The Lived Mishnah·A Zeman Nakat Project
Tisha B'Av Series
Mishnah 17 of 41
אִם אֶשְׁכָּחֵךְ יְרוּשָׁלָיִם
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YomaMasechtaמסכתיומא
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נושא · Topicקְרִיאַת כֹּהֵן גָּדוֹל בְּיוֹם הַכִּפּוּרִיםThe Kohein Gadol's Torah reading on Yom Kippur
Mishnah יומא ז׳:א׳ · Yoma 7:1
בָּא לוֹ כֹהֵן גָּדוֹל לִקְרוֹת.
אִם רָצָה לִקְרוֹת בְּבִגְדֵי בוּץ, קוֹרֵא.
וְאִם לֹא, קוֹרֵא בְאִצְטְלִית לָבָן מִשֶּׁלּוֹ.
חַזַּן הַכְּנֶסֶת נוֹטֵל סֵפֶר תּוֹרָה וְנוֹתְנוֹ לְרֹאשׁ הַכְּנֶסֶת,
וְרֹאשׁ הַכְּנֶסֶת נוֹתְנוֹ לַסְּגָן,
וְהַסְּגָן נוֹתְנוֹ לְכֹהֵן גָּדוֹל,
וְכֹהֵן גָּדוֹל עוֹמֵד וּמְקַבֵּל וְקוֹרֵא עוֹמֵד,
וְקוֹרֵא אַחֲרֵי מוֹת וְאַךְ בֶּעָשׂוֹר.
וְגוֹלֵל סֵפֶר תּוֹרָה וּמַנִּיחוֹ בְחֵיקוֹ, וְאוֹמֵר,
יוֹתֵר מִמַּה שֶּׁקָּרָאתִי לִפְנֵיכֶם כָּתוּב כָּאן.
וּבֶעָשׂוֹר שֶׁבְּחֻמַּשׁ הַפְּקוּדִים קוֹרֵא עַל פֶּה,
וּמְבָרֵךְ עָלֶיהָ שְׁמֹנֶה בְרָכוֹת:
עַל הַתּוֹרָה,
וְעַל הָעֲבוֹדָה,
וְעַל הַהוֹדָאָה,
וְעַל מְחִילַת הֶעָוֹן,
וְעַל הַמִּקְדָּשׁ בִּפְנֵי עַצְמוֹ,
וְעַל יִשְׂרָאֵל בִּפְנֵי עַצְמָן,
וְעַל יְרוּשָׁלַיִם בִּפְנֵי עַצְמָהּ,
וְעַל הַכֹּהֲנִים בִּפְנֵי עַצְמָן,
וְעַל שְׁאָר הַתְּפִלָּה.
The Kohein Gadol comes to read.
If he wishes to read in linen garments, he reads;
and if not, he reads in a white robe of his own.
The attendant takes the sefer Torah and gives it to the head of the synagogue,
the head of the synagogue gives it to the segan,
and the segan to the Kohein Gadol;
the Kohein Gadol stands, receives it, and reads standing —
he reads Acharei Mos and Ach Be’Asor.
He rolls the sefer Torah, places it against his chest, and says:
“More than what I have read before you is written here.”
And the Be’Asor of Chumash HaPikudim he reads by heart,
and recites over it eight blessings:
on the Torah,
on the Avodah,
on the thanksgiving,
on the forgiveness of sin,
on the Mikdash by itself,
on Israel by itself,
on Yerushalayim by itself,
on the Kohanim by themselves,
and on the rest of the prayer.
case/objectpermissive rulingcondition
Transcript
Summary Chart
The Kohein Gadol's Torah reading on Yom Kippur▾
CaseRulingReason
In which garments does the Kohein Gadol read?If he wishes, in linen garments; otherwise, in his own white robe—
How does the sefer Torah reach him?Passed up the chain — attendant → head of synagogue → segan → Kohein Gadol—
What does he read, and how?Standing — Acharei Mos and Ach Be’Asor; the Be’Asor of Chumash HaPikudim by heart—
How many blessings, and on what?Eight — Torah, Avodah, thanksgiving, forgiveness of sin, the Mikdash, Israel, Yerushalayim, the Kohanim, and the rest of the prayer—
All Meforshim
Mishnah Insights
The Kohein Gadol reads, and the Torah passes hand to hand▾

Passed hand to hand, brought to him

The sefer Torah moves along a deliberate chain — from the attendant to the head of the synagogue, to the segan, and finally to the Kohein Gadol — and it is carried to him rather than his walking over to it, out of honor for him and for the day (b’rov am hadras melech, a king is honored by a crowd). We keep the same instinct today: when several people share the lifting and carrying of the sefer at hagbah and pesicha, we are honoring the Torah by moving it through many hands, exactly as the mishnah describes.

Read by heart, to spare the tzibbur

One passage — the Be’Asor section in Chumash HaPekudim — the Kohein Gadol reads by heart. To reach it he would have to roll the scroll a long way, or read from a second sefer Torah, and either one would keep the whole assembly waiting (tircha d’tzibura). So a rule that is normally firm — that the Written Torah may not be recited from memory (devarim shebichsav i ata rashai l’omran ba’al peh) — gives way here to the dignity of the people who are waiting.

עוֹלָמוֹ שֶׁל הַמִּשְׁנָה
The synagogue on Har HaBayis

The reading took place in a beis knesses that stood next to the Azarah, on Har HaBayis (Rashi). It is worth remembering what such a place originally was. A beis knesses began not as a house of prayer but as a house of Torah — where the sefer was kept, read aloud, and taught — and communal tefillah became its central role only later. Here, at its origin, it is doing precisely what it was built to do.

Series Insights
Series context▾
← Previous
Berachos 9:5
Blessing over the bad, and reverence for the Mikdash
Mishnah 17 of 41
Yoma 7:1
The Kohein Gadol's Torah reading on Yom Kippur
Next →
Sotah 7:7
The same reading, in Lashon Hakodesh

Where this sits

The series gathers the Mikdash’s great public readings and berachos; this is the Kohein Gadol’s, on the holiest day. What the Churban ended — the Kohein Gadol standing before all Israel with the sefer Torah — still echoes in the kavod we give the Torah every time it is lifted and carried on our own bimah. The same mishnah returns at Sotah 7:7, read there for a different reason.

‹PreviousBerachos 9:5 ›NextSotah 7:7