Pt1 Prophecy, Omens, and Miracles: Shimon HaTzaddik and the Foreshadowing of the Second Temple's Destruction (Yoma 39a-b)
Miraculous Signs During the Tenure of Shimon HaTzaddik, and their Subsequent Decline
This is the first part of a a two-part series. Outline is below.1
Outline
Miraculous Signs During the Tenure of Shimon HaTzaddik, and their Subsequent Decline
Prophetic Visions and the Decline of Miracles: The Death of Shimon HaTzaddik and the Foreshadowing of the Temple's Destruction
Omens of the Destruction of the Second Temple
Miraculous Reach of the Temple
The Passage
Miraculous Signs During the Tenure of Shimon HaTzaddik, and their Subsequent Decline
A baraita taught that during the 40 years that Shimon the Tzaddik2 served as High Priest in the Second Temple period, several miracles consistently occurred:
During the lottery of the goats during the Yom Kippur Temple service, the lot for God always arose in the right hand,
During the same part of that service, the crimson wool3 tied to the scapegoat sent to Azazel always turned white,
the western flame (נר מערבי) of the Temple menorah burned continuously,
the Temple altar's fire (אש של מערכה) burned continuously without the need for additional wood, except for the two logs4 of wood that were brought in order to fulfill the mitzva of placing wood upon the arrangement
The offerings of the omer,5 the two loaves on Shavuot (שתי הלחם), and the showbread were so blessed that even a tiny portion6 of it satisfied a priest who ate it.
However, after Shimon HaTzaddik's tenure, these signs became inconsistent. On Yom Kippur, the lot for God sometimes arose in the left hand and the crimson wool sometimes did not turn white, the menorah’s western flame sometimes went out, and the altar's fire required extra wood.
Regarding the final item in the list (#5): a curse was placed (נשתלחה מאירה) on the omer offering, the two loaves, and the showbread, causing the quantities to be insufficient for each priest to receive a full portion. As a result, each priest received only a small amount, about the size of a bean.7
The shy (צנועין) priests would refrain from taking their portion, since it was anyway too small and not especially satisfying, while the gluttons (גרגרנין) would still take and eat it.8
The baraita recounts an incident where one priest took both his portion and that of another priest, leading to him being nicknamed "the grabber".9
תנו רבנן:
ארבעים שנה ששמש שמעון הצדיק:
היה גורל עולה בימין.
מכאן ואילך -- פעמים עולה בימין פעמים עולה בשמאל.
והיה לשון של זהורית מלבין.
מכאן ואילך -- פעמים מלבין פעמים אינו מלבין.
והיה נר מערבי דולק.
מכאן ואילך -- פעמים דולק פעמים כבה.
והיה אש של מערכה מתגבר, ולא היו כהנים צריכין להביא עצים למערכה, חוץ משני גזירי עצים כדי לקיים מצות עצים.
מכאן ואילך -- פעמים מתגבר פעמים אין מתגבר, ולא היו כהנים נמנעין מלהביא עצים למערכה כל היום כולו.
ונשתלחה ברכה בעומר, ובשתי הלחם, ובלחם הפנים. וכל כהן שמגיעו כזית, יש אוכלו ושבע, ויש אוכלו ומותיר.
מכאן ואילך -- נשתלחה מאירה בעומר ובשתי הלחם ובלחם הפנים, וכל כהן מגיעו כפול. הצנועין מושכין את ידיהן, והגרגרנין נוטלין ואוכלין. ומעשה באחד שנטל חלקו וחלק חבירו, והיו קורין אותו ״בן חמצן״ עד יום מותו.
[...]
The Sages taught:
During all forty years that Shimon HaTzaddik served as High Priest,
the lot for God arose in the right hand. From then onward, sometimes it arose in the right hand and sometimes it arose in the left hand.
Furthermore, during his tenure as High Priest, the strip of crimson wool that was tied to the head of the goat that was sent to Azazel turned white, indicating that the sins of the people had been forgiven, as it is written: “Though your sins be as crimson, they shall be white as snow” (Isaiah 1:18).
From then onward, it sometimes turned white and sometimes it did not turn white.
Furthermore, the western lamp of the candelabrum would burn continuously as a sign that God’s presence rested upon the nation.
From then onward, it sometimes burned and sometimes it went out.
And during the tenure of Shimon HaTzaddik, the fire on the arrangement of wood on the altar kept going strongly, perpetually by itself, such that the priests did not need to bring additional wood to the arrangement on a daily basis, except for the two logs that were brought in order to fulfill the mitzva of placing wood upon the arrangement.
From then onward, the fire sometimes kept going strongly and sometimes it did not, and so the priests could not avoid bringing wood to the arrangement throughout the entire day.
And a blessing was sent upon the offering of the omer; and to the offering of the two loaves from the new wheat, which was sacrificed on Shavuot; and to the shewbread, which was placed on the table in the Temple. And due to that blessing, each priest that received an olive-bulk of them, there were those who ate it and were satisfied, and there were those who ate only a part of it and left over the rest because they were already satisfied from such a small amount.
From then onward, a curse was sent upon the omer, and to the two loaves, and to the shewbread, that there were not sufficient quantities to give each priest a full measure. Therefore, each priest received just an amount the size of a bean; the discreet, pious ones would withdraw their hands, a bean-bulk being less that the quantity needed to properly fulfill the mitzva, and only the voracious ones would take and eat it. And an incident occurred with one who took his portion and that of his fellow, and they called him: Son of a robber [ḥamtzan] until the day of his death.
[...]
Flourished 3rd-2nd centuries BCE; he was possibly the same person as Simon II (High Priest) - Wikipedia.
לשון של זהורית - compare Kermes (dye) - Wikipedia > “The biblical scarlet (tolaʻat šanī)”.
גזירי, see also גזר - ויקימילון.
See a previous piece for a fascinating talmudic anecdote featuring this offering.
כזית - literally: “like an olive”, meaning, the size of an olive. “Olive-size" is one of the major standard talmudic measurements of volume.
פול. Alternative interpretation: “each priest [had to] receive [a larger amount], double (כפול) [what they had gotten previously, since the same amount was less satisfying].