Chagigah 27a — the Talmud in English

because: I distinguish the table ![](pamud.bmp "

Precise page location")

because the Merciful One calls it “wood”:

to teach you that the covering is disregarded in relation to the table [Rashi below].

As it is written: “the altar [the table standing opposite the altar, Rashi on Ezekiel]

стол, стоящий напротив жертвенника, Раши, Йехезкель]

of wood, three cubits high, and its length two cubits, and its corners, its length

and its walls were of wood; and he said to me: This is the table that is before the Lord.

Thus, the verse calls the table “wood.”

Since the Gemara cited this verse, the Gemara explains it:

It begins with the altar [“the altar of wood, three cubits”]

«жертвенник — дерево, три локтя]

and ends with the table [“This is the table”]?

«это стол]?

Rabbi Yohanan and Reish Lakish both say: When the Temple is standing,

the

altar atones for a person; now, a person’s table

at which he invites guests

atones for him.

We learned in the Mishna:

All the vessels that were in the Temple had replacements

and even third replacements, and so on. All the vessels that were in the Temple required immersion, except for the golden altar [made of wood and covered with gold, for the incense] and the copper altar [made of wood and covered with copper, for the offerings], because they have the status of the ground:

And we explain:

The copper altar

has the status of the ground because

it is written: “An altar of earth you shall make for Me”:

“and you shall sacrifice upon it your burnt offerings and your peace offerings.” The verse calls it “earth” to teach you that the altar upon which burnt offerings and peace offerings are sacrificed has the status of the ground.

And

the golden altar

has the status of the ground because

it is written: “the menorah and the altars”

[the copper and the gold]. Thus,

the altars are compared to one another,

and just as the copper altar has the status of the ground, so too does the golden altar.

We learned in the Mishna: “All the vessels that were in the Temple required immersion, except for the golden altar and the copper altar, because they have the status of the ground,” according to the statement of Rabbi Eliezer.

And the Sages say: Because they are covered:

It might have entered our minds that the Sages agree with Rabbi Eliezer that the altars do not become ritually impure, but that they disagree only about the reason: the reason is not that they have the status of the ground, but that they are covered:

And we object:

On the contrary, since they are covered, they should become ritually impure,

meaning: In principle, we should not have rendered them impure, since they are wooden vessels made to remain in one place. Rather, it is because of their coverings that we should render them impure. How, then, can you say that the covering causes them not to become ritually impure?

And we answer:

Say instead: And the Sages render them ritually impure—

contrary to Rabbi Eliezer, who declares them pure—because the altars do not have the status of the ground. And if you would say: In any event, they are wooden vessels made to remain in one place and should not become ritually impure, this is not so:

because they are covered,

they have the status of metal vessels.

Alternatively,

the Sages always agree with Rabbi Eliezer that the altars do not become ritually impure. Their reason is not that the altars have the status of the ground, but that they are wooden vessels made to remain in one place. Although they are covered, the verse reveals that it calls all of them “wood,” meaning that the covering is disregarded in relation to them.

And when the Sages said, “Because they are covered”:

The Sages are saying to Rabbi Eliezer: What is your reasoning

[what is your reasoning?] You say that the altars do not become ritually impure because they have the status of the ground. It appears from your words that without this reason they would become ritually impure, even though they are wooden vessels made to remain in one place. If so, surely your reason is

that they are covered,

and they do not have the legal status of wooden vessels; nevertheless, they do not become ritually impure because they have the status of the ground.

But this is not so, for

the coverings are entirely disregarded in relation to them

[the covering is disregarded in relation to it], and they do not become ritually impure because they are wooden vessels made to remain in one place. There is no need for your reasoning that they do not become ritually impure because they have the status of the ground.

Rabbi Abbahu said that Rabbi Eliezer said: The Torah scholars are not overcome by the fire of Gehinnom.

And you can learn this

by an a-fortiori inference from the salamander

[an animal created from fire when a fire burns continuously in one place for seven years without interruption, Rashi].

And if a salamander, whose nature is fire

[it is created from fire],

one who smears its blood

on his body benefits from the blood, which

prevents fire from overcoming him

[such is the nature of the salamander’s blood]—

then, with regard to Torah scholars, whose entire bodies are fire, as it is written: “Are not My words like fire, says the Lord?”—all the more so

that fire does not overcome them.

Reish Lakish said: The fire of Gehinnom does not overcome the sinners of Israel.

And you can learn this

by an a-fortiori inference from the golden altar: Just as the golden altar, which had nothing upon it but a layer as thick as a gold dinar

was the site of a miracle, so that even after

many years fire did not overcome it

in the gold, and it did not become thinner [Rashi].

The sinners of Israel are filled with mitzvot like a pomegranate, as it is written: “Your cheek [rakkat] is like a section of a pomegranate”; do not read “your cheek [rakkat]” but rather “the empty ones among you”,

to teach you that they are filled with mitzvot like a pomegranate—

all the more so

that fire does not overcome them.

We have completed the chapter “The Stringency of Sacred Things,” and the tractate Hagigah has been completed.