Mishna Accomplished

Today’s mishnas continue drawing distinctions between every other day in the mikdash versus the Kohen Gadol on Yom Kippur. We learn about how the kohanim would go up and down the ramp of the altar, how the Kohen Gadol washed his hands, and how many fires were kept at the top of the altar. Along the way, we consider the larger role of glorifying the Kohen Gadol - is it to honor him or for some larg...

The Kohen Gadol finally slaughters the ox he’s confessed over twice and performs the required parts of the service, leading into the morning incense service. We get another digression into differences between Yom Kippur and other days in the Temple, which will continue until the end of this (short) chapter. You can find these mishnas here . We refer back to Yoma 3:4-5 twice, catch that episode her...

Today, the Kohen Gadol uses the lottery box and lots to determine which goat will be to Hashem and which will be to Azazel. Then the goats are tied up in their respective locations and the Kohen returns to his ox. He makes almost the same confession again. You can find these mishnas here . In this episode, I quoted Leviticus 16:8 and Isaiah 1:18 . The first time we learned about the rings was in S...

Today, Dr. Sara Ronis returns to the pod as the mishna digresses into listing individuals who are remembered favorably for their contributions to the Temple, and those who are remembered unfavorably for not sharing Temple skills. You can find these mishnas here . You can dedicate an episode of Mishna Accomplished for $18 by going to BuyMeACoffee.com and searching for "RabbaAliza" or by using this...

The Kohen Gadol does semicha and vidui over his personal ox Korban, laying his hands on the ox’s head and confessing his sins. Then we see the Kohen move to a different part of the Temple courtyard to encounter the two he-goats, the lottery box and the lots. Before we continue with the action, we learn about an important donor.  You can find these mishnas on Sefaria here . Up to now, I have typica...

Today, I welcome Dr. Benji Davis to the pod as we continue to discuss the Yom Kippur service. The Kohen Gadol immerses and puts on the special Yom Kippur white linen clothing, and the mishna gives us guidelines for the cost of the special white clothing. You can find these mishnas on Sefaria here . Today’s podcast is dedicated in the memory of Michael Levin, z”l, who fell in battle on August 1, 20...

Today, we see the Kohen immerse for the first time and dress in his ‘Bigdei Zahav’ — golden clothing. We detour briefly into Maimonides’ Laws of Vessels of the Sanctuary and Those who Serve Therein and explain the eight items of clothing the Kohen Gadol wears. We see the Kohen Gadol offer the Tamid and learn a bit about where the incense fits into the daily service. We conclude with a note about h...

Today’s episodes explain further the process of verifying that the sun has risen before the Yom Kippur service commences. These mishnas also talk about when the Kohen Gadol (and everyone else) needs to immerse in a mikvah or sanctify hands and feet. You can find these mishnas on Sefaria here . Up to now, I have typically chosen the dedication myself. You can dedicate an episode for $18 by going to...

We finish chapter 2 of Yoma by learning how an ox offering was carried by 24 Kohanim. Then we proceed to chapter 3 and return to Yom Kippur morning. We read about how they would determine that the time had come to start the day’s korbanot. You can find these mishnas here . Up to now, I have typically chosen the dedication myself. You can dedicate an episode for $18 by going to BuyMeACoffee.com and...

Today’s episode picks up where the last one left off - with nine Kohanim carrying sheep parts. We cover how many Kohanim were needed on which days for both the sheep and the ram. You can find these mishnas here .   Today, we’re also celebrating 2,000 downloads last week and our 50th episode yesterday. Thanks to all our listeners and supporters! Up to now, I have typically chosen the dedication mys...

This special Tisha B’Av episode covers Ta’anit 4:6-7. We first learn about the five tragedies of the 17th of Tammuz and the five tragedies of the 9th of Av. Then the rabbis give some rulings about limiting our joy in advance of Tisha B’Av. We notice that these laws are similar to, but not exactly the same, as the ones we keep today. You can find today’s mishnas

Today, we continue our discussion of the daily lotteries. The mishna tells us which jobs were assigned by lottery. The mishna does NOT tell us whether the lotteries ran as usual on Yom Kippur, leaving room for commentaries to debate the issue. You can find these mishnas here . Up to now, I have typically chosen the dedication myself. You can dedicate an episode for $18 by going to BuyMeACoffee.com...

Today, we start chapter 2, which describes the division of labor among Kohanim in the daily routine of the mikdash. Mishnas 1-2 describe the removal of the ashes and the race and lottery that determined which Kohen would get the honor. You can read these mishnas here . Up to now, I have typically chosen the dedication myself. You can dedicate an episode for $18 by going to BuyMeACoffee.com and sea...

Today, I welcome Shira Zeliger to the podcast as we continue to discuss the Kohen Gadol’s preparations for Yom Kippur and how he stayed awake all night. You can find these mishnas here . Up to now, I have typically chosen the dedication myself. You can dedicate an episode for $18 by going to BuyMeACoffee.com and searching for "RabbaAliza" or by using this link . ( buymeacoffee.com/rabbaaliza ) Wri...

Today, I welcome Dr. Rebecca Winter and Shoshana Winter-Magid to the podcast. We continue to discuss the Kohen Gadol’s preparations for Yom Kippur. We talk about the oath the Kohen Gadol must take in the name of God that he will do his job to the letter. Since Rebecca and Shoshana are National Bible Contest Champions, they are uniquely qualified to discuss mishna 6 with me, which includes a list o...

Today, we overview the entire tractate of Yoma. Then we read Yoma 1:3-4, which discuss the Kohen Gadol’s week of study preparations and the morning of Yom Kippur’s review of the animal offerings. Finally, we discuss what the Kohen Gadol is allowed to eat before Yom Kippur and why. You can find these mishnas here . Up to now, I have typically chosen the dedication myself. You can dedicate an episod...

Welcome to Tractate Yoma! We start with Yoma 1:1-2, which talk about the Kohen Gadol’s preparations in the seven days leading up to Yom Kippur. You can find these mishnas here . I also talk a bit about why I chose Yoma for our third tractate.  Up to now, I have typically chosen the dedication myself. You can dedicate an episode for $18 by going to BuyMeACoffee.com and searching for "RabbaAliza" or...

Our final episode of the season doesn’t talk about Sukkot explicitly. We mainly discuss the times that all 24 watches (groups or mishmarot) of Kohanim shared the temple foods, especially the Lechem HaPanim, or showbread. You can find these mishnas here . Content note: In the final mishna, I add in an extra Hebrew word (Tov) that is not supposed to be there. Apologies for the error and for my limit...

We have a super-sized episode today as we tackle two giant mishnas about the trumpet blasts in the Temple and the way the Cohanim divided up the different offerings. The mishnas (Sukkah 5:5-6) can be found here . This is our second-last episode of the season, so if you want to hear my siyyum prep suggestions, you can check out season one, episodes 14 , 16 and 17 . You can follow Mishna Accomplishe...

We continue the fifth chapter of Tractate Sukkah today learning about the wicks for the giant candelabras and the festivities of the Simchat Beit HaShoeva. The mishnas (Sukkah 5:3-4) can be found here . When discussing the second mishna, we raise more questions than we answer, so I hope you have a commentary you like to dive into!  You can follow Mishna Accomplished on Instagram at @mishnaaccompli...

We start the fifth and final chapter of Tractate Sukkah today. Our mishnas, which can be found on Sefaria here , tell us about the Simchat Beit HaShoeva, the celebration each night preceding the early morning water drawing. It’s a short episode, but we manage to squeeze in me singing and also the original source for mechitza in rabbinic literature. Listener discretion is advised.  You can follow M...

We conclude our discussion of chapter 4 by digging into the second last phrase, about the Nisuch Hamayim (also known as the water libation.) We cover Sukkah 4:9-10. You can find these mishnas on Sefaria here . While making sense of today’s mishnas, I relied heavily on the commentary of the Tiferet Yisrael. You can learn a LOT more about him if you read this article.   You can follow Mishna Accompl...

Today is the 17th of Tammuz, so we’ve chosen to diverge from our normal tractate to cover Pirkei Avot with special guest Tami Hershkovitz, author of Mishnafari. Mishnafari is a series of books that teach social emotional learning (SEL) using the text of Pirkei Avot. Tami and I talk about how she uses storytelling and songs to teach these famous mishnayot. Even if you’ve heard these sayings before,...

We conclude our discussion of the Hoshana Rabba aravot rituals and move on to expanding on other phrases from Sukkah 4:1, specifically, Hallel, simcha and sukkah. We cover three mishnas today, Sukkah 4:6-8. You can find them on Sefaria here .   Just a quick note that due to an editing error, S2E19 was initially missing one Hebrew sentence. The error has been corrected. If you are hoping to make a...

Our study of chapter 4 of Masechet Sukkah continues as the Mishna tells us how the lulav and arava were taken in the Temple. You can find these mishnas on Sefaria here . Note: The version of the episode that was first posted here was missing a phrase in the Hebrew. This was corrected on 6/29 at 6pm eastern. You can follow Mishna Accomplished on Instagram at @mishnaaccomplished - only one “h” in “m...