Komentarz do Wyjścia 29:40

ועשרן סלת A TENTH DEAL OF FLOUR — i. e. a tenth part of an ephah: a capacity of forty three and a fifth eggs (cf. Rashi on Exodus 16:36).

ונסך רביעית ההין יין לכבש האחד, “and a drink-offering of one quarter hin wine for the one sheep.” Rabbeinu Chananel writes that as soon as the priest had bowed down in order to offer the libation the deputy High Priest would wave the flag-like cloth to signal to the Levites to begin to chant their hymns. A the time of the Mishnah, a certain ben Arza would then strike the cymbal as a further signal and the Levites would commence reciting their hymns. All the assembled people would bow down and after every section the tekiah blast of the shofar would be blown and the trumpets would be blown until the end of the offering of the burnt-offering. At the end of that procedure the King and all those present with him would prostrate themselves (Chronicles II 29,28-40; compare also Tamid 7,3). The Levites would follow this procedure every day, varying the hymn they would sing.
On Sundays they would recite Psalm 24,1 as that psalm dealt with aspects of the creation of the universe, recalling that everything had been void and empty before. The psalm concludes with the words ויבא מלך הכבוד to commemorate the directive “let there be light.” The attribute כבוד also known as Shechinah is a great light. On Mondays the Levites chanted psalm 48. In verse 4 of that psalm the separation between different levels of holiness is alluded to. In the Holy Temple there were different levels of sanctity such as the Azarah, the Sanctuary, and the Holy of Holies. On the second day of creation the Torah speaks of separation between upper and lower waters (Genesis 1,6). These various levels of sanctity are referred to in verse 4 of our psalm by the word ארמנותיה, “its various citadels, palaces.” On Tuesdays the Levites would chant psalm 82 which features a verse (3) speaking about judging the poor etc. This corresponds to the directive that all the waters in the terrestrial world were to concentrate in one area so that the dry land could become visible (Genesis 1,9). This was an allusion for the judges to congregate when they sat in judgment and to pronounce judgment for each individual supplicant. On that day the Torah (G’d) also directed that the earth should produce trees, etc., each according to its own kind (Genesis 1,12), an allusion to the individuality which is to be preserved on earth. When we read in that psalm that alas, man had to die, unlike the angels, the reference is to the sin committed in that garden in which all these beautiful trees had grown. This is why the psalm recited by the Levites on the fourth day i.e. psalm 94, which commences with the reminder that G’d does take revenge on those who hate Him, is appropriate for Wednesday, the day the sun and moon were placed in orbit. The psalmist refers to the people worshipping sun and moon. On Thursdays the Levites used to chant psalm 81 which amongst other matters deals with the Exodus from Egypt. Pharaoh was compared to a sea-monster, תנין, and on that day the great sea-monsters had been created (Genesis 1,21). On Fridays the Levites chanted psalm 93 describing how even G’d robed Himself in splendor. It was the day that man, the most perfect of the creatures was created, a creature combining within himself some divine attributes (created in the image of G’d). He had been assigned dominion over the animals and even nature, i.e. was liable to similarly regard himself as sovereign in his domain on earth. Chanting that psalm then was in keeping with the significance of the day. On the Sabbath the Levites chanted psalm 92, a hymn in which the righteous are described as firmly planted in the House of the Lord, a reference to the Holy Temple. It is entirely possible that there are still more allusions in these various psalms chanted by the Levites on the different days of the week. Thus far Rabbeinu Chananel.

Forty-three and one-fifth eggs. [Rashi knows that it is of an eipha] because it states in Bamidbar 28:5: “And a tenth of an eipha of fine flour as a meal-offering.” An eipha is three se’ah, and a se’ah is six kav, and a kav is four log, and a log is six eggs. Thus an eipha is 432 eggs, a tenth of which is 43.2 eggs.