For forty years Shimon HaTzaddik served as Kohen Gadol, and for forty years the signs went with him. The lot “for HaShem” always came up in his right hand. The strip of scarlet turned white. The western lamp of the Menorah kept burning. The fire of the altar grew strong of itself, and the kohanim brought only two logs to it, for the mitzvah. Blessing lay in the omer, the two loaves and the showbread: a kohen who received an olive's bulk of it ate his fill, and left some over. After him, sometimes yes, sometimes no. In the year of his death, he announced it: every Yom Kippur, an old man dressed and wrapped in white went in with him and came out with him; this time the old man was dressed and wrapped in black, went in with him and did not come out. After the festival he was ill seven days and died, and his brothers the kohanim ceased to bless with the Name. Forty years before the destruction, no sign returned, and the doors of the Heikhal opened by themselves, until Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai rebuked them: “Heikhal, Heikhal, why do you frighten yourself? I know that your end is to be destroyed.”
Dimensions
- forty years Kohen Gadol
- five signs: the lot, the scarlet, the western lamp, the altar fire, the bread
Sources
- Avot 1:2“שִׁמְעוֹן הַצַּדִּיק הָיָה מִשְּׁיָרֵי כְנֶסֶת הַגְּדוֹלָה”
- Yoma 39a“אַרְבָּעִים שָׁנָה שֶׁשִּׁמֵּשׁ שִׁמְעוֹן הַצַּדִּיק, הָיָה גּוֹרָל עוֹלֶה בְּיָמִין… וְהָיָה לָשׁוֹן שֶׁל זְהוֹרִית מַלְבִּין… וְהָיָה נֵר מַעֲרָבִי דּוֹלֵק”
- Yoma 39a“וְהָיָה אֵשׁ שֶׁל מַעֲרָכָה מִתְגַּבֵּר, וְלֹא הָיוּ כֹּהֲנִים צְרִיכִין לְהָבִיא עֵצִים לְמַעֲרָכָה, חוּץ מִשְּׁנֵי גְּזִירֵי עֵצִים כְּדֵי לְקַיֵּים מִצְוַת עֵצִים”
- Yoma 39a“וְנִשְׁתַּלְּחָה בְּרָכָה בָּעוֹמֶר, וּבִשְׁתֵּי הַלֶּחֶם, וּבְלֶחֶם הַפָּנִים. וְכׇל כֹּהֵן שֶׁמַּגִּיעוֹ כְּזַיִת, יֵשׁ אוֹכְלוֹ וְשָׂבֵעַ, וְיֵשׁ אוֹכְלוֹ וּמוֹתִיר”
- Yoma 39b“בְּכׇל יוֹם הַכִּפּוּרִים הָיָה מִזְדַּמֵּן לִי זָקֵן אֶחָד לָבוּשׁ לְבָנִים וְעָטוּף לְבָנִים, נִכְנַס עִמִּי וְיָצָא עִמִּי, וְהַיּוֹם נִזְדַּמֵּן לִי זָקֵן אֶחָד לָבוּשׁ שְׁחוֹרִים וְעָטוּף שְׁחוֹרִים, נִכְנַס עִמִּי וְלֹא יָצָא עִמִּי”
- Yoma 39b“אַחַר הָרֶגֶל חָלָה שִׁבְעָה יָמִים וָמֵת. וְנִמְנְעוּ אֶחָיו הַכֹּהֲנִים מִלְּבָרֵךְ בַּשֵּׁם”
- Yoma 39b“אַרְבָּעִים שָׁנָה קוֹדֶם חוּרְבַּן הַבַּיִת לֹא הָיָה גּוֹרָל עוֹלֶה בְּיָמִין, וְלֹא הָיָה לָשׁוֹן שֶׁל זְהוֹרִית מַלְבִּין, וְלֹא הָיָה נֵר מַעֲרָבִי דּוֹלֵק. וְהָיוּ דַּלְתוֹת הַהֵיכָל נִפְתְּחוֹת מֵאֲלֵיהֶן”
- Yoma 39b“הֵיכָל הֵיכָל! מִפְּנֵי מָה אַתָּה מַבְעִית עַצְמְךָ? יוֹדֵעַ אֲנִי בְּךָ שֶׁסּוֹפְךָ עָתִיד לֵיחָרֵב”
Project decisionNothing of him is modelled. His entry is read from the Menorah, whose western lamp is one of the signs; the strip of scarlet can be seen on the Yom Kippur tour, at the opening of the Ulam.