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Yoma 26

1) WHO SHALL RENDER HALACHIC DECISIONS

QUESTION: Rava derives from verses in the Torah that only from the tribes of Levi and Yissachar will there come Halachic authorities. The Gemara explains that certainly there will be Halachic authorities from other tribes who will teach Halachah; however, only from Levi and Yissachar will there be authorities with the ability to correctly reach their own conclusions when addressing Halachic questions ("Asukei Shmaita Aliba d'Hilchesa").

The MAHARSHA and others ask that we find that David ha'Melech, who was not from Levi or Yissachar but from Yehudah, was able to render correct Halachic decisions, as the Gemara in Sanhedrin (93b) says, "Halachah Kemoso b'Chol Makom." Similarly, the Gemara in Eruvin (54a) says that David ha'Melech was "Gali Masechta" which means that he came to a true and clear conclusion when rendering Halachic rulings. How, then, can the Gemara here say that only people from the tribes of Levi and Yissachar can come to proper Halachic conclusions?

ANSWERS:

(a) The MAHARSHA answers that David was different because he was a king, and as a king he merited special Divine assistance.

(b) REBBI YAKOV EMDEN says that people from Levi and Yissachar are "Asukei Shmaita Aliba d'Hilchesa" even by themselves, without conferring with a Beis Din. David ha'Melech, though, did not come to Halachic conclusions on his own; rather, he received them from his Rebbi, as the Gemara in Berachah (4a) says that David ha'Melech consulted with Mefiboshes on all matters.

(c) The GEVURAS ARI explains that although David came from the tribe of Yehudah, he was also descended from Levi through his matrilineal ancestry. RASHI (Shemos 1:21) mentions this and says that David was descended from Miriam who merited to have the "House of Kingship" come from her in return for her Mesiras Nefesh in saving the lives of the Jewish babies born in Mitzrayim.

(d) The GEVURAS ARI suggests another answer. He says that the Gemara here means that among other tribes, only *some* of the Halachic authorities are able to reach correct conclusions on their own. However, *most* of the Halachic authorities from Levi and Yissachar are able to reach correct conclusions on their own *most* of the time. David ha'Melech merited to be part of that minority of Halachic authorities from other tribes who were able to reach correct Halachic conclusions.

26b

QUESTION: The Gemara records the Beraisa taught by Rebbi Chiya which states that sometimes, through the Payis, 13 Kohanim would be selected to perform the various Avodos of the Tamid, and sometimes 14, 15, or 16 would be selected. The Gemara asks that another Beraisa says that the Payis would sometimes select even 17 Kohanim. The Gemara answers that the Beraisa which says that 17 Kohanim were sometimes selected is not following the opinion of Rebbi Eliezer ben Yakov, who maintains that no Payis was done to select a Kohen to bring the Evarim from the Kevesh to the Mizbe'ach. This Tana holds that an additional Kohen *was* selected by the Payis to bring the Evarim from the Kevesh to the Mizbe'ach.

The Gemara adds that this Tana must agree with the opinion of Rebbi Yehudah, who maintains that there was no separate Payis done to select who would do the Avodah of the Machteh (bringing the coals from the outer Mizbe'ach to the inner Mizbe'ach).

Why does the Beraisa that says that sometimes 17 Kohanim were selected by the Payis have to be in accordance with the opinion of Rebbi Yehudah? Perhaps the seventeenth Kohen is selected to bring in the Machteh and not to carry the Evarim to the Mizbe'ach, in which case the Beraisa could agree with Rebbi Eliezer ben Yakov (and argue with Rebbi Yehudah)!

ANSWERS:

(a) RASHI explains that the Beraisa is counting all of the Kohanim chosen through the Payis to do an Avodah specifically related to the *Korban Tamid*. The Machteh was not an Avodah related to the Korban Tamid (rather, it was done for the Ketores). Only if an Avodah has something to do with the Korban Tamid is it counted, even though it is included in a separate Payis. (In this case, the first 16 Kohanim are selected with the first Payis, while bringing the Evarim from the Kevesh to the Mizbe'ach is selected with the fourth Payis.) If it has nothing to do with the Tamid (such as the Machteh), then it is not counted in the Beraisa's enumeration of Koahnim. Thus, the Beraisa that says that 17 Kohanim were selected cannot be in accordance with Rebbi Eliezer ben Yakov (who holds that no Payis was done to select an added Kohen to bring up the Evarim).

The Rishonim reject this explanation because whether or not the Beraisa holds like Rebbi Yehudah is irrelevant here. Even if the Beraisa disagrees with Rebbi Yehudah and holds that an extra Kohen was selected by the Payis to bring in the Machteh, that Avodah cannot be included in the count because it has nothing to do with the Korban Tamid. (Rashi answers this point by saying that when the Gemara mentions that the Beraisa is in accordance with Rebbi Yehudah, it is saying so only incidentally -- that is, it so happens that Rebbi Yehudah is the Tana who argues with Rebbi Eliezer ben Yakov, as the Gemara says at the top of this Daf.)

(b) The other Rishonim write that the proper Girsa of the Gemara is the original Girsa, before Rashi emended it. In that Girsa, the Gemara says that the Beraisa is not in agreement with Rebbi Eliezer ben Yakov, *nor* is it in agreement with Rebbi Yehudah, because if the Beraisa holds like Rebbi Yehudah, there would only be 16 Kohanim selected, and not 17. Why is that? TOSFOS (DH ha'Hi) explains that the Beraisa which mentions 17 is not discussing the Kohanim chosen just for the Tamid. Rather, it is discussing the Kohanim chosen by *all* of the Payesos for *all* of the Avodos, and it is not referring to a special day (such as the Yom Tov of Sukos which occurs on Shabbos), but it is referring to a normal day of the week. The number of Kohanim selected on a normal day to perform all of the Avodos comes to 17. That is, 13 Kohanim perform the Avodos of the Tamid, and 4 others perform the Avodos of the Terumas ha'Deshen, Ma'aleh Evarim l'Mizbe'ach, the Ketores, and the Machteh.

According to Rebbi Yehudah, though, the Avodah of the Machteh cannot be included in the count, because Rebbi Yehudah says (25b) that there is no Payis for the Machteh (but rather the Kohen who won the Payis of the Ketores would tell the Kohen next to him to take the Machteh).

However, what difference does it make if the Machteh was not chosen directly by a Payis but indirectly though the Payis of the Ketores? The Avodah of the Machteh should still be counted, because we find that the Kohanim who perform Dishun, Hatavah, and bring the Evarim of the Tamid to the Kevesh are included in the count even though they are only selected indirectly through one actual Payis (that is, the Kohanim who were standing next to the single Kohen on whom the Payis fell would be selected for these jobs)!

Tosfos answers that the selection for the Avodah of the Machteh did not work the same way as it did for these jobs. The Kohen standing next to the winner of the Payis of the Ketores was *not* automatically chosen to bring the Machteh. Rather, the winner of the Ketores could either take the Machteh himself, or he could appoint any Kohen of his choice to take the Machteh. Thus, according to Rebbi Yehudah there was no Payis at all for the Machteh. The only way to get 17 Kohanim selected by the Payis was to include the Kohen who brings the Machteh, which is not like Rebbi Yehudah

(c) RABEINU CHANANEL also says that the Girsa of the Gemara is that the Beraisa is *not* in agreement with Rebbi Yehudah. According to Rebbi Yehudah, the maximum number of Kohanim selected by the Payis would be 16, and not 17. Rabeinu Chananel explains that the Beraisa is counting only those Kohanim who were selected by the *second* Payis, regardless of whether or not the specific Avodah is related to the Korban Tamid. According to Rebbi Yehudah, though, the Machteh was chosen (indirectly) during the *third* Payis, and therefore the ones chosen by the second Payis totaled at most 16 (on Sukos which occurs on Shabbos) according to him. The Tana of this Beraisa holds that the seventeenth was the Machteh, which was also chosen during the second Payis. Since this Tana includes the Machteh in the second Payis, instead of the third, in which a Kohen was chosen to offer the Ketores, it is clear that he argues with Rebbi Yehudah.

Why, though, does this Tana hold that the Kohen who carried the Machteh was not chosen together with the one who offered Ketores on the coals brought by the Machteh? Logically, the two should be chosen together! Rabeinu Chananel answers that this Tana is of the opinion that the Avodah of he Machteh did *not* make the Kohen who performed it wealthy and thus there was no reason to limit it to Kohanim who had never done it before. (See Insights to Yoma 25b.) Therefore it was included in the second Payis, in which all Kohanim participated, and not in the third, which was limited to "new" Kohanim.

The Tana of the Beraisa is also not in agreement with Rebbi Eliezer ben Yakov. Since Rebbi Eliezer holds that there was no Payis for bringing the Evarim onto the Mizbe'ach, the fourth Payis must have been done for the Machteh, as the Gemara says at the beginning of this Daf, and if so the Machteh was still not included in the second Payis, which is the only one that the Beraisa here is discussing.

(That is, according to Rabeinu Chananel there are three opinions as to when the Kohen was chosen to carry the Machteh: (a) Rebbi Yehudah maintains that he was chosen during the third Payis, along with the Kohen who offered the Ketores. Rebbi Eliezer ben Yakov maintains that a fourth Payis was done for choosing the one to bring the Machteh. This Tana holds that the Machteh was selected during the second Payis.)