The Talmud brings a Mishnah (the primary sources of Jewish law) and our sages note an apparent contradiction, as the Mishnah mentions curtains dividing the Holy of Holies from the Holy, but also mention the Ark of the Covenant being inside the Holy of Holies.  This is an issue because the first Temple had a wall instead of curtains there, but the Ark was hidden before the destruction of the first Temple and remained hidden during the second Temple era.  The Talmud revises the Mishnah to read the place of the Ark.

Be careful when people try to bring sources to prove their points.  They may have “scientific” studies that are contradicted by other studies, or that are the product of an agenda or have serious flaws in the data gathering.  In this information age, these are so many conflicting sources that many times citations to authority will not win your argument.

Instead, observe what works in the long term – and especially what works for you personally.  The sample size may be one, but by keeping track of your own life and mission you can build yourself into the highest authority on yourself.  This is as simple as tracking what you eat and drink and your exercise, and improvement or problems with your health.  You should also be aware of what type of people you get along with, so you don’t waste time with those you know will cause problems and derail your mission.

While debating if the bull offered by the High Priest is an individual or group offering, we mention the status of the Passover offering.

We discussed the Passover offering (Paschal lamb) in detail in Pesachim, including the second Passover which was a backup date for those who were impure or too far from Jerusalem.  Today we debate if the second Passover can be brought on the Sabbath or while the owner is impure.  We conclude that the second Passover does not override impurity.

Being impure is also the main reason why this man could not bring the regular Passover offering.  Either he has not gone through the process to purify himself or has has again had contact with a dead body.  The latter could have been an accidental exposure, but we would assume a man who missed the first Passover would do whatever he could to avoid being ineligible for the second.

When you miss a chance in life because you were unprepared, analyze this and get the message and prepare yourself for the next chance.  Think about what went wrong.  If you were not assertive or decisive enough, work on those concepts.

The Talmud examines what happens if the High Priest dies after scooping the incense to bring into the Holy of Holies, can the backup High Priest use the same incense?

Likewise, what if the first priest died after slaughtering his bull but before sprinkling the blood.  Can the backup High Priest use the blood for the Yom Kippur service?  This bull was purchased by the original High Priest, so perhaps the replacement priest needs to start over with his own animal.

The Gemara comes out, and Rambam codifies, that the new priest can use the original bull and its blood.  The reason for this is that even though it did belong to the deceased priest, it was used to atone for all the Priests.  Since a man needs to have ownership of the offering that brings him atonement, the Torah makes all Priests partners in this bull, even though the High Priest bought it.

Be careful in a scenario when you are providing the resources for a group.  Typically, people won’t take responsibility if they are not pitching in with their own time or money.  The Jewish priests were an exception as they were always ready to step up and get the job done.

If you are in charge of a project, get others to buy in by investing their own effort and putting their own wealth or reputation on the line.  They will work better when their personal gain or name is linked to the larger business venture.  This is why major companies reward successful employees with stock options.

For yourself, know that you will be more invested in something when you are paying.  If you take a free class you may not pay attention as well as when you have paid for it.

The Talmud is debating if part of the sacrificial service done with the left hand is acceptable.  We normally use the right, and a left handed Priest cannot perform sacrifices (unless he teaches himself to use the right).

Yesterday Rav Sheshet taught that the left was fine, and today the Gemara cites a source that refutes him and then asks how he could argue left was okay, since he also used the same source to argue against Rav Hisda’s idea that a non-Priest could be involved in the offering.  The Gemara explains that after Rav Sheshet heard this source, he retracted his opinion that left was acceptable.

When you are presented with new evidence, be ready to reevaluate your opinion.  Even your deeply rooted beliefs about how life works may be called into question if you honestly consider the evidence.  Our sages advise us to “teach your tongue to say I don’t know”.  If you are not certain, look for facts and figures that confirm or refute your own position.

The Talmud goes on to note that Rav Hisda’s opinion was based on a verse in Chronicles.  Since he was citing chapter and verse, should that not prove his point?  The Gemara explains that the verse in question did not directly support his opinion, but he read it to imply so.  In fact, the verse meant the non-Priest was standing there as a pillar holding the blood until the Priest was ready to bring it to the altar.

Sometimes we have the facts in hand but need to change our understanding of them in light of new arguments.

We learned that the High Priest scoops his hands full of incense and brings this into the Holy of Holies on Yom Kippur for a special once in a year offering.  The Talmud inquires if having the mental intent to burn the incense the next day during the scooping will render the incense invalid – even if it was in fact burned today.

This is an intricate area of the Law known as “piggul”, meaning having intent to complete or consume an offering at the wrong time.  This makes the offering meaningless, even if it does actually get done during the proper time.  When a priest has the wrong intent during a critical phase of an offering, then whole purpose of the offering – impacting the intentions of men – is lost.

The reason for this is the entire point of the offerings is to get men to realize that they need a connection to the Eternal, and to increase their enthusiasm desire to do God’s will.  God does not need your offerings, sacrifices, or prayers.  God can take care of Himself.  They are for you to reflect, improve, and change yourself.

The practical wisdom here is that sometimes people in your life will go along with what you want on the external level.  However, they are reluctant, resistant, or simply not enthusiastic.  A woman may agree to go out with you even when she is not really thrilled with it.  She may be motivated by getting a free dinner and some relief to her boredom, but never intend to become part of your life.

A wise man does not merely observe external actions, but also focuses on behavior, attitude, and enthusiasm.  A woman who is internally motivated to be around you will display her excitement even without a free dinner.  Accustom yourself to looking for signs of inner intention, not just going along with a script.

We begin the fifth chapter of Yoma, first explaining how the High Priest performed the incense service in the Holy of Holies.  The High Priest would take a handful of incense, so the amount depended on the size of his hands.

The Talmud mentions a High Priest with exceptionally large hands, Rabbi Yishmael Ben Kimhit, and comments that this was due to his mother’s exceptional cooking: all the women made a wheat porridge, but the porridge of Kimhit “raised the roof”.  This may refer to how she fed her son, as well as to her diet while she was pregnant.

Another reason he was exceptional was due to the sperm that fertilized him being “selected” from among the others,  our sages note that King David also referred to the sperm that made him:

And some say this reference to selection is a euphemism for semen, in accordance with a statement of Rabbi Abbahu, as Rabbi Abbahu raised a contradiction in verses. It is written: “For You have girded me [vatazreni] with strength for battle” (II Samuel 22:40), and it is written: “Who girds me [hame’azreni] with strength” (Psalms 18:33).  David said before the Holy One, Blessed be He: Master of the Universe: You selected me [zeritani] (from the best drop of sperm), and You fashioned me [zeraztani].

Maharsha (Shmuel Eidels, 1555 – 1631) writes about this Gemara that only part of the sperm actually fertilizes the child.  It is amazing that hundreds and thousands of years ago our sages understood that only one part of semen actually produces the embryo.

It is important to note that both nature and nurture are given credit for Rabbi Yishmael, and both his mother and father get some credit.  The Talmud notes that once Yishmael became ritually impure for Yom Kippur, and his brother stepped in as deputy High Priest to do the service.  The Gemara brings a tradition that this happened more than once, leading all seven sons of Kimhit to serve as High Priest.

Rabbi Yishmael Ben Kimhit is called after his mother’s name, not his father’s.  This is quite odd.  The Gemara notes:

Kimḥit had seven sons, and they all served in the office of the High Priesthood, as High Priests or as his substitute. The Sages said to her: What good deeds did you perform to merit this? She said to them: In all my days, the beams of my house never saw the braids of my hair, (she was extremely modest, even inside her own house). They said to her: Many women did so and did not succeed.

An approach that works for one person or one family does not necessarily succeed for everyone.  Be wary when someone implies that they have a plan that works for anyone, that is simply impossible.  However, when you see someone succeed, look into what they are doing for concepts and themes that you can apply for yourself.

On the topic of the pyres on the altar, the Talmud explains how leftover limbs from sacrifices were burned during the night.  In Jewish law, night begins the next day (see Genesis 1).  So the limbs being burned are from yesterday’s offerings, which is a problem on Yom Kippur and shabbat.

Our sages explain that for the needs of the offerings sometimes restrictions are “pushed” and other times “waived”.  When restrictions are only pushed, the priests perform only the critical parts of the offering.  When they are waived, even the limbs can be burned.

The same legal distinction applies in practicing medicine on Shabbat.  If a person is merely uncomfortable, we do not use medicine on Shabbat.  When a person is actually ill, Sabbath restrictions are only pushed, so we minimize or modify regulated activities.  But if a person is truly in danger, Shabbat is not pushed but waived, and we do everything needed to preserve life with no regard for Shabbat.

In your own life, be aware of when you can bend your rules and push aside your personal requirements temporarily in order to get something done.  This may be working with someone you would normally avoid to complete a necessary project.

Other times you may need to completely waive your normal boundaries to deal with an emergency.  Life is complex, don’t expect to be able to apply the exact same rules to different situations.

We learn today that for Yom Kippur there was an additional pyre lot on the large altar.  Our sages debate exactly how many pyres were normally burning, based on the Bible verses that mention fire on the altar.  Each pyre had a specific use, one was used to make coals to being into the Temple for the incense, and there was a small backup fire to light the large pyre.

We see from here that even though the altar has the primary function of consuming animal offerings, there was always more than one fire going on.  A man should have more than one thing going for him.  In the professional sphere, don’t put all your hope on one business venture.  Don’t always rely on the same people to help out.

Also, when a man has a lot going on in his life, it is important to use your energy wisely.  Allocate your time and resources to specific needs.  Always keep some of your energy for self improvement.  On a practical level, schedule in necessary exercise, sleep, and breaks.

The Talmud returns to the topic of what the High Priest needed to accomplish on Yom Kippur.  Our sages explain:

“And he made atonement for himself, and for his household, and for all the assembly of Israel” (Leviticus 16:17). This teaches that his atonement precedes the atonement of his household; the atonement of his household precedes that atonement of his brethren, the priests; the atonement of his brethren, the priests, precedes the atonement of the entire community of Israel.

A man needs to develop himself and fix his own issues before he tries to fix other people.  Sometimes we are so eager to change the world that we forget to change ourselves first.

We explained that some people get this backwards, and even invoke the Jewish concept of “Tikkun Olam” to justify trying to change other people while they have their own deep faults.  Instead you must begin making changes where we have the most influence – on yourself, your family, and hometown:

The overall lesson is fix yourself before you try to fix you family.  Fix your family before your city, and your city before you try to fix the world.  Most men never get beyond fixing themselves.  Many men never even start that level.  Have you started working on yourself before you started rebuking other men?

The Talmud also explains that when the High Priest was burning the incense in the hall of the Temple, no one could stand in the strip between the Temple and the altar.  When he was in the Holy of Holies, deeper inside the Temple, the other priests could be in that strip, but not in the Temple building.

When a man is working to improve himself and change his ways, often solitude can help.  If you are trying to make changes around a group that is used to the old you, there is often pushback.  For their own comfort, other people want you to remain the way you have always been.  Taking leave of a situation or relationship is sometimes needed to make significant changes in yourself.

We continue comparing the famous red heifer “Parah Adumah” to the bull offered by the High Priest on Yom Kippur.  The ritual of preparing the red heifer into a special water to purify people who came in contact with a dead body is the most enigmatic part of the Bible.  King Solomon admitted that although he was wise, the secrets of the red heifer were distant from him (Kohelet / Ecclesiastes 7:23).

Part of this ritual is to gather the ashes of the burnt heifer and place them (Number 19:9).  Our sages learn out that the word place them means that a person capable of leaving something intentionally is required to do this act, excluding children and mentally immature adults.

Now, it does not seem to require much intellectual power to leave something in a certain place.  The deeper message is that unlike children, who tend to explore everything, adults need to develop the faculty of leaving things alone.  As we mature, we realize that we don’t have the time and energy to get involved in everything going on around us.  We choose where to invest our efforts (you need to make the choice or other people will for you).

A man with maturity can hold himself back and leave extraneous topics and ideas for other men to work on.  He has his area of expertise already and is working on that.  Another aspect is that a wise man can leave a fight or argument alone, he doesn’t need the last word.

The Talmud also learns that a male priest is required to sprinkle the special water prepared from the red heifer.  However, even a child could do this sprinkling with a woman assisting him.  The language of the Talmud is:
וְקָטָן שֶׁיֵּשׁ בּוֹ דַּעַת, אִשָּׁה מְסַיַּעְתּוֹ וּמַזֶּה.  A minor with some intelligence, a woman helps him and he sprinkles.  The last word “mazeh” sprinkles also means “ma zeh”  what is this?  In other words, a woman helps a child ask “what is this?”

This teaches that a child learns through his curiosity – through looking around and asking “what is this?”  His mother or teacher is there with him to answer and fulfill his curiosity, leading him to ask more questions and learn about the world.  Women are blessed with a special patience and ability to relate to small children, and are especially able to assist in the critical task of building intellectual curiosity in children.

As he matures, he continues asking deeper questions and learning in more detail and with greater understanding.  Questions are the key to rational development, and Jewish wisdom encourages asking questions to find the truth.

Thus we see that a mature man develops the ability to leave alone topics that are not his own focus, while the growing child asks about everything he sees to broaden his understanding.  A well developed man can use aspects of youthful and mature men, displaying both intellectual curiosity about new subjects and rigorous focus on his own area of expertise.