A List of Ten Extremely Powerful Sounds and Smells of the Temple, According to the Mishnah (Mishnah Tamid 3:8)

Appendix: From the Diaspora to the Holy of Holies – The Seven Levels of Prayer Focus (Berakhot 30a)

This Mishnah describes the powerful sensory experiences linked to the Temple in Jerusalem as perceived from Jericho (Jericho is roughly 12 miles north-east of Jerusalem), emphasizing the reach and impact of the Temple's activities:

Sounds 

1.  The opening of the large gate could be heard from Jericho.

2.  The unique sound of a shovel-like instrument (מגרפה) used in the Temple was audible.

3.  The noise from a machine (מוכני)¹ crafted by Ben-Katin (בן קטין)² for the Basin was heard.

4.  Gabini, the Temple crier (גביני כרוז),³ was heard announcing daily duties for priests, Levites, and Israelites.

5.  A flute (חליל) played during specific days (twelve annually) in the Temple was heard.

6.  The clashing of cymbals (צלצל) could be heard.

7.  The singing of the Levites during the service in the Temple was audible.

8.  The sound of the shofar, blown several times each day, reached Jericho.

9.  Some said (ויש אומרים) that the voice of the High Priest was heard uttering the name of God (meaning, the Tetragrammaton) on Yom Kippur.

Smells

The fragrance of the incense prepared in the Temple was strong enough to be sensed in Jericho.

R’ Elazar ben Diglai (רבי אליעזר בן דגלאי - an otherwise-unkown sage) noted that his father’s goats in distant Mikhvar / Mkawer (הר מכור, in modern-day Jordan) would sneeze from the fragrance of the incense, highlighting its potent reach.

The Passage

Mishnah_Tamid.3.8:

1. מיריחו היו שומעין קול שער הגדול שנפתח. 

2. מיריחו היו שומעין קול המגרפה. 

3. מיריחו היו שומעין קול העץ שעשה בן קטין מוכני לכיור. 

4. מיריחו היו שומעין קול גביני כרוז. 

5. מיריחו היו שומעין קול החליל. 

6. מיריחו היו שומעין קול הצלצל. 

7. מיריחו היו שומעין קול השיר. 

8. מיריחו היו שומעים קול השופר. 

9. ויש אומרים, אף קול של כהן גדול בשעה שהוא מזכיר את השם ביום הכפורים. 

10. מיריחו היו מריחים ריח פטום הקטרת. 

אמר רבי אליעזר בן דגלאי, עזים היו לבית אבא בהר מכור, והיו מתעטשות מריח פטום הקטרת:

1. From Jericho the people would hear the sound indicating that the large gate had been opened. 

2. From Jericho the people would hear the sound produced in the Temple by the instrument that had the form of a shovel. 

3. From Jericho the people would hear the sound of the wood that ben Katin crafted into a mechanism of pulleys for the Basin. 

4. From Jericho the people would hear the voice of Gevini the Temple crier, who would proclaim in the Temple each day: Arise, priests, to your service, and Levites to your platform, and Israelites to your non-priestly watch. 

5. From Jericho the people would hear the sound of the flute that was played in the Temple twelve days each year. 

6. From Jericho the people would hear the sound of ben Arza clashing the cymbals in the Temple. 

7. From Jericho the people would hear the sound of the song of the Levites in the Temple. 

8. From Jericho the people would hear the sound of the shofar that was sounded several times each day in the Temple. 

9. And some say that in Jericho the people would hear even the voice of the High Priest at the moment that he mentioned the ineffable name of God on Yom Kippur. 

10. From Jericho the people would smell the fragrance emanating from the preparation of the incense in the Temple. 

Rabbi Elazar ben Diglai said: There were goats belonging to my father that grazed in the cities of Mikhvar, located at a distance from Jerusalem, and they would sneeze from the fragrance of the preparation of the incense that they smelled.

Appendix: From the Diaspora to the Holy of Holies – The Seven Levels of Prayer Focus (Berakhot 30a)

Berakhot.30a.8-9

A baraita outlines a detailed progression of prayer direction, starting from the broadest category of individuals and locations and narrowing down to the most specific and sacred focal point.

Each step emphasizes the physical and spiritual alignment required during prayer, reflecting a unified connection to the divine.

The first five levels cite a biblical prooftext. Four of those prooftexts are taken from Solomon's dedicational prayer at the First Temple (I Kings 8:22–61), specifically verses 35, 44, and 48.

1. Blind individuals or anyone else unable to determine (לכוין) directions (רוחות): focus toward God (I Kings 8:44)

2. Diaspora (חוץ לארץ): Focus toward Eretz Yisrael (I Kings 8:48).

3. Eretz Yisrael: Focus toward Jerusalem (I Kings 8:44).

4. Jerusalem: Focus toward the Temple (II Chronicles 6:32).

5. Temple: Focus toward the Holy of Holies (I Kings 8:35).

6. Holy of Holies: Focus toward the ark-cover (kapporet).

7. Behind the kapporet: Visualize oneself as standing before it.

Wherever one stands in prayer—east, west, south, or north—they turn to face toward the central direction, aligning their prayer focus. Thus, all Jews direct their hearts and focus toward “one place” (the Holy of Holies in the Temple).

תנו רבנן:

1. סומא, ומי שאינו יכול לכוין את הרוחות —

   1. יכוין לבו כנגד אביו שבשמים,

   2. שנאמר: ״והתפללו אל ה׳״.

2. היה עומד בחוץ לארץ —

   1. יכוין את לבו כנגד ארץ ישראל,

   2. שנאמר: ״והתפללו אליך דרך ארצם״.

3. היה עומד בארץ ישראל —

   1. יכוין את לבו כנגד ירושלים,

   2. שנאמר: ״והתפללו אל ה׳ דרך העיר אשר בחרת״.

4. היה עומד בירושלים —

   1. יכוין את לבו כנגד בית המקדש,

   2. שנאמר: ״והתפללו אל הבית הזה״.

5. היה עומד בבית המקדש —

   1. יכוין את לבו כנגד בית קדשי הקדשים,

   2. שנאמר: ״והתפללו אל המקום הזה״.

6. היה עומד בבית קדשי הקדשים —

   1. יכוין את לבו כנגד בית הכפורת.

7. היה עומד אחורי בית הכפורת —

   1. יראה עצמו כאילו לפני הכפורת.

נמצא:

1. עומד במזרח -- מחזיר פניו למערב.

2. במערב -- מחזיר פניו למזרח.

3. בדרום — מחזיר פניו לצפון.

4. בצפון — מחזיר פניו לדרום.

נמצאו:

כל ישראל מכוונין את לבם למקום אחד.

The Sages taught in a Tosefta:

1. A blind person and one who is unable to approximate the directions and, therefore, is unable to face Jerusalem in order to pray, may focus his heart towards his Father in Heaven, as it is stated: “And they shall pray to the Lord” (I Kings 8:44).

2. One who was standing in prayer in the Diaspora should focus his heart toward Eretz Yisrael, as it is stated: “And they shall pray to You by way of their land which You have given to their fathers” (I Kings 8:48).

3. One who was standing in Eretz Yisrael should focus his heart toward Jerusalem, as it is stated: “And they shall pray to the Lord by way of the city that You have chosen” (I Kings 8:44).

4. One who was standing in Jerusalem should focus his heart toward the Temple, as it is stated: “And they shall pray toward this house” (II Chronicles 6:32).

5. One who was standing in the Temple should focus his heart toward the Holy of Holies, as it is stated: “And they shall pray toward this place” (I Kings 8:35).

6. One who was standing in the Holy of Holies should focus his heart toward the seat of the ark-cover [kapporet], atop the ark, the dwelling place of God’s glory.

7. One who was standing behind the seat of the ark-cover should visualize himself as if standing before the ark-cover and turn toward it.

Consequently:

1. one standing in prayer in the East turns to face west,

2. and one standing in the West turns to face east.

3. One standing in the South turns to face north,

4. and one standing in the North turns to face south;

Consequently:

all of the people of Israel focus themselves focusing their hearts toward one place, the Holy of Holies in the Temple.

1. From Greek mēkhanḗ - “contrivance, machine, device, gear”, which is also the source for the English word “machine”.

2. Ben-Katin is mentioned in a few other Mishnahs as well, see the citations in the Hebrew Wikipedia entry linked.

3. This Gabini is also mentioned in a different Mishnah, in Tractate Shekalim 5:1. See my discussion of this Mishnah here.