Say it now, say it loud! Mishna Berrua 619:2

The second line of the "Shm'a," the basic Jewish declaration of faith, is said in a whisper 364 days of the year. On Yom Kippur, we say it aloud. The Chofetz Chaim, author of the Mishna Berrua, explains why.

Shulchan Aruch: On the evening of Yom Kippur and through the next day, we say 'Baruch Shem Cavod Machulto' in a loud voice.

Mishna Berrua: This is because 'Baruch Shem' is the angels' song, and on Yom Kippur the people Israel are like angels.

Dangerous Secrets: Yoma 54a

The Rabbis debate whether the Holy Ark, which contains the second set of tablets received by Moses at Sinai, were hidden at the site of the Temple in Jerusalem or taken with the Jews into exile. The following story supports the idea that the Ark stayed in Jerusalem.

A priest was passing the time idly, and saw a part of the floor in the Temple was different than the surrounding floor. The priest went to tell his friend, but died suddenly before he was able to finish the story. They realized that the priest had stumbled on the Ark's hiding place. How had the priest been passing the time? Rabbi Chelbo taught, 'The priest was playing with his hatchet.'

It was taught in the Rabbi Ishmael's study hall: Two priests whose wounds had made them unfit for the main Temple service were working with the woodpile, and one of their axes slipped away and fell in the same spot [as in the other priest's story]. Fire came out and devoured the ax.

Prayer, Rain, and Egoism: Yoma 53a

Rabbi Channina Ben Dosa was traveling on the road, and it started raining. He said, 'Master of the Universe, should the entire world be happy [since the rain benefits crops] and Channia unhappy [since he had to travel in the rain, and had no land that would benefit from the rain.]

The rain stopped.

Channina arrived home, and said, 'Master of the Universe, should the entire world be unhappy and Channina happy?

The rain started.

Hiding the Ark: Yoma 52b

Moses put the second set of tablets from Mt. Sinai in the Holy Ark, which was at the center of the Tabernacle and its successor the Temple in Jerusalem. It was hidden away, and has yet to be found. The Talmud discusses its concealment in this passage.

When the Ark was hidden away, hidden with it were the bottle of Manna (which Moses put aside as a reminder of G-d's gift of sustenance during the Jew's wanderings in the desert), a flask of the anointing oil (which was used in the dedication of the Tabernacle), Aaron's staff with its almonds and blossoms (the staff miraculously grew almond blossoms as a sign of divine favor for Aaron's priestly line), and the chest of gold which the Philistines dedicated to the L-rd of Israel (the Philistines took the Ark captive during a war. They found that whatever village kept the ark was afflicted with hemorrhoids, and then decided to return it along with gifts to the Jews.)

Who hid the Ark? King Josiah hid it. Why? He saw it was written (Deuteronomy 28:36 JPS Translation) 'The L-rd will drive you and the king you have sent over you to a nation unknown to you or your fathers, where you shall serve other gods, of wood and stone," and was aroused to hide the ark.

I find the second passage fascinating. King Josiah was a great leader in Judaism. Before his time, people had even stopped observing the Passover sacrifice. He restored it and many other important rituals. I'm amazed at how he was able to restore the people's connection to tradition in the shadow of such awful portents.

Spit and Modesty: Yoma 47a

Rabbi Ishmael the son of Kimchit, a high priest during the Second Temple period, was famous for his enormous hands. He also is featured in this very strange story:

Once Rabbi Ishmael the son of Kimchit was speaking with an Arab in the marketplace. Some spittle flew out of the Arab's mouth and landed on the Rabbi's clothes [rendering him unfit for service in the Temple that day.] Y'shevav, Rabbi Ishmael's brother, performed the ritual duties in Rabbi Ishmael's place. Thus, their mother saw two of her sons serve as High Priest on a single day. It is also told that once Rabbi Ishmael the son of Kimchit was speaking with a foreign king in the marketplace, and some spittle flew out of the king's mouth and landed on Rabbi Ishmael's clothing [again rendering him unfit for service in the Temple for a day.] Rabbi Ishmael's brother Joseph served in the Temple in his place, and thus their mother again saw two of her sons serve as High Priest on a single day.

Our Rabbis teach that Kimchit [Rabbi Ishmael's mother] had seven sons, and all of them served as High Priest. The Sages asked Kimchit, 'What have you done to merit such an honor?' She replied, 'The roof of my house never saw my braids.' [That is, she was extremely careful about keeping her hair covered at all times.] The Sages replied to Kimchit, 'Many others have done this, but without the same result.'

We Love Fat Priests: Yoma 47b

As part of many ritual sacrifices in the Temple, a priest would take a handful of flour and sacrifice it on the altar. The Talmud, being the Talmud, wants to know exactly what a 'handful' is. A problematic question is whether any flour left between the fingers after a priest scoops up the flour with his hands is actually part of the handful or something extra. Our sages were unable to determine the status of such flour. Therefore they mandated that, whenever possible, fat priests, whose fingers are chubby enough that no flour gets caught between them, should perform this sacrifice.

The Secret of the Incense: Yoma 38a

Our Rabbis taught that the Avtinos family was very skilled in making incense [for the Temple in Jerusalem] and did not want to teach anyone else how to do it. The sages imported skilled tradesmen from Alexandria, Egypt, who knew how to mix the spices for incense, but these tradesmen were unable to make the incense smoke like when the Avtinos family manufactured it. When the Avtinos family would make it, the smoke would rise up like a date tree, while the Egyptians' incense would spread out everywhere.

When the sages heard of the situation, they said, "Anything that the Holy One Praised be G-d created was created for G-d's glory, as it is written (Proverbs 16:4) 'G-d did everything for G-ds own sake.'" [I would translate this more loosely as, "Dudes, what can we do, we are stuck! Let's go with the flow."]

The sages summoned [the Avtinos family back to their work with the incense], but the family refused to come. The sages doubled [the Avtinos'] wages, and the family agreed to come back to work...

The sages asked the family, "Why do you refuse to to teach [others how to make the incense]? The Avtinos family replied, "We have a tradition from our fathers that this house [the Temple] will be destroyed in the future. Our fathers worried that an unworthy person would learn how to make the incense, and go perform idolatry with it."

The sages praised the Avtinos family for this: a bride never left their house for her wedding day perfumed, and when someone from the Avtinos family married a woman from elsewhere the groom stipulated that the bride must not perfume herself, lest people say that the family was misappropriating Temple incense for such a purpose...

It was taught by a Tanna [one of the early sages]: Rabbi Ishmael said that he was once walking on the road, and saw one of the descendants of the Avtinous family, and told him, "Your fathers [the Avtinos family] wanted to increase their own glory and reduce G-d's glory. G-ds glory is still there [on the Temple mount, even though the Temple is destroyed] but your family's honor is reduced [because there is no need for the incense.]

Rabbi Akiva taught, once Rabbi Ishmael Ben Loga told me, "Once I and one of the descendants of the Avtinos family went out to gather herbs. , and I saw [the Avtinos' descendant] laugh and cry. I asked him, 'Why do you cry?' [The descendent of Avtinos responded], 'I am remembering my ancestors' glory.' I asked him, 'Why do you laugh?' [The descendent of Avtinos responded],'Because the Holy One Praised be G-d will return us [to our former glory!]' I asked him, 'What made you think of all of this now?' [The descendent of Avtinos responded],'The herb that make the incense rise up in a column is before me.' Rabbi Ishmael said 'Show me it!' [The descendent of Avtinos responded], 'We have made an oath to never show this herb to anyone.' "

Rabbi Yochanan ben Nuri said, "Once I found an old man holding a scroll containing incense recipes. I said to him, 'Where are you from?' The old man replied, 'I am from the house of Avtinos.' I asked him, 'What is that in your hand?' The old man replied, 'Formulas for incense.' I said, 'Show me them!' The old man replied, 'As long as my family continued, we never shared this scroll with anyone. Now, take it, it is yours and safeguard it!' When I came and told my tale to Rabbi Akiva, Rabbi Akiva said to me, 'From now on, it is forbidden to criticize the house of Avtinos.':

Premonitions of Death: Yoma 39B

Only on the holiest day of the year, Yom Kippur, could the High Priest enter the most sacred spot in Judaism, the 'Holy of Holies' in Jerusalem's temple. Here is a tale of an eerie moment related to this most sacred of rituals.

Our rabbis taught that on the year that Shimon the Righteous [the High Priest] died, he foretold, "I will die this year." His companions asked Shimon, "How do you know?" Shimon replied to them, "Every Yom Kippur an old man in white garments and a white turban would appear [in a vision] and enter with me [to the Holy of Holies] and come out of [the Holy of Holies] with me. Today instead an old man appeared dressed in black garments with a black turban. The old man entered [the Holy of Holies] with me, but did not come out with me."

After Sukkot [a Jewish festival that immediately follows Yom Kippur] Shimon fell ill for seven days and died.

Sins and Smells: Yoma 29a

This analogy is so Talmudic that it spans the realms of both the weird and the beautiful.

Rav Nachman said... sexual thoughts are more weighty [chomer in Hebrew, probably meaning a more serious offense] than sexual acts, just as the odor of meat is stronger than its taste.

The Limits to Mercy: Yoma 22b

As was read in last week's haftarah, King Saul was punished for, among other things, not killing the King of Amalek as was divinely commanded.

G-d ordered Saul to exterminate the entire nation of Amalek, including women, children, and animals. The Talmud has Saul disputing the command. As part of his argument, Saul refers to the 'Egla Arufa,' a ritual done when a murder victim is found in the wild, Exodus 21:1-9. It is a rather strange ritual where a cow's neck is broken, and the elders of the nearest city wash their hands over the cow, pleading for expiation. Here's the story:

When the Holy One, Praised be G-d, told Saul, "Go attack Amalek ( I Samuel, 14:3), Saul said, "If the Torah commands us to perform the Egla Arufa ritual for just one dead person, how much more so should we be concerned with an entire nation! Even if the people sinned, what did the animals do? Even if the adults sinned, what did the children do?" A Bat Kol [a divine voice, quoting Ecclesiastes 7:16 ] emerged and stated, "Don't be excessively righteous!"

Saul's argument clearly recalls Abraham arguing with G-d over the destruction of Sodom in Genesis 18. To close with a question: Why does Abraham get such a different response than Saul?

Oaths and Incense: Yoma 19b

The Mishnah states that the Jewish high court would make the High Priest swear on Yom Kippur morning that he would follow all instructions. The Gemara discusses the need for this oath. I find the discussion to especially interesting for reasons that I will explain after the text.

Why [make the High Priest swear this oath]? Lest the High Priest prepare the incense and light it on the outside [of the holiest part of the Temple] and then enter, for this is how the Saducees performed the ritual. [The Saducees were heretics, and this part of the ritual was performed by the High Priest alone.] Our Rabbis teach: Ones a Saducee [who had become High Priest] prepared and lit the incense [outside of the proper location] and then entered [the holiest part of the Temple.] [After completing the ritual] he exited feeling extremely joyous. The Saducee's father encountered him and said, 'My son, even though we are both Saducees, we are fearful of such actions.' [In other words, I hope you did not follow our customs just now!] The High Priest replied, 'All of my days I worried [about our interpretation of biblical verse related to the incense sacrifice]... now that I have the opportunity [to put it into action] how could I give up the opportunity?'

It was taught: Not many days passed before the High Priest died, was thrown in rubbish, and worms came out of his nose. [Note this was the same nose that smelled the prohibited incense.] Others teach that the High Priest was struck down as he exited the Temple, as Rabbi Hiya taught: A voice was heard in the Temple courtyard, and an angel came and kicked the High Priest in the face. The High Priest's fellows came and found a hoof print of a ox between the High Priest's shoulders. [According to biblical verse, angels had ox feet.]

Good Ethics: Yoma 19b

Rabbi Joshua Ben Levi said: Anyone who incorrectly suspects someone of wrongdoing merits lashes.

Married for a Day: Yoma 18b

After a number of pages from the Talmud that didn't inspire me to write, I've come to Yoma 18 through 21. Yoma deals with matters related to Yom Kippur, although in typical gemara fashion there are many digressions. These few pages are full of strange, gross, and beautiful things.

The central part of Yom Kippur while the Temple still stood in Jerusalem was the High Priest's performance of multiple rituals. It was very important for him to remain qualified for this duty. If he had a nocturnal emission, he would become ritually disqualified. In order to avoid such a circumstance, rabbis would keep him up all night learning Torah. He would also avoid eating eggs, which were believed to make men more vulnerable to excitement. This inspires the following discussion:

Rav Gidel taught in the name of Rav: Guests at a inn should not eat eggs or sleep in the innkeeper's clothing [as eggs bring on nocturnal emissions, and sleeping in the innkeeper's clothing makes nocturnal emissions more embarrassing for all.]

Rav, when traveling to Darshish, would announce: 'Who will be my wife for a day?' Rav Nachman, when traveling to Scachnetziv, would announce: 'Who would be my wife for a day?' [Note that polygamy was not banned until approximately 1000 c.e. Interestingly, this ban has expired in the last few years! Nonetheless, the Gemara then objects to such a practice. ] It been taught by Rabbi Elizer Ben Yaakov: A man should not have wives in different cities, lest we find a brother unknowingly marry his sister or a father unwittingly marry his own daughter, and we find the whole world populated by offspring of incestuous relationships...

[The Gemara responds to this objection.] Rabbis are famous [and thus their children will identify themselves readily as the offspring of Rabbi so-and-so, and thus not fall unwittingly into incestuous relationships.]

[The Gemara raises a second objection.] A woman must have seven days without menstrual bleeding [before consummation of a marriage]. [Thus how could the traveling Rabbi meet, marry, and consummate a relationship with a woman all on the same day? The woman should carefully check herself for seven days, requiring advance preparation]

[The Gemara presents two responses] The Rabbis would sent messengers ahead to seek out women who could prepare for the seven days before the Rabbi's arrival. As an alternate answer, the Rabbis perhaps simply wanted the company of a woman, without consummating the relationship, for one who has bread in the basket is not like someone without it. [It was forbidden to be alone with women other than relatives, and this permitted perhaps some company without actual relations, perhaps making nocturnal emissions less likely.]

Live by Them: Mishneh Torah Hilchot Shabat 2:

It is permitted to violate the sabbath in order to save a life. Maimonides, himself a physician, has a lovely comment on this.

It is forbidden to hesitate before transgressing the Sabbath [laws] on behalf of a person who is dangerously ill, as is reflected in Leviticus 18:5,] "[The laws] which a person shall perform to live through them; " one must live through them, and not die because of them. This teaches that the judgments of the Torah are only sustained through mercy, kindness, and peace in the world.