(Fol. 47) Our Rabbis have been taught: Seven sons had Kamchith, and all officiated as High-priests. When the sages asked her: "What hast thou observed to merit such distinction." She replied, "The walls of my house never saw my hair." Whereupon the sages remarked, "Many women did so, and did not succeed [to any distinction]."
(Fol. 51b) MISHNAH: He walked through the hall till he reached the place between the two curtains which separated the sanctuary from the Holy of Holies by the width of one cubit. R. Jose said: "There was but one curtain, as it is said (Ex. 27, 33) And the curtain shall divide" etc., (Fol. 52b) The outer one was folded towards the southern [wall] and the inner one towards the northern. He walked between them, till he reached the northern [wall]; having arrived thither, he turned his face towards the south; he walked back with his left hand to the curtain until he reached the ark; reaching the ark, he placed the censor between the two staves and heaped the incense on the top of the coals, so that the whole house was filled with smoke. He departed in the same manner as he had come [facing the Holy of Holies and walking backward], and offering a short prayer in the outer sanctuary; but he did not remain long in prayer in order not to alarm Israel [by a long delay].
GEMARA: Of which Temple is it spoken? Shall we assume of the first Temple? then there was only a partition [before the ark, and not a curtain]. And if we assume it refers to the second Temple then, again, there was no ark in it. For we were taught: When the Holy Ark was removed, there disappeared with it, the bottle of manna; the bottle of anointing oil; Aaron's staff with its decorations of almonds and buds, and the box the Philistines had sent as a gift to the God of Israel together with the golden vessels; as it is said (I Sam. 6, 8) And take the ark of the Lord, and place it into the wagon; and the articles of gold, which ye return him as a trespass-offering, ye must put in a casket alongside of it, etc. And who removed them? Joshia, king of Juda. What was his reason for doing it? He found a passage (Deut. 28, 36) The Lord will drive thee and thy king whom thou wilt set over thee: so he went and removed it, as it is said (II Chron. 35, 3) And he said unto the Levites that instructed all Israel, who were holy men unto the Lord: Set the holy ark in the house which Solomon, the son of David, the King of Israel, built; ye have not to carry it any more upon your shoulders. Now serve the Lord your God, and His people Israel. And R. Eliezer said: "We infer by rule of analogy of the three similar words Shama (there), Doroth (generations) and Mishmereth (preservations) [to prove that the ark was hidden then." Hence there was no ark in the second Temple]. Surely it [the Mishnah] refers to the second Temple. What is meant by "until he reached the Holy Ark," i.e., the place where the Ark stood during the first Temple. But it is stated that he placed the censor between the two staves. Read it. where there should have been the two staves.'
(Fol. 53) He departed in the same manner as he had come. Whence do we deduce this? R. Samuel b. Nachmeni said, in the name of R. Jonathan: "The passage says (II Chr. 1, 13) Then came Solomon to the high place that was at Gibeon in Jerusalem. How comes Gibeon to be in Jerusalem? We must therefore say that the passage means to compare his going out of Gibeon on the way to Jerusalem with his entering Gibeon on the way from Jerusalem. Just as when he entered Gibeon on the way from Jerusalem his face was turned to the Bamah, so also when he left it his face was still turned to the Bamah. The same applies to the priests after their service, to the Levites after their songs, and to the Israelites, who, after standing on their watch, did not turn their couontenances ot walk away, but they walked sideways. So also a disciple, when leaving his teacher, should not turn his countenance when departing, but should walk sideways; as R. Elazar did, when he used to part from R. Jochanan. When R. Jochanan desired to leave first, he bowed where he stood till R. Jochanan was out of his sight; when R. Elazar was to leave first, he walked backwards till he could see R. Jochanan no longer. Raba, leaving R. Joseph [who was blind], used to walk backwards till his feet struck against R. Joseph's threshold, causing them to bleed. (Ib. b) When this was related to R. Joseph, he said to Raba: "May it be the will of God to raise your head above the entire city."
"Offered a short prayer in the outer sanctuary." What was the prayer? Raba and Rabbin, the sons of R. Adda, both said in the name of Rab: "May it be Thy will, O Lord, our God, that this year shall be a hot one, moistened with dew." Is then a hot year a blessed one? We must therefore say that he prayed thus: If this year, be one in which the earth forms clouds [on account of the heat], then it should also be moistened with dew. R. Acha b. Raba, in the name of R. Juda, concluded the prayer as follows: "May no ruler cease from the house of Juda, and no ruler cease from the house of Juda, and may Thy people, Israel, not depend for livelihood on each other; and mayest Thou not prevention of rain]." R. Chanina b. Dosa happened to be on the road. When it began to rain, he said: "Sovereign of the Universe! the whole world rejoices [because of the rain], but Chanina is suffering." Thereupon it stopped raining. When he reached home, he said: "Sovereign of the Universe! the whole world is in anxiety [because it stopped raining], only Chanina is contented [having no fields"]." Whereupon it began to rain again. R. Joseph remarked: "What availed the prayer of the High-priest against the prayer of R. Chanina b. Dosa?"
Our Rabbis have been taught: It happened with one High-priest that he prolonged his prayer so that the priests decided to enter [the Temple] after him. When they were about to enter the Temple he came out. "Why hast thou prolonged thy prayer so much?" they inquired of him. He said: "Is this task too hard for you, when I prayed to the Lord for your sake that the Temple might not be destroyed?" They said to him: "Do not establish such custom, as we were taught, 'He should not prolong his prayer, lest he alarm Israel.' "
MISHNAH: From the time the Ark disappeared in the days of the first prophets there was a stone in its place called Shethia (fountain stone). It was three fingers high above the ground, whereon he [the priest] placed the censor.
GEMARA: The Mishnah says, When the ark was taken away, not when it disappeared. This Mishnah, therefore, agrees with the opinion which contends that the Holy Ark was removed to Babylon; for we were taught that R. Eliezer says: "The Holy Ark was taken in exile into Babylonia, as it is said (II Chr. 36, 10) And with the expiration of the year did King Nebuchadnezzar send, and had him brought to Babylon, with the precious vessels of the house of the Lord (precious refers to the ark)." R. Simon b. Jochai says: "We learn from the following passage that the Holy Ark was taken in exile into Babylonia (II Kings, 20, 6) No thing shall be left, saith the Lord. This refers to the ten commandments." R. Juda b. Ila, however, said: "The Holy Ark disappeared in its place (Temple), as it is said (I Kings 8, 8) And they had made the staves so long, that the ends of the staves were seen out in the holy place in the front of the Debir, but they were not seen without; and they have remained there until this day." And he who says that R. Simon b. Jochai is of the opinion that the ark was taken into exile, differs from Ulla, for Ulla said that R. Mathia b. Cheresh had said to R. Simon b. Jochai in Rome: "Since R. Eliezer infers from two verses that the ark was exiled into Babylonia. (One verse, as quoted above, reads: Had him brought to Babylon, with the precious vessels of the house of the Lord; the other is (Lam. 1, 6) There is gone forth from the daughter of Zion all her splendor (Fol. 54); and what is the meaning of Hadara (her splendor)? Read Chadara (the hidden thing); i.e., the Holy Ark. What hast thou to say thereto?" He replied: "I say the ark was concealed on the spot, as it is said. And they made the staves, … and they have remained there until this day."
R. Nachman said: "We are taught the sages maintain that the Hooly Ark was concealed in the compartment for the shorotage of wood." R. Nachman b. Isaac said: "We have also learned a Mishnah to the same effect. A priest, who was engaged in the Temple, once happened to notice that one of the paving stones in a certain place appeared different from the rest. He went out to tell others of it; but he had not yet finished speaking, when he died. Thence it was known to a certainty that the ark of the covenant was hidden there." This matter is therefore determined. What was he [the priest then] engaged in? R. Chelbo said: "He was busy sporting with his axe." At the college of R. Ishmael it was taught: "There were two blemished priests who were occupied in picking out the wood which was not mouldy. The axe of one fell in the place beneath which the Holy Ark was concealed; a fire went forth and consumed him."
(Ib b) "A stone, Shethia." We are taught: It is called Shethia (foundation stone) because from it the world has been created. This statement is according to the one who says that the creation of the world began with Zion, for we are taught in a Baraitha: R. Eliezer says: "The world has been created beginning with the centre, as it is said (Job 38, 38) When the dust is poured out as molten metal, and the clods are made to cling fast together [first the center piece was created, then the other parts adhered to it] ." R. Joshua said: "The world has been created beginning with the extremities, as it is said (Ib. 37, 6) For to the snow he saith. Be thou earth. Like-rains of his strength." R. Isaac said: "The wise to the pouring rain, to the pouring Holy One, praised be He! threw a stone into the sea, in a spot whence the world was created, as it is said (Ib. 38, 6) Upon what are her foundation pillars placed at rest? Or who threw her corner stone?" The sages, however, said: "The world was created beginning with Zion, as it is said (Ps. 50, 1-2) A Psalm of Assaph, the God of Gods. the Lord speaketh, and calleth the earth, from the rising of the sun until its setting. Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God dazzleth forth; i.e., from Zion began to spread beauty to the whole world." We have been taught: R. Eliezer says: "(Gen. 2, 4) These are the generations of the heavens and the earth when they were created, on the day that the Lord God made earth and heaven; i.e., the luminous stars, etc., were created from the heavens, and all earthly things from the earth." But the sages say: "These and those [both] were created from Zion, as it is said (Ps. 50, 1) A Psalm of Assaph, the God of Gods, etc., and again (Ib.) Out of Zion the perfection of beauty; i.e., from it (Zion) was created the beauty of the (entire) world."