Yom Kippur day finally begins for the High Priest TB Yoma 30

Because of Yom Kippur’s higher sanctity the High Priest’s preparation was different. The High Priest maintained a level of ritual readiness (טהורה) for each section of the avodah service. The Mishnah on today’s daf TB Yoma 30 presents a general outline of the ritual readiness process. 

“Five immersions and ten sanctifications the High Priest immerses and sanctifies his hands and feet, respectively, on the day of Yom Kippur. And all of these immersions and sanctifications take place in the sacred area, the Temple courtyard, on the roof of the Hall of Parva, except for this first immersion alone. As that immersion is not unique to Yom Kippur, it may be performed outside the courtyard. They spread a sheet of fine linen between him and the people in the interest of modesty, and then the High Priest immersed and sanctified his hands and feet.” (Srfaria.org translation) 

We no longer have the Temple standing and prayer has replaced sacrifices. One of the special additions to the Yom Kippur service is called The Order of the Temple Service- סדר העבודה). Rabbi Jonathan Sacks z”l writes in the Koren Yom Kippur Mahzor about the special edition:

“Every Musaf Amidah contains a specific reference to the sacrifice of the day, but only here are we invited to re-envision it as it happened… In effect, the sages said: in place of sacrifice, we have prayer. In place of the Temple we have the synagogue. In place of the service of the High Priest we have the service of each of us, turning to God, confessing our sins, committing ourselves to a different and better future, offering God our heart.

“We no longer have the Temple ceremony, but we have the story; and we have the date itself, which atones even in the absence of the Temple. So on this day of days, more vividly than at any other time, the synagogue becomes a fragment of the Temple, and we re-create in our minds the scene that took place then on this holiest of days.” (pages 878-879)

The piyut, religious poem, Nilvim (נלוים) begins describing the first seven days before Yom Kippur as we have learned already from the first Mishna of our massekhet and the Gemara’s discussion of it. Then the poet writes: “the spark a morning rose, as the watchman said,/and a screen of linen was drawn across to conceal the high priest./He took office close and immersed and dressed all in gold;/stood and consecrated and made the first cut in the regular morning offering…” (Koren Mahzor, page 882)

The more traditional the mahkzor (the High Holiday prayer book) the greater likelihood that the piyut Nilvim (נלוים  ) can be found as part of the service. The Silverman makhzor includes this piyut. Mahzor Lev Shalem uses a different piyut that discusses the High Priest’s preparation. On The Wings of Awe Mahkzor describes this preparation in modern English. My more liberal mahzorim in my collection attenuates the Avodah service even more. I don’t have any Reform or Reconstructionist High Holiday prayer books. I’m guessing since they removed the musaf service from their Shabbat prayer books, the Avodah service is also absent in their mahkzorim.

When you are in synagogue on Yom Kippur you might want to take with you a more traditional mahkzor and read some of these piyutim as a refresher course for what we are studying right now.