Sukkah, Daf Nun Vav, Part 4
Introduction
Today’s section is a mishnah. My commentary is taken from Mishnah Yomit.
The final mishnah of Sukkah is a continuation of the previous mishnah which dealt with the division of the showbread.
משנה.
יום טוב הסמוך לשבת, בין מלפניה בין לאחריה, היו כל המשמרות שוות בחילוק לחם הפנים.
חל להיות יום אחד [להפסיק] בינתים, משמר שזמנו קבוע – היה נוטל עשר חלות, והמתעכב נוטל שתים.
ובשאר ימות השנה – הנכנס נוטל שש והיוצא נוטל שש.
רבי יהודה אומר: הנכנס נוטל שבע, והיוצא נוטל חמש.
הנכנסין חולקין בצפון והיוצאין בדרום.
בילגה לעולם חולקת בדרום, וטבעתה קבועה, וחלונה סתומה.
1) A festival which fell next to Shabbat, either before or after it, all the watches shared equally in the distribution of the showbread.
2) If one day intervened between them [Shabbat and Yom Tov], the watch whose time of service was fixed [for that week] took ten [of the] loaves, while they that were detained took two.
3) On all other days of the year the incoming watch took six loaves and the outgoing watch six.
a) Rabbi Judah said, the incoming watch took seven and the outgoing five.
4) The incoming watch divided it in the north, and the outgoing in the watch.
5) [The watch of] Bilgah always divided it in the south; their ring was fixed and their alcove was blocked up.
Section one: If Shabbat fell either on the day before the festival or the day after, all of the watches would receive an equal portion of the showbread. If it fell before the festival, they would have to get to Jerusalem before Shabbat, a day earlier than if the festival had fallen during the week. If it fell after the festival, they would have to stay a day later. Since they had to be there anyway, they received a portion of the showbread even though Shabbat was not on the festival.
Section two: If there was one day in between Shabbat and Yom Tov, the watch whose week it was would get most of the showbread but not all. Since some of the watches might not be able to begin their way back home because they lived too far away to make it in one day, or might need to get to Jerusalem before Shabbat, they were compensated by getting at least a little bit of the showbread.
Section three: At all other times of the year the incoming and outgoing watches would split the showbread evenly. The watches would actually switch their service on Shabbat. The new watch would arrange the new showbread and the two would split the showbread from the previous week.
Rabbi Judah says that this division was not completely equal.
Section four: In order that the watches should not get confused, the incoming watch would divide the showbread in the northern section of the Temple and the outgoing watch would divide in the south.
Section five: Bilgah is the name of one of the watches (see I Chronicles 24:14). According to the Talmud they divided their sacrificial meat as punishment. We shall learn why in the final two sections of the tractate.
In the Temple there were twenty-four rings, one for each watch. When skinning a sacrifice they could put the animal s neck through the ring and have it held up while they skinned it. Bilgah s ring was closed up so that they couldn t use it. In addition, every watch had its own alcove in which they could store their knives. Bilgah s was closed up, again as a punishment for their misdeeds.