“The bed is too short for stretching, and the cover is too narrow for gathering.”

Today’s Daf Yomi portion attempts to explain why both Temples were destroyed. We are told that the First Temple – Solomon’s Temple – stood for four hundred and ten years and was overseen during that period by only eighteen High Priests. The Second Temple stood for four hundred and twenty years and was surprisingly overseen by three hundred Priests.

“It shall be always upon his forehead.”

My only prior knowledge of what it meant to be a Kohen was from family funerals when my Father, Brother and Uncle were left standing at the gates of the cemetery. They were not allowed onto the grounds to pray with the rest of us due to the status of our decedents who were High Priests a very long time ago. ma

“And it will atone for him and for his house.”

We start this new Tractate with the preparations the High Priests went through ahead of the Yom Kippur service during the days of the second Temple. It was an intense a process. The introduction to this Tractate indicates that we will be walking through the holiday chronologically.