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Yoma 42

1) TYING A RED RIBBON

AGADAH: Ribbons of crimson wool of different weights were used for different purposes. For the Se'ir ha'Mishtale'ach, the Gemara proposes, a piece of wool weighing *two* Selas was used. This way, after it would be ripped in half each half would still weigh one Sela (Rashi).

This explanation is wanting, asks TOSFOS YESHANIM. Why must each half of the ribbon weigh a Sela after it is ripped, and not a Shekel (one half Sela)? Tosfos Yeshanim answers that since the ribbon would miraculously turn white when Hashem granted atonement for the sins of the nation, a large amount of wool was required, so that the miracle would be more apparent.

HAGAON RAV YEHOSHUA LEIB DISKIN (Brisk/Jerusalem) offered another insight into the reason why this ribbon had to weigh two Selas. The Gemara tells us (Shabbos 10b) that it was because Yakov gave Yosef "two Sela'im" of silk more than his brothers that his brothers grew jealous of him and sold him as a slave. The Midrash tells us (of the Se'ir Chatas that was brought by the Jewish People during the Milu'im) that when the nation brings a goat as a Chatas, it is an atonement for the sin of selling Yosef and dipping his cloak in the blood of a goat (Yalkut Shimoni Shemini #521; see also Moreh Nevuchim 3:46). If so, perhaps the ribbon of the Se'ir ha'Mishtale'ach weighed two Sela'im in order to hint to the fact that when it turned white, it showed that they had achieved atonement for the sin of selling Yosef, which was brought about by a piece of material weighing two Sela'im!

OPINIONS: Rav and Shmuel argued whether the rule that the Avodah of Yom Kipur is only acceptable if performed by the Kohen Gadol, himself is applicable to the Shechitah of Aharon's bull on Yom Kipur. Rav rules that Aharon's bull is accepted even if it is slaughtered by a non-Kohen. Since Shechitah is not an Avodah, the Torah's stipulation that Aharon (= the Kohen Gadol) do the work of Yom Kipur does not apply to it.

Shmuel argues, and asserts that it must be slaughtered by the Kohen Gadol, just like the other Avodos of the day require the Kohen Gadol's service. Not only is the bull invalid if it is slaughtered by a non-Kohen, but even if another Kohen other than the Kohen Gadol slaughters it, it is invalid, since the Torah says that "Aharon" should slaughter it (TOSFOS YESHANIM, based on Gemara Yevamos 33b).

What was Shmuel's response to Rav's argument? How can we assume that the verse requires the Kohen Gadol for the Shechitah, if Shechitah is not an Avodah?

(a) TOSFOS (DH Shechitah), citing Rav Yosef of Calcoun, suggests that the restriction that the Kohen Gadol slaughter his bull is not for the same reason that the Kohen Gadol must perform the other Avodos of the day. The Torah requires that the Kohen Gadol perform the other parts of the Yom Kipur service because they are Avodos, and the Avodah of Yom Kipur must be performed by the Kohen Gadol. The Shechitah of the Kohen Gadol's bull, though, must be performed by the Kohen Gadol simply because he is the *owner* of the bull, and Torah requires that the owner of the bull perform the Shechitah of the bull. Although the Gemara (Menachos 19b) tells us that normally it is not required, b'Di'eved, that Shechitah be performed by the owner of the Korban (only l'Chatchilah must the owner perform Shechitah, Rashi Pesachim 7b DH Pesach), on Yom Kipur the Torah says that if the owner of the bull, i.e. the Kohen Gadol, does not perform its Shechitah, it is an invalid Korban.

It may be inferred from Tosfos that the Shechitah of Aharon's bull, like every other Shechitah, does not require Kidush Yadayim or Bigdei Kehunah, since it is not an Avodah (GEVUROS ARI). Similarly, if a non-Kohen -- or a Kohen Hedyot -- does perform the Shechitah of the bull, he is not Chayav the Misah b'Yedei Shamayim and Malkus of a non-Kohen who performs an Avodah in the Beis ha'Mikdash. At worst, he is only transgressing an Isur Aseh, by not letting the Kohen Gadol perform the Shechitah (SHA'AR HA'MELECH, Hil. Avodas Yom ha'Kipurim 1:2).

Tosfos proves this assertion from a Gemara (in Menachos 5a) which implies that there is *no* Shechitah at all which is considered an Avodah and requires a Kohen for that reason.

(b) According to one opinion in the Yerushalmi (Yoma 3:7), even the Se'ir of Yom Kipur must be slaughtered by the Kohen Gadol. It is evident from this view that the reason it must be done by the Kohen Gadol is *not* because he is the owner of the Korban, since the Se'ir is brought from the people's money and not from the Kohen Gadol's private funds (HAGAON RAV YOSEF DOV SOLOVEICHIK of Boston).

On the other hand, this does not mean that the Shechitah of Aharon's bull and the Se'ir require Kidush Yadayim and Bigdei Kehunah. Perhaps Shechitah is never an Avodah, as the Gemara in Menachos implies, but nevertheless the Torah insists that the Kohen Gadol perform the Shechitah here much as it insists that a Kohen is required to rule on Mar'os Nega'im, although it does not involve an Avodah (as Rav argues regarding the Shechitah of the Parah Adumah, in our Sugya -- this may be the intention of Tosfos in Menachos 5a DH Shechitah).

(c) The SHA'AR HA'MELECH proposes that the Shechitah of the bull of Aharon must be performed by the Kohen Gadol because it *is* considered a full- fledged Avodah. Consequently, if a non-Kohen performs the Shechitah, he is liable to be punished with Misah b'Yedei Shamayim and Malkus, just as he is when he performs another Avodah in the Beis ha'Mikdash.

He proves this from the Gemara in Yevamos 33b. The Gemara there first proposes that there is no instance in which a non-Kohen can be Chayav for both performing Avodah in the Beis ha'Mikdash and Chilul Shabbos. The only Avodah that involves Chilul Shabbos is Shechitah, and a non-Kohen may perform Shechitah. The Gemara then retracts this, saying that a non-Kohen -- and even a Kohen Hedyot -- can be Chayav for both Chilul Shabbos and Avodah in the Beis ha'Mikdash if he slaughters the bull of Aharon, according to Shmuel in our Sugya who insists that it must be done by the Kohen Gadol. It is clear from the Gemara in Yevamos that anyone but the Kohen Gadol is *Chayav* for serving in the Mikdash as a Zar if he slaughters Aharon's bull!

However, the Gemara in Menachos (5a, cited above) seems to contradict this view. The Gemara in Yevamos must not mean that the non-Kohen, or Kohen Hedyot, is Chayav *Malkus* for slaughtering Aharon's bull. Rather, it means that he is Chayav for transgressing an *Aseh*. (The Gemara in Yevamos in fact eventually concludes that the word "Chayav" in this case does not refer to Chiyuv Malkus at all; apparently even before the Gemara's conclusion the Gemara considered this a possibility, and that is why it suggested that the statement was referring to the bull of Aharon, where Malkus is administered for Chilul Shabbos but Avodah b'Mikdash, in this case, only involves an Aseh.)

42b