defiles

May a (High) Priest defile himself for the lifting of hands? Gabilah, the brother of Rebbi Abba bar Cohen said before Rebbi Yose in the name of Rebbi Aḥa: A Cohen defiles himself for the lifting of hands. Rebbi Aḥa heard it and said: I never told him anything. On second thoughts he said, maybe he heard from me what Rebbi Jehudah ben Pazi said in the name of Rebbi Eleazar: Every Cohen who stays in the synagogue and does not lift his hands transgresses a positive commandment, and he wanted to say that a positive commandment supersedes a negative commandment. I never told him anything. Bring him in and I will flog him!

Rebbi Yannai said: A Cohen defiles himself in order to see the King. When King Diocletian visited here, Rebbi Ḥiyya bar Abba was seen stepping over graves at Tyre in order to see him. Rebbi Ḥizqiah and Rebbi Jeremiah in the name of Rebbi Joḥanan: There is an obligation to see great persons of government, so that when the kingdom of the dynasty of David will return one will know how to distinguish one government from the other.

HALAKHAH: Who is doubtfully definitely [suffering]? Two who came to him. He declared one of them definitively affected but before he could declare the second one definitively affected, they were changed for him. That is a doubtfully definitely [suffering person]. This is the one about whom Rebbi Ḥiyya stated: A nazir, in doubt whether impure or pure, but certainly he was a nazir. A sufferer from skin disease, in doubt whether impure or pure, but certainly he was a sufferer from skin disease. He eats from sacrificial meat after 60 days, drinks wine and defiles himself for the dead after 120 days. How is that? One said to him, you are an impure nazir, go count seven [days]. He sprinkled, repeated, shaved, and brought. He then counted seven [days] and wanted to shave. One said to him, impure nazir, go count seven [days] and continue for 30. He counted 30 [days] and wanted to shave. One said to him, you are a pure nazir, does not a pure nazir shave on kinds of blood? He brings an elevation offering and shaves on it, a bird purification offering and stipulates, saying: “If I was impure, the purification offering is my obligation and the elevation offering is voluntary. If I was pure, the elevation offering is my obligation and the purification offering is in doubt.” He shaves his head, his beard, and his eyebrows in the way the sufferer from skin disease shaves.

“If he was doubtfully impure and certainly definitely [suffering from skin disease], he eats from sacrificial meat after 60 days, drinks wine and defiles himself for the dead after 120 days. If he was certainly impure and doubtfully definitely [suffering from skin disease], he eats from sacrificial meat after 20 days, drinks wine and defiles himself for the dead after 44 days. If he was certainly impure and certainly definitely [suffering from skin disease], he eats from sacrificial meat after eight days, drinks wine and defiles himself for the dead after 44 days.”

“If he was doubtfully impure and certainly definitely [suffering from skin disease], he eats from sacrificial meat after 60 days, drinks wine and defiles himself for the dead after 120 days. If he was certainly impure and doubtfully definitely [suffering from skin disease], he eats from sacrificial meat after 20 days, drinks wine and defiles himself for the dead after 44 days. If he was certainly impure and certainly definitely [suffering from skin disease], he eats from sacrificial meat after eight days, drinks wine and defiles himself for the dead after 44 days.”

“If he was doubtfully impure and certainly definitely [suffering from skin disease], he eats from sacrificial meat after 60 days, drinks wine and defiles himself for the dead after 120 days. If he was certainly impure and doubtfully definitely [suffering from skin disease], he eats from sacrificial meat after 20 days, drinks wine and defiles himself for the dead after 44 days. If he was certainly impure and certainly definitely [suffering from skin disease], he eats from sacrificial meat after eight days, drinks wine and defiles himself for the dead after 44 days.”

HALAKHAH: “The intruder by stealth,” etc. Rebbi Ismael stated: This is one of three verses which in the Torah have been formulated as a simile: If he gets up and walks outside on his support. If the thief is found in the digging, if the sun shone on him, he has blood. Does the sun shine only on him? Does the sun not shine on all beings in the world? But just as sunshine is special in that it brings peace to the entire world, so in any case in which you know that you are at peace with him, whether it be day or night his killer will be killed. If sometimes he comes to steal, sometimes he comes to kill, you say that if certainly he comes to steal, his killer will be killed? Since sometimes he comes to kill, he may be killed. From here you argue about danger to life, to say that just as (foreign worship) is special in that it defiles the Land, desecrates the Name, removes the Divine Presence, and doubts are disregarded, so much more that doubts have to be disregarded in cases of danger to life.

MISHNAH: If a nazir was drinking wine a whole day long, he is liable only once. If one told him, do not drink, do not drink, if then he drinks he is liable for every single occasion. If he was defiling himself with corpses a whole day long, he is liable only once. If one told him, do not defile yourself, do not defile yourself, if then he defiles himself he is liable for every single occasion. If he was shaving a whole day long, he is liable only once. If one told him, do not shave, do not shave, if then he shaves he is liable for every single occasion. If he was dressed in kilaim a whole day long, he is liable only once. If one told him, do not dress, do not dress, and he took off and put on, he is liable for every single occasion.

"Barley" — for there is a Mishnaic teaching : The bone [of a dead person or animal] the size of barley defiles by touch and carrying, but does not defile in a tent.

‘Barley’— As we have learned: A barleycorn's bulk of a [human] bone defiles by contact and by carrying, but not by ‘overshadowing’.

They objected: R. Meir says that Kohelet does not defile the hands, and that about the Song of Songs there is a dispute. R. Yose says that the Song of Songs defiles the hands, and about Koheleth there is a difference of opinion. R. Shimon says that Koheleth is one of those matters in regard to which Beth Shammai were lenient and Beth Hillel stringent, but Ruth and the Song of Songs and Esther [certainly] make the hands unclean. Shmuel concurred with R. Joshua.

But cannot this be deduced logically [as follows]? If he defiles bed and seat, should he not [all the more] be required to count seven days?

This argument can be confuted by the case of the woman who is keeping day for day who defiles bed and seat but does not count seven days. And thus do not be surprised that this one also, although he defiles bed and seat, might not be obligated to count seven days.

This argument can be confuted by the case of the woman who is keeping day for day who defiles bed and seat but does not count seven days. And thus do not be surprised that this one also, although he defiles bed and seat, might not be obligated to count seven days.

For common food and tithe how can washing of hands be needed? For I can adduce against this Mishnah the following, viz., The heave offering and the firstfruits involve to one who transgresses with respect to them death and compensation to the amount of one fifth part beyond the price, and it is forbidden to strangers to share in them, and these are the property of the priest and are mixed with one hundred and one things, and they are subject to the washing of hands and waiting till the going down of the sun (Bikkurim, ii. 1, and elsewhere). Lo, this is the case with heave-offering and firstfruits, but it is not the case with tithe, much less with common food. There is a difficulty when we place tithe against tithe, and there is a difficulty when we place common food against common food. It is all right in the case of tithe against tithe. It does not present a difficulty. The one opinion is that of R. Meir, and the other that of our Rabbis. For there is a canonical Mishnah, Everything which is subject to the duty of going to the water, as far as the scribes have taught, defiles hallowed things, but only disqualifies heave-offering and leaves common food and tithe unaffected. These are the words of R. Meir, but wise men consider tithe affected (Chullin 33b, i. 1, Sota 30a, ii. 4).