## Yoma Daf 54b

###### Yoma 54b:1
[Yoma 54b:1](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Yoma/r/54b:1)

כְּאִישׁ הַמְעוֹרֶה בַּלְּוָיָיה שֶׁלּוֹ. אָמַר רֵישׁ לָקִישׁ: בְּשָׁעָה שֶׁנִּכְנְסוּ גּוֹיִם לַהֵיכָל רָאוּ כְּרוּבִים הַמְעוֹרִין זֶה בָּזֶה, הוֹצִיאוּן לַשּׁוּק וְאָמְרוּ: יִשְׂרָאֵל הַלָּלוּ, שֶׁבִּרְכָתָן בְּרָכָה וְקִלְלָתָן קְלָלָה — יַעַסְקוּ בִּדְבָרִים הַלָּלוּ? מִיָּד הִזִּילוּם, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר: ״כׇּל מְכַבְּדֶיהָ הִזִּילוּהָ כִּי רָאוּ עֶרְוָתָהּ״.

**William Davidson Edition - English:**
It means **like a man** joined and **clinging to his *livaya*,** his partner, i.e., his wife. In other words, the cherubs appeared to be embracing one another. **Reish Lakish said: When gentiles** destroyed the Second Temple and **entered the Sanctuary, they saw** these drawings of **cherubs clinging to one another.** They peeled them from the wall, **took them out to the market, and said: These Jews, whose blessing is a blessing and whose curse is a curse,** due to their great fear of God, should **they be occupied with such matters,** making images of this kind? **They immediately debased** and destroyed **them, as it is stated: “All who honored her debase her because they have seen her nakedness”** (Lamentations 1:8).


###### Yoma 54b:2
[Yoma 54b:2](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Yoma/r/54b:2)

וּשְׁתִיָּה הָיְתָה נִקְרֵאת. תָּנָא: שֶׁמִּמֶּנָּה הוּשְׁתַּת הָעוֹלָם. תְּנַן כְּמַאן דְּאָמַר מִצִּיּוֹן נִבְרָא הָעוֹלָם, דְּתַנְיָא, רַבִּי אֱלִיעֶזֶר אוֹמֵר: עוֹלָם מֵאֶמְצָעִיתוֹ נִבְרָא, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר: ״בְּצֶקֶת עָפָר לַמּוּצָק וּרְגָבִים יְדוּבָּקוּ״.

**William Davidson Edition - English:**
§ The mishna taught that a stone sat in the Holy of Holies **and it was called** the **foundation [*shetiyya*]** rock. A Sage **taught** in the *Tosefta*: Why was it called *shetiyya*? It is **because the world was created [*hushtat*] from it.** The Gemara comments: **We learned** the mishna **in accordance with** the opinion of **the one who said** that **the world was created from Zion. As it was taught** in a *baraita* that **Rabbi Eliezer says: The world was created from its center, as it is stated: “When the dust runs into a mass, and the clods cleave fast together”** (Job 38:38). The world was created by adding matter to the center, like the formation of clumps of earth.


###### Yoma 54b:3
[Yoma 54b:3](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Yoma/r/54b:3)

רַבִּי יְהוֹשֻׁעַ אוֹמֵר: עוֹלָם מִן הַצְּדָדִין נִבְרָא, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר: ״כִּי לַשֶּׁלֶג יֹאמַר הֱוֵי אָרֶץ וְגֶשֶׁם מָטָר וְגֶשֶׁם מִטְרוֹת עוּזּוֹ״. רַבִּי יִצְחָק (נַפָּחָא) אָמַר: אֶבֶן יָרָה הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא בַּיָּם, מִמֶּנּוּ נִשְׁתַּת הָעוֹלָם, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר: ״עַל מָה אֲדָנֶיהָ הׇטְבָּעוּ אוֹ מִי יָרָה אֶבֶן פִּנָּתָהּ״.

**William Davidson Edition - English:**
**Rabbi Yehoshua says:** The **world was created from the sides, as it is stated: “For He said to the snow: Become the earth, likewise to the shower of rain, and to the showers of His mighty rain”** (Job 37:6). This verse indicates that the rains fell from all sides, which led to the creation of the earth. **Rabbi Yitzḥak Nappaḥa said: The Holy One, Blessed be He, cast a stone into the sea, from which the world was created, as it is stated: “Upon what were its foundations fastened; or who laid its cornerstone?”** (Job 38:6).


###### Yoma 54b:4
[Yoma 54b:4](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Yoma/r/54b:4)

וַחֲכָמִים אוֹמְרִים: מִצִּיּוֹן נִבְרָא, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר: ״מִזְמוֹר לְאָסָף אֵל אֱלֹהִים ה׳״. וְאוֹמֵר: ״מִצִּיּוֹן מִכְלַל יוֹפִי״ — מִמֶּנּוּ מוּכְלָל יׇפְיוֹ שֶׁל עוֹלָם.

**William Davidson Edition - English:**
**And the Rabbis say:** The world **was created from Zion, as it is stated: “A Psalm of Asaph. God, the Lord God** has spoken and called the earth, from the rising of the sun to its place of setting” (Psalms 50:1), **and it states: “Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty,** God has shined forth” (Psalms 50:2). The mishna is taught in accordance with this last opinion.


###### Yoma 54b:5
[Yoma 54b:5](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Yoma/r/54b:5)

תַּנְיָא, רַבִּי אֱלִיעֶזֶר הַגָּדוֹל אוֹמֵר: ״אֵלֶּה תוֹלְדוֹת הַשָּׁמַיִם וְהָאָרֶץ בְּהִבָּרְאָם בְּיוֹם עֲשׂוֹת ה׳ אֱלֹהִים אֶרֶץ וְשָׁמָיִם״, ״תּוֹלְדוֹת שָׁמַיִם״ — מִשָּׁמַיִם נִבְרְאוּ, ״תּוֹלְדוֹת הָאָרֶץ״ — מֵאֶרֶץ נִבְרְאוּ.

**William Davidson Edition - English:**
**It was taught** in a *baraita* that **Rabbi Eliezer the Great says: “These are the generations of the heaven and the earth when they were created, on the day that the Lord God made earth and heaven”** (Genesis 2:4) means that the **generations of the heavens,** i.e., all things found in the heavens, **were created from the heavens,** while the **generations of the earth were created from the earth.**


###### Yoma 54b:6
[Yoma 54b:6](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Yoma/r/54b:6)

וַחֲכָמִים אוֹמְרִים: אֵלּוּ וָאֵלּוּ מִצִּיּוֹן נִבְרְאוּ, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר: ״מִזְמוֹר לְאָסָף אֵל אֱלֹהִים ה׳ דִּבֶּר וַיִּקְרָא אָרֶץ מִמִּזְרַח שֶׁמֶשׁ עַד מְבוֹאוֹ״. וְאוֹמֵר: ״מִצִּיּוֹן מִכְלַל יוֹפִי אֱלֹהִים הוֹפִיעַ״ — מִמֶּנּוּ מוּכְלָל יוֹפְיוֹ שֶׁל עוֹלָם.

**William Davidson Edition - English:**
**And the Rabbis say: Both these and those were created from Zion, as it is stated: “A Psalm of Asaph. God, the Lord God has spoken and called the earth, from the rising of the sun to its place of setting,” and it says: “Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God has shined forth,”** i.e., **from** Zion **the beauty of the world was perfected,** which includes both the generations of the heavens and the generations of the earth.


###### Yoma 54b:7
[Yoma 54b:7](https://torahapp.org/share/book/Yoma/r/54b:7)

נָטַל אֶת הַדָּם מִמִּי שֶׁמְּמָרֵס בּוֹ וְכוּ׳. מַאי כְּמַצְלִיף? מַחְוֵי רַב יְהוּדָה —

**William Davidson Edition - English:**
§ The mishna taught that the High Priest **took the blood** of the bull **from** the one **who was stirring it** so it would not coagulate, **and he entered** and sprinkled it like one who whips. The Gemara asks: **What is** the meaning of: **Like one who whips? Rav Yehuda demonstrated** the action with his hand,