ערכין דף יג

בא חרים ונטל חלקו וחלק חביריו שש, וכן פשחור וכן אימר. התקינו נביאים שביניהם שאפילו יהויריב ראש משמרות עולה — לא ידחה ידעיה ממקומו,

Harim came and also drew his portion and the lot of five other watches, for a total of six. And likewise Pashḥur, and likewise Immer. The prophets among them stipulated that even if the descendants of Jehoiarib, who originally headed the priestly watches, would ascend to Eretz Yisrael, Jedaiah would not be demoted from its place as the first of the watches. Rather, the watch of Jedaiah would retain precedence, and Jehoiarib would be subordinate to it. The Gemara concludes: Rather, when the baraita equates the details pertaining to the destruction of the two Temples, it is referring to other details, i.e., that both were destroyed on the Ninth of Av and on a Sunday, but it is not equating them with regard to all the details.

אלא ידעיה עיקר ויהויריב טפל לו, אלא אשארא.

רב אשי אמר: הנך שית שני עד דסליק עזרא ומקדיש לא קא חשיב להו,

The Gemara cites a third answer to its question about how the baraita can claim that the Second Temple was destroyed in a year following a Sabbatical Year, when a calculation of the number of years that it stood indicates that it was destroyed in a Sabbatical Year. Rav Ashi said: Those six years from the time the Second Temple was built until Ezra ascended to Eretz Yisrael and sanctified the land are not counted, as the Sabbatical cycle was not in effect during that period. Consequently, the Second Temple was destroyed in a year following a Sabbatical Year.

דכתיב: ״באדין בטלת עבידת בית אלהא די בירושלם״, וכתיב: ״ושיציא ביתא דנא עד יום תלתא לירח אדר דהיא שנת שית למלכות דריוש מלכא״.

It is known that Ezra ascended to Eretz Yisrael six years after the beginning of the construction of the Second Temple, as it is written: “Then ceased the work of the House of God, which is at Jerusalem; and it ceased until the second year of the reign of Darius, king of Persia” (Ezra 4:24). This proves that construction on the Temple started in the second year of the reign of Darius. And it is written: “And this house was finished on the third day of the month Adar, which was in the sixth year of the reign of Darius the king” (Ezra 6:15), which was the fifth year from when they started building.

ותנא: באותו זמן לשנה הבאה עלה עזרא וגלותו עמו, דכתיב: ״ויבא ירושלם בחדש החמישי היא השנה השביעית למלך״.

And the Sages taught in a baraita: At that same time in the following year Ezra ascended from Babylonia together with his company of exiles, as it is written, “And he came to Jerusalem in the fifth month, which was in the seventh year of the king” (Ezra 7:8). Accordingly, Ezra came to Eretz Yisrael six years after the beginning of the construction of the Temple. It was at that time that the counting of the Sabbatical and Jubilee cycles began. The counting continued for 414 years until the destruction of the Temple, which means that the Temple was destroyed in a Sabbatical Year.

גופא: שבעה עשר יובלות מנו ישראל משנכנסו לארץ ועד שיצאו, ואי אתה יכול לומר משנכנסו מנו, שאם אתה אומר משנכנסו מנו, נמצא בית חרב בתחלת יובל,

§ The Gemara discusses the matter itself that is taught in the baraita cited earlier (12b): The Jewish people counted seventeen Jubilees from when they entered Eretz Yisrael until they left when the Temple was destroyed. And you cannot say that they counted from when they entered, because if you say they counted from when they entered, the result is that the Temple was destroyed at the beginning of the Jubilee cycle, and you do not find that the Jubilee Year was “in the fourteenth year after the city was smitten” (Ezekiel 40:1). Rather, remove from them the seven years when they conquered Eretz Yisrael and the seven years when they divided Eretz Yisrael, as the first Jubilee cycle began after the Jewish people conquered and divided Eretz Yisrael.

ואי אתה מוצא ״בארבע עשרה שנה אחר אשר הכתה העיר״ וכו׳.

שבע שכיבשו מנלן? דקאמר כלב: ״בן ארבעים שנה [אנכי] בשלוח אותי משה עבד ה׳ מקדש ברנע לרגל את הארץ, ועתה אנכי היום בן חמש ושמונים״.

The Gemara asks: From where do we derive that there were seven years during which the Jewish people conquered Eretz Yisrael? The Gemara answers: As Caleb said to Joshua, when it came time to divide Eretz Yisrael at the conclusion of part of the conquest: “Forty years old was I when Moses the servant of the Lord sent me from Kadesh-Barnea to spy out the land…and now, behold, I am this day eighty-five years old” (Joshua 14:7, 10).

ואמר מר: שנה ראשונה עשה משה משכן, שניה הוקם המשכן ושלח מרגלים, כי עבור ירדן כלב בר כמה הוי? בר תמנן נכי תרתין, כי קא מפליג נחלות קאמר:

And the Master says in a baraita: During the first year after the exodus, Moses constructed the Tabernacle; during the second year, the Tabernacle was erected and Moses sent the spies. Consequently, how old was Caleb when the Jewish people crossed the Jordan? He was eighty less two, i.e., seventy-eight years old. When Joshua was dividing Eretz Yisrael into inheritances, Caleb said to him: I am eighty-five years old. It is therefore found that they conquered the land for seven years.

״בן חמש ושמונים שנה אנכי״, אישתכח דשבע כיבשו.

ושבע שחילקו מנלן? איבעית אימא: מדשבע כיבשו שבע חילקו, ואיבעית אימא: מדלא משכחת להו ״ארבע עשרה שנה אחר אשר הכתה העיר״.

The Gemara asks: And from where do we derive that there were seven years during which the Jewish people divided up Eretz Yisrael into ancestral portions? The Gemara answers: If you wish, say that from the fact that they conquered the land for seven years, it is reasonable to assume that they divided the land for seven years. And if you wish, say instead: It can be derived from the fact that you do not find that “the fourteenth year after the city was smitten” (Ezekiel 40:1) was a Jubilee Year (see 12a) unless the Jewish people divided Eretz Yisrael for seven years.

מתני׳ אין פוחתין מששה טלאים המבוקרין בלשכת הטלאים, כדי לשבת ולימים טובים של ראש השנה, ומוסיפין עד עולם. אין פוחתין משתי חצוצרות, מתשעה כנורות,

MISHNA: One maintains no fewer than six lambs that have been inspected for blemishes in the Chamber of the Lambs, which are sufficient for the offerings of Shabbat and for the two Festival days of Rosh HaShana that may occur adjacent to it. And one may add inspected lambs up to an infinite number. One plays no fewer than two trumpets and no fewer than nine harps in the Temple, and one may add up to an infinite number. And the cymbal was played alone, and none may be added to it.

ומוסיפין עד עולם, והצלצל לבד.

גמ׳ תמידין ומוספין טובא הוו!

GEMARA: The Gemara assumes that the mishna means that there must be at least six inspected lambs in the Chamber of the Lambs, so that if Rosh HaShana occurs on the two days adjacent to Shabbat, there will be enough lambs available for all the communal offerings that are sacrificed on those days. The Gemara therefore objects: But there are more than six lambs which are required for the daily offerings and additional offerings of a Shabbat and Rosh HaShana that are adjacent to one another, as one day of Rosh HaShana alone requires sixteen lambs.

תנא בעלמא קאי, ואתמידין לחודיה קאי, ומאי ״כדי לשבת ולימים טובים״ — סימנא בעלמא, והכי קאמר: אין פוחתין מששה טלאים

The Gemara explains: The tanna is referring to the general policy for the entire year, and he is referring only to the number of lambs necessary for the daily offerings sacrificed over the course of three ordinary days. And what is the meaning of the phrase: Sufficient for Shabbat and for the two Festival days of Rosh HaShana? It is merely a mnemonic device, and this is what he is saying: One maintains no fewer than six lambs

המבוקרים בלשכת הטלאים ארבעה ימים קודם שחיטה, ומני — בן בג בג היא, דתניא: בן בג בג אומר, מנין לתמיד שטעון ביקור ארבעה ימים קודם שחיטה?

that have been inspected in the Chamber of the Lambs for four days prior to the time of their slaughter. The reserve of six lambs ensured that each lamb would be available for inspection for three days prior to the day of its sacrifice, for a total of four. And whose opinion is this? It is the opinion of ben Bag Bag, as it is taught in a baraita that ben Bag Bag says: From where is it derived that the daily offering requires examination four days prior to its slaughter?

תלמוד לומר: ״תשמרו להקריב לי במועדו״, ולהלן הוא אומר: ״והיה לכם למשמרת עד ארבעה עשר יום לחדש הראשון״, מה להלן טעון ביקור ארבעה ימים קודם שחיטה,

The verse states with regard to the daily offering: “My food that is presented unto Me for offerings made by fire, of a pleasing aroma unto Me, shall you safeguard to offer unto Me in its due season” (Numbers 28:2); and it states there, with regard to the Paschal offering: “In the tenth day of this month they shall take to them every man a lamb…and it shall be for you as a safeguard until the fourteenth day of this month” (Exodus 12:3–6), i.e., the first month. Since the word “safeguard” appears in both verses, it is derived that just as in the verse there, the Paschal offering requires examination four days prior to its slaughter, so too here, the daily offering requires examination four days prior to its slaughter.

אף כאן טעון ביקור ארבעה ימים קודם שחיטה.

דיקא נמי, דקתני ״כדי לשבת״, ולא קתני ״לשבת״, שמע מינה.

The Gemara notes: The language of the mishna is also precise, according to the explanation that the mishna is referring to Shabbat and Rosh HaShana merely as a mnemonic device, as it teaches that the six lambs are sufficient for Shabbat and the two Festival days of Rosh HaShana, and it does not teach that the six lambs are for use on Shabbat and the two days of Rosh HaShana. The Gemara concludes: Learn from the language of the mishna that this explanation is correct.

משתי חצוצרות ומוסיפין וכו׳. ועד כמה? אמר רב הונא, ואמרי לה אמר רב זבדי אמר רב הונא: עד מאה ועשרים, שנאמר: ״ועמהם כהנים למאה ועשרים מחצרים בחצוצרות״.

§ The mishna teaches that one plays no fewer than two trumpets, and one may add to that number. The Gemara asks: Until how many trumpets may these additions be made? The Gemara answers that Rav Huna says, and some say Rav Zavdi says that Rav Huna says: They may play up to 120 trumpets, as it is stated: “And with them one hundred and twenty priests sounding with trumpets” (II Chronicles 5:12).

מתשעה כנורות וכו׳ וצלצל לבד. מנא הני מילי? אמר רב אסי, דאמר קרא: ״ואסף במצלתים להשמיע״. מצלתים תרי הוו! כיון דחדא עבידתא עבדי,

The mishna teaches that one plays no fewer than nine harps and one may add up to an infinite number, and the cymbal was played alone and none may be added to it. The Gemara asks: From where is this matter derived? Rav Asi says that it is as the verse states: “And Asaph with the cymbals, sounding aloud” (I Chronicles 16:5), which indicates that only one Levite played the cymbals. The Gemara asks: The word cymbals is in the plural, indicating that there were two; why, then, does the mishna say that there is only one cymbal? The Gemara answers: Since two cymbals perform one act and one person plays them by banging them together, the mishna calls them one instrument.

וחד גברא עביד בהו — קרי להו חד.

מתני׳ אין פוחתין משנים עשר לוים עומדין על הדוכן, ומוסיפין עד עולם. אין הקטן נכנס לעזרה לעבודה, אלא בשעה שהלוים אומרים בשיר,

MISHNA: In the Temple, there are no fewer than twelve Levites standing on the platform adjacent to the altar and singing, and one may add Levites on the platform up to an infinite number. A minor Levite may enter the Temple courtyard for service only at a time when the Levites are engaging in song, so that he may accompany them. And minors would not engage in playing a lyre and in playing a harp; rather, they would engage in singing with the mouth, in order to provide flavor to the music with their pure, high voices.

ולא היו אומרים בנבל ובכנור, אלא בפה, כדי ליתן תבל בנעימה.

רבי אליעזר בן יעקב אומר: אין עולין למנין, ואין עולין לדוכן, אלא בארץ היו עומדין, וראשיהן בין רגלי הלוים, וצערי הלוים היו נקראין.

Rabbi Eliezer ben Ya’akov says: Minors are not tallied in the minimum total of twelve Levites, and they do not ascend to the platform; rather, they would stand on the ground and their heads would reach to between the legs of the Levites, and they were called cadets [tzoarei] of the Levites.

גמ׳ הני כנגד מי? אמר רב פפא: כנגד תשעה כנורות [ושני] נבלים וצלצל אחד, שנאמר: ״הוא ובניו ואחיו שנים עשר״.

GEMARA: The mishna states that a minimum of twelve Levites would stand on the platform and sing. The Gemara asks: To what does this number correspond? Rav Pappa says: It corresponds to the minimum number of instruments that were played: Nine harps and two lyres and one cymbal. This number is also alluded to in the Bible, as it is stated: “Instructed in singing unto the Lord…he and his brethren and sons were twelve” (I Chronicles 25:7–9).

אין הקטן נכנס לעזרה לעבודה אלא בשעה שהלוים כו׳. מנא הני מילי? אמר רבי יוחנן, דאמר קרא: ״ויעמד ישוע בניו ואחיו קדמיאל ובניו בני

§ The mishna teaches: A minor Levite may enter the Temple courtyard for service only at a time when the Levites are engaging in song. The Gemara asks: From where is this matter derived? Rabbi Yoḥanan says: As the verse states: “Then stood Jeshua with his sons and his brethren, and Kadmiel and his sons, the sons of Judah, together, to make music for the workmen in the House of God” (Ezra 3:9). This verse shows that in making music it is preferable to have one’s sons, i.e., minors, as accompaniment.

יהודה כאחד לנצח על עשה המלאכה בבית האלהים וגו׳״.

לא היו אומרים לא בנבל ולא בכנור, אלא בפה כו׳. למימרא דנבל לחוד וכנור לחוד? לימא מתניתין דלא כרבי יהודה, דתניא: רבי יהודה אומר:

The mishna teaches: The minors would not engage in playing a lyre and in playing a harp; rather, in singing with the mouth in order to provide flavor to the music with their pure, high voices. The Gemara notes: That is to say that a lyre and a harp are two distinct instruments. Let us say that the mishna is not in accordance with the opinion of Rabbi Yehuda, as it is taught in a baraita that Rabbi Yehuda says: The harp used in the Temple was an instrument of seven strings, as it is stated: “In your presence is fullness [sova] of joy, in your right hand sweetness for evermore” (Psalms 16:11). Do not read the word as “fullness [sova]” but as seven [sheva]. This indicates that the “sweet harp” (see Psalms 81:3) played in the presence of God, i.e., in the Temple, has seven strings.

כנור של מקדש של שבעת נימין היה, שנאמר: ״שבע שמחות פניך״, אל תיקרי ״שובע״ אלא ״שבע״.

ושל ימות המשיח שמונה, שנאמר: ״למנצח על השמינית״, על נימא שמינית.

Rabbi Yehuda continues: And the harp that will be played in the days of the Messiah will have eight strings, as it is stated: “For the Leader, on the eighth: A Psalm of David” (Psalms 12:1). This indicates that the psalms that will be recited in the time of the Messiah, son of David, will be played on the eighth string that will be added to the harp.

של עולם הבא עשר, שנאמר: ״עלי עשור ועלי נבל עלי הגיון בכנור״.

And the harp that will be played in the World-to-Come will have ten strings, as it is stated: “A Psalm, a song. For the Shabbat…With an instrument of ten strings and with the lyre, with a solemn sound upon the harp” (Psalms 92:1–4). This indicates that in the World-to-Come, which is comparable to Shabbat, songs of praise to God will be played on a ten-stringed instrument, identified here as both a lyre and a harp.

ואומר: ״הודו לה׳ בכנור בנבל עשור זמרו לו שירו לו שיר חדש״!

And similarly, another verse states: “Give thanks unto the Lord with the harp; sing praises unto Him with the lyre of ten strings. Sing unto Him a new song” (Psalms 33:2–3), which is referring to the new song that will be sung only in the World-to-Come. This proof in support of Rabbi Yehuda’s claim that the harp used in the World-to-Come will have ten strings is from a verse that is referring to a ten-stringed lyre, which shows that according to Rabbi Yehuda, the lyre and harp are the same instrument. Therefore, his opinion apparently contradicts the mishna.

אפילו תימא רבי יהודה, לעולם הבא, איידי דנפישי נימין דידיה, נפיש קליה כי נבל, קרי ליה ״נבל״.

The Gemara answers: You may even say the mishna is in accordance with the opinion of Rabbi Yehuda, as even he agrees that the harp and lyre are essentially two different instruments. But in the World-to-Come, since the strings of the harp will be increased, its sound will be increased like that of the lyre, and therefore he calls the harp a lyre.

רבי אליעזר בן יעקב אומר: אין עולין מן המנין כו׳. תנא: וסועדי הלוים היו נקראין. ותנא דידן? כיון דהני קטין קלייהו, והני עב קלייהו,

The mishna teaches that Rabbi Eliezer ben Ya’akov says: The minors are not tallied in the minimum total of twelve Levites…and they were called cadets [tzoarei] of the Levites. The Sages taught in a baraita: And they were called the helpers [soadei] of the Levites. The Gemara asks: And the tanna of our mishna, why is he referring to them as tzoarei? The Gemara answers: Since these minors had high voices and those adults had deep voices, and these minors would sing in a high voice [mekateti], and those adults could not sing in such a high voice, they were called tzoarei, as they caused the adult Levites anguish [tza’ar] due to the fact that they could not produce the same pleasant sounds as the minors.

הני מקטטי והני לא מקטטי, קרי להו ״צערי״.

הדרן עלך אין נערכין.

מתני׳ יש בערכין להקל ולהחמיר, ובשדה אחוזה להקל ולהחמיר, ובשור המועד שהמית העבד להקל ולהחמיר, באונס ובמפתה ובמוציא שם רע להקל ולהחמיר.

MISHNA: There are halakhot with regard to valuations that are lenient and others that are stringent; and there are halakhot with regard to an ancestral field that are lenient and others that are stringent; and there are halakhot with regard to a forewarned ox that killed a Canaanite slave that are lenient and others that are stringent; and there are halakhot with regard to a rapist, and a seducer, and a defamer that are lenient and others that are stringent.

יש בערכין להקל ולהחמיר, כיצד? אחד שהעריך את הנאה שבישראל ואת הכעור שבישראל, נותן חמשים סלע, ואם אמר: ״הרי דמיו עלי״, נותן את שוויו.

There are halakhot with regard to valuations that are lenient and others that are stringent; how so? Both in the case of one who took a vow of valuation to donate the fixed value of the most attractive among the Jewish people and in the case of one who took a vow of valuation to donate the fixed value of the most unsightly among the Jewish people, he gives the fixed payment of fifty sela, shekels, to the Temple treasury (see Leviticus 27:3). And if one said: It is incumbent upon me to donate the assessment of another to the Temple treasury, he gives the price for that person if sold as a slave, a sum that can be more or less than fifty shekels.

גמ׳ יש בערכין להקל וכו׳ ולהחמיר כיצד אחד שהעריך כו׳. בישראל — אין, בגוים — לא.

GEMARA: The mishna states: There are halakhot with regard to valuations that are lenient and others that are stringent; how so? Both in the case of one who took a vow of valuation to donate the fixed value of the most attractive among the Jewish people and in the case of one who took a vow of valuation to donate the fixed value of the most unsightly among the Jewish people, he gives the fixed payment of fifty sela to the Temple treasury. The Gemara infers from this that if the vow of valuation referred to a Jew, yes, he pays the fixed value; but if one took a vow of valuation to donate the fixed value of gentiles, he does not pay the fixed value.

לימא מתניתין דלא כרבי מאיר, דתנן: גוי, רבי מאיר אומר: נערך, אבל לא מעריך?

The Gemara asks: If so, let us say that the mishna is not in accordance with the opinion of Rabbi Meir, as we learned in a mishna (5b): With regard to a gentile, Rabbi Meir says: He is valuated in a case where a Jew says: It is incumbent upon me to donate the fixed value of this gentile; but a gentile does not take a vow of valuation to donate his fixed value or the value of others.

אפילו תימא רבי מאיר, הוא הדין דאפילו גוי נמי, אלא

The Gemara answers: You can even say that the mishna is in accordance with the opinion of Rabbi Meir, as it can be claimed that the same is true, i.e. that even if one took a vow of valuation to donate the fixed value of a gentile, he also pays the fixed amount. But