Hajj Stampede Near Mecca Leaves Over 700 DeadWhen I first heard the news of this tragedy my mind went straight to a story told in the Talmud. Every morning, when the Temple stood, the ashes would need to be removed from the offerings made the previous day. I imagine this was seen as a relatively lowly task and so not much thought was put into deciding who would get the “honor” of removing the ashes. Then we hear a story (23a) where two men are racing up the ramp to get to altar when one … [Read more...]