Yoma, Chapter 2, Mishnah 3. Until now we have dealt with the payasos - the lotteries held in the Beis HaMikdash. Now we come to the second lottery, the one that determined the next set of tasks in preparing the korban tamid, the daily offering.
The second lottery - assigning the tasks:
"Mi shochet" - who would perform the slaughtering.
"Mi zorek" - who would sprinkle the blood on the altar.
"Mi medashen mizbe'ach hapenimi" - who would remove the ashes from the inner altar, where ash accumulated from the incense.
"Mi medashen es hamenorah" - who would remove the ashes from the Menorah.
"Mi ma'aleh eivarim lakevesh" - who would carry the limbs of the tamid up to the kevesh, the ramp.
These were not separate lotteries but a single one: the lot fell on one man who was the slaughterer, the one standing next to him was the one who sprinkled the blood, and so on down the line. Some explain that the order was actually the reverse: although the slaughtering comes first chronologically, the essential atonement of every offering comes from the sprinkling of the blood, and therefore the first winner in the lottery was the one who sprinkled, while the slaughterer was the one standing beside him.
Two points before the list of limbs:
The list before us does not count each limb individually; rather, each group of limbs was given to a different kohen.
The limbs were brought up only as far as the ramp and not to the top of the altar, because bringing them up was a two-stage process: the kohanim placed the limb midway up the ramp, went to the Chamber of Hewn Stone to recite Shema, and when they returned - according to one opinion they themselves brought the limbs up to the top of the altar, and according to another opinion new kohanim were appointed for that.
The list of limbs and those who carried them:
"Harosh veharegel" - the first kohen carried the head of the animal in one hand and the leg, the right hind leg, in the other.
"Ushtei hayadayim" - the next kohen carried the two forelegs.
"Ha'okeitz veharegel" - the tail, the area of the tailbone together with the fat attached to it, and the left hind leg.
"Hechazeh vehageirah" - the breast, and the "geirah" is the area at its upper end, the top of the chest cavity; and along with them the heart, the windpipe and the lungs.
"Ushtei hadefanos" - the two flanks, including the spine, as well as the spleen and the liver.
"Vehakeravayim" - another kohen brought up all the innards in a large vessel.
"Vehasoles" - the fine flour used for the meal offering that accompanied the tamid.
"Vehachavitin" - the offering of the Kohen Gadol, the daily meal offering of which he brought half in the morning and half in the afternoon, and this kohen brought it.
"Vehayayin" - a quarter of a hin, which is part of the wine libations of the korban tamid.
The Mishnah sums up: "Sach hakol shloshah asar kohanim zochin bah" - thirteen kohanim merited a share in the service of the tamid.
The view of Ben Azzai - "derech hiluchah hikriv":
"Ve'amar Ben Azzai lifnei Rabbi Akiva mishum Rabbi Yehoshua" - Ben Azzai stated before Rabbi Akiva in the name of Rabbi Yehoshua a somewhat different version of how it was determined who carries which limbs: "Derech hiluchah hikriv" - the way the animal walks is the way its limbs are brought up.
The difference between the two views: the first Tanna listed the primary and largest limbs first - beginning with the head, which is not the largest but is the most primary - and from there in descending order of size, and possibly of importance as well. According to "derech hiluchah," however, one proceeds from the front of the animal toward its rear:
The head and the right hind leg - as it is according to the first Tanna as well.
The breast and the geirah - the chest and the upper part of the neck, which come next.
The two forelegs.
The two flanks.
The tail and the left hind leg.
This is the order in which the limbs were brought up according to what is stated in the name of Rabbi Yehoshua.
In summary: In this Mishnah we learned about the second lottery, in which the following tasks were assigned - the slaughtering, the sprinkling of the blood, the removal of ashes from the inner altar, the removal of ashes from the Menorah, and carrying the limbs up to the ramp - as well as the division of the limbs among the kohanim, so that thirteen kohanim merited a share in the service of the tamid. We also saw two views regarding the order in which the limbs were brought up: the order of primacy and size according to the first Tanna, and the order of "derech hiluchah" according to Ben Azzai in the name of Rabbi Yehoshua.