Sukkah 046

נושא: Sukkah

BET MIDRASH VIRTUALI

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On the first day of Sukkot there were thirteen bulls, two rams and one goat. That leaves fourteen sheep for eight contingents. On the first day six [contigents] would offer two each and the rest one each. On the second [day] five [contigents] would offer two each and the rest one each. On the third [day] four [contigents] would offer two each and the rest one each. On the fourth [day] three [contigents] would offer two each and the rest one each. On the fifth [day] two [contigents] would offer two each and the rest one each. On the sixth [day] one [contigent] would offer two and the rest one each. On the seventh [day] they were all equal. On the eighth [day] they would resume [casting] lots as on [other] festivals. They would say, "Anyone who has offered a bull today shall not make offering tomorrow, but they resume as before."

1:
When we studied Tractate Tamid we learned that the whole of Israel's priesthood was divided into twenty-four 'contingents' (for want of a better term), and that each contingent was responsible for manning the Bet Mikdash for one week, in turn. However, on the festivals, when a large number of worshippers (with their private sacrifices as well as the larger number of public sacrifices) was to be expected, all the contingents were required to be in attendance.

2:
On a usual day the various priestly tasks were allocated on the basis of casting lots. The procedure is detailed in Tamid 03, explanation #6. However, during the festival of Sukkot all the contigents wanted to take part in the sacrificial ceremonies. Our present mishnah explains how it might have been possible to accommodate them.

3:
In the Torah [Bemidbar 29:12-38] a very complicated series of sacrifices is prescribed for the festival of Sukkot. Basically, on each day of the seven days of the festival the following number of animals were sacrificed: fourteen lambs, two rams and one goat. In addition a certain number of bulls were sacrificed: on the first day thirteen, on the second day twelve, on the third day eleven, on the fourth day ten, on the fifth day nine, on the sixth day eight, on the seventh day seven.

To be continued.

In Sukkah 036 I wrote that it was possible that Rabbi Yehudah's opinion that the words said in the Temple where "Ani ve Hu Hoshia Na" as having a relation to the Divine name.

Albert Ringer writes:

I was reading Yerushalmi Peah this week, in the Steinsalz edition. On page 10 the text gives an interpretation of "Ze Eli weAnwehu" with the words: "Aba Shaul said: you should imitate him. As he is pardoning, you should be pardoning, as he is merciful, you should me merciful". This is explained by Steinsalz as referring to the interpretation of "weAnweho" as meaning "Ani we Hu". Could there be a connection?

I respond:

Delightful as it would be for there to be a connection I am not at all sure that there is a thematic connection. Abba Shau'l is recommending what modern scholarship calls Imitatio Dei, imitating God. In many places in the Torah we find God saying, as it were, "be like Me" or "do as I do". For example, "You shall be holy as I, your God, am holy" [Leviticus 19:2].

There is an expanded version of this beautiful idea in the Gemara [Sotah 14a]:

Rabbi Ḥamma bar Rabbi Ḥanina said, What does the Torah mean when it says "After your God shall you go" [Deuteronomy 13:5]? — Is it possible for a person to walk after the Divine presence? It has already said "For your God is a devouring fire" [Deuteronomy 4:24]! Rather should one follow after God's qualities: just as He clothes the naked [see Genesis 3:21] so shall you clothe the naked; God visits the sick [see Genesis 18:1] so should you visit the sick; God comforts the bereaved [see Genesis 25:11] so should you comfort the bereaved; God buries the dead [see Deuteronomy 34:6] so should you bury the dead… Rabbi Simlai expounded: the Torah begins and ends with acts of kindliness. It begins with an act of kindliness for it is written that "God made for them leather coats and dressed them" [Genesis 3:21]; it ends with an act of kindliness for it is written that "God buried [Moses] in the valley" [Deuteronomy 34:6].

The text in Exodus to which Albert refers [Exodus 15:2] says "This is my God and I shall hymn Him". What Abba Sha'ul does is to read the words as if they meant "This is my God, I and He". In the Mishnah we read:

Each day they would circle the altar once saying "O God, deliver us! O God, let us prosper!" (Rabbi Yehudah says "I and He, deliver us".)

It seems to me that Rabbi Yehudah is here suggesting a correction (or new understanding) of the word "God" and not expounding on the divine attributes which should be imitated by man. That is why I wrote that his statement relates to the Divine Name.

Nowadays, it sometimes seems, far too many people claim to speak in God's name. I have heard that one great professor at JTS in New York once taught that "we must imitate God, not impersonate God"!

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