Tamid Chapter 5, Mishnah 3: Returning the Priestly Garments

Tamid, Chapter 5, Mishnah 3. Our chapter has been tracing the early morning order in the Beit Hamikdash once the lotteries were finished: the prayers, the blessings, and the distribution of the day's tasks. Up to this point every kohen on the premises stood clothed in the priestly garments, even though the lotteries had singled out only a small number of them to take an actual part in offering the Tamid. This mishnah turns to all the rest and tells us what happened to them.

Once the final lottery had been drawn and the assignments were settled, the kohen in charge of the proceedings instructed all those who had not been chosen to take off the priestly garments and put their ordinary clothing back on. The mishnah says, "mesarum lachazanim," he handed them over to the attendants. These attendants were the staff of a man named Pinchas, who was responsible for the entire wardrobe of the kohanim in the Mikdash.

Undressed by the Attendants

"Hayu mafshitin otam et bigdeihem," the attendants would remove the garments from them. The kohanim did not take off the priestly clothing themselves; the men appointed for this task did it for them, garment by garment.

"Lo hayu manichim aleihem ela michnasayim bilvad," the only item left upon them was the trousers. The turban, the belt and the tunic were all taken away, but the priestly michnasayim remained in place. The reason is one of simple dignity: it would have been unbecoming for kohanim to be standing in the Mikdash without clothing on them. So the trousers stayed on until each kohen had put on his own tunic, and only then did he remove the michnasayim as well and hand them back to the attendants.

Ninety-Six Niches

"Vechalonot hayu sham," and there were niches there, built into the walls of the Lishkat Hagazit where this changing took place. These served as compartments for storing the garments of the kohanim.

"Vechatuv aleihem tashmishei hakelim," and inscribed above them was the name of the garment that each one held. There was a designated compartment for every one of the four priestly garments: one for the trousers, one for the tunics, one for the belts and one for the turbans, so that nothing would be confused or misplaced.

The mishnah's arithmetic follows from there. There were twenty-four watches of kohanim, and each watch required its own set of four compartments, one for each garment. Four times twenty-four brings us to a total of ninety-six niches in that one place, holding the wardrobe of the kohanim of the Beit Hamikdash.