Pt2 Prophecy, Omens, and Miracles: Shimon HaTzaddik and the Foreshadowing of the Second Temple's Destruction (Yoma 39a-b)

This is the second and final part of a a two-part series. First part is here.

Prophetic Visions and the Decline of Miracles: The Death of Shimon HaTzaddik and the Foreshadowing of the Temple's Destruction

A baraita recounts the events surrounding the death of Shimon HaTzaddik. In the year of his death, Shimon HaTzaddik foresaw his own passing after performing the Yom Kippur Temple service as High Priest: Instead of the usual divine “elder”¹ dressed in white,² he was met by an elder dressed in black, and that elder entered with him, but didn’t exit with him.

Indeed, Shimon HaTzaddik fell ill after Sukkot and passed away seven days later. After his death, the Jewish people experienced a decline in miracles, and the priests ceased using the tetragrammaton (=YHWH) in the priestly blessing.

תנו רבנן: 

אותה שנה שמת בה שמעון הצדיק, 

אמר להם: בשנה זו הוא מת. 

אמרו לו: מניין אתה יודע? 

אמר להם: 

בכל יום הכפורים, 

היה מזדמן לי זקן אחד, לבוש לבנים ועטוף לבנים, נכנס עמי, ויצא עמי, 

והיום, 

נזדמן לי זקן אחד, לבוש שחורים ועטוף שחורים, נכנס עמי, ולא יצא עמי. 

אחר הרגל, חלה שבעה ימים, ומת.

ונמנעו אחיו הכהנים מלברך בשם.

The Sages taught: 

During the year in which Shimon HaTzaddik died, 

he said to them, his associates: In this year, he will die, euphemistically referring to himself. 

They said to him: How do you know? 

He said to them: In previous years, on every Yom Kippur, upon entering the Holy of Holies, 

I was met, in a prophetic vision, by an old man who was dressed in white, and his head was wrapped up in white, and he would enter the Holy of Holies with me, and he would leave with me. 

But today, 

I was met by an old man who was dressed in black, and his head was wrapped up in black, and he entered the Holy of Holies with me, but he did not leave with me. 

He understood this to be a sign that his death was impending. Indeed, after the festival of Sukkot, he was ill for seven days and died.

Without the presence of Shimon HaTzaddik among them, the Jewish people were no longer worthy of the many miracles that had occurred during his lifetime. For this reason, following his death, his brethren, the priests, refrained from blessing the Jewish people with the explicit name of God in the priestly blessing.

Omens of the Destruction of the Second Temple

A baraita describes a series of ominous signs that occurred in the Second Temple during the 40 years leading up to its destruction (in 70 CE). The first three are the same as the ones mentioned earlier (quoted in part 1):

1. The lot for God stopped appearing in the High Priest's right hand during the Yom Kippur service.

2. The crimson wool strip tied to the scapegoat during the Yom Kippur service no longer turned white.

3. The westernmost flame of the Temple menorah ceased to burn continuously.

4. The doors of the Sanctuary (היכל) began opening by themselves.

These events were seen as portents of the Temple's impending destruction. Rabban Yoḥanan ben Zakkai addressed the Sanctuary directly, telling it not to frighten itself with these signs, as its destruction had already been prophesied by the biblical Zechariah (flourished 6th century BCE).

תנו רבנן: 

ארבעים שנה קודם חורבן הבית: 

1. לא היה גורל עולה בימין, 

2. ולא היה לשון של זהורית מלבין, 

3. ולא היה נר מערבי דולק.

4. והיו דלתות ההיכל נפתחות מאליהן, 

עד שגער בהן רבן יוחנן בן זכאי. 

אמר לו: 

היכל היכל! 

מפני מה אתה מבעית עצמך?!

יודע אני בך שסופך עתיד ליחרב, 

וכבר נתנבא עליך זכריה בן עדוא: [...]

The Sages taught: 

During the tenure of Shimon HaTzaddik, the lot for God always arose in the High Priest’s right hand; after his death, it occurred only occasionally; but during the forty years prior to the destruction of the Second Temple,

the lot for God did not arise in the High Priest’s right hand at all. 

So too, the strip of crimson wool that was tied to the head of the goat that was sent to Azazel did not turn white,

 and the westernmost lamp of the candelabrum did not burn continually.

And the doors of the Sanctuary opened by themselves as a sign that they would soon be opened by enemies, 

until Rabban Yoḥanan ben Zakkai scolded them. 

He said to the Sanctuary: 

Sanctuary, Sanctuary, 

why do you frighten yourself with these signs?!

I know about you that you will ultimately be destroyed, 

and Zechariah, son of Ido, has already prophesied concerning you: [...]

Miraculous Reach of the Temple

This passage describes several extremely powerful sounds (from the doors) and fragrances (from the incense) emanating from the Second Temple, which were so intense that they reached great distances:³

1. The sound of the Sanctuary doors opening could be heard from eight “Sabbath limits” away.⁴

2. Goats in Jericho would sneeze from smelling the incense burned in the Temple.

3. Women in Jericho didn't need perfume (להתבשם), due to the scent of the Temple incense reaching them.

4. Brides in Jerusalem didn't need to wear perfume (להתקשט) because of the incense's fragrance in the city.

5. R' Yosei ben Dolgai's father had goats in the hills of Mikhmar that would sneeze from the incense's scent⁵

R' Ḥiyya bar Avin states that an elderly man reported to R’ Yehoshua ben Korḥa (רבי יהושע בן קרח) that he could still smell the incense in the ruins of the Tabernacle in Shiloh, over a thousand years after its destruction.

1. וציר דלתות ההיכל נשמע בשמונה תחומי שבת. 

2. עזים שביריחו היו מתעטשות מריח הקטורת. 

3. נשים שביריחו אינן צריכות להתבשם, מריח קטורת. 

4. כלה שבירושלים אינה צריכה להתקשט, מריח קטורת.

5. אמר רבי (יוסי בן) דולגאי: עזים היו לאבא בהרי (מכמר), והיו מתעטשות מריח הקטורת. 

אמר רבי חייא בר אבין, אמר רבי יהושע בן קרחה: 

סח לי זקן אחד, 

פעם אחת הלכתי לשילה, 

והרחתי ריח קטורת מבין כותליה.

The Gemara describes similar miracles in which events in the Temple were sensed a great distance away.

1.  And the sound of the doors of the Sanctuary opening was heard from a distance of eight Shabbat limits, which is eight mil. 

2. Furthermore, goats that were in Jericho would sneeze from smelling the fragrance of the incense that burned in the Temple; 

3. the women that were in Jericho did not need to perfume themselves, since they were perfumed by the fragrance of the incense, which reached there; 

4. a bride that was in Jerusalem did not need to adorn herself with perfumes, since she was perfumed by the fragrance of the incense, which filled the air of Jerusalem.

5. R' Yosei ben Dolgai said: Father had goats in the hills of Mikhmar, a district some distance from Jerusalem, and they would sneeze from smelling the fragrance of the incense. 

Similarly, R' Ḥiyya bar Avin said that R' Yehoshua ben Korḥa said: 

An old man reported to me: 

One time I went to the ruins of the Tabernacle in Shiloh, 

and I smelled the smell of the incense from between its walls. The Tabernacle stood there during the period of the Judges, and more than a thousand years had passed since its destruction.

1. זקן אחד - for a similar talmudic usage of the term “an elder” (זקן) to refer to a divine incarnation, see my piece on the daughter of Neḥunya the Well Digger; there the Talmud states:

אמרה לו: זכר של רחלים נזדמן לי, וזקן מנהיגו.

She said to him: A male sheep, i.e., a ram, happened by and sensed me in that cistern, and there was an old man leading him who pulled me out. 

On divine incarnations in general, see my piece here.

2. לבוש לבנים ועטוף לבנים - “dressed in white, and [his head was] wrapped up in white”. This phrase, and its parallel one in the next line, first appears in the Mishnah, end of tractate Middot (Mishnah_Middot.5.4), in a different context (of mourning or celebration, after a judgement regarding preistly lineage):

לובש שחורים ומתעטף שחורים

[….]

לובש לבנים ומתעטף לבנים

The first line is then borrowed in the Talmud for going undercover for sexual sins, see the Talmudic story discussed in piece here.

3. In the passage following, line #1 is about the doors of the Sanctuary (ציר דלתות ההיכל - literally: “The hinge of the Sanctuary doors”), and the next four lines (lines #2-5) are about the incense, all ending with the same words: “from the odor/smell of the incense” (מריח קטורת).

4. Meaning, eight Roman miles, ~5 miles.

5. On this line, see my previous piece: A List of Ten Extremely Powerful Sounds and Smells of the Temple, According to the Mishnah (Mishnah Tamid 3:8).