Mishnah Yoma Chapter 2 Mishnah 5 Pt. 5

We continued learning about the technicalities of how korbanot/sacrifices were offered in the Temple. Today’s text explains that on Shabbat, eleven priests participate, with nine making the offering itself. We are left with a cliffhanger which we’ll explore more tomorrow.

Shabbat is such a juicy word, derived from the root shin-bet-tav—to sit or rest or cease. Shabbat practice takes many forms today and at its foundation is the practice of becoming present with what is right here and now. In our hyper-connected, fast-paced world, Shabbat can offer us an oasis, a moment to pause and integrate the week.

What is fascinating to me is that as rabbinic Judaism developed Shabbat laws, the emphasis became ceasing from creative labor necessary for the construction of the Mishkan, the precursor to the Temple which the Israelites carried through the desert. Yet, sacrifices did not stop on Shabbat, as evidenced by the tamid offering which was offered twice daily every day (until the walls of Jerusalem were breached on the 17th of Tammuz before the destruction of the Temple). Jewish religious practices have evolved, transformed and been reshaped over time and based on circumstance. I am so curious to dig more into what a Shabbat practice was like both for those serving within the Temple and for everyone else.