Commentary for Yoma 43:4

<big><strong>גמ׳</strong></big> והא מעיקרא מאי טעמא לא תקינו לה רבנן פייסא מעיקרא סבור כיון דעבודת לילה היא לא חשיבא להו ולא אתו כיון דחזו דקאתו ואתו לידי סכנה תקינו לה פייסא

ONE OR<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' There may be some older, weaker, or sick priests for whom it was inconvenient to put one finger forth and hold it aloft until the count was over. Whenever one such handicapped priest was present, the officer would require all to put forth two fingers, which is less of an effort.');">⁷</span> TWO BUT ONE DID NOT PUT FORTH THE THUMB IN THE TEMPLE.<span class="x" onmousemove="('comment',' A trickster foreseeing where the count would end, might place his index-finger at some distance from the thumb, so that the officer would count his two fingers as belonging to two people, with the result that the count would be wrong and designed to serve the trickster's end.');">⁸</span> IT ONCE HAPPENED THAT TWO WERE EVEN AS THEY RAN TO MOUNT THE RAMP.

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