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Text Excerpt
עבודתו מחנכתו. מי לא תניא כל הכלים שעשה משה — משיחתן מקדשתן, מכאן ואילך — עבודתן מחנכתן. הכא נמי — עבודתו מחנכתו.
That action is unnecessary and therefore superfluous; his service initiates him. The replacement High Priest need not undergo any preliminary initiation. His very performance of the Yom Kippur service, which is valid only if performed by the High Priest, initiates him as acting High Priest. As proof, the Talmud states: Wasn’t it taught in a baraita: With regard to all the sacred vessels that Moses made, their anointment with oil consecrates them. From that point forward, in the generations after Moses, new vessels did not require anointment to be consecrated; rather, their use in Temple service initiates them and renders them fit for use. Here, too, with regard to the High Priest, his service initiates him.
כי אתא רב דימי, אמר: אבנטו של כהן הדיוט, רבי ורבי אלעזר ברבי שמעון, חד אמר: של כלאים, וחד אמר: של בוץ.
§ Apropos the belt of the High Priest, the Talmud cites the aforementioned dispute in its entirety. When Rav Dimi came from Eretz Yisrael to Babylonia he said: With regard to the belt of the common priest, there is a dispute between R' Yehuda HaNasi and R' Elazar, son of R' Shimon. One said: It was a mixture of diverse kinds of wool and linen, like the belt of the High Priest mentioned in the Torah. And one said: It was made of fine linen, like the rest of the garments of the common priest.
תסתיים דרבי הוא דאמר של כלאים. דתניא: אין בין כהן גדול לכהן הדיוט אלא אבנט, דברי רבי. רבי אלעזר ברבי שמעון אומר: אף לא אבנט. אימת? אי נימא בשאר ימות השנה — טובא איכא: כהן גדול משמש בשמונה והדיוט בארבעה!
The Talmud suggests: Conclude that it is R' Yehuda HaNasi who said that the belt of the common priest was a mixture of diverse kinds, as it was taught in a baraita: The only difference between a High Priest and a common priest is the belt; this is the statement of R' Yehuda HaNasi. R' Elazar, son of R' Shimon, says: Not even the belt represents a difference between them. The Talmud explains: With regard to the difference between the High Priest and the common priest, when is there a dispute between the tanna’im? If we say that the dispute is with regard to the rest of the days of the year, there are many other differences between them, since the High Priest serves wearing 8 garments and the common priest wears 4 garments. Therefore, that could not be the point of the dispute.