Mishnah Yoma
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The prohibitions of work on the Sabbath and on holy days such as Yom Kippur were central and vitally important pillars of rabbinic Judaism. Indeed, according to Leviticus 16, violation of the prohibitions against work on Yom Kippur were punishable by karet, that is, excision. Nevertheless, in m. Yoma 8:6, the rabbis establish that the Sabbath may be violated if life is in danger. The limit of this rule appears in 8:7, that the Sabbath is not violated if the endangered life is that of an idolater.
The rabbinic description of the Temple ritual for Yom Kippur, while clearly rabbinocentric, illuminates internal tensions and divisions in ancient Jewish society. According to the biblical texts, the high priest must be a descendant of Aaron, but in the Roman period, the high priesthood had become an annual political appointment. In m. Yoma 1:3–6, the second entry here, the Roman appointees to the office of high priest are depicted as ignorant and incompetent. The rabbis describe “elders of the court,” with whom they no doubt identified, schooling the priest in his duties for this most sacred day and weeping alongside him that things have come to such a pass.
m. Yoma 8:6–7; 1:3–6
6. If one is seized by a ravenous hunger, they feed him even impure things until his eyes light up [and he returns to health]. If one was bit by a mad dog, they do not feed him the lobe of its liver. But R. Matthia ben Ḥeresh permits it. Moreover R. Matthia ben Ḥeresh said: If one has pain in his throat, they may drop medicine into his mouth on the Sabbath, because it is a possibility of danger to human life, and every potential danger to human life overrides the Sabbath.
7. If an avalanche fell on someone, and it is doubtful whether or not he is there, or whether he is alive or dead, or whether he is an Israelite or a non-Jew, they remove the debris from above him [even on the Sabbath]. If they find him alive they remove the debris, but if dead they should leave him there [until the Sabbath is over].
m. Yoma 1:3–6
3. They delivered elders from the elders of the court to him [i.e., the high priest], and they read before him [throughout the seven days] from the order of the day. And they say to him, “Sir, high priest, you read it yourself with your own mouth, lest you have forgotten or lest you have never learned.” On the eve of Yom Kippur, in the morning, they place him at the eastern gate and pass before him oxen, rams, and sheep, so that he may recognize and become familiar with the service.
4. All seven days, they did not withhold food or drink from him. On the eve of Yom Kippur, near nightfall, they would not let him eat much because food brings about sleep.
5. The elders of the court handed him over to the elders of the priesthood, and they took him up to the upper chamber of the house of Avtinas. They adjured him and then left. And they said to him [as they were leaving], “Sir, high priest, we are messengers of the court, and you are our messenger and the messenger of the court. We adjure you by the one that caused His name to dwell in this house that you do not change anything of what we said to you.” He turned aside and wept, and they turned aside and wept.
6. If he was a sage, he would expound, and if not, the disciples of the sages would expound before him. If he was familiar with reading [the scriptures], he would read; if not, they would read before him.
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Published in: The Posen Library of Jewish Culture and Civilization, vol. 2: Emerging Judaism.
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Mishnah Shabbat
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m. Yevamot 1:4; 6:6; 16:7–10