Midrash su Levitico 6:3

1) (Vayikra 6:3) "And the Cohein shall put on his linen (bad) garment (middo)": "middo": kemidatho ("fit to size"). "bad": byssus; "bad": new; "bad": doubled (with six-folded strands); "bad": that other garments not be worn with them. I might think that flaxen garments should not be worn with them, but that woolen garments could be worn with them; it is, therefore, (to negate this) written "bad." I might think that consecrated garments should not be worn with them, but mundane garments could be worn with them. It is, therefore, (to negate this) written "bad." "shall he put on his flesh": What is the intent of (the seemingly superfluous) "shall he put on"? To include the mitznefeth (the turban) and the avnet (the belt). These are the words of R. Yehudah. R. Dossa says: To include the (four linen) garments of the high-priest as being kasher for the ordinary Cohein. Rebbi says: There are two arguments against this: Is the avnet of the high-priest (on Yom Kippur) the same as that of the ordinary priest? (The first was of linen alone and the second, of a variety of materials!) And, furthermore, will the garments that served for the highest holiness "descend" to the service of a lesser holiness! The intent of "shall he put on," rather, is that even worn garments may be used.

2) R. Shimon says: From "bad" I already know that the four garments (of the high-priest) are subsumed, it being written (Vayikra 16:32): "And he (the high-priest) shall put on the linen garments, the holy garments." If so, why is "middo bad" needed? For kemidatho ("fit to size").

3) "and linen breeches shall he put upon his flesh": and not a plaster (intervening) on his flesh. The intent of "linen breeches shall there be upon his flesh," stated elsewhere (Vayikra 16:4) is that nothing is to be put on before the breeches.

[(Lev. 16:1:) AFTER THE DEATH OF AARON'S TWO SONS.] R. Judan of Gallia opened (with Job 39:27): IS IT AT YOUR COMMAND THAT THE EAGLE MOUNTS UP AND MAKES ITS NEST ON HIGH? The Holy One said to Aaron: At your command [I had my Divine Presence rest upon the Ark.²⁵Tanh., Lev. 6:3; Lev. R. 20:4; PRK 26(27):4; see PR 47:3. Was it not at your command that I] removed my Divine Presence that was upon the Ark? In the case of the first temple (according to Job 39:28): IT DWELLS AND LODGES ON THE ROCK, < i.e., the Divine Presence was there for > a lodging of one night. In the case of the second temple (referred to in ibid., cont.): ON A ROCKY CRAG²⁶Literally: ROCKY TOOTH. The midrash finds the expression well suited to the spur of rock on the Temple mount. AND A STRONGHOLD, < i.e., the Divine Presence was there for > a lodging of many nights.²⁷The number of nights that the Divine Presence lodged in the two temples is the reverse of what one would expect; however, the Buber text is supported by the unemended, traditional text of Lev. R. 20:4 and in Yalqut Shim‘oni, Job 926. Cf. Tanh., Lev. 4:3, which does affirm that the Divine Presence lodged many nights in the first temple. Moreover, we learn there (in Yoma 5:2): WHEN THE ARK HAD BEEN TAKEN AWAY, THERE WAS A CERTAIN STONE THERE FROM THE DAYS OF THE FORMER PROPHETS,²⁸According to Rav Huna, as cited in Sot. 48b, the former prophets are David, Samuel, and Solomon. AND IT WAS NAMED FOUNDATION. And why was it named Foundation? Because out of it the world was founded.²⁹Yoma 54b (bar.); yYoma 5:4 (42c); TYoma 3:6 (2:14); Numb. R. 12:4; see below, Tanh. (Buber), 7:10; Tanh. 7:10. And how would a high-priest pray on the Day of Atonement?³⁰Cf. yYoma 5:3 (42c). A version of this prayer is part of a long piyyut composed by Rabbi Meshullam ben Kalonymus in the tenth century. It is known either as the Avodah or by its initial words, Amits Koah, and appears as part of the Musaf Service on the Day of Atonement. See P. Birnbaum, The High Holyday Prayer Book (New York: Hebrew Publishing Co., 1951), p. 26. May it be your will, O Lord our God, that this year be one of rain, warmth, and dew, a year of low prices, a year of abundance, a year of grace, a year of blessing, a year of trade, a year when your people Israel are not dependent on each other, a year when [< the people of > Israel] will not be arrogant with each other. Now The Rabbis of Caesarea said: < It was > with reference to our brothers in Caesarea < that the high priest prayed > for them not to be arrogant with each other. But {our Rabbi} but [the Rabbis of the South] say: < It was > with reference to our brothers in the South,³¹The parallel texts in Tanh., Lev. 6:3; Lev. R. 20:4, and PRK 26(27):4 all read, “in Sharon.” Cf. Sot. 8:3; ySot. 8:7 (23a); Sot 44a. lest their houses become their tombs.³²For example, if the houses collaped from heavy rains or were buried in a sandstorm.

4) (Vayikra 6:3): ("And he shall lift up the ashes from the fire consuming the burnt-offering upon the altar") I might think (that this refers to the ashes of) the wood; it is, therefore, written "burnt-offering." If "burnt-offering," I might think (that this refers to) the limbs of the burnt-offering; it is, therefore, written "from the fire consuming" (lit., "that the fire shall consume"). How is this effected? He scoops out the inner coals (i.e., the wholly consumed portions), and goes down. ("and he shall place them beside the altar"): "and he shall place": gently; "and he shall place them": all of them; "and he shall place them": that they not scatter. "beside the altar": close to the altar. Whence is it derived that the limbs and fat-pieces that had not been consumed since the evening are removed to the sides of the altar, and if the sides cannot contain them they are arranged on the sovev (the gallery around the altar) or on the ramp until the wood pile is arranged, when they are returned to it? From: "that the fire shall consume the burnt-offering upon the altar."

5) Whence is it derived that (fire-hardened) limbs that sprang off the fire before midnight must be returned and that they are subject to me'ilah (their mitzvah not yet having been performed)? From "that the fire shall consume the burnt-offering upon the altar."