Elul and Tishrei cont'd

(1) Seven days before the Day of Atonement, we sequester the High Priest from his house to the Palhedrin Chamber, and we prepare for him another priest in his place, [for] perhaps there will occur in him a disqualification. Rabbi Yehuda says: We even prepare another wife for him, [for] perhaps his wife will die; as it is said, "and he shall atone for himself and for his household" - his "household" is his wife. The Sages said: If so, there is no end to the matter.

(2) All seven days [of his sequestration], [the High Priest] casts the blood, and burns the incense, and cleans the lamps....

(3) They provided for him elders from the elders of the beit din [Rabbinic court] who would read before him the order of the service [for Yom Kippur]. They would say to him: My master the High Priest, memorize the order of the service; perhaps you forgot or never learned. On the day before Yom Kippur in the morning they stood him in the eastern gate of the Temple and passed before him all the bulls, rams and lambs [that would be used the next day in the service] so that he would recognize and be familiar with the service [of offering each of them].

(4) All seven days, they would not prevent him from eating or drinking. The day before Yom Kippur, toward nightfall, they would not let him eat a lot, because food brings on sleep.

(5) The elders of the Court would transfer him to the elders of the priesthood, and they would bring him up to the upper chamber of the House of Avtinas, administer the oath to him, take their leave and depart. And they would say to him, My master, High Priest, we are the messengers of the beit din, and you are our messenger and the messenger of the beit din. We make you swear, by He Who caused His name to dwell in this House, that you will not change a thing from what we have told you. He would separate from them and sob, and they would separate from him and sob.

(6) If he was a sage, he would expound. If not, sages would expound in front of him. If he was accustomed to reading, he would read. If not, they would read in front of him. And from what would they read in front of him? From Job, and from Ezra, and from Chronicles. Zecharya ben Kabutal said, many times I read from Daniel in front of him.

(7) If he wanted to fall asleep, young priests would snap their middle fingers in front of him and say to him, My master the High Priest, stand up and get rid [of the fatigue] this once [by standing] on the floor. And they would engage with him until the time came for slaughtering [the morning sacrifice].

(8) Every day, they would remove the ashes from the altar at [the time of] cockcrow or around that time, whether before or after. [But] on Yom Kippur, [it would be done] at midnight, and on the festivals, at the first watch. And cockcrow would never occur [on these occasions] before the Temple courtyard was filled with Israelites.