Once the First Temple was built, the Tent of Meeting was hidden away, and hidden along with it were its boards, its clasps, and its bars, and its pillars, and its sockets. And nevertheless, they would only use the table [for the showbread] that Moses made, and the candelabra that Moses made. [The candelabra] did not require anointing oil, for the inaugural sanctification sanctified it for that [first] time, and also sanctified it for future eras.

Once the Ark was hidden away, hidden with it was the jar of manna, and the flask of anointing oil, and the staff of Aaron [and] its almonds and its blossoms, and the chest that the Philistines sent as a gift to the God of Israel. All of these had been in the Holy of Holies in the Temple. And once the Ark was hidden away, its vessels were hidden [along] with it. And who hid it away? Josiah the king hid it away. What did he see [that caused him to hide it]? It was because he saw written in the Torah (Deut. 28:36), "Hashem will drive away you and your king, etc." He appointed Levites and they hid it, as it is said (2 Chron. 35:3), "He said to the Levites, who taught all of Israel, who were holy to Hashem: 'Put the Holy Ark in the Temple that Solomon, king of Israel, built. You need not carry it on your shoulders any longer.'" He said to them, "Hide it away, so that it not be taken up to Babylonia like the rest of the vessels, so that it may be restored to its place [in the future]," as it is said (ibid.), "Now serve Hashem your God, and His people Israel," [and thus] they immediately hid it away. Rabbi Eliezer says, [rather,] the Ark was exiled to Babylonia, as it is said (2 Kings 20:17), "[Behold, days are coming when all that is in your house, and all the treasures that your fathers have stored up until today, will be carried away to Babylonia]; not a thing (davar) will remain, said Hashem." And there is no davar but the dibrot (i.e., the Commandments, see Avot D'Rabbi Natan 41:12) that are in it. Rabbi Shimon says, behold, it says (2 Chron. 36:10, JPS tr.), "At the turn of the year, King Nebuchadnezzar sent to have him brought to Babylonia with the precious vessels of the House of the Lord [etc.]" -- that is the Ark. Rabbi Yehudah ben Lakish says, the Ark was hidden in its place, as it is said (1 Kings 8:8), "And the poles [of the Ark] projected out, [and the ends of the poles] were seen [from the sanctuary in front of the Holy, but they were not seen from the outside]; and they remain there until this day."

Once the Holy Temple was destroyed, the kingship of the House of David ceased and the the Urim and Tummim ceased, and the [Levitical] cities with fields ceased to exist. As it is said (Ezra 2:63), "And the Tisharta (i.e., the Persian governor of Judea) told them not to partake of the most holy things until a Kohen with the Urim and Tummim was installed." This can be likened to a person who says to his fellow, "Until the dead are resurrected or until Elijah comes."

From the time that the last prophets -- Chaggai, Zechariah, and Malachi -- died, the Holy Spirit ceased to exist among Israel. And nevertheless, they would avail themselves of the Divine Voice (bat kol, lit. "Daughter of the Voice"). It so happened that the Sages entered the upper chamber of Ben Guriya in Jericho, and a Divine Voice issued, and it said to them, "There is a man here among you who is worthy of the Holy Spirit, only that his generation does not merit it." They cast their eyes on Hillel the Elder. And at the time of his death, they would say, "Alas, humble one, alas, righteous one, disciple of Ezra."

It once happened that the Sages had arrived in Yavneh and a Divine Voice went out and it said to them, "There is here a man who is worthy of the Holy Spirit, but his generation does not merit it." They cast their eyes on Hillel the Elder. And when he died, they said, "Alas, humble one, alas, righteous one, disciple of Ezra." Another time they were reclining in Yavneh, and they heard a Divine Voice saying, "There is here a man who is worthy of the Holy Spirit being upon him, but his generation does not merit it," and they cast their eyes on Shmuel HaKatan. And when he died, they would say, "Alas, humble one, alas, righteous one, disciple of Hillel the Elder." And even he (i.e., Shmuel HaKatan) said at the time of his death, "Shimon [the Righteous] and Yishmael [the High Priest] are destined to die, and the rest of their colleagues [are destined] for the sword, and the rest of the people to plunder, and great strife will ensue." And afterwards a judgment [was announced] in the Aramaic language, saying, "Even regarding Rabbi Yehuda ben Bava it is decreed that they will say of him, 'Alas, humble one, alas, righteous one, disciple of Shmuel HaKatan,'" but the opportunity was torn from them (since Yehuda ben Bava was executed by the government, see San. 11a:9).

Yochanan the High Priest heard a voice [emerging] from the Holy of Holies (in Aramaic): "The youth who went to wage war in Antokhya have been victorious" (Sot. 33a:8, Steinsaltz tr.). And the people wrote down the exact hour and the exact day [that the voice was heard], and it matched the exact hour that they were victorious. And Shimon the Righteous heard a voice from the Holy of Holies (in Aramaic): "The decree that the enemy intended to bring against the Temple is annulled, and Gaskalgas (i.e., Caligula), has been killed and his decrees have been voided" (ibid.). And in the Aramaic language was it heard.

As long as Shimon the Righteous was alive, the western lamp was constant (i.e., continuously burning), [but] when he died, they went and found that it was extinguished. From then on, sometimes they found it extinguished, and sometimes they found it burning. As long as Shimon the Righteous was alive, the pile of wood [on the Altar] was constant. After they had arranged it in the morning, it kept going strongly the entire day, and they would offer up their daily offerings, and their additional offerings, and their libations, and they would not need to add [wood] to it except for the two logs of wood of the daily afternoon offering, in order to fulfill the mitzva of the wood, as it is said (Lev. 6:5), "And the Kohen shall kindle [logs on it every morning]." Once Shimon the Righteous died, the strength of the pile of wood grew weaker, such that after they had arranged it in the morning, they could not avoid replenishing wood on it the entire day. As long as Shimon the Righteous was alive, a blessing accompanied the two loaves [of the Omer] and the showbread. The two loaves were divided on Shavuot for the Kohanim, and the showbread on the Festival to all the men of the watch. And there were those of them who would eat and be satisfied, and there were those who would eat and leave some over, and only an olive's-bulk would come up into each of their hands. Once Shimon the Righteous died, a blessing no longer accompanied the two loaves or the showbread. The modest ones would withdraw their hands, and the gluttons would split it amongst themselves, yet only a bean's-bulk would come up into each of their hands. It so happened with one Kohen from Tzippori (Sepphoris) that he took his portion as well as his fellow's portion, and even though only a bean's bulk came up into his head, they would call him Ben Chamtzan ("Son of Violence"), until today.

The year in which Shimon the Righteous died [he said to them] "in this year I will die" "how do you know this?" they responded. He (Shimon the Righteous) responded: "all of the Yom Kippur days there was an old man dressed in all white who would go with me into the holy of holies and leave with me, on this year he went in with me but did not come out with me." Seven days passed after the holiday and he died. From the time of the death of Rebbi Shimon the Righteous they ceased blessing in the name of Hashem.

The "wakers" (Sot. 9:10) -- these were the Levites, who would stand on the platform and say* (Ps. 44:2), "Awake! Why do You slumber, O Lord, etc.?" Rabbi Yochanan ben Zakkai said to them, "And is there really sleep before Him? And does it not already say (Ps. 121:4), 'Behold, the Guardian of Israel neither slumbers nor sleeps!' Rather, whenever [the Children of] Israel are in a state of pain and the idolaters are in a state of ease, thus it may be said*, so to speak, 'Awake! Why do You slumber?'" The "knockers" -- these were those who struck* the calf between its horns in the manner of idolaters. Yochanan ben Zakkai said to them, "Until when will you feed tereifot to the Altar?"

"Until his days the hammer would strike in Jerusalem" -- on the intermediate days of a Festival. He even decreed regarding the confession [of tithes] and abolished demai (doubtfully tithed produce).* the confession [of tithes] and decreed regarding demai" (see Minchat Yitzchak here) For he sent [emissaries] to all the towns of Israel, and they found that [the people] were only separating great terumah (i.e., the priestly portion of untithed produce). First tithe and second tithe -- some of them separated and some of them did not separate. Yochanan the High Priest said to them, since [failure to separate] terumah is a sin punishable by death, and [failure to separate] terumah of tithes is a sin punishable by death, a person will designate terumah and terumah of tithes, and give it to a priest, and will exchange second tithe for money, and as to the remaining tithes and poor tithes, the burden of proof will rest on the claimant.