Person
Kimchit קמחית
the mother of seven high priests
When a high priest became unfit for a day—it happened on the very eve of Yom Kippur—his brother stood in for him: thus all seven of Kimchit's sons came to serve in the Holy of Holies. The sages asked her what she had done to merit it. She answered: "the beams of my house have never seen my hair".
The sages, says the Talmud, did not take the answer as the whole cause—"many did likewise and it did not avail"—but the story remained: of a modesty not for show, because at home no one sees it but the beams. In Jewish communities "Kimchit" became a byword for such modesty.
On the timeline
Related
Sources
Chazal: Mishnah, Talmud, midrash, Zohar
- Yoma 47a — «the beams of my house have never seen my hair»
- Vayikra Rabbah 20:11 — “Kimchit had seven sons, and all of them served in the high priesthood”
- Vayikra Rabbah 20:11 — “Kimchit had seven sons, and all of them served in the high priesthood”
- Vayikra Rabbah 20:11 — “Kimchit had seven sons, and all of them served in the high priesthood”
- Vayikra Rabbah 20:11 — “Kimchit had seven sons, and all of them served in the high priesthood”
- Vayikra Rabbah 20:11 — “Kimchit had seven sons, and all of them served in the high priesthood”
- Vayikra Rabbah 20:11 — “Kimchit had seven sons, and all of them served in the high priesthood”
- Vayikra Rabbah 20:11 — “Kimchit had seven sons, and all of them served in the high priesthood”
- Vayikra Rabbah 20:11 — “Kimchit had seven sons, and all of them served in the high priesthood”
- Vayikra Rabbah 20:11 — “Kimchit had seven sons, and all of them served in the high priesthood”
- Vayikra Rabbah 20:11 — “Kimchit had seven sons, and all of them served in the high priesthood”
- Vayikra Rabbah 20:11 — “Kimchit had seven sons, and all of them served in the high priesthood”
- Vayikra Rabbah 20:11 — “Kimchit had seven sons, and all of them served in the high priesthood”
- Vayikra Rabbah 20:11 — “Kimchit had seven sons, and all of them served in the high priesthood”
- Vayikra Rabbah 20:11 — “Kimchit had seven sons, and all of them served in the high priesthood”
Basis: Talmud and midrash.