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By Michelle Cohen Farber
4.5
181181 ratings
The podcast currently has 2,731 episodes available.
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Rav Chisda's requirement for complete mastery of all twenty-four priestly gifts is rejected based on Rabbi Simeon's standard: any kohen who acknowledges the validity of the Temple service (modeh b'avoda) is eligible to receive gifts. Deriving from "v'natan" ("and he shall give"), kohanim are forbidden from grabbing gifts, prompting Abaye to outline his personal practice that developed from seizing gifts to eventually refusing them altogether, except on the Eve of Yom Kippur to demonstrate his priestly lineage. Rav Yosef rules that a kohen can assign gifts to an impoverished scholar even before taking physical possession. However, when Rava insisted a host's servant assign gifts to himself and Rav Safra, Rava ate while Rav Safra refrained; Rav Safra subsequently experienced a troubling dream regarding improper conduct, prompting the Gemara into a broader ethical discussion condemning the instruction of an unworthy student who will misconstrue the teacher's words. Addressing mixed partnerships with a non-Jew or kohen, the Gemara clarifies contradictory sources regarding when marking the animal is required to prevent public suspicion (mar'it ayin). Resolving a dispute between Rav Huna and Chiya bar Rav, the Gemara rejects Chiya bar Rav - explaining his misinterpretation of the braita listing the twenty-four priestly gifts - and concludes that a kohen's partial ownership in a specific section of an animal exempts only that corresponding gift, such that partial ownership of the head exempts the jaw, while the foreleg and abomasum remain obligated. Where an Israelite owns the head and a kohen owns the rest of the body, the Gemara establishes that halakhic liability follows the locus of obligation, requiring the Israelite to give the jaw.

The eligibility of a Kohen's daughter (kohenet) to receive priestly gifts (matanot) is disputed between Rava (forbidding) and Ulla (permitting), reflecting a broader Tannaitic disagreement between the academy of Rabbi Yishmael (excluding a kohenet) and the academy of Rabbi Eliezer ben Yaakov (including her). Following common practice where several amoraim received and ate matanot on account of their wives, Marimar codifies four definitive rulings: the halakha follows Rav regarding the unenforceability of Levite obligations, Rav Chisda regarding exemption from restitution for destroyed gifts, Ulla permitting gifts to a kohenet, and Rav Adda bar Ahava regarding pidyon haben exemptions for a Levite woman's son. Regarding crossbred animals (kil'ayim) and a koy, the Sages obligate matanot while Rabbi Eliezer exempts them. Addressing the underlying doubt over paternal seed (zera ha'av), the Gemara questions why the Sages require full gifts rather than half-gifts, ultimately explaining that the obligation of the rabbis is only for half. However an alternative explanation is brought concluding that explicit scriptural inclusions ("im shor", "im seh") mandate full obligation. This discussion also establishes Rava's rule that legal recourse for unseparated gifts lies directly against the butcher (hadin im hatabach). The Mishna notes that a blemished firstborn (bechor) mixed among non-sacred animals or slaughtering for a non-Jew or kohen creates exemptions from matanot. However, a kohen slaughtering for someone else is obligated in matanot. A kohen who sets up a slaughterhouse is exempt from giving gifts for two to three weeks, but becomes obligated once his business is more established. To ensure compliance, courts may penalize non-compliant butchers by excommunication. Matanot must be eaten roasted with mustard as they should be eaten like royalty, and may be given to any kohen who acknowledges the validity of the Temple service (modeh ba'avoda).

The Gemara continues analyzing Rava's attempt to prove that "touch" (maga) can include tent-impurity (ohel) based on Rabbi Yosi's ruling regarding bed frames and window bars. Abaye rejects this proof, explaining that the case involves a space under a handbreadth (tefach), and due to a challenge raised against his explanation, Abaye is forced to explain that Rabbi Yosi holds concealed impurity does not break through (tumei tmunah eina boka'at). He proves his stance on concealed impurity from a Mishna discussing a cabinet (migdal) and Rabbi Yosi's commentary on it. A challenge is raised against Abaye from another case where Rabbi Yosi appears to hold that concealed impurity does break through and ascend (a dead dog that swallowed corpse flesh and is lying on a threshold). Rava resolves this by explaining that Rabbi Yosi does not rely on concealed impurity breaking out, but rather his dispute with Rabbi Meir regarding the dog is based on other considerations - whether the cavity of the dog contains a handbreadth of space and whether the threshold is considered part of the house. The Gemara returns to clarify the identity of Rabbi Yosi's disputant, who holds that tent-impurity is not included in the term "touch." The Gemara identifies him as Rabbi Shimon, who disagrees with Rabbi Yosi in a braita by stating that there are three items that impart corpse-impurity through only two of the three standard modes (touch, carrying, and tent): a ladleful of dust of a human carcass (melo tarvad rakav) imparts impurity through carrying and tent, but not touch; a barley-grain-sized bone (etzem k'seorah) imparts impurity through touch and carrying, but not tent; and a tombstone lid and supporting frame (golel v'dofek) impart impurity through touch and tent, but not carrying. His ruling regarding dust demonstrates that he does not categorize tent-impurity under touch. Regarding a carcass marrow-bone (kulit), the braita cites a scriptural source establishing that a sealed marrow-bone does not impart impurity, whereas a perforated one does. Rav Oshaya inquires whether a sealed marrow-bone that one intends to perforate is considered "lacking an action" (mechusar ma'aseh) because it requires perforation, or is it already considered perforated and can pass on impurity. He concludes that one's intent to perforate would make the bone susceptible to impurity. The Mishna rules that a formed embryo egg of a creeping creature (sheretz) is pure unless perforated. Regarding a mouse that is half flesh and half earth, touching the flesh imparts impurity - and according to Rabbi Yehuda, touching earth directly opposite the flesh also imparts impurity. Analyzing the Mishna, the Gemara brings a braita deriving that a sheretz egg requires embryo formation (rikem) and a perforation as thin as a hairbreadth (k'chut ha-se'arah) to transmit impurity. Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi clarifies that the half-earth mouse transmits impurity only if it developed flesh across its whole body. The braita discusses whether a sea-mouse is subject to the same laws of impurity as a land-mouse.

The Mishna distinguishes between the marrow-bones (kulit) of a corpse or consecrated sacrifices of pigul and notar (kodashim) and those of a carcass (neveila) or a creeping creature (sheretz). Touching a corpse or sacrificial marrow-bone imparts impurity whether sealed or perforated, whereas a neveila or sheretz marrow-bone imparts impurity through touch (maga) and carrying (masa) only if perforated. The Gemara notes that the Mishna specifies that a corpse's marrow-bone imparts impurity through touch (maga), but omits tent-impurity (ohel), and analyzes why: Rav Yehuda son of Rabbi Chiyya concludes that there is less than an olive-bulk (kezayit) of marrow, and that interior marrow does not halakhically heal or complete the bone's exterior (mo'ach bifnim eino ma'aleh arucha mibachutz). Abaye maintains that interior marrow does heal the exterior, but interprets the Mishna as speaking of a bone scraped thin (sheshifah) along its circumference. Rabbi Yochanan holds that the Mishna's term "touch" (maga) actually includes tent-impurity (ohel). To resolve a difficulty, the Gemara explains that the marrow inside is loose and rattling (mitkashkesh); for a corpse, compressed impurity breaks through (boka'at v'olah), whereas for neveila, loose marrow requires a physical perforation to transmit impurity. Two proofs are brought from Mishnayot in Ohalot in an attempt to demonstrate that the term maga can denote ohel, but difficulties are raised against both suggestions.
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