Off the Daf and Into Israel

Jericho Journey   Yoma 39 Mosaic floor of the sixth century “Shalom al Yisrael” synagogue (Photo credit: jewishjericho.org.il) The smell of the incense would make goats sneeze in Jericho . . . While this is definitely the most amusing connection between Jericho and the Bet HaMikdash, it is hardly the only one. On our page alone we hear about how in Jericho you could hear the sound of the Kohen Gadol saying God’s name in the vidui, you could hear the sound of the door hinges of the heichal and the smell of incense traveled so far that women in Jericho used it instead of perfume! In other place in the Gemara we hear of other connections between Jericho and Jerusalem : Jericho dates were the only dates worthy to be brought for Bikkurim, many priests lived in Jericho and it served as a base for aliya laregel and similar stories. (photo credit: Ferrell Jenkins) Leaving aside the Gemara’s hyperbole (maybe goats have very sensitive noses?), the point here is c

Nicanor who made the gates . .  . Yoma 37 In today's daf we have a list of important donors to the Temple. One of the most famous is Nicanor of Alexandria, who donated beautiful gates. The dramatic story of their arrival in Jerusalem only appears on tomorrow's page, have patience. But Barnea Selavan pointed me in the direction of the today's post. In 1902 in Jerusalem an ancient burial cave was discovered on Mount Scopus in Jerusalem. The cave was significant because of the ossuary (burial box for bones) it contained. Many ossuaries have been discovered in Jerusalem from Second Temple times but the ones with inscriptions are the most rare and the most valuable. This one has an inscription in Greek and one in Hebrew. The Hebrew only contains two names: Nicanor Alexa. The Greek is more expansive (translated quote from Wikipedia   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cave_of_Nicanor , which also has some nice pictures): "the bones of the family of Nicanor the Alexa

Can Water Flow Uphill?   Yoma 31 In the context of the Kohen Gadol’s preparations for the avoda, we hear about his requirement to use the mikveh numerous times during Yom Kippur.  Abaye mentions that the water for the mikveh above Shaar haMayim comes from Ein Eitam עין עיתם . This spring must be 23 amot higher than the floor of the azara because  the gates in the azara are twenty amot high, plus another three amot for the depth of the mikveh. I wanted to write a simple post about the identity of Ein Eitam and its connection to the water supply of Har haBayit. However, the more I researched, the more murky the topic became. But I will set out a few ideas and suggestions here, with further reading for those who are interested. Our first question is where is Ein Eitam? It is mentioned as the source for the mikveh here and in the Yerushalmi (Yoma 3:8) as the source for the waters in the כיור , brought by an aqueduct.  Tanakh does not have a reference to a spring called Eitam b