Harim came and also drew his portion and the lot of five other watches, for a total of six. 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 Gemara 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 Ninth of Av and on a Sunday, but it is not equating them with regard to all the details.

The Gemara 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 six 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.

It is known that Ezra ascended to Eretz Yisrael six 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 second year of the reign of Darius, king of Persia” (Ezra 4:24). This proves that construction on the Temple started in the second year of the reign of Darius. And it is written: “And this house was finished on the third day of the month Adar, which was in the sixth year of the reign of Darius the king” (Ezra 6:15), which was the fifth year from when they started building.

And the Sages taught in a baraita: At that same time in the following year Ezra ascended from Babylonia together with his company of exiles, as it is written, “And he came to Jerusalem in the fifth month, which was in the seventh year of the king” (Ezra 7:8). Accordingly, Ezra came to Eretz Yisrael six years after the beginning of the construction of the Temple. It was at that time that the counting of the Sabbatical and Jubilee cycles began. The counting continued for 414 years until the destruction of the Temple, which means that the Temple was destroyed in a Sabbatical Year.

§ The Gemara discusses the matter itself that is taught in the baraita cited earlier (12b): The Jewish people counted seventeen Jubilees from when they entered Eretz Yisrael until they left when the Temple was destroyed. And you cannot say that they counted from when they entered, because if you say they counted from when they entered, the result is that the Temple was destroyed at the beginning of the Jubilee cycle, and you do not find that the Jubilee Year was “in the fourteenth year after the city was smitten” (Ezekiel 40:1). Rather, remove from them the seven years when they conquered Eretz Yisrael and the seven years when they divided Eretz Yisrael, as the first Jubilee cycle began after the Jewish people conquered and divided Eretz Yisrael.

The Gemara asks: From where do we derive that there were seven years during which the Jewish people conquered Eretz Yisrael? The Gemara answers: As Caleb said to Joshua, when it came time to divide Eretz Yisrael at the conclusion of part of the conquest: “Forty years old was I when Moses the servant of the Lord sent me from Kadesh-Barnea to spy out the land…and now, behold, I am this day eighty-five years old” (Joshua 14:7, 10).

And the Master says in a baraita: During the first year after the exodus, Moses constructed the Tabernacle; during the second year, the Tabernacle was erected and Moses sent the spies. Consequently, how old was Caleb when the Jewish people crossed the Jordan? He was eighty less two, i.e., seventy-eight years old. When Joshua was dividing Eretz Yisrael into inheritances, Caleb said to him: I am eighty-five years old. It is therefore found that they conquered the land for seven years.

The Gemara asks: And from where do we derive that there were seven years during which the Jewish people divided up Eretz Yisrael into ancestral portions? The Gemara answers: If you wish, say that from the fact that they conquered the land for seven years, it is reasonable to assume that they divided the land for seven years. And if you wish, say instead: It can be derived from the fact that you do not find that “the fourteenth year after the city was smitten” (Ezekiel 40:1) was a Jubilee Year (see 12a) unless the Jewish people divided Eretz Yisrael for seven years.

MISHNA: One maintains no fewer than six lambs that have been inspected for blemishes in the Chamber of the Lambs, which are sufficient for the offerings of Shabbat and for the two Festival days of Rosh HaShana that may occur adjacent to it. And one may add inspected lambs up to an infinite number. One plays no fewer than two trumpets and no fewer than nine harps in the Temple, and one may add up to an infinite number. And the cymbal was played alone, and none may be added to it.

GEMARA: The Gemara assumes that the mishna means that there must be at least six inspected lambs in the Chamber of the Lambs, so that if Rosh HaShana occurs on the two days adjacent to Shabbat, there will be enough lambs available for all the communal offerings that are sacrificed on those days. The Gemara therefore objects: But there are more than six lambs which are required for the daily offerings and additional offerings of a Shabbat and Rosh HaShana that are adjacent to one another, as one day of Rosh HaShana alone requires sixteen lambs.

The Gemara explains: The tanna is referring to the general policy for the entire year, and he is referring only to the number of lambs necessary for the daily offerings sacrificed over the course of three ordinary days. And what is the meaning of the phrase: Sufficient for Shabbat and for the two Festival days of Rosh HaShana? It is merely a mnemonic device, and this is what he is saying: One maintains no fewer than six lambs