Commentary for Sotah 66:1

הגע עצמך שהיתה פרשה קטנה. אלא כדי שישמעו ישראל על סדר. והא תנינן וקורא אחרי מות ואך בעשו'. שנייא היא שחיא סדרו של יום. תדע לך דמר רבי שמעון בן לקיש בכל מקום אינו קורא על פה וכא קורא על פה. רבי יוסי מפקד לבר עולא חזנא דכנישתא דבבלאי כד דהיא חדא אורייא תונייל לה לחורי פרוכתא. כד אינון תרתיי תי מייבל חדא ומייתי חדא. ומברך עליה שמונה ברכות על התורה. הבוחר בתורה. על העבודה שאותך לבדך בירה נעבוד. על ההודיה הטוב לך להודות. על מחילת העון מוחל עונות עמו ישראל ברחמים. על המקדש הבוחר במקדש. ואמר רבי אידי השוכן בציון. ועל ישראל הבוחר בישראל. ועל הכהנים הבוחר בכהנים. ועל שאר תפילה תחינה ובקשה שעמך ישראל צריכין להוושע לפניך ברוך אתה ה' שומע תפילה:

...All the time that Simeon the Righteous was alive, the lot [for the goat of Hashem] always fell on the right, when Simeon the Righteous died, sometimes it would fall to the right, sometimes to the left. All the time that Simeon the Righteous was alive, the western lamp would shine. When Simeon the Righteous died, sometimes it would flicker out, and sometimes it would burn. All the time that Simeon the Righteous was alive, the crimson thread would become white. When Simeon the Righteous died, sometimes it would become white, sometimes it would remain red. All the time that Simeon the Righteous was alive, there was a "sending" blessing on the Showbread and on the double bread, and every one would get their piece, and even if it was an olive-sized piece, there were those who felt satisfied and those who eat and leave. When Simeon the Righteous died, the blessing was suspended from the double bread and the Showbread. There was a story about a priest in Sepphoris, who grabbed his share [of bread] and the share of his fellow, and they called him ‘Son of the Bean,’ to this day, about [people like] him David wrote: "O my God, rescue me out of the hand of the wicked, out of the grasp of the unrighteous and ruthless man" (Ps. 71:4) It has been taught: Forty years before the destruction of the Temple the western light went out, the crimson thread remained crimson, and the lot for the Lord always came up in the left hand. They would close the gates of the Temple by night and get up in the morning and find them wide open. Said [to the Temple] Rabban Yohanan ben Zakkai, “O Temple, why do you frighten us? We know that you will end up destroyed. For it has been said, ‘Open your doors, O Lebanon, that the fire may devour your cedars!’ ” (Zech 11:1).

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