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Yoma Chapter 2, Mishnah 6: The Ayil Brought with Eleven

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Yoma, Chapter 2, Mishnah 6. In the previous mishnayos we looked at the number of kohanim required for the daily tamid offering. The tamid was a lamb within its first year, and therefore relatively small, and the accompanying libations were likewise small in measure. The libations of a ram, by contrast, are larger, and hence the details that follow.

The text of the Mishnah:

"Ha'ayil karev be'achad asar" - instead of the nine kohanim required for the tamid, the ram was offered by eleven kohanim. This refers to the ram brought as part of the mussaf offering, which is a communal offering.

"HaBasar bachamishah" - the meat itself was carried by five kohanim, the same number that carried the meat of the tamid. Even though the tamid is a small lamb and the ram is somewhat larger, it is not large enough that these same five could not manage the limbs. This is how they were divided, as listed in Mishnah 3:

  1. The head and the hind leg.

  2. The two forelegs.

  3. The tail and the hind leg.

  4. The breast and the neck.

  5. The two flanks.

"VehaKravayim vehasoles vehayayin bishnayim shenayim" - these three are greater in quantity: the innards, the fine flour (the meal offering brought with the oil mixed into it), and the wine designated for the libation. Each of them was carried by two kohanim together, making six kohanim.

In summary: five kohanim for the meat and six for the innards, the fine flour and the wine - that is eleven, and therefore "ha'ayil karev be'achad asar".