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Text Excerpt
בא חרים ונטל חלקו וחלק חביריו שש, וכן פשחור וכן אימר. התקינו נביאים שביניהם שאפילו יהויריב ראש משמרות עולה — לא ידחה ידעיה ממקומו, אלא ידעיה עיקר ויהויריב טפל לו, אלא אשארא.
Harim came and also drew his portion and the lot of 5 other watches, for a total of 6. And likewise Pashḥur, and likewise Immer. The prophets among them stipulated that even if the descendants of Jehoiarib, who originally headed the priestly watches, would ascend to Eretz Yisrael, Jedaiah would not be demoted from its place as the first of the watches. Rather, the watch of Jedaiah would retain precedence, and Jehoiarib would be subordinate to it. The Talmud concludes: Rather, when the baraita equates the details pertaining to the destruction of the two Temples, it is referring to other details, i.e., that both were destroyed on the 9th of Av and on a Sunday, but it is not equating them with regard to all the details.
רב אשי אמר: הנך שית שני עד דסליק עזרא ומקדיש לא קא חשיב להו,
The Talmud cites a third answer to its question about how the baraita can claim that the Second Temple was destroyed in a year following a Sabbatical Year, when a calculation of the number of years that it stood indicates that it was destroyed in a Sabbatical Year. Rav Ashi said: Those 6 years from the time the Second Temple was built until Ezra ascended to Eretz Yisrael and sanctified the land are not counted, as the Sabbatical cycle was not in effect during that period. Consequently, the Second Temple was destroyed in a year following a Sabbatical Year.
דכתיב: ״באדין בטלת עבידת בית אלהא די בירושלם״, וכתיב: ״ושיציא ביתא דנא עד יום תלתא לירח אדר דהיא שנת שית למלכות דריוש מלכא״.
It is known that Ezra ascended to Eretz Yisrael 6 years after the beginning of the construction of the Second Temple, as it is written: “Then ceased the work of the House of God, which is at Jerusalem; and it ceased until the 2nd year of the reign of Darius, king of Persia” (Ezra 4:24). This proves that construction on the Temple started in the 2nd year of the reign of Darius. And it is written: “And this house was finished on the 3rd day of the month Adar, which was in the 6th year of the reign of Darius the king” (Ezra 6:15), which was the 5th year from when they started building.