A Mishnah that we studied a couple of days ago on page 53a described how the Cohen Gadol (High Priest) would sprinkle the blood of his sacrifice in Temple on Yom Kippur.
נִכְנַס לַמָּקוֹם שֶׁנִּכְנַס, וְעָמַד בַּמָּקוֹם שֶׁעָמַד, וְהִזָּה מִמֶּנּוּ אַחַת לְמַעְלָה וְשֶׁבַע לְמַטָּה
He entered into the place that he had previously entered, the Holy of Holies, and stood at the place where he had previously stood to offer the incense, between the staves. And he sprinkled from the blood, one time upward and seven times downward.
And then he would count to avoid any error:
וְכָךְ הָיָה מוֹנֶה: אַחַת, אַחַת וְאַחַת, אַחַת וּשְׁתַּיִם, אַחַת וְשָׁלֹשׁ, אַחַת וְאַרְבַּע, אַחַת וְחָמֵשׁ, אַחַת וְשֵׁשׁ, אַחַת וָשֶׁבַע. יָצָא וְהִנִּיחוֹ עַל כַּן הַזָּהָב שֶׁבַּהֵיכָל.
And this is how he would count as he sprinkled, to avoid error: One; one and one; one and two; one and three; one and four; one and five; one and six; one and seven. The High Priest then emerged from there and placed the bowl with the remaining blood on the golden pedestal in the Sanctuary.
Today’s page of Talmud comments on this interesting way of keeping track of the sprinklings:
יומא נה, א
תָּנוּ רַבָּנַן: אַחַת, אַחַת וְאַחַת, אַחַת וּשְׁתַּיִם, אַחַת וְשָׁלֹשׁ, אַחַת וְאַרְבַּע, אַחַת וְחָמֵשׁ, אַחַת וָשֵׁשׁ, אַחַת וָשֶׁבַע, דִּבְרֵי רַבִּי מֵאִיר. רַבִּי יְהוּדָה אוֹמֵר: אַחַת, אַחַת וְאַחַת, שְׁתַּיִם וְאַחַת, שָׁלֹשׁ וְאַחַת, אַרְבַּע וְאַחַת, חָמֵשׁ וְאַחַת, שֵׁשׁ וְאַחַת, שֶׁבַע וְאַחַת.
וְלָא פְּלִיגִי: מָר כִּי אַתְרֵיהּ וּמָר כִּי אַתְרֵיהּ
The Sages taught in a baraita that when sprinkling, the High Priest counted: One; one and one; one and two; one and three; one and four; one and five; one and six; one and seven. This is the statement of Rabbi Meir. Rabbi Yehuda says that he counted: One; one and one; two and one; three and one; four and one; five and one; six and one; seven and one.
The Gemara comments: They do not disagree about the matter itself that the High Priest sprinkles once upward and seven times downward. Rather, this Sage rules in accordance with the norm in his place, and this Sage rules in accordance with the norm in his place. In one place they counted the smaller number first, while in the other place they would count the larger number first.
WHo excels at math?
In a 1994 study of forty second-generation Chinese-American and 40 Caucasian-American preschoolers and kindergartners, the Chinese-American children outperformed Caucasian-American children on measures of mathematics, spatial relations, visual discrimination, numeral formation, and name writing. A 2011 study that explored cultural differences in young children’s early math competency prior to their school showed that Taiwanese children performed better than U.S., Peruvian, and Dutch children. More Taiwanese four-year-olds were able to count up to at least 21 when compared with children from the other three countries. There are more studies like these, but you get the idea. But why should some cultures be especially good at math? The answer, it appears, is in the language.
The Best language to learn math…is not english