Hebrew Literature

by Unknown

8. From Jericho[544] people heard the opening of the great gate. From Jericho they heard the noise of the shovel.[545] From Jericho they heard the noise of the wooden wheel which the son of Kattin made for the laver. From Jericho they heard the voice of Gabini the herald. From Jericho they heard the sound of the cornet. From Jericho they heard the sound of the cymbal. From Jericho they heard the voice of the song. From Jericho they heard the clang of the horn, and some say even the voice of the High Priest at the time when he mentioned the Name on the Day of Atonement. From Jericho they smelled the odor of the preparation of incense. Said R. Eleazar, the son of Daglai, “the family of Aba had goats on the mountains of Mikvor,[546] and they used to sneeze from the odor of the preparation of the incense.”

9. The priest who gained the lot for removing the ashes from the inner altar entered, and took the flagon and laid it [pg 226] before him, and he took handfuls of ashes and filled them into the flagon, and at last he brushed the remainder into it. And he left it and went out (of the holy place). He who gained the lot for removing the snuff from the candlestick, entered and found the two eastern lights burning. He snuffed the rest, and left these burning in their place. If he found them extinguished, he snuffed them, and lighted them again from those still burning, and afterward he snuffed the rest. And there was a stone before the candlestick, and in it were three steps, on which the priest stood and trimmed the lights. And he placed the cup with the snuff on the second step, and went out.

Chapter IV

1. The priests did not tie the four feet of the lamb together, but they bound its fore and hind feet. He who gained the lot for carrying the members, held it; and thus was it bound, its head southward, and its face westward. The slaughterer stood in the east with his face westward. The morning sacrifice was slaughtered at the northwestern corner on the second ring. The evening sacrifice was slaughtered at the northeastern corner on the second ring. The slaughterer slaughtered, and the receiver caught (the blood). The priest came to the northeastern corner of the altar, and he sprinkled the blood northeast. He came to the southwest, and sprinkled the blood southwest:[547] the remainder of the blood he poured out on the southern altar-base.

2. The priest did not break its leg, but he made a hole in the midst of its side, and by that it was hung up. He skinned it downward till he came to the breast. When he came to the breast, he cut off the head, and gave it to him who had gained (its lot). He cut off the two hind feet, and gave them to him who had gained them for his lot. He finished the skinning; he tore out the heart, that the blood should come out. He cut off the two fore feet, and gave them to him who had gained them for his lot. He came to the right leg; he cut it off, and gave it to him who had gained it for his lot. He cleft the [pg 227] body, and it became all open before him. He took out the caul, and put it on the place of slaughter, with the head on the top of it. He took out the intestines and gave them to him who had gained them for his lot to cleanse them. And the belly they cleansed in the house of the washers, as much as was needful. And the intestines were cleansed three times at least, upon the marble tables between the pillars.

3. The priest took the knife and separated the lungs from the liver, and the finger of the liver from the liver, but he did not remove it from its place. He made a hole in the breast, and gave it to him who gained it for his lot. He came to the right side, and he cut it downward to the backbone, but he did not touch the backbone, till he came to the two tender ribs. He cut it off and gave it to him who gained it for his lot, with the liver hanging upon it. He came to the neck, and left the two side bones on both sides. He cut it off and gave it to him who had gained it for his lot, with the windpipe and the heart and the lungs hanging upon it. He came to the left side, and left on it the two tender ribs, above and below, and so he left it on the corresponding side. It follows that he left on the two sides, two and two ribs above, and two and two ribs below. He cut it off, and gave it to him who gained it for his lot, the backbone with it, and the spleen hanging upon it. And it was large, but the right side is called large, as the liver hangs upon it. He came to the tail; he cut it off and gave it to him who gained it for his lot, and the fat, and the finger of the liver, and the two kidneys with it. He took the left hind leg, and gave it to him who gained it for his lot. It follows that all the priests stood in one row with the members in their hands. The first priest with the head and hind foot, the head in his right hand with the nose toward his arm, and the horns between his fingers, and the place of slaughter upward, and the caul placed on it; and the right hind foot in his left hand with the skin outside. The second priest stood with the two fore legs, the right in his right hand, and the left in his left hand, and the skin outside. The third priest stood with the tail and the hind foot; the tail in his right hand, and the fat wrapped between his fingers, and the finger of the liver and the two kidneys with it; the left foot was in his left hand with the skin outward. The fourth priest stood with the [pg 228] breast and the throat. The breast was in his right hand, and the throat in his left, and its side bones between his fingers. The fifth priest stood with the two sides, the right side in his right hand, and the left side in his left hand, and the skinny side outward. The sixth priest stood with the intestines placed in a pan, and the legs over them. The seventh priest stood with the fine flour. The eighth priest stood with the pancakes. The ninth priest stood with the wine. They then proceeded and deposited the members on the lower half of the ascent westward, and they salted them, and descended, and came to the chamber of the hewn stone to read the “Hear,”[548] etc.

Chapter V

1. The Captain of the Watch said, “give one blessing,” and the priests blessed and read the ten commandments, “Hear,”[549] etc. “And it shall come to pass if ye shall hearken,”[550] etc. And “He spake,”[551] etc. They then gave the three blessings to the people, “Truth and Sureness,” and “the Service,” and “the Blessing of the Priests.” And on the Sabbath they added one blessing for the outgoing Temple-guard.