Julian Ungar-Sargon

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  • Dominican University
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Daf Ditty

A wide-ranging commentary on the daily page of Talmud.

Yoma 22: Census and Censure

jyungar May 3, 2021

For the source text click/tap here: Yoma 22

To download, click/tap here: PDF

The Mishnah discusses the Payis, the drawing of the lots, that was performed each day in order to select the Kohen who would perform the Terumas ha'Deshen. The Mishna on our daf teaches that there was a race every morning in the Temple, as all of the kohanim interested in performing the terumat ha-deshen would line up and race up the ramp to the top of the altar. The one who arrived first had the honor of cleaning the ash. Due to injury the lottery was instituted.

This leads to an objection in counting the priests since It is prohibited to count Jews directly, even for the purposes of a mitzva, as it is written concerning King Saul and his count of his soldiers.

Bringing us to a discussion of the Census Taboo and the resistance even in the modern State of Israel to census compliance by the gedolim...

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Julian Ungar-Sargon

This is Julian Ungar-Sargon's personal website. It contains poems, essays, and podcasts for the spiritual seeker and interdisciplinary aficionado.​