Chullin 24b — the Talmud in English

As it is stated [II Chronicles 5

“And it was as one for the trumpeters and the singers, to make one sound,”

which implies that the Levites must make their voices pleasant, so that they would all be heard as one voice.

We learned in a baraita: A kohen

until he grows old

is fit for service.

And the Gemara asks:

Until how much,

from when is the kohen considered “old,” so that he becomes disqualified for service?

And we answer:

Rabbi Ela said in the name of Rabbi Hanina: Until he trembles.

That his hands and feet tremble from lack of strength.

We learned there [Mikvaot 4:6]:

Mikvaot 8:4]:

A man who experienced a seminal emission who immersed, but did not urinate

[urine] before he immersed—

when he urinates

urine after his immersion, he will be

impure.

For perhaps a small amount of the seminal emission remained at the opening of the organ, and now came out with the urine, and through this he becomes impure.

Rabbi Yose says:

Only

in a sick person

or

in an old person

is he

impure

when he did not urinate before he immersed; but

in a young person,

in a youth who is

healthy,

he is

pure

even if he did not urinate before the immersion. For from the outset all the semen came out, and nothing remained at the opening of the organ.

And the Gemara asks: “

Young person” until how much,

until when is he considered a young person?

And we answer:

Rabbi Ela said in the name of Rabbi Hanina: Anyone who stands on one foot, removes his shoe, and puts on his shoe

with the other foot suspended in the air—is still considered a young person with regard to this law.

They said about Rabbi Hanina that he was eighty years old, and he would stand on one foot, remove his shoe, and put on his shoe.

Rabbi Hanina said: The hot water and oil with which my mother anointed me in my childhood are

the things that

stood me in good stead in my old age,

so that I would have the strength of a young person.

The Sages taught:

[of every Israelite, and not specifically a kohen]—

fit

is he

to be made an emissary of the congregation,

and to perform on behalf of the congregation all their needs. For example: to blow the shofar on their behalf, to flog and excommunicate transgressors, and to appoint a provider for them,

and to go down before the ark

in prayer,

and

likewise, once his beard has filled out, he is fit

to raise his hands

if he is a kohen.

From when is he fit

the kohen

for service? When he has grown two hairs.

Rabbi says: I say

that he is not fit for service

until he is twenty years old.

Rav Hisda said: What is Rabbi’s reason?

As it is written: “And they appointed the Levites from twenty years old and upward to lead over the work of the House of the Lord.”

And the other one,

the first tanna, who does not derive from this verse, holds that

“to lead” is different.

For it is speaking there of heavy tasks that require leadership, and therefore they appointed over them only kohanim from twenty years old and upward.

And we object:

But

this verse is about the Levites, for it is

written?!

For it is written, “And they appointed the Levites,” and surely Levites are fit [in the Temple] even when they are less than twenty years old; so why is it written that they appointed them only from twenty years old?

And we answer: The Levites mentioned in this verse are kohanim, and

in accordance with Rabbi Joshua ben Levi, for Rabbi Joshua ben Levi said: In twenty-four places the kohanim are called “Levites,”

since the kohanim too are from the tribe of Levi.

And

this verse

is

one

of them,

as it is stated:

“And the Levitical priests, the sons of Zadok,”

so although Zadok was a kohen, nevertheless his sons were called “Levites.”

The Sages taught:

It is written in the passage concerning the disqualifying blemishes of the kohanim:

“A man of your offspring throughout their generations.” From here Rabbi Eleazar said:

Specifically a kohen who is a “man,” meaning that he is mature in years, is disqualified only if he has a blemish; but a

minor

is

disqualified for service, and even

if he is

unblemished!

From when

from what age

is he fit

the kohen

for service? When he has grown two hairs,

for then he is considered a “man.”

But

still

his fellow kohanim do not allow him to serve—

until he is twenty years old!

And from the conclusion of the baraita it is implied that only initially do they not allow him to serve when he is under twenty years old, but after the fact the service is not disqualified, and not even rabbinically.

And the opinions disputed whose view this law follows:

Some say: This—

is Rabbi’s

view, for he said that the kohanim are fit to serve only when they are twenty years old. And the baraita comes to teach us that even Rabbi said this only initially, but that the service would be disqualified after the fact when performed by one under twenty years old, he did not say; rather,

he does not hold even of rabbinic disqualification.

And some say: Rabbi holds that there is

a

rabbinic disqualification

in service performed by kohanim under twenty years old.

And this,

this baraita, in which it is written that only initially a kohen under twenty years old should not serve,

is the Rabbis’

view, who disagree with Rabbi and say that the kohen is fit for service once he has grown two hairs,

and

only

initially is it that he shall not

serve until he is twenty years old,

but after the fact—

his service is valid.

And the baraita comes to teach us that even the Rabbis agree that initially they do not allow him to serve when he is under twenty years old. And what the Rabbis said, that once he has grown two hairs he is fit for service, applies only after the fact.

Mishna:

An earthenware vessel that impurity touched on the outside does not thereby become impure, אלא if the impurity entered into the hollow of the vessel. And even if it did not touch it at all, but was suspended in the air inside the vessel, the vessel also becomes impure. Whereas other vessels do not become impure through impurity suspended in the hollow of the vessel unless the impurity touched them, whether it touched them on the inside or whether it touched them on the outside.

It follows that what is

pure in the case of an earthenware vessel—

is impure in the case of all vessels.

And what is

pure in the case of all vessels—

is impure in the case of an earthenware vessel.

Gemara:

The Sages taught:

Impurity that was suspended in the

air

inside an

earthenware vessel,

even if it did not touch it, it is

impure. And

if the impurity touched only its

back—

it is

pure.

The air of all vessels,

where the impurity was suspended within the air inside them and did not touch them, is

pure, and

if the impurity touched their

backs,

the vessel is

impure.

It follows

that what is

pure in the case of an earthenware vessel—

is impure in the case of all vessels.

And what is

pure in the case of all vessels—

is impure in the case of an earthenware vessel.

And the Gemara asks:

From where are these words

that an earthenware vessel becomes susceptible to impurity through the impurity entering into its hollow, even if it did not touch it?

For the Sages taught:

It is written [Leviticus 11]: “And every earthenware vessel into which one of them [of the creeping creatures] falls,

into it,

everything that is inside it shall become impure.” And it implies that if the impurity entered into it,

even though it did not touch

the vessel,

the vessel is impure.

You say: Even though it did not touch, or is it not

impure

unless it touches

the vessel?

Rabbi Jonathan ben Avtolmos says: “Into it” is stated to render impure,

that is, the impure earthenware vessel in turn renders impure the food that enters into it, as it is written: “Everything that is inside it shall become impure.”

And “into it” is stated to become impure,

that the earthenware vessel itself becomes impure from the creeping creature, as it is written: “Everything into which one of them falls.” And now we derive one “into it” from the other—

Just as “into it,” which is stated with regard to rendering impure,

is

even though it did not touch

the food that entered into it, nevertheless the food becomes impure, as will be explained further,

so too, “into it,” which is stated with regard to becoming impure, even though it did not touch

the creeping creature the earthenware vessel, nevertheless the earthenware vessel becomes impure.

We inquire about this:

But there,

with regard to “to render impure,”

from where do we know

that even though it did not touch, it renders impure? And we answer:

Rabbi Jonathan said: The Torah testified concerning an earthenware vessel

into which a creeping creature fell, that all the food inside it becomes impure. For it is written: “Everything that is inside it shall become impure,”