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Rosh Kollel: Rav Mordecai Kornfeld
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Yoma 18
1) THE NUMBER OF "CHALOS" WHICH THE KOHEN GADOL IS ENTITLED TO TAKE
QUESTION: The Beraisa states that the Kohen Gadol has the right to take
"four or five" of the twelve Chalos of the Lechem ha'Panim. Abaye explains
that the Beraisa is following the opinion of the Rabanan who hold that the
Kohen Gadol is entitled to *less than half* of the total products
distributed to the Kohanim in the Beis ha'Mikdash. Since there are twelve
Chalos of Lechem ha'Panim which are normally divided among the two Mishmaros
(the one coming and the one leaving), when the Kohen Gadol takes Chalos he
may take five, since that is just less than half. Why, though, does the
Beraisa mention that he gets "*four* or five" Chalos?
Abaye says that when the Beraisa says that the Kohen Gadol may take four
Chalos, that is according to the opinion of Rebbi Yehudah. Rebbi Yehudah
maintains that when the outgoing and incoming Mishmaros divide the Chalos,
the new Mishmar gets *seven* and the old Mishmar gets *five*. Two Chalos are
always reserved for the new Mishmar as a reward for closing the doors of the
Azarah which were opened by the outgoing Mishmar. Since the two Mishmaros,
according to Rebbi Yehudah, are splitting only *ten* of the Chalos, the
Kohen Gadol takes just less than half, which is *four*. He does not share
the Chalos that are given as a reward; he shares only those Chalos which are
given as part of the Avodah in the Beis ha'Mikdash.
The GEVURAS ARI asks that the Gemara assumes that according to Rebbi
Yehudah, the outgoing Mishmar must give *two* Chalos to the incoming
Mishmar, leaving only ten Chalos from which the Kohen takes just less than
half (i.e. four). However, if originally each Mishmar received *six* Chalos,
then the outgoing Mishmar is not giving *two* Chalos as a reward to the new
Mishmar, but it is giving only *one* Chalah, so that the new Mishmar gets
seven and the old Mishmar gets five. Consequently, the Kohen Gadol should be
entitled to all of the Chalos which are not used as a reward, and since only
*one* is being used as a reward, that leaves eleven from which he is
entitled to take just less than half. If so, even Rebbi Yehudah should hold
that he gets *five* Chalos, and not four!
ANSWERS:
(a) The GEVURAS ARI answers that it is true that eleven Chalos, and not ten,
are split among the two Mishmaros, and in theory, the Kohen Gadol should get
five Chalos even according to Rebbi Yehudah. However, if he were to receive
five Chalos, it would not be evident that he was receiving just less than
half, because even if he gets exactly half, he would still only get five
Chalos. This is because half of eleven is five and a half and it is not
respectful to give the Kohen Gadol an incomplete loaf. Therefore, to show
that he does not receive half but that he is getting less than half, we give
him only four Chalos according to Rebbi Yehudah.
(b) According to the Gevuras Ari, the extra Chalah which the incoming
Mishmar gets is being given to them by the outgoing Mishmar from their own
portion, as a reward for closing the doors for them. If so, it must be that
all twelve Chalos were split, and that is why the outgoing Mishmar gets five
and the incoming Mishmar gets seven (since the outgoing Mishmar gives one of
"their" Chalos to the incoming Mishmar). But if so, since all twelve Chalos
were divided, the Kohen Gadol should still get five Chalos (one less than
half)! (That would leave seven Chalos to be divided among the Mishmaros,
each getting three and a half, and the outgoing Mishmar having to give one
of those to the incoming Mishmar as its reward. That is, the reward would
not be lessened by the amount that the Kohen Gadol took.)
Rather, it seems that it is *not* the outgoing Mishmar which gives of its
own portion to the incoming Mishmar, but it is a Tenai Beis Din that the
incoming Mishmar gets two extra Chalos. As such, it is given from the Chalos
*before* they are divided, and thus there remain only *ten* Chalos to be
divided. The Kohen Gadol is entitled to less than half, which is four. (M.
Kornfeld)
2) WHY THE KOHEN GADOL LOSES BECAUSE OF THE "MISHMAR HA'MIS'AKEV"
QUESTION: The Beraisa states that the Kohen Gadol has the right to take
"four or five" of the twelve Chalos of the Lechem ha'Panim. Rava explains
that the Beraisa is following the opinion of the Rebbi, who holds that the
Kohen Gadol normally is entitled to *half* of the total products distributed
to the Kohanim in the Beis ha'Mikdash. The Beraisa also holds like Rebbi
Yehudah, who says that two Chalos were given to the incoming Mishmar as a
reward for closing the doors of the Azarah. Thus, the Kohen gets half of the
ten remaining Chalos, or five Chalos. When the Beraisa says that the Kohen
Gadol gets "*four* or five" Chalos, it is referring to a case of a "Mishmar
ha'Mis'akev," in which case the Mishmar ha'Mis'akev receives two Chalos,
leaving only eight for distribution, of which the Kohen Gadol gets half, or
four Chalos.
The Mishmar ha'Mis'akev is a Mishmar (or group of Mishmaros) who stayed an
extra day in the Mikdash at the beginning of the week (Sunday, if Yom Tov
was already over by Thursday), or who came a day early to the Mikdash at the
end of the week (Friday; if Yom Tov began on the following Monday) and had
to remain there over Shabbos. That Mishmar is not included in the division
of the Chalos of Lechem ha'Panim, which is divided among the Mishmaros that
are in the Mikdash on Shabbos (the incoming and outgoing Mishmaros), but
rather they receive only two Chalos. The rest are given to the two Mishmaros
on duty.
The GEVURAS ARI and MAHARSHAM ask that the Mishmar that stays behind is not
required to be there. On the contrary, they are not supposed to be there, as
Rashi implies. If so, why should the Kohen Gadol receive less than he would
normally receive as a result of that Mishmar? If anything, we should lessen
that Mishmar's share, and not the Kohen Gadol's! Why, then should the Kohen
Gadol lose because of them?
ANSWER: The GEVURAS ARI answers that it is a Takanah of the Rabanan that the
Mishmar that stays behind gets two Chalos. They do not get it because they
deserve it; they get it out of the generosity of the Rabanan who made the
Takanah for their benefit. Since they receive the Chalos by virtue of a
Takanah and not through an apportionment (Chalukah), then just like they
diminish the amount which the two Mishmaros get, they also diminish the
amount that the Kohen Gadol gets, since the two Mishmaros and the Kohen
Gadol get their Chalos through Chalukah.
18b
3) HAVING TWO WIVES IN TWO PLACES
QUESTION: The Gemara relates that Rav and Rav Nachman (and presumably other
Amora'im), when traveling to distant towns, would marry another wife in
their destination town, in order to prevent any nocturnal mishaps from
occurring.
The Gemara then asks that it will not help to marry a wife in the new town,
because she would not be permitted to him for at least seven days, for the
excitement of the marriage causes the woman to see "Dam Chimud" and become a
Nidah right away. The Gemara answers that either the Rabanan informed the
women they intended to marry 7 days ahead of time, or that indeed, they did
not actually marry them, but were only "Misyached" (did Yichud) with them.
Even though they were not actually married, nevertheless she was "Pas
b'Salo" ("bread available in his basket") which has a psychological effect
such that it prevents any nocturnal mishaps from occurring.
According to this final answer of the Gemara, what sort of "Pas b'Salo" was
it if the woman was forbidden to him because of Dam Chimud? (TOSFOS DH
Yechudi)
ANSWERS:
(a) RASHI (as explained by Tosfos) and the RAMBAM (Isurei Bi'ah 11:10)
explain that the Gemara means "Pas b'Salo *l'Achar Zeman*," for she becomes
permitted to him after seven days. That is called "Pas b'Salo" since he
knows that she will be permitted to him in a matter of days. (That is, she
is "available" to him as far as the Isur of being with an unmarried woman is
concerned, even though she is not available to him as far as the Isur of
Nidah is concerned. Since it is natural for a Nidah to eventually become
permitted, she is called Pas b'Salo.)
(b) TOSFOS and other Rishonim answer that the Amora'im were only "Tove'a
l'Yichud" -- they asked the women only to marry them in order to be
*Misyached* with them after marriage, but not to have marital relations.
Since the women were not expecting intimacy, they would not see Dam Chimud.
[On the other hand, if the Chachamim later decided to have relations, there
would still be no Dam Chimud, since the women were already married to them.
Dam Chimud is only seen when a proposal is made to a woman who is *not*
married.]
This also answers the previous question of the Gemara, which asked that it
is not permitted to have two wives in two different places lest it lead to
Mamzerus. Since he was normally only Misyached with the second woman, there
is no fear of Mamzerus occurring; if he would have relations with her, he
would bring her to his home town.
(c) The RI HA'LAVAN and RA'AVAD (Isurei Bi'ah 11:10) explain that the word
"Yichud" in this Sugya does not mean "isolate themselves." It means "set
aside for themselves"; that is, the Chachamim would ask a woman not to marry
them, but to be "on call" for marriage. This was considered Pas b'Salo since
at any moment, the woman would be ready to marry him and move in with him.
For reasons similar to those suggested by Tosfos, there is no problem of Dam
Chimud in such a situation. When he asks her to "be ready" for him, he has
not made a formal marriage proposal, so there is no Dam Chimud. When he
later proposes to her and marries her, she will not have Dam Chimud since
the proposal was, in a sense, expected and did not "catch her by surprise."
(According to this approach too, the first question of the Gemara is
answered, as described above in (b).)
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