Mishnah Yoma Chapter 2 Mishnah 2 Pt. 5

We are tying up this mishnah with something of a hairpin turn, and I wonder if there are bits and pieces in the language that were shorthand to previous generations, like, exactly what did the rabbis mean by “lottery”? Were they referring to the Ro-Sham-Bo fingers in the air thing discussed in Mishnah Yoma 2:1? Were they drawing straws? Casting dice? Pulling stones from a pot? Tossing two-sided stones in the air? Flipping coins? I’m totally stuck trying to imagine the actual mechanism they used to determine a dispute or winner in the case of a tie. And as mysterious as the specifics might be, clearly, I have many reference points from my own lived experience of how to use chance as an arbiter when all else fails. It harkens back to both childhood techniques like “eeny, meeny, miney, mo…” all the way to the magical Capitalist fever dream of Lotto. 

The desire to serve one’s community is a time tested human impulse. And it comes with a good deal of both privilege and peril. One gains social standing, camaraderie, a sense of purpose, self-esteem, and a feeling of worthiness when we accept responsibility for some communal function. However, if my experience is typical, one also runs the risk of being scrutinized, resented, challenged, and doubted . It seems to me that the rabbis are entering into an exploration of what one might expect and prepare for should they find themselves in a position of authority. Temple leadership, which granted its members both political power and spiritual authority, was a birthright, not a choice or a calling—you were born into the priesthood* and there was no other way in. Interesting that the rabbis are looking at a sense of competition even within this closed system. I suspect that the Rabbis, whose new-fangled social structure was based on talent, wisdom, and experience rather than status, lineage, or physical capability, were exploring how to avoid some of the potholes on the road ahead and mitigate conflict that might arise from competition, jealousy, and unbridled passion. Just a thought!!

Well, who’da thunk that there would be an aberrant sexual twist to a cardinal number like אַרְבָּעָה / arba’ah / four? But ancient Hebrew leaves no conceptual stone unturned!! The root we have here, ר-ב-ע, is a wonderful example of how seemingly disparate ideas can converge in an economic lexicon. This root is kinda like “quad”, wherever it turns up it brings a sense of 4ness with it—quantitatively, mathematically, or even, in this case with an infusion of debauchery. With Marcus Jastrow’s help (Pg. 1444), I discovered today that in addition to four, fourty, fortieth etc., our root means to lie or lay down, to lie with (as in copulate), to cover, pederasty, and buggery (particularly with a beast). I was flummoxed as to how this word leapt from four to bestiality, but Daniel, one of my chevruta today, had a theory that it had to do with being “on all fours”, and/or having sex with a creature that gets about on 4 legs. Dang!! Now there’s a chiddush for ya!!!

*Women were born into or could marry into the priestly class. Men could only be born into the priestly class.