Daf Reactions Zevachim 18, 19, & 20: Avant-garde in the Temple Yard!

The Gemara responds: If one derived the halakha only from there, I would say: This matter, i.e., that the rites of one who lacks the requisite vestments are disqualified, applies only to a rite for which a non-priest is liable to receive the punishment of death at the hand of Heaven, since that is the topic of the passage discussing those who drank wine. But with regard to a rite for which a non-priest is not liable to receive death at the hand of Heaven, I will say that they are not subject to this halakha. Therefore, the verse (Exodus 29:9) teaches us that the halakha applies to all rites.

The Gemara asks: We found a source for the halakha that one lacking the requisite vestments disqualifies all rites, even those for which a non-priest is not liable to receive the punishment of death at the hand of Heaven; from where do we derive that the halakha is the same for those who drank wine, as the passage in Leviticus (10:9–10) addresses only rites for which a non-priest receives the death penalty? The Gemara responds: It is derived by verbal analogy between the word “statute” used there and the word “statute” from the verses discussing one lacking the requisite vestments.

§ The Sages taught: If the priest’s vestments were dragging on the ground, or raised up [mesulakin] far from the ground, or frayed, and the priest performed sacrificial rites while wearing them, his service is valid. If he wore two pairs of trousers or two belts, or if he was lacking one of his requisite vestments, or if he wore one extra vestment, or in a case where a priest had a bandage on a wound on his body under his vestment such that the bandage acted as an interposition between the vestments and his skin, or if he wore vestments that were

soiled or ripped, and he performed sacrificial rites, his service is disqualified.

Rav Yehuda says that Shmuel says: If the vestments are dragging on the ground, they are fit, but if they are raised up above the ground, they are unfit. The Gemara asks: But isn’t it taught in the above baraita that even if the vestments were raised up they are fit? Rami bar Ḥama says: This is not difficult. Here, the baraita deems them fit in a case where the priest raised them up by his belt, although they were initially the proper length; there, Shmuel deems them unfit in a case where they do not initially cover the priest’s feet at all.

The Gemara asks: But doesn’t the baraita pose a difficulty for Rav, who deems the vestments unfit even if they were dragging? And if you would say: What is the meaning of the word: Dragging, in the baraita? It means that they would initially drag but were raised up by a belt to the proper length, and they are fit since the belt effectively trims them, but then the term: Raised up, in the baraita poses a difficulty. Why should the baraita deem raised vestments fit? If the baraita is referring to vestments that were initially the proper length and were then raised up by a belt, then shouldn’t they be unfit as the belt trims them?

Rabbi Zeira says: Rav taught the baraita not as referring separately to both dragging and raised vestments, but as one statement referring to vestments that are simultaneously dragging and raised, i.e., dragging vestments that the priest raised up by his belt to the proper height are fit. But if they were above or below their proper height for any reason, they are unfit.

§ Rabbi Yirmeya of Difti says: The case of dragging vestments that the priest did not raise is the subject of a dispute between tanna’im. As it is taught in a baraita: The verse states: “On the four corners of your garment” (Deuteronomy 22:12), from which it can be inferred: Four, but not three, i.e., a three-cornered garment is exempt from the obligation of ritual fringes. One may ask: Or perhaps it is only specifying four, but not five? When it says in the same verse: “With which you cover yourself,” a garment of five corners is mentioned as obligated. If so, how do I realize the meaning of: “Four corners”? It means four, but not three. And what did you see that led you to include a garment of five corners and to exclude a garment of three corners? I include a garment of five corners as four is included in five, and I exclude a garment of three corners as four is not included in three.

Rav Ashi says: Huna bar Natan said to me: Once, I was standing before Izgadar, king of Persia, and my belt was raised above its appropriate height, and he lowered it into place and said to me: “A kingdom of priests, and a holy nation” (Exodus 19:6), is written about you; therefore, you should always look dignified. When I came before Ameimar and recounted this incident, he said to me: With regard to you, God’s promise to Israel: “And kings shall be your foster fathers” (Isaiah 49:23), was fulfilled.

And Rabbi Yoḥanan disagrees with the opinion of Rava, as Rava says that Rav Ḥisda says: In a place on the priest’s body where the vestments are worn, even one extra thread interposes and is prohibited, whereas in a place on his body where the vestments are not worn, if the fabric is three fingerbreadths by three fingerbreadths it interposes, but if it is less than that it does not interpose.

§ Rava raises a dilemma: If a gust of wind entered the priest’s vestment, raising it slightly off his body, what is the halakha? Do we require that the vestment be: “Upon his body” (Leviticus 6:3), in a literal sense, and this is not the case when the wind raises his vestment? Or perhaps the service is valid because this is the normal manner of wearing clothes.

The Gemara clarifies: Do not raise a dilemma with regard to a dead louse, as it certainly interposes, like any other item. Rather, what is the halakha with regard to a live louse? Do we say that since it comes and goes, i.e., it moves around on his body, it is like a growth and does not interpose? Or perhaps, since he objects to its presence, it interposes?

Furthermore, what is the halakha with regard to dirt found under the priest’s vestments? Does it interpose? The Gemara objects: But dirt certainly interposes. The Gemara clarifies: Rather, the question is: What is the halakha with regard to dust of dirt, i.e., a minute amount of dust?

Mar bar Rav Ashi raises a dilemma: If his hair emerged from his head and extended into his vestment and separated it from his skin, what is the halakha? Is his hair considered like his body, in which case it does not interpose, or is it not considered like his body?

§ The Sages taught: How is the mitzva of sanctification of the hands and feet performed? The priest lays his right hand on top of his right foot, and his left hand on top of his left foot, and sanctifies them with the water flowing from the Basin. Rabbi Yosei, son of Rabbi Yehuda, says: He lays both his hands one on top of the other, and lays them together on top of both his feet, themselves laid one on top of the other, and sanctifies them. They said to him: You have gone too far; it is impossible to do so.

Rav Samma, son of Rav Ashi, said to Ravina: And let him sit and sanctify his hands and feet while seated, and in this manner he may sanctify them all at once. Ravina said to him: The verse states: “When they go into the Tent of Meeting, they shall wash with water, that they not die; or when they come near to the altar to minister” (Exodus 30:20), and ministration is performed while standing, as the verse states: “To stand to minister” (Deuteronomy 18:5). Therefore, sanctification must also be performed while standing.

§ When Rav Dimi came from Eretz Yisrael to Babylonia, he said that Rabbi Yoḥanan says: Ilfa raises a dilemma: According to the statement of Rabbi Elazar, son of Rabbi Shimon, who says that the disqualification of being left overnight is not determinative with regard to sanctification of the hands and feet, what is the halakha with regard to the water in the Basin? Is it disqualified by being left overnight? Do we say: For what purpose is this water? It is for the sanctification of the hands and feet, and since sanctification of the hands and feet itself is not disqualified by being left overnight, the halakha should be the same concerning the water. Or perhaps, since the water is sanctified in a service vessel, i.e., the Basin, it is disqualified by being left overnight, like all other items sanctified in service vessels.

The Gemara attempts to resolve the issue: Come and hear a proof from a mishna (Yoma 37a): The High Priest ben Katin made twelve spigots for the Basin so that several priests could sanctify their hands and feet at once. He also made a mechanism [mukhani] for sinking the Basin into water during the night so that its water would not be disqualified by being left overnight. What, is it not that this mishna is in accordance with the opinion of Rabbi Elazar, son of Rabbi Shimon? If so, he holds that water of the Basin is disqualified by being left overnight. The Gemara responds: No, it is in accordance with the opinion of Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi.