Let's finish Mishnayos in memory of those who were murdered in Israel.
Pledge Mishnayos
Mishnah.org Logo

Mishnayos Yoma Perek 5 Mishnah 5

יומא פרק ה׳ משנה ה׳

5

It is stated: “And he shall go out to the altar that is before the Lord, and make atonement for it; and he shall take of the blood of the bull, and of the blood of the goat, and place it upon the corners of the altar round about” (Leviticus 16:18). This altar is the golden altar, since the outer altar is not before the Lord in the Sanctuary. He began to cleanse the altar, sprinkling the blood downward. From where does he begin? He begins from the northeast corner, and proceeds to the northwest corner, and then to the southwest corner, and finally to the southeast corner. A way to remember this is: At the place where he begins sprinkling the blood for a sin-offering sacrificed on the outer altar, the southeast corner, there he finishes sprinkling the blood on the inner altar. Rabbi Eliezer says: The priest would not circle the altar; rather, he stood in one place and sprinkled the blood from there. Since the altar was only one square cubit, he could sprinkle the blood on all four corners without moving. And on all the corners he would present the blood from below upward, except for that corner that was directly before him, on which he would present the blood from above downward.

וְיָצָא אֶל הַמִּזְבֵּחַ אֲשֶׁר לִפְנֵי יְיָ, זֶה מִזְבַּח הַזָּהָב. הִתְחִיל מְחַטֵּא וְיוֹרֵד. מֵהֵיכָן הוּא מַתְחִיל, מִקֶּרֶן מִזְרָחִית צְפוֹנִית, צְפוֹנִית מַעֲרָבִית, מַעֲרָבִית דְּרוֹמִית, דְּרוֹמִית מִזְרָחִית. מְקוֹם שֶׁהוּא מַתְחִיל בַּחַטָּאת עַל מִזְבֵּחַ הַחִיצוֹן, מִשָּׁם הָיָה גוֹמֵר עַל מִזְבֵּחַ הַפְּנִימִי. רַבִּי אֱלִיעֶזֶר אוֹמֵר, בִּמְקוֹמוֹ הָיָה עוֹמֵד וּמְחַטֵּא. וְעַל כֻּלָּן הָיָה נוֹתֵן מִלְּמַטָּה לְמַעְלָה, חוּץ מִזּוֹ שֶׁהָיְתָה לְפָנָיו, שֶׁעָלֶיהָ הָיָה נוֹתֵן מִלְמַעְלָה לְמָטָּה:

ה׳
Bartenura

היה מחטא ויורד – this Tanna/teacher held that the Kohen would walk on his feet to each and every corner. And each and every sprinkling was in the corner that was before him and nearest him. And for this reason, [the Mishnah] takes [the words] “purifying [the altar by sprinkling], that is to say, that he would give sprinkling from above to below, for if he had given [sprinkling] from below to above in the corner that was before him, the blood would flow into his handle and soil his clothing. But Rabbi Eliezer held that the Kohen would stand in one corner and from there give sprinklings on all the corners, for the entire altar was not other than one cubit by one cubit squared, and since the three corners were near him, he can sprinkling from below to above without soiling his clothing, except for this corner that he was standing near, for it was impossible for him to turn sideways the tops of his fingers downward but [only] upwards, for if he would turn the tops of fingers downward and give a sprinkling from the bottom to the top, the blood would flow into the handle of his undercoat. But the Halakha is not according to Rabbi Eliezer.

היה מחטא ויורד. האי תנא סבר שהיה הכהן הולך ברגליו לכל קרן וקרן, וכל מתנה ומתנה היתה בקרן שלפניו וסמוך לו. ולהכי נקט מחטא ויורד, כלומר שהיה נותן מתנה מלמעלה למטה, שאם יתן מלמטה למעלה בקרן שלפניו הדם זב לתוך בית יד שלו ומטנף את בגדיו. ור״א סבר שהכהן עומד בקרן אחת ומשם נותן המתנות על כל הקרנות שהרי כל המזבח אינו אלא אמה על אמה מרובע וכיון שאין שלשת הקרנות סמוכות לו יכול ליתן מלמטה למעלה ולא יטנף את בגדיו, חוץ מקרן זו שהוא עומד אצלה שאי אפשר לו לצדד ראשי אצבעותיו למטה אלא למעלה, שאם יצדד ראשי אצבעותיו למטה ויתן מתנה מלמטה למעלה הרי הדם זב לתוך בית יד כתונת שלו. ואין הלכה כר״א: