אמת

(1) Rabbi Meir says: Anyone who involves himself in Torah for its own sake merits many things, and moreover the entire world is worthwhile for his sake; He is called "friend," "beloved," "lover of the Ominpresent," "lover of [all] creatures," "delighter of the Ominpresent," "delighter of [all] creatures;" He is clothed in humility and reverence, and it prepares him to be righteous, devout, upright and trustworthy, and it distances him from sin, and draws him near to merit; We enjoy from him counsel and comprehension, understanding and strength, as it is said (Proverbs 8:14): "Mine is counsel and comprehension, I am understanding, mine is strength;" It gives him kingship and dominion, and [the ability to] investigate in judgement, and the secrets of the Torah are revealed to him, and he becomes like an ever-strengthening spring, and like a river that does not stop; He is modest and long-tempered, and forgives insult to him; And it enlarges him and raises him above all [that God] made.

(2) Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi said: Each and every day a heavenly echo goes out from Mount Horeb, and announces and says: "Woe to the creatures for disparaging the Torah;" for anyone who does not involve himself in the Torah is called "rebuked," as it is said (Proverbs 11:22): "A ring of gold in a swine's snout is a beautiful woman who turns from discretion," and it says (Exodus 32:16): "And the tablets were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God, graven upon the tablets," do not read "graven" (harut) but rather "freedom" (herut), for there is no free man except one that involves himself in Torah learning; And anyone who involves himself in Torah learning is elevated, as it is said (Numbers 21:19): "and from Mattanah, Nahaliel; and from Nahaliel, Bamoth."

(3) One who learns from his fellow one chapter or one law or one verse or one utterance {/thing?} or even one letter must treat him with honor, and we found it to be thus with David King of Israel, who learned from Ahithophel two things alone, [yet] called him his teacher, his guide, and his close friend{ lit. "familiar"}, as it is said (Psalms 55:14) "But it was thou, a man mine equal, my guide, and my close friend." And if David, King of Israel, who only learned from Ahithophel two things called him his teacher, his guide, and his friend, how much more must one who learns from his fellow one chapter or one law or one verse or one one utterance or one letter treat his friend with an honor many times greater. And there is no honor except Torah, as it is said (Proverbs 3: 35) "The wise shall inherit honor", and "the whole-hearted shall inherit good" (28: 10), and there is no good except Torah as it is said (Proverbs 4:2) "I give you good doctrine, do not forsake my Torah".

(4) This is the way [to toil in] Torah: eat bread with salt and drink a small amount of water and sleep on the ground and live a life [whose conditions will cause you] sorrow and in Torah you toil; if you do so (Psalms 128: 2) "happy shalt thou be, and it shall be well with thee". Happy shalt though be in this world, and it shall be well with thee in the world to come.

(5) Do not ask for glory for yourself, and do not covet honour. More than just studying, act. And do not lust after the tables of kings since your table is greater than theirs and your crown is greater than theirs. And your employer is faithful; he will pay you the wages of your labour.

(6) Greater is Torah than priesthood and kingship, for monarchy is obtained with thirty levels, and priesthood with twenty-four, and Torah is obtained with forty-eight things. And they are these: learning, listening of the ear, preparation of speech, understanding of the heart, reverence, awe, humility, happiness, purity, service of Sages, care in [selection of] friends, debate of the students, clarification, reading, learning, minimal commodities, minimal worldly occupation, minimal pleasure, minimal sleep, minimal conversation, minimal laughter, patience, generosity, trust in Sages, acceptance of suffering, knowing one's place, gladness in one's portion, erection of a fence to his words, lack of self-aggrandizement, lovableness, love of God, love of the creatures, love of the righteous, love of the upright, love of rebuke, distancing from honor, lack of arrogance in learning, lack of joy in teaching, lifting of a burden with one's friend, judgement with the benefit of the doubt, standing for the truth, standing for peace, deliberation in study, questioning and responding, hearing and adding, learning in order to teach and learning in order to act, making his master wiser, focusing one's words, citing the source, for it is taught that one who cites a source brings redemption to the world, as it says (Esther 2:22): "Esther told the king in Mordekhai’s name."

(7) Great is Torah, for it gives life to those who do it in this world and in the next world, as it says: 'For they are life to those that find them, and healing to all his flesh' (Proverbs 4:22), and it says 'It will be healing for your navel, and tonic to your bones' (Proverbs 3:8). And it says 'It is a tree of life to those who hold it, and those who grasp it are happy' (Proverbs 3:18). And it says 'For they are an accompaniment of grace for your head, and a necklace for your throat' (Proverbs 1:9). And it says 'She will give your head an accompaniment of grace; with a crown of glory she will protect you' (Proverbs 4:9). And it says 'For by me your days will be multiplied, and you will be given additional years of life' (Proverbs 9:11). And it says 'Length of days is in her right hand, and in her left is wealth and honor' (Proverbs 3:16), and it says 'For length of days and years of life and peace will be added to you' (Proverbs 3:2), and it says 'her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace' (Proverbs 3: 17).

(8) Rabbi Shimon ben Yehuda, in the name of Rabbi Shimon ben Yochai, says: beauty, strength, riches, honor, wisdom, maturity, hoary head, and children are fitting for the righteous and fitting for the world, as it is written: "The hoary head is a crown of glory, it will be found in the way of righteousness" (Proverbs 16:31). And it says (Proverbs 20:29), "The glory of young men is their strength; and the beauty of old men is the hoary head." And it says (Proverbs 14:24), "The crown of the wise is their wealth." And it says (Proverbs 17:6), "Children's children are the crown of old men; and the glory of children are their fathers." And it says (Isaiah 24:23), "Then the moon shall be confounded, and the sun ashamed; for the Lord of hosts will reign in Mount Zion, and in Jerusalem, and before His elders shall be Glory." Rabbi Shimon ben Menasya says: These seven qualities enumerated by the sages about the righteous were all fulfilled in Rebbi (Yehuda haNasi) and his sons.

(9) Said Rabbi Yosi ben Kisma: One time I was walking on the road, and a man met me, and greeted me, and I returned the greeting. He said to me, "My master, from which place are you?" I said to him, "I am from a great city of Sages and scribes." He said to me, "My master, do you wish to live among us in our place, and I would give you thousands of thousand golden Dinarim [specific unit of money], and precious stones and pearls?" I said to him, "If you were to give me all the silver, gold, precious stones and pearls in the world, I would not live but in a place of Torah." And so it is written in the book of Psalms by David, King of Israel (Psalms 119:72), "The law of Thy mouth is better unto me than thousands of gold and silver." Moreover, at the time of a person's passing, neither silver, gold, nor precious stones or pearls accompany him, but Torah and good deeds alone, as it says (Proverbs 6:22), "When thou walkest, it shall lead thee, When thou liest down, it shall watch over thee; and when thou awakest, it shall be your conversation"; "When thou walkest, it shall lead thee" - in this world; "When thou liest down, it shall watch over thee" - in the grave; "and when thou awakest, it shall be your conversation" - for the world to come. And it says (Haggai 2:8), "Mine is the silver, and Mine the gold, saith the Lord of hosts."

(10) Five possessions has the Holy One, Blessed be He, declared His own in His world, And they are: The Torah [is] one possession, Heaven and earth [are] one possession, Abraham [is] one possession, Israel [is] one possession, [And] the Sanctuary [is] one possession. From where [do we infer that] the Torah [is] one possession? For it is written: “The Lord possessed me at the beginning of His way, the first of His of old.” (Proverbs 8:22.) From where [do we infer that] heaven and earth [are] one possession? For it is written: “Thus says the Lord: ‘The heaven is My throne, and the earth is My footstool. Which house might you build for Me? And which place might be My resting-place?’” (Isaiah 66:1), And it [also] says: “How manifold are Your works, O Lord! In wisdom have You made them all; full is the earth, Your possession.” (Psalm 104:24.) From where [do we infer that] Abraham [is] one possession? For it is written: “And [Melchizedek] blessed him, and said: ‘Blessed be Abram of God Most High, Maker of heaven and earth.’” (Genesis 14:19.) From where [do we infer that] Israel [is] one possession? For it is written: “Till Your people pass over, O Lord, till the people pass over whom You have made Your own” (Exodus 15:16), And it [also] says: “As for the holy that are in the earth, they are the excellent in whom is all My delight.” (Psalm 16:3.) From where [do we infer that] the Sanctuary [is] one possession? For it is written: “The Sanctuary, O Lord, that Your hands have established” (Exodus 15:17), And it is [also] said: “And He brought them to His holy border, to the mountain, which His right hand had possessed.” (Psalm 78:54.)

(11) Everything that the Holy One, Blessed be He, created in this world, He created only for His glory, as it says (Isaiah 43:7): "Every one that is called by My name, and whom I have created for My glory, I have formed him, yea, I have made him." And it also says (Exodus 15:18 ), "The LORD shall reign for ever and ever."

(12) (Makkot 3:16) Rabbi Chananya ben Akashia says, The Holy One, Blessed be He, wanted to give Israel merit; therefore He multiplied for them Torah and commandments, as it is written, "The Lord desired, for the sake of his righteousness, to make the Torah great and glorious," (Isaiah 42:21).

(1) The whole courtyard was one hundred and eighty seven [amot] long by one hundred and thirty five [amot] wide: From east to west it was one hundred and eighty seven [amot], the place where Israelites were permitted to walk was eleven amot; the place where the Kohanim could walk was eleven amot; the altar was thirty two [amot]; between the vestibule and the altar was twenty two amot; the Sanctuary was one hundred amot and there were eleven amot behind the Holy of Holies.

(2) From north to south [the courtyard] was one hundred and thirty five [amot]: The ramp and the altar [together] were sixty two [amot]; between the altar and the rings were eight amot; the space of the rings was twenty four [amot]; between the rings and the tables were four [amot]; between the tables and the low stone pillars [from where they hung the animals to skin them] were four [amot]; between the low stone pillars and the [northern] wall of the courtyard was eight amot. The remaining [twenty five amot] were taken up by the space between the ramp and the [southern] wall [of the Courtyard] and the space of the low stone pillars.

(3) There were six chambers in the Courtyard, three on the north side and three on the south side. The ones on the the north side were the Chamber of Salt; the Chamber of Parvah, and the Chamber of Rinsing. The Chamber of Salt was where they stored the salt for the sacrifices. The Chamber of Parvah was where they would salt the hides of the sacrifices and on its roof was a Room of Immersion, [mikveh], which the Kohen Gadol used on Yom Kippur. The Chamber of Rinsing was where they would rinse the innards of the sacrifices, and within this chamber, a spiral staircase went up to the roof of the [nearby] Chamber of Parvah.

(4) On the south side was the Chamber of Wood, the Chamber of Diaspora and the Chamber of Hewn Stone. [Concerning] the Chamber of Wood, Rabbi Eliezer ben Yaakov said,"I forgot what it was used for." Abba Shaul said, the Chamber of the Kohen Gadolwas behind the two other chambers [the Chamber of Exile and the Chamber of Hewn Stone] and all three roofs were even. In the Chamber of Diaspora there was a well, upon which a wheel was placed and from there they drew [drinking] water to supply [the people] the the Courtyard. The Chamber of Hewn Stone was where the Grand Sanhedrin [highest court, charged with deciding cases and appeals that had national significance. It was comprised of 71 scholars who had received the full traditional rabbinical ordination, and its decisions fixed Jewish practice for subsequent generations.] of Israel sat and judged the Kohanim [if they are fit to serve]. A Kohen who was found to be unfit would don a black [robe] and wrap his head in black and leave [the Temple Mount]. If he was found to fit, he would don a white [robe] and wrap his head in white and enter the Courtyard to serve with the other Kohanim. They [those found to be fit] would make a day of celebration [to celebrate] that nobody unfit was found in the children of Aaron the Kohen. And this is what they said: "Blessed is Hashem that nobody unfit was found in the children of Aharon. And Blessed is Hashem who chose Aaron and his children to stand and serve before Hashem in the Holy Temple."

(1) They [the two priests] began to ascend the steps of the vestibule. Those who had won the right to remove the ashes from the inner altar and from the Menorah went before them. The one who won the right to remove the ashes from the inner altar went in and took the basket and bowed down and went out again. The one who had won the right to remove the ashes from the Menorah went in, and if he found the two eastern lamps still burning he would remove the ash from the eastern one and left the western one burning, since from it he [the priest] lit the Menorah in the evening. If he found that this one [the western one] had gone out, he removed the ash and lit it [in the evening] from the burnt-offering altar. He then took the jug from the second step and bowed down and went out.

(2) The one who had won the right to do the firepan [service], made a heap of coals on the top of the [inner] altar and then spreading them out with the bottom of the firepan and bowed down and went out.

(3) The one who had won the right to the incense [service] took the censer from the spoon and gave it [the censer] to his friend or his relative [of his choice]. If some of it spilled into the spoon, he [the friend or relative] would give it to him [the priest] in his put it into his hands. They would instruct him: Be careful not to begin [by dropping the incense] in front of you or else you may burn yourself. He then began spreading the incense and then went out. The one who burned the incense did not do so until the appointed one said to him,"Burn the incense." If it [the one offering] was the Kohen Gadol he would say to him:"Master Kohen Gadol, burn the incense." The people went out and he [the priest] burned the incense, he bowed down and went out.