Guardians of Temple Incense: The Eutinas Clan and Their Secret Craft (Yoma 38a)
Outline
The Unique Expertise of the Eutinas Clan in Temple Incense Preparation
Replacing Eutinas With Alexandrians
The Return of Eutinas (Proverbs 16:4)
Eutinas’ Explanation Why They Didn’t Teach Their Methods
Integrity and Transparency: The Eutinas Clan and Their Commitment to Avoiding Suspicion (Numbers 32:22)
R' Yishmael’s Critique of the Eutinas Clan: Prioritizing Honor Over Divine Service
Tears of Memory and Laughter of Faith: The Hidden Legacy of the Smoke-Raising Herb
Guardians of the Temple Incense: R’ Yoḥanan ben Nuri, R’ Akiva, and the Revelation of the Eutinas Clan's Secret Scroll
Divine Designation and Predestination: The Aphorisms of Ben Azzai
The Passage
The Unique Expertise of the Eutinas Clan in Temple Incense Preparation
Replacing Eutinas With Alexandrians
The House of Eutinas1 specialized in preparing Temple incense (קטורת).
Craftsmen from Alexandria could blend (לפטם) the incense but could not produce the same smoke-rising2 effect:
That of Eutinas would “rise in a column (מתמר) like a stick (מקל)", while that of the Alexandrians would "branch out" (מפציע) to different sides.
של בית אבטינס לא רצו ללמד על מעשה הקטורת.
תנו רבנן:
בית אבטינס היו בקיאין במעשה הקטורת, ולא רצו ללמד,
שלחו חכמים, והביאו אומנין מאלכסנדריא של מצרים.
והיו יודעין לפטם כמותם, ולא היו יודעין להעלות עשן כמותן:
של הללו — מתמר ועולה כמקל,
של הללו — מפציע לכאן ולכאן.
Similarly, the mishna related: The craftsmen of the House of Avtinas did not want to teach about the secret of the preparation of the incense, at which they were particularly adept.
The Sages taught in a baraita:
The members of the House of Avtinas were expert in the technique of preparing the incense, and they did not want to teach others.
The Sages dismissed them and sent for and brought craftsmen from Alexandria in Egypt.
And the Alexandrian craftsmen knew how to blend the spices like they did, but they did not know how to cause the smoke to rise like the House of Avtinas did:
The smoke of the incense blended by these members of the House of Avtinas rises in a column like a stick;
the smoke of the incense blended by these Alexandrians branched out to here and to there and did not rise in a straight line.
The Return of Eutinas (Proverbs 16:4)
The Sages asked Eutinas to return, but they returned only after their daily wages were doubled: from 12 maneh to 24, or 24 to 48.3
וכששמעו חכמים בדבר,
אמרו: כל מה שברא הקדוש ברוך הוא — לכבודו בראו,
שנאמר: ״כל פעל ה׳ למענהו״,
וחזרו בית אבטינס למקומן.
שלחו להם חכמים, ולא באו,
כפלו להם שכרן, ובאו:
בכל יום היו נוטלין שנים עשר מנה, והיום עשרים וארבעה.
רבי יהודה אומר: בכל יום עשרים וארבעה, והיום ארבעים ושמונה.
When the Sages heard of the matter,
they said: Whatever the Holy One, Blessed be He, created, He created in His honor,
as it is stated: “God made everything for His sake” (Proverbs 16:4),
and they let the House of Avtinas return to their original station.
The Sages sent for the members of the House of Avtinas to reassume their previous position, and they did not come.
They doubled their wages and they came:
Each day until then they would take wages of twelve maneh, and today they take wages of twenty-four maneh.
R' Yehuda says: Each day they took twenty-four maneh, and today they take forty-eight.
Eutinas’ Explanation Why They Didn’t Teach Their Methods
They explained that they strictly controlled knowledge of their methods due to concerns that their knowledge might be used by an “unworthy” (אינו מהוגן) person in a pagan temple after the Temple’s impending destruction (meaning, that once the Temple was destroyed, someone who had been given the recipe of the incense would go work in a pagan temple and use the same recipe to make incense there).
אמרו להם חכמים: מה ראיתם שלא ללמד?
אמרו:
יודעין היו של בית אבא שבית זה עתיד ליחרב,
אמרו: שמא ילמוד אדם שאינו מהוגן, וילך ויעבוד עבודה זרה בכך.
The Sages said to them: What did you see that led you not to teach others this craft?
They said:
The members of our father’s house knew that this house, the Temple, is destined to be destroyed,
and they were concerned lest an unworthy man learn our skill of preparing incense and go and engage in idol worship with that skill. Therefore, they attempted to prevent this skill from spreading beyond their family.
Integrity and Transparency: The Eutinas Clan and Their Commitment to Avoiding Suspicion (Numbers 32:22)
The Talmud praises the House of Eutinas for their integrity, noting that no woman married into their clan4 ever used perfume.
When marrying women from outside the clan, they would stipulate (מתנין) that she had to abstain from perfume to avoid suspicion that they were misusing the Temple incense.
This upheld the principle: “And you shall be clear before the Lord and before Israel” (Numbers 32:22).
ועל דבר זה מזכירין אותן לשבח:
מעולם לא יצאת כלה מבושמת מבתיהן,
וכשנושאין אשה ממקום אחר,
מתנין עמה שלא תתבסם,
שלא יאמרו: ממעשה הקטורת מתבסמין,
לקיים מה שנאמר: ״והייתם נקיים מה׳ ומישראל״.
The Gemara comments:
And for this matter they are mentioned favorably:
Never did a perfumed bride emerge from their homes.
And when they marry a woman from a different place,
they stipulate with her that she will not perfume herself,
so that cynics would not say that it is with the work of the incense that they perfume themselves,
to fulfill that which is stated: “And you shall be clear before the Lord and before Israel” (Numbers 32:22).
R' Yishmael’s Critique of the Eutinas Clan: Prioritizing Honor Over Divine Service
R' Yishmael recounts encountering a descendant of the House of Eutinas. He rebuked him, stating that “your ancestors sought to enhance their honor and to diminish God’s honor" .5
R' Yishmael pointed out that, despite the destruction of the Temple, God's honor endures, while the family's honor has diminished (as their significance relied on their Temple role).
תניא,
אמר רבי ישמעאל:
פעם אחת
הייתי מהלך בדרך,
ומצאתי אחד מבני בניהם,
אמרתי לו:
אבותיך בקשו להרבות כבודן
ורצו למעט כבוד המקום,
עכשיו
כבוד מקום במקומו,
ומיעט כבודם.
It was taught in a baraita that
R' Yishmael said:
One time
I was walking along the road
and I found one of the descendants of the House of Avtinas.
I said to him:
Your fathers sought to enhance their honor
and sought to diminish God’s honor by not revealing their secret to others.
Now, although the Temple was destroyed,
the honor of God remains as it was,
and He diminished their honor, as their significance stemmed from their Temple service.
Tears of Memory and Laughter of Faith: The Hidden Legacy of the Smoke-Raising Herb
R' Akiva recounted a story told to him by R' Yishmael ben Loga:6
While gathering herbs (עשבים) in a field with a descendant of the House of Eutinas, R' Yishmael ben Loga noticed the man laughing and crying.
Upon questioning, the man explained he cried because he remembered the honor of his ancestors in the Temple and laughed because he believed God would restore that honor in the future.
He further explained that he had been reminded of the past because he had seen the smoke-raising herb,7 used by his family in Temple incense.
However, when asked to identify the herb, he declined, citing a family oath (שבועה) to keep it secret.
אמר רבי עקיבא:
(פעם אחת) סח לי רבי ישמעאל בן לוגא:
פעם אחת
יצאתי אני, ואחד מבני בניהם, לשדה, ללקט עשבים,
וראיתי (ששחק ובכה).
אמרתי לו: מפני מה בכית?
אמר לי: כבוד אבותי נזכרתי.
ומפני מה שחקת?
אמר לי: שעתיד הקדוש ברוך הוא להחזירה לנו.
ומפני מה נזכרת?
אמר לי: מעלה עשן כנגדי.
הראהו לי!
אמר לי: שבועה היא בידינו, שאין מראין אותו לכל אדם.
R' Akiva said:
One time R' Yishmael ben Loga related to me:
One time
I and one of the descendants of the House of Avtinas went out to the field to collect herbs,
and I saw that he laughed and he cried.
I said to him: Why did you cry?
He said to me: I was reminded of the honor of my forefathers, how important they were in the Temple.
I said to him: And why did you laugh?
He said to me: The Holy One, Blessed be He, is going to restore it to us in the future and we will be honored again.
I said to him: And why are you reminded of this now?
He said to me: The smoke-raising herb is before me, here in the field, reminding me of the past.
I said to him: Show it to me; which one is it?
He said to me: We are bound by oath not to show it to any person other than the members of our family.
Guardians of the Temple Incense: R’ Yoḥanan ben Nuri, R’ Akiva, and the Revelation of the Eutinas Clan's Secret Scroll
R' Yoḥanan ben Nuri recounted an encounter with an elderly man from the House of Eutinas, who possessed a “scroll of spices”.8
The man explained that his family had guarded this knowledge and refrained from sharing it “As long as ‘father's house’ (בית אבא) was extant".9 However, now he would pass the scroll on, with the instruction to “be careful" (הזהר) with it.
When R' Yoḥanan shared this with R' Akiva, R' Akiva declared that from now (מעתה) on, we should no longer “speak disparagingly” (לספר בגנותן) of the Eutinas clan.
אמר רבי יוחנן בן נורי:
פעם אחת
מצאתי זקן אחד, ומגילת סממנין בידו.
אמרתי לו: מאין אתה?
אמר לי: מבית אבטינס אני.
ומה בידך?
אמר לי: מגילת סממנין.
הראהו לי!
אמר לי:
כל זמן שבית אבא היו קיימין, לא היו מוסרין אותו לכל אדם,
ועכשיו, הרי הוא לך, והזהר בה.
וכשבאתי וסחתי דברי לפני רבי עקיבא,
אמר לי:
מעתה,
אסור לספר בגנותן של אלו.
R' Yoḥanan ben Nuri said:
One time
I found an old man who had in his hand a scroll with the location and formula for blending of spices.
I said to him: Where are you from? What is your ancestry?
He said to me: I am from the House of Avtinas.
I asked him: And what is in your hand?
He said to me: A scroll of spices.
I said to him: Show it to me.
He said to me:
As long as the House of Avtinas, my forefathers, was extant, they would not pass it on to anyone.
And now, here it is; and be careful with it not to give it to anyone.
And when I came and related my statement before R' Akiva,
he said to me:
And now that they have surrendered the scroll to worthy recipients since they are unable to maintain its sanctity,
it is prohibited to mention them unfavorably, as even their earlier reticence was apparently for the glory of God.
Divine Designation and Predestination: The Aphorisms of Ben Azzai
Based on the example of the House of Eutinas, Ben Azzai stated the following three-part aphorism:
“By your name they shall call you” (בשמך יקראוך - i.e. each person’s portion is divinely designated)
“In your place, they shall seat you” (במקומך יושיבוך - i.e. one is divinely seated in their rightful place)
“From your own they shall give you” (משלך יתנו לך - i.e. one is divinely given what is theirs)
The Talmud goes on to say two additional related aphorisms:
“No person may touch that which is prepared for another” (אין אדם נוגע במוכן לחבירו)
“one reign does not overlap with another even a hairbreadth”10 (אין מלכות נוגעת בחברתה אפילו כמלא נימא - i.e. no reign encroaches on the divinely time appointed for another)
מכאן אמר בן עזאי:
בשמך יקראוך,
ובמקומך יושיבוך,
ומשלך יתנו לך.
אין אדם נוגע במוכן לחבירו,
ואין מלכות נוגעת בחברתה אפילו כמלא נימא.
From here, with regard to the cases of the Temple’s craftsmen whom the Sages restored to their posts, ben Azzai said:
One should not be concerned that others might usurp his livelihood and success, since at the appropriate moment,
by your name they shall call you to return to your previous position,
and in your place, they shall seat you,
and from your own they shall give you.
Everyone has a portion designated for him by God, and the individual is privileged to receive what is coming to him, as was the case with the House of Avtinas.
The principle is:
No person may touch that which is prepared for another by God; everyone receives what is designated for him.
And one reign does not overlap with another and deduct from the time allotted it even a hairbreadth. When the time comes for one kingdom to fall, its successor takes over immediately, as no king rules during the time designated for another.
אבטינס - a Greek name; traditionally pronounced: “Avtinas”.
להעלות עשן - Maaleh Ashan - see also later.
The same story, word-for-word is said previously in that sugya about the House of Garmu. Many parts of this sugya parallel the discussion about Garmu; I’ll discuss Garmu in a different piece.
כלה - literally: “daughter-in-law".
I.e. his ancestors prioritized their own honor at the expense of God's by refusing to share their secret formula for the incense.
רבי ישמעאל בן לוגא - an otherwise unknown person.
See the first section, where this herb and effect was mentioned.
מגילת סממנין - i.e. a scroll detailing the formula and method for blending the spices for the Temple incense.
קיימין - presumably meaning that he was the final living descendant of the clan, and after he died, the clan would be extinct, and he wanted to pass on the knowledge of how to make the incense so it wouldn't be lost.
The word נימא is from Greek.