The Three Baskets of the Temple Treasury

Three baskets, each holding three seah, were used to set aside the chamber-offering from the treasury, and on them were written aleph, bet, gimel [one, two, three], because they begin with the first. When the first was finished, they would take from the second; when the second was finished, they would take from the third. Once all three had been used and the season for setting aside the offering came around again, they would set aside from the new collection; and if not, they would set aside from the old. He set aside the first basket in the name of the Land of Israel on behalf of all Israel, and covered it with leather cloths, because the men of Syria would come and weigh in upon it. He set aside from the second and would say, 'This is from Ammon and Moab and from the towns that surround the Land of Israel,' and covered it with leather cloths, because the men of Babylonia would come and weigh in upon it. He set aside the third and would say, 'This is from Babylonia and from Media and from the distant provinces,' and would not cover it. This one was the richest of them all, for in it were staters of gold and darics of gold, because they would convert shekels into darics on account of the burden of the road, which is not so with the coins of the second tithe, as it is written, 'and you shall bind up the money in your hand' (Deuteronomy 14:25). When he removed the leather covering and the leftover funds became mixed together, he would not mix them with those of the previous year, lest he should need to set aside an offering and would then be setting aside from the old. They set aside the offering against a pledge, against what was already collected, and against what was yet to be collected. Rabbi Shimon ben Elazar says: they did not do this in the latter generations, lest one of the children of Israel should need to contribute his shekel and would be found contributing along with the men of Babylonia. One incurs the law of sacrilege regarding these funds throughout their year; once their year has passed, one does not incur sacrilege regarding them, since they were given over to be benefited from, for the Torah was not given to the ministering angels; indeed the city wall and its towers were built from the remainders of the chamber. As for the chamber-offering, what would they do with it? They would purchase with it the daily and additional offerings, the libations, the omer, the two loaves, the showbread, the communal peace-offerings, and all the communal sacrifices. Those who guarded the aftergrowth in the seventh year would take their wages from the chamber-offering. The red heifer and the crimson thread placed on the head of the scapegoat came from the chamber-offering. The ramp of the heifer, the ramp of the scapegoat, the thread tied between its horns, the water channel, the city wall and its towers, and all the needs of the city came from the remainders of the chamber. Abba Shaul says: the ramp of the heifer the high priests would make from their own funds. As for the surplus of the chamber's remainders, what would they do with it? They would buy wines, oils, and fine flours, and the profit went to the Sanctuary, the words of Rabbi Yishmael. Rabbi Akiva says: one does not make a profit from that which belongs to the Sanctuary, nor even from that which belongs to the poor. As for the surplus of the chamber-offering, what would they do with it? Beaten plates of gold as an overlay for the Holy of Holies. Rabbi Yishmael says: the surplus of the offering went for the service-vessels. Rabbi Hanina the deputy high priest says: the surplus of the offering went for the altar's supplemental burnt-offerings. The scholars who taught the priests the laws of slaughter, of receiving the blood, and of sprinkling, would take their wages from the chamber-offering. Those who inspected the sacrifices for blemishes and those who corrected the Torah scrolls would take their wages from the chamber-offering. The women who wove the curtain would take their wages from the chamber-offering.