1that have been inspected in the Chamber of the Lambs for four days prior to the time of their slaughter. The reserve of six lambs ensured that each lamb would be available for inspection for three days prior to the day of its sacrifice, for a total of four. And whose opinion is this? It is the opinion of ben Bag Bag, as it is taught in a baraita that ben Bag Bag says: From where is it derived that the daily offering requires examination four days prior to its slaughter?
2The verse states with regard to the daily offering: “My food that is presented unto Me for offerings made by fire, of a pleasing aroma unto Me, shall you safeguard to offer unto Me in its due season” (Numbers 28:2); and it states there, with regard to the Paschal offering: “In the tenth day of this month they shall take to them every man a lamb… and it shall be for you as a safeguard until the fourteenth day of this month” (Exodus 12:3–6), i.e., the first month. Since the word “safeguard” appears in both verses, it is derived that just as in the verse there, the Paschal offering requires examination four days prior to its slaughter, so too here, the daily offering requires examination four days prior to its slaughter.
3The Gemara notes: The language of the mishna is also precise, according to the explanation that the mishna is referring to Shabbat and Rosh HaShana merely as a mnemonic device, as it teaches that the six lambs are sufficient for Shabbat and the two Festival days of Rosh HaShana, and it does not teach that the six lambs are for use on Shabbat and the two days of Rosh HaShana. The Gemara concludes: Learn from the language of the mishna that this explanation is correct.
4§ The mishna teaches that one plays no fewer than two trumpets, and one may add to that number. The Gemara asks: Until how many trumpets may these additions be made? The Gemara answers that Rav Huna says, and some say Rav Zavdi says that Rav Huna says: They may play up to 120 trumpets, as it is stated: “And with them one hundred and twenty priests sounding with trumpets” (II Chronicles 5:12).
5The mishna teaches that one plays no fewer than nine harps and one may add up to an infinite number, and the cymbal was played alone and none may be added to it. The Gemara asks: From where is this matter derived? Rav Asi says that it is as the verse states: “And Asaph with the cymbals, sounding aloud” (I Chronicles 16:5), which indicates that only one Levite played the cymbals. The Gemara asks: The word cymbals is in the plural, indicating that there were two; why, then, does the mishna say that there is only one cymbal? The Gemara answers: Since two cymbals perform one act and one person plays them by banging them together, the mishna calls them one instrument.
6MISHNA: In the Temple, there are no fewer than twelve Levites standing on the platform adjacent to the altar and singing, and one may add Levites on the platform up to an infinite number. A minor Levite may enter the Temple courtyard for service only at a time when the Levites are engaging in song, so that he may accompany them. And minors would not engage in playing a lyre and in playing a harp; rather, they would engage in singing with the mouth, in order to provide flavor to the music with their pure, high voices.
7Rabbi Eliezer ben Ya’akov says: Minors are not tallied in the minimum total of twelve Levites, and they do not ascend to the platform; rather, they would stand on the ground and their heads would reach to between the legs of the Levites, and they were called cadets [ tzoarei ] of the Levites.
8GEMARA: The mishna states that a minimum of twelve Levites would stand on the platform and sing. The Gemara asks: To what does this number correspond? Rav Pappa says: It corresponds to the minimum number of instruments that were played: Nine harps and two lyres and one cymbal. This number is also alluded to in the Bible, as it is stated: “Instructed in singing unto the Lord… he and his brethren and sons were twelve” (I Chronicles 25:7–9).
9§ The mishna teaches: A minor Levite may enter the Temple courtyard for service only at a time when the Levites are engaging in song. The Gemara asks: From where is this matter derived? Rabbi Yoḥanan says: As the verse states: “Then stood Jeshua with his sons and his brethren, and Kadmiel and his sons, the sons of Judah, together, to make music for the workmen in the House of God” (Ezra 3:9). This verse shows that in making music it is preferable to have one’s sons, i.e., minors, as accompaniment.
10The mishna teaches: The minors would not engage in playing a lyre and in playing a harp; rather, in singing with the mouth in order to provide flavor to the music with their pure, high voices. The Gemara notes: That is to say that a lyre and a harp are two distinct instruments. Let us say that the mishna is not in accordance with the opinion of Rabbi Yehuda, as it is taught in a baraita that Rabbi Yehuda says: The harp used in the Temple was an instrument of seven strings, as it is stated: “In your presence is fullness [ sova ] of joy, in your right hand sweetness for evermore” (Psalms 16:11). Do not read the word as “ fullness [ sova ]” but as seven [ sheva ]. This indicates that the “sweet harp” (see Psalms 81:3) played in the presence of God, i.e., in the Temple, has seven strings.
11Rabbi Yehuda continues: And the harp that will be played in the days of the Messiah will have eight strings, as it is stated: “For the Leader, on the eighth: A Psalm of David” (Psalms 12:1). This indicates that the psalms that will be recited in the time of the Messiah, son of David, will be played on the eighth string that will be added to the harp.
12And the harp that will be played in the World-to-Come will have ten strings, as it is stated: “A Psalm, a song. For the Shabbat… With an instrument of ten strings and with the lyre, with a solemn sound upon the harp” (Psalms 92:1–4). This indicates that in the World-to-Come, which is comparable to Shabbat, songs of praise to God will be played on a ten-stringed instrument, identified here as both a lyre and a harp.
13And similarly, another verse states: “Give thanks unto the Lord with the harp; sing praises unto Him with the lyre of ten strings. Sing unto Him a new song” (Psalms 33:2–3), which is referring to the new song that will be sung only in the World-to-Come. This proof in support of Rabbi Yehuda’s claim that the harp used in the World-to-Come will have ten strings is from a verse that is referring to a ten-stringed lyre, which shows that according to Rabbi Yehuda, the lyre and harp are the same instrument. Therefore, his opinion apparently contradicts the mishna.
14The Gemara answers: You may even say the mishna is in accordance with the opinion of Rabbi Yehuda, as even he agrees that the harp and lyre are essentially two different instruments. But in the World-to-Come, since the strings of the harp will be increased, its sound will be increased like that of the lyre, and therefore he calls the harp a lyre.
15The mishna teaches that Rabbi Eliezer ben Ya’akov says: The minors are not tallied in the minimum total of twelve Levites…and they were called cadets [ tzoarei ] of the Levites. The Sages taught in a baraita : And they were called the helpers [ soadei ] of the Levites. The Gemara asks: And the tanna of our mishna, why is he referring to them as tzoarei ? The Gemara answers: Since these minors had high voices and those adults had deep voices, and these minors would sing in a high voice [ mekateti ], and those adults could not sing in such a high voice, they were called tzoarei , as they caused the adult Levites anguish [ tza’ar ] due to the fact that they could not produce the same pleasant sounds as the minors.
16MISHNA: There are halakhot with regard to valuations that are lenient and others that are stringent; and there are halakhot with regard to an ancestral field that are lenient and others that are stringent; and there are halakhot with regard to a forewarned ox that killed a Canaanite slave that are lenient and others that are stringent; and there are halakhot with regard to a rapist, and a seducer, and a defamer that are lenient and others that are stringent.
17There are halakhot with regard to valuations that are lenient and others that are stringent; how so? Both in the case of one who took a vow of valuation to donate the fixed value of the most attractive among the Jewish people and in the case of one who took a vow of valuation to donate the fixed value of the most unsightly among the Jewish people, he gives the fixed payment of fifty sela , shekels, to the Temple treasury (see Leviticus 27:3). And if one said: It is incumbent upon me to donate the assessment of another to the Temple treasury, he gives the price for that person if sold as a slave, a sum that can be more or less than fifty shekels.
18GEMARA: The mishna states: There are halakhot with regard to valuations that are lenient and others that are stringent; how so? Both in the case of one who took a vow of valuation to donate the fixed value of the most attractive among the Jewish people and in the case of one who took a vow of valuation to donate the fixed value of the most unsightly among the Jewish people, he gives the fixed payment of fifty sela to the Temple treasury. The Gemara infers from this that if the vow of valuation referred to a Jew, yes, he pays the fixed value; but if one took a vow of valuation to donate the fixed value of gentiles, he does not pay the fixed value.
19The Gemara asks: If so, let us say that the mishna is not in accordance with the opinion of Rabbi Meir, as we learned in a mishna (5b): With regard to a gentile, Rabbi Meir says: He is valuated in a case where a Jew says: It is incumbent upon me to donate the fixed value of this gentile; but a gentile does not take a vow of valuation to donate his fixed value or the value of others.
20The Gemara answers: You can even say that the mishna is in accordance with the opinion of Rabbi Meir, as it can be claimed that the same is true, i.e. that even if one took a vow of valuation to donate the fixed value of a gentile, he also pays the fixed amount. But