he asked, why do we require a magrifa,
in an instrument of a thousand voices,
a thousand songs,
to sweep away the ashes?
did he know? did we not yet know?
the ashes that would accumulate
in ovens designed to burn human bodies
mothers, fathers, children.
did he know? did he not yet know?
a shovel that sings with a thousand voices.
an altar heaped with ash.
Parshat Va’era, January 17, 1942
The following is taught in the Talmud (Arachin 10b): Rava b. Shila, in the name of R. Mat’nah, on the authority of Samuel, said: “there was a magrefa [a shovel-shaped musical instrument] in the holy Temple that had ten holes, each of which produced ten different kinds of music. A Tanna taught: It was one cubit long, one cubit broad, and from it projected a handle with ten holes. Each hole produced one hundred kinds of sounds, amounting for the whole to one thousand tunes.”
Rashi (ibid.) explains that the magrefa was a sort of trowel or space, used in a daily Temple ritual of Terumat Hadashen (Tithing the Ashes), in which the ashes on the sacrificial altar were gathered, heaped, and removed. We need to understand: Why does an implement used for moving ashes need to sing -- and not just to sing, but to sing a thousand songs, which is something that other instruments cannot do? In fact, from other references to the magrefa in the Mishna, we learn that this instrument was so loud, its sound could be heard as far away as Jericho.
The Mishna (Tamid 2:2) teaches: “On the Pilgrimage Festivals, the daily rite of removing the ashes from the altar was not performed, because they beautified the altar.” The ashes were allowed to pile up, in order to decorate and beautify the altar so that all might see that many sacrifices had been offered.
בי איתא בגמי ערכין י' ע"ב אמר רבא בר שילא אמר רב מתנה אמר שמואל מגריפה היתה בבהמ"ק וכו' י' נקבים היו בה וכ"א ואחד מוציא ק' מיני זמר נמצאת כולה מוציאה אלף מיני זמר ופרש רש׳י מגריפה שבה גורפין את דשן המזבח וצריכין להבין למה הוצרכה כלי הדשן לזמר ודוקא זמר רב של אלף בנ"א יותר מכל כלי השיר עד שאיתא במס' תמיד שביריחו היו שומעיו את קול המגריפה... והנה במס' תמיד פ"ב בענין הרמת הדשן איתא וברגל לא היו מדשניו אותו מפני שהוא נוי למזבח היינו שניקר שהקריבו עליו הרבה קרבנות
