִּשְׁפָּשׁ (Pishpash) = A small wicket gate, a door within a larger gate
- אַכְסַדְרָא (Aksadra) = The portico or colonnade surrounding the Temple courtyard
- חֲבִתִּים (Chavitin) = The griddle-cake offering brought daily by the High Priest, half in the morning and half in the evening
- שָׁלוֹם, הַכֹּל שָׁלוֹם (Shalom, HaKol Shalom) = “It is well; all is well” — the greeting exchanged when the patrol groups met
Mishna 1:4
משנה א:ד
Hebrew:
מִי שֶׁזָּכָה לִתְרֹם אֶת הַמִּזְבֵּחַ, הוּא יִתְרֹם אֶת הַמִּזְבֵּחַ, וְהֵם אוֹמְרִים לוֹ, הִזָּהֵר שֶׁמָּא תִגַּע בַּכְּלִי, עַד שֶׁתְּקַדֵּשׁ יָדֶיךָ וְרַגְלֶיךָ מִן הַכִּיּוֹר, וַהֲרֵי הַמַּחְתָּה נְתוּנָה בַמִּקְצוֹעַ בֵּין הַכֶּבֶשׁ לַמִּזְבֵּחַ, בְּמַעֲרָבוֹ שֶׁל כָּבֶשׁ. אֵין אָדָם נִכְנָס עִמּוֹ, וְלֹא נֵר בְּיָדוֹ, אֶלָּא מְהַלֵּךְ לְאוֹר הַמַּעֲרָכָה. לֹא הָיוּ רוֹאִין אוֹתוֹ וְלֹא שׁוֹמְעִין אֶת קוֹלוֹ, עַד שֶׁשּׁוֹמְעִין קוֹל הָעֵץ שֶׁעָשָׂה בֶן קָטִין מוּכְנִי לַכִּיּוֹר, וְהֵן אוֹמְרִים הִגִּיעַ עֵת. קִדֵּשׁ יָדָיו וְרַגְלָיו מִן הַכִּיּוֹר, נָטַל מַחְתַּת הַכֶּסֶף וְעָלָה לְרֹאשׁ הַמִּזְבֵּחַ, וּפִנָּה אֶת הַגֶּחָלִים הֵילָךְ וְהֵילָךְ, חָתָה מִן הַמְאֻכָּלוֹת הַפְּנִימִיּוֹת, וְיָרַד. הִגִּיעַ לָרִצְפָה, הָפַךְ פָּנָיו לַצָּפוֹן, הָלַךְ לְמִזְרָחוֹ שֶׁל כֶּבֶשׁ כְּעֶשֶׂר אַמּוֹת. צָבַר אֶת הַגֶּחָלִים עַל גַּבֵּי הָרִצְפָה רָחוֹק מִן הַכֶּבֶשׁ שְׁלשָׁה טְפָחִים, מְקוֹם שֶׁנּוֹתְנִין מֻרְאוֹת הָעוֹף וְדִּשּׁוּן מִזְבֵּחַ הַפְּנִימִי וְהַמְּנוֹרָה:
English:
The priest who won the lottery to remove the ashes from the altar shall then remove the ashes. And the other priests say to him: Be careful that you do not touch the vessel with which you perform the rite until you sanctify your hands and your feet from the Basin, as a priest may not perform any service in the Temple before sanctifying his hands and feet. The priests would continue their reminders: The coal pan with which the ashes are removed is placed in the corner between the ramp and the altar, on the western side of the ramp. No person would enter with the priest who was removing the ashes, as it was permitted to enter the area between the Entrance Hall of the Sanctuary and the altar only when performing the Temple service. And there was no lamp in his hand when he went to fetch the coal pan. Rather, he would walk by the light of the arrangement of wood on the altar, upon which the portions of the offerings sacrificed the previous day were burned during the night. The other priests would not see him, as the altar hid him from their sight, nor could they hear the sound of his steps. They were therefore unaware of his progress until they heard the sound of the wood that ben Katin crafted into a mechanism [mukhani] of pulleys that was used to sink the Basin into flowing water during the night, so that its water would not be disqualified by remaining overnight. When the priests heard the sound of the pulleys raising the Basin from the water, they said to each other: The time for sanctifying hands and feet has come. The priest sanctified his hands and his feet with water from the Basin after he raised it. He then took the silver coal pan from the corner between the ramp and the altar, and ascended to the top of the altar. The priest cleared the upper layer of coals to this side and to that side and scooped into the coal pan the inner coals that were completely consumed. He then descended the ramp. When he reached the floor, in the southeast of the Temple courtyard, he turned his face toward the north. He would walk along the east side of the ramp toward the south side of the altar, walking a distance of about ten cubits from the bottom of the ramp, which was twenty cubits from the altar. He then heaped the coals upon the floor in a location three handbreadths distant from the ramp, in the place where the priests would place the crop of the bird burnt offering, the ashes removed from the inner, golden altar, and the ashes removed from the Candelabrum.
קלאוד על המשנה:
This mishna provides a vivid, step-by-step account of the ash-removal procedure. The winning priest is reminded by his fellow priests not to touch any vessel before sanctifying his hands and feet from the Basin (kiyor) — a fundamental rule of Temple service. The priest walks alone to the altar, navigating by the glow of the burning wood arrangement, with no lamp and no companion. This solitary journey in firelight creates one of the most atmospheric scenes in the entire Mishna.
The sound of ben Katin’s pulley mechanism raising the Basin becomes the signal that the ash-removal has begun. Ben Katin was a historical figure who improved the Temple’s infrastructure by creating a device to submerge the Basin overnight so its water would remain fresh and valid. The other priests, unable to see the lone priest behind the altar, relied on this auditory cue. The entire system was designed around sound signals — a recurring theme in Tamid.
The procedure itself is precise: the priest clears the upper coals, scoops the inner consumed coals into a silver pan, descends, turns north, walks along the east side of the ramp, and deposits the coals at a specific spot three handbreadths from the ramp. This location also served as the deposit site for other waste from the inner altar and the Candelabrum, creating a single designated area for all ash disposal.
Key Terms:
- כִּיּוֹר (Kiyor) = The Basin, a large copper vessel from which priests sanctified their hands and feet before service
- מוּכְנִי (Mukhani) = The pulley mechanism crafted by ben Katin to lower the Basin into water overnight
- מַחְתָּה (Machtah) = The coal pan or fire-pan used to scoop and transport coals
- תַּפּוּחַ (Tapuach) = The circular ash heap in the center of the altar
- כֶּבֶשׁ (Kevesh) = The ramp leading up to the altar from the south side