תלמוד בבלי
תלמוד בבלי

מדרש על מנחות 113:25

Sifrei Bamidbar

(Bamidbar 7:1) "And it was on the day that Moses had finished setting up the mishkan" (the tabernacle): Scripture here apprises us that all the seven days of consecration Moses would assemble the mishkan every morning and anoint it and dismantle it, and on that day (the eighth) he set it up and anointed it and assembled it and did not dismantle it. R. Yossi b. R. Yehudah says: On the eighth day, too, he anointed it and dismantled it. And it is written (Shemot 40:17) "And it was, in the first month (Nissan) in the second year, on the first day of the month that the mishkan was established — whence we derive that on the twenty-third of Adar Aaron and his sons began to anoint the mishkan and all of its vessels; on Rosh Chodesh (Nissan) it was established; on the second (of Nissan) the red heifer was burned; on the third, its waters were sprinkled (viz. Bamidbar 8:7). On that day (Rosh Chodesh Nissan), the Shechinah reposed in the house, as it is written (Shemot 40:35) "And Moses could not enter the tent of meeting, etc." On that day the chiefs (of the tribes) sacrificed their offerings, as it is written (Bamidbar 7:12) "And the one who presented his offering on the first day…" Why (emphasize) "the first day"? It was the first of all the days of the year. On that day fire descended from heaven and consumed the offerings, as it is written (Vayikra 9:24) "And a fire came forth from before the L-rd and consumed upon the altar the burnt-offering and the fats." On that day the sons of Aaron presented a strange fire, as it is written (Vayikra 10:1) "And Nadav and Avihu the sons of Aaron took, each his censer … (2) and they died before the L-rd." Their death was "before the L-rd," and their falling was outside. How did they leave (the inner sanctum)? R. Yossi was wont to say: An angel propped them dead until they left and they fell in the azarah (the court), as it is written (Ibid. 4) "Draw near and bear your brethren from before the sanctuary out of the camp." It is not written "from before the L-rd," but "from before the sanctuary." R. Yishmael says: It is derived from the verse itself — "and they died before the L-rd" — that their death was within (the sanctuary) and their falling was within. How did they leave? They dragged them out with iron hooks." (Bamidbar 7:1) "and he anointed it and consecrated it and all of its vessels": I might think that they were anointed and consecrated one by one. It is, therefore, written (Ibid.) "and he anointed them and consecrated them" — he did not consecrate one of them until all of them had been anointed. "and he anointed them": from inside and from outside. R. Yoshiyah says: Wet-measure vessels were anointed inside and outside, and dry-measure vessels, on the inside only, but not on the outside. R. Yonathan says: Wet-measure vessels were anointed on the inside but not on the outside, and dry-measure vessels were anointed neither on the inside nor on the outside. Know this to be so, that they were not anointed, it being written (Vayikra 23:17) "From your dwellings shall you bring two wave loaves. Two-tenths of fine flour shall they be … they shall be baked as firstlings to the L-rd." When are they "to the L-rd"? After they have been baked. Rebbi says: "and he anointed them and consecrated them": Why is this stated? Is it not already written "and he anointed it and consecrated it"? We are hereby apprised that with the anointment of these, all the future vessels were consecrated (i.e., they did not require prior anointment).
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