13
votes
Did each Kohen Gadol wear his predecessor's garments?
Rambam, Hilchot Klei HaMikdash 8:5:
כָּל בֶּגֶד מִבִּגְדֵי כְּהֻנָּה שֶׁנַּעֲשׂוּ צוֹאִין אֵין מְלַבְּנִין אוֹתָן וְאֵין מְכַבְּסִין אוֹתָן אֶלָּא מַנִּיחָן לִפְתִילוֹת וְלוֹבֵשׁ חֲדָשִׁים. ...
- 41.8k
11
votes
Connection between accidental murderer and Kohen ha'gadol?
The Rambam writes that the death of the High Priest distracts the mourners from seeking vengeance on the possible killer in the city of refuge:
The chance of returning from the exile depends on the ...
- 20.7k
7
votes
What made Yochanan go off?
Yochanan didn't leave Judaism; he became a Sadducee, meaning that he left the Pharisees. If we follow Abbaye's opinion that Yannay is Yochanan (Berachot 29a), then the story of how he became a ...
- 24k
6
votes
Accepted
What name did the Kohen Gadol Say?
According to the Rambam the Kohen Gadol pronounced the 4-letter name, see MT Avodat Yom haKippurim 2:6
Thus he mentions God's explicit name ten times on this day. On all
occasions, he recites the ...
- 47.9k
6
votes
Kohen Gadol and marriage
Yevamot 6:4 tells us that even if a kohen had only betrothed (eres) a widow before being appointed kohen gadol, he is subsequently permitted to consummate the marriage.
- 41.8k
5
votes
Why did rebbi Yishmael Ben Elisha as a Kohen Gadol want to bring a "Chatos Shmeina"
R. Chaim Kanievsky was asked this question (see Derech Sichah p. 337.)
He answered (based on Tosafot Yevamot 104a s.v. amar rabbi yishma'el) that there were two different tanna'im with this name, only ...
- 41.8k
5
votes
Accepted
Mareh Kohen Origin
Ofir Minz-Manor in this article (Hebrew) writes on page 166 that, based on the nature of the poetry and particularly its lack of rhyme, the piyyut can be classified as having been written in the pre-...
- 41.8k
4
votes
Why the story of a kohen gadol marrying a widow (יבמות ו:ד)?
Tosafot Bava Batra 21a write that Yehoshua b. Gamla was wholly righteous (צדיק גמור), and that the implied criticism in Yevamot is simply because there were other more qualified priests available for ...
- 41.8k
4
votes
Accepted
Only one high priest
A number of points:
First of all, the Torah does not explicitly say that Nadav and Avihu entered the Holy of Holies. See what it does it say (Vayikra 10:1-2):
"Now Aaron’s sons Nadab and Abihu ...
- 24.9k
4
votes
Why was the order of the incense offering so important?
The Rambam Sefer Avodah, Halachot Yom Hakippurim, Chapter 1, Halacha 7 explains this specific improper action was something that the tzedukim insisted on. Any change in the avodah would invalidate it. ...
- 42.9k
3
votes
Accepted
Why would becoming king or kohein gadol exempt one from atoning for past sins?
The Yerushalmi to this Mishnah brings two explanations for R’ Shimon’s opinion:
חברייא אמרין טעמא דר"ש משם שהגדולה מכפרת אמר ר' יוסי שאין חטאו וידיעתו שוין
The Chaveirim say: The reason for R’ ...
- 34.1k
3
votes
Why did the Kohen Gadol have to do everything on Yom Kippur?
The question is dealt with in this article at yeshiva.org.il which it is better to read.
My summary: he quotes:
Ritv”o – If the KG is unable to do the avodos which are not specific to Yom Kippur, ...
- 47.2k
3
votes
How did the High Priest get to the position between the two staves of the ark on Yom Kippur?
The mishna is talking regarding the second Temple where there was no ark , but yes 2 curtains
But in the first Temple it seems there was 1 curtain and it was folded open so that he can walk through
...
- 7,466
3
votes
Is there a prohibition for a non-kohen to wear the clothing of a kohen?
I have not seen an explicit rule against a non-kohen from wearing the bigdei kehuna . However, based off the Rambam (Klei Mikdash 8:11) and Tosfos (Yoma 69a) it seems that a non-kohen would be ...
- 41k
2
votes
What is the minimum age for a cohen gadol?
The gemara brings in Chullin 24b an idea that a kohen is disqualified by blemishes but not by age and a Levi is the opposite. The gemara brings a berisa is in Chullin 24b which states a kohen can ...
- 41k
2
votes
Accepted
What did the haircut of Ben Elasha look like?
ShamanSTK showed me the following from the Hebrew Stiensaltz Talmud
which claims that it is a Machlokes Rishonim of what it actually looked like. That being said I would like to verify if what is ...
- 4,245
2
votes
What were the stones mentioned in Shemos chapter 28
One very good resource is Parshablog's 2006 series on the various stones of the Choshen/Ephod. He uses Midrash Rabbah and other sources to define them, and they are linked in the below post:
http://...
- 20.9k
2
votes
What were the stones mentioned in Shemos chapter 28
The oldest extant translation of this section is the Septuagint. It lists the stones as:
Row 1: σάρδιον, τοπάζιον, σμάραγδος
Row 2: ἄνθραξ, σάπφειρος, ἴασπις
Row 3: λιγύριον, ἀχάτης, ἀμέθυστος
Row 4: ...
- 3,556
2
votes
Why the story of a kohen gadol marrying a widow (יבמות ו:ד)?
Indeed this is strange that the Mishna talk about the story of YBG.
Melechet Shelomo
ע"כ: ואיתא בת"כ סוף פ' ב' דפ' אמור:
ומינהו המלך בגמ' דייקי' מדקתני מינהו ולא קתני נתמנה דקשר של רשעים ...
- 22.7k
2
votes
Discussion of tumah issues when a Kohen Gadol died on Yom Kippur
This is an interesting question for sure! Although I did not find anything that discusses the issue on it's own, I do have a few points that can possibly answer your questions mentioned.
Firstly, ...
- 10.6k
2
votes
Accepted
Was Eli the Kohen Gadol until he died?
Daas Sofrim on the first verse you cited says that indeed Eli wasn't able to serve as Kohen Gadol once he started going blind. So he says that Eli had expected that one of his sons would take over as ...
- 7,781
2
votes
Why are there no high priests today?
Among other things there are technicalities preventing anyone from becoming high priest today.
Firstly you would need either a king or Sanhedrin to appoint him (Rambam, Laws of the Temple’s Vessels ...
- 4,963
2
votes
Accepted
Why does it matter if the Kohen Gadol has never read the order of Yom Kippur himself before? (Yoma 1:3)
Since he has to read it on Yom Kippur, he must learn it in order to say it properly. Thus, he must practice to insure that he does not make mistakes and not be yotzei the the avodah.
- 42.9k
1
vote
Why did rebbi Yishmael Ben Elisha as a Kohen Gadol want to bring a "Chatos Shmeina"
The Rambam talks about a Kohen "mashiach" (Kohen Gadol who was oiled with the holy oil) in the mentioned halacha. We can derive from this that a Kohen Merube Begadim (a kohen Gadol who got ...
- 2,064
1
vote
Accepted
What is the earliest [illustration] of the kohen gadol
In 244 CE, the Dura Europos Synagogue commissioned a Mural (now located at Damascus, National Museum) which illustrated אַהֲרֹן Aharon as Kohen Gadol [right of the menorah] : https://en.wikipedia.org/...
- 1,378
1
vote
Pompey and the Holy of Holies
The Shekhinah had already departed from the Temple due to our many sins, leaving it to be destroyed by our adversaries. As eluded to in the Talmud:
You killed a nation that was already dead, you ...
- 18.5k
1
vote
Pompey and the Holy of Holies
I’ve heard the reason being that The Ark was not in the Holy of Holies.
- 941
1
vote
Who must wear special clothing?
The Chinuch (mitzvah 99) writes that it's so that the attention of the kohen himself is focused on the Divine service that he's performing: anytime he looks at any part of his body, he will see the ...
- 7,781
1
vote
What made Yochanan go off?
A vort from R' Moshe of Kobrin is that after 80 years נעשה צדוקי - he felt himself to be a tzaddik. The implication (in view also of the other teachings on that page) seems to be that this led him to ...
- 7,781
1
vote
Philosophically, why does the death of an understudy kohen allow a manslaughterer to leave the City of Refuge?
My premise -- the second bullet -- was flawed: it appears that the only people whose death ends the exile are those who had ever served as kohen gadol at the time the exile was decreed. (And not the ...
- 131k
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