QUESTION: The Gemara discusses the apparent contradictions between the Mishnayos in Tamid and in Yoma which discuss the order of the Avodos in the Beis ha'Mikdash. According to some Mishnayos, the Ketores is offered after the Hatavas ha'Neros is completed. According to other Mishnayos, the Ketores is offered before the Hatavas ha'Neros is completed, between the Hatavah of the first five and the last two lamps of the Menorah.

The Gemara answers that the contradictory Mishnayos are expressing the opinions of different Tana'im. The Mishnah that states that the Ketores is offered before the Hatavas ha'Neros is in accordance with the opinion of the Rabanan, and it refers to the last two lamps of the Menorah. The Hatavah of the first five lamps of the Menorah, however, is done before the Ketores is offered. The Mishnah that states that the Ketores is offered after the Hatavas ha'Neros, and that the Zerikah is performed between the first five and the last two lamps of the Menorah, expresses the opinion of Aba Shaul.

However, the Gemara does not address another apparent contradiction. When the Mishnah in Tamid describes the actual performance of the Avodah, it says that the Dishun ha'Mizbe'ach is performed before the Shechitah and the Zerikas ha'Dam of the Korban Tamid. When the Mishnah describes the order of the "drawing of lots" ("Payis") for the various parts of the Avodah, it says that lots are drawn first for the Shechitah and the Zerikah, and then for the Dishun ha'Mizbe'ach, implying that the Dishun ha'Mizbe'ach is performed after the Shechitah and Zerikah. How is this contradiction to be reconciled?

(a) TOSFOS (14b, DH Amar Abaye) explains that this contradiction is reconciled the same way as the contradiction which the Gemara addresses. According to the Rabanan, the Zerikah is performed before the Hatavas ha'Neros is started (before the first five lamps of the Menorah are prepared). Accordingly, it is performed prior to the Dishun ha'Mizbe'ach as well. This is the order expressed by the Mishnah which discusses the lots. The Zerikah is done at the beginning of the day's Avodah, immediately after the Korban Tamid is slaughtered.

Aba Shaul, on the other hand, maintains that the Zerikah is performed between the Hatavah of the first five lamps and the Hatavah of the last two lamps of the Menorah, and thus it is done later in the day. Accordingly, it is performed after the Dishun ha'Mizbe'ach as well (since the Dishun ha'Mizbe'ach is performed before the Hatavas ha'Neros).

This answer suffices to explain the order in the Mishnah of drawing lots only according to Abaye, who asserts that the Mishnah of lots follows the opinion of the Rabanan. According to the Rabanan, the Zerikah is not delayed until the Hatavas ha'Neros, but it is done at the beginning of the day. However, Rav Papa argues with Abaye and maintains that the Mishnah of lots follows the opinion of Aba Shaul, who maintains that the Zerikah is performed between the two Hatavos. Why, according to Rav Papa, does the Mishnah -- which follows the opinion of Aba Shaul -- list the drawing of the lots for the Zerikah before the drawing of lots for the Dishun ha'Mizbe'ach? Aba Shaul himself maintains that the Dishun is done before the Zerikah. (TOSFOS 15a, DH Eima)

Tosfos answers that Rav Papa apparently understands that Aba Shaul maintains that, in practice, the Dishun ha'Mizbe'ach is performed after the Zerikah, like the order of the lots (and both are performed between the two sets of Hatavas ha'Neros; see, however, MAHARSHA). The Mishnah in Tamid (which describes the actual performance of the Avodah) mentions the Dishun first, even though it maintains that the Zerikah is performed between the two Hatavos, because it follows the view of a third Tana who agrees with Aba Shaul in one respect and argues in another. That Tana agrees with Aba Shaul that the Zerikah separates the two Hatavos, while he argues that the Dishun ha'Mizbe'ach is performed before everything else.

(This approach appears to be the intention of Tosfos, and it answers the questions posed by the RASHASH. Even though Dishun is mentioned after Zerikah in the order of the lots in Tamid, the Mishnayos in Tamid express the opinions of different Tana'im, as Rav Papa says here with regard to the Mishnayos in Yoma.)

(c) The BARTENURA (Tamid 3:1) says that even though the Mishnah of drawing lots mentions Dishun after Zerikah, it does not mean that the Dishun is actually performed after the Zerikah. The Mishnah agrees that the Dishun is performed before the Zerikah, and the only reason it mentions the drawing of the lots for the Zerikah first is because of the importance of the Avodah of the Zerikah.

The RITVA here also explains that the order of the actual performance of the Avodah is not the same as the order of the drawing of the lots.

(d) The RASHASH suggests that although the order of the Avodos in the Mishnah of drawing lots is the actual order in which the Avodos are performed, it is not the order in which the Avodos are started, but rather the order in which they are completed. The Mishnah lists the Avodos in the order in which they are completed because an Avodah's most important part is its completion. Consequently, even though the Dishun is started first, it is finished only when the ashes are carried away, which is done after the Zerikas ha'Dam of the Tamid is completed. Hence, the Mishnah mentions the drawing of the lots for the Zerikah before it mentions the lots for the Dishun.

(e) The TOSFOS HA'ROSH (Yoma 25a) suggests that although the Shechitah and Zerikah do not precede the Dishun ha'Mizbe'ach, it is necessary to select Kohanim for those Avodos before selecting a Kohen for the Dishun. The Kohanim who perform the Shechitah and Zerikah must be selected first because those who perform the Shechitah and Zerikah also perform another Avodah which does precede the Dishun ha'Mizbe'ach. They must bring the lamb for the Korban Tamid from its place and check it for blemishes, which is done even before the Dishun ha'Mizbe'ach.

Similarly, the VILNA GA'ON (in Tamid) writes that the reason why the Mishnah of drawing lots says that lots are drawn first for the Zerikah is not because the Zerikah is done before the Dishun. Rather, it is because the Kohen who is chosen for the Zerikah must also perform the Kabalas ha'Dam, which indeed is done before the Dishun. The Zerikah is done only after the Dishun, between the two sets of Hatavas ha'Neros, in order to separate between the preparation of the first five and last two lamps of the Menorah. In the time that it takes the Kohen who does the Kabalas ha'Dam to walk with the blood from where the Korban was slaughtered to the Mizbe'ach (a hundred Amos or so), the Dishun ha'Mizbe'ach is performed, as well as the Hatavah of the first five lamps of the Menorah. When the Kohen arrives with the blood at the Mizbe'ach, he performs the Zerikah with it there. Afterwards, the Hatavah of the last two lamps of the Menorah is performed.