Zevachim 21a — the Talmud in English

And the Gemara infers:

But the red heifer

is

rendered impure

the priest who performs its service, after he has sanctified his hands and feet,

as we learned: They would render impure

the priest

who burns the red heifer

with the impurity of a creeping creature, which can be purified by immersion on that same day,

and immerse him

afterward, and that priest who burns the red heifer was impure with the impurity of one who has immersed but awaits sunset. And they did so

in order to remove [this belief] from the hearts of the Sadducees, who would say

that the red heifer is performed by one who has immersed but awaits sunset, but only

by those whose sun has set,

whose sun had already set and who had become completely pure,

was it performed!

And

infer from here

that the sanctification of hands and feet

is not invalidated by impurity,

for they rendered him impure after he had sanctified his hands and feet, and nevertheless he immersed immediately and returned to his service without needing to sanctify his hands and feet once again.

And we reject this:

The red heifer is different

from the other sacrificial offerings,

since one who has immersed but awaits sunset is fit for it

for the service,

impurity does not invalidate the sanctification performed for it,

whereas with regard to the other sacrificial offerings, one who has immersed but awaits sunset is unfit for them; therefore impurity also invalidates their sanctification of the hands and feet.

And the Gemara asks:

If so, since the law of the sanctification of the hands and feet in the red heifer differs because one who has immersed but awaits sunset is fit for it,

и закон об освящении рук и ног при изготовлении коровы отличается потому, что в состоянии טבול йом она пригодна для службы,

why do I need

at all

one who sanctifies

his hands and feet? Is its sanctification of the hands and feet not like the other sanctification for service of sacrificial offerings!?

And we answer:

A semblance of service

as with the other offerings

we require

in order to perform the service of the red heifer; therefore one must also sanctify his hands and feet before its service.

They raised a question before them: What is the law regarding sanctifying one’s hands and feet

by immersing them

in

нутри

the laver?

Does the meaning of the verse, “And Aaron and his sons shall wash from it,” indicate that only washing with water that emerges

from it, and not

by immersion

inside it,

is what the Merciful One stated, or perhaps he can sanctify his hands and feet

even

by immersion

inside it?

Rav Nahman bar Yitzhak said, ta shma: A priest who sanctified outside the Temple courtyard, or immersed his entire body in spring water

fit for immersion, but did not sanctify his hands and feet from the laver or from another service vessel,

and served—

his service is invalid!

And Rav Nahman bar Yitzhak inferred that his invalidation is specifically because he immersed in spring water and did not sanctify his hands and feet in the water of the laver.

But

if he immersed his hands and feet inside

the laver water, which is

analogous to

immersing his entire body inside

spring water, and served—

his service is valid!

For if we say that his service is invalid, why did he state “he immersed his entire body in spring water”? Even if he immersed his hands and feet in the laver water, his service would be invalid. Rather, infer from here that the deficiency in immersing in spring water is only because it is not laver water; but if he immerses in the laver water, this is considered sanctification of the hands and feet!

And we reject this:

No.

In reality, even if he immersed his hands and feet in the laver, just as he immersed in the spring water, this is not considered sanctification. And the reason he stated “he immersed in spring water” is that

spring water was needed by the tan

nay

to teach us that it does not sanctify.

Lest you say

a kal va-chomer: If

his entire body immerses in them

and becomes purified through them from the impurity of his body, because of their superiority as water that is not drawn,

his hands and feet, is it not all the more so

that they should become sanctified if he immerses them in spring water [and this is unlike immersing in the laver water, which does not sanctify, because it is drawn water]? Therefore the tan

nay stated, “or he immersed in spring water,” to teach us that it is not effective for the sanctification of the hands and feet, even though it is effective for the purification of the entire body.

все тело погружают в них

Rabbi Hiyya bar Yosef said: The laver water is invalidated

by overnight lodging at two separate times: one at sunset, and the second when the dawn column rises.

At sunset, all the “permitting elements” of the offerings whose service was not performed during the day are invalidated. That is, if all the services of the blood or of the handful were not performed—for they are the permitting elements of the offering for eating and burning—and the sun set, the remaining permitting elements were invalidated, and they are no longer fit for service. But the limbs of the offerings that remain, which are not “the permitting elements of the offering,” are burned even throughout the night, until the dawn column rises.

These two times, sunset and the rising of the dawn column, are also the times when the laver water is invalidated; but the invalidation is not absolute invalidation. Rather, it depends on the service before which the hands and feet are sanctified. With regard to the service of the permitting elements, the laver water is invalidated immediately at sunset, like the permitting elements themselves, which are invalidated at sunset. Therefore, even if they immerse the laver before the rising of the dawn column in the water pit, and consequently the water in the laver will not be invalidated because of overnight lodging even when the dawn column has risen, but will continue to be fit for sanctifying with it even on the following day for the service of the priests in burning the fats on the following day, nevertheless, invalidation will take effect in the water with regard to its not being fit to sanctify hands and feet with it for service involving the permitting elements on the following morning. And this invalidation of the water with regard to sanctifying hands and feet for service involving the permitting elements takes effect immediately at sunset, since at that time the permitting elements themselves are invalidated, at sunset.

из-за ночлега в два отдельных времени: первое — при заходе солнца, второе — при наступлении рассвета.

При заходе солнца становятся непригодными все «разрешающие части» жертвоприношений, служба с которыми не была совершена в течение дня. То есть если не были завершены все действия с кровью или с קומецем, которые являются «разрешающими частями» жертвы, позволяющими есть ее и сжигать ее на жертвеннике, и солнце зашло, оставшиеся разрешающие части становятся непригодными и более не пригодны для службы. Однако оставшиеся части жертвоприношений, которые не являются «разрешающими частями жертвы», сжигаются также в течение ночи, вплоть до наступления рассвета .

But with regard

to

the service of the

limbs

that are burned throughout the entire night, the laver water is not invalidated until the dawn column rises. Rather, they are

like the limbs

themselves, which are invalidated only at the time of the rising of the dawn column.

Therefore, if they immerse the laver in the water pit before the dawn column rises, and bring it up again from the pit after the dawn column rises, the laver water is not invalidated by overnight lodging from sanctifying with it for service involving the burning of the limbs. Rather, it remains fit for sanctifying hands and feet with it for the service of burning the fats even on the following day [but, as stated, it is unfit for sanctifying hands and feet with it for service involving the “permitting elements”]!

Поэтому даже если киёр погрузят до рассвета в водоем и благодаря этому вода в киёре не станет непригодной из-за ночлега даже после наступления рассвета, а продолжит оставаться пригодной для освящения ею и на следующий день — для службы коэнов при сжигании частей жертвы на следующий день, — тем не менее в отношении службы с разрешающими частями на следующее утро эта вода становится непригодной для освящения рук и ног. И эта непригодность воды для освящения рук и ног перед службой с разрешающими частями наступает сразу при заходе солнца, поскольку именно тогда сами разрешающие части становятся непригодными — при заходе солнца.

Однако что касается

службы

с

частями жертвы,

сжигаемыми в течение всей ночи, вода киёра не становится непригодной до наступления рассвета; напротив, она

подобна частям жертвы

самим, которые становятся непригодными только при наступлении рассвета. Поэтому если киёр погрузят в водоем до рассвета, а после рассвета снова вынут его из водоема, вода киёра не станет непригодной из-за ночлега для освящения ею перед службой сжигания частей жертвы; она будет пригодна для освящения рук и ног перед службой сжигания жиров также на следующий день [но, как сказано, она будет непригодна для освящения рук и ног перед службой с «разрешающими частями»]!

Rav Hisda said:

even

for

the rites of

those that permit the blood, they are not rendered unfit

by the water of the basin remaining overnight,

but at daybreak, like the limbs

, which are not rendered unfit by remaining overnight until daybreak.

Rav Hisda's reason is that the water of the basin is rendered unfit by remaining overnight because it was sanctified in a service vessel, and everything sanctified in a service vessel is rendered unfit by remaining overnight. The time that defines this overnight period is daybreak.

And Rabbi Yohanan said: Once the basin was lowered

into the pit before sunset,

one may no longer raise it

from the pit until daybreak of the following day, so that its water should not be rendered unfit by remaining overnight.

The Gemara now assumes that the basin may not be raised at night even briefly in order to sanctify the hands and feet for the rite of burning the fats and limbs, which is performed at night, because by raising it the water would immediately be rendered unfit by remaining overnight, and would not be fit even for sanctification for the burning of the fats and limbs.

In this way, Rabbi Yohanan disagrees both with Rabbi Hiyya bar Yosef and with Rav Hisda, since according to Rabbi Hiyya bar Yosef, water remaining after sunset is fit for sanctifying the hands and feet for the burning of the fats and limbs, and this is certainly so according to Rav Hisda.

The Gemara asks:

Does this mean

, according to Rabbi Yohanan, that if one raises the basin from the pit briefly at night, the water will be rendered unfit by remaining overnight, and

for the rites performed at night

, namely, the burning of the fats and limbs,

it is also not fit

for sanctifying the hands and feet with it?

But Rabbi Asi said that Rabbi Yohanan said in the name of Ilfa—

“With regard to a basin that they did not lower into the pit in the evening, one may sanctify from it for the rites performed at night, but on the following day one may not sanctify from it!”

If so, according to Rabbi Yohanan, the water is rendered unfit for sanctification for the burning of the fats and limbs only at daybreak?!

The Gemara now understands that Rabbi Yohanan's statement in the name of Ilfa, “on the following day one may not sanctify,” means that even if the basin is lowered into the pit before daybreak, the water will be rendered unfit for the next day's rite involving those offerings whose blood permits the meat and portions to be eaten, because of remaining overnight from sunset with regard to that rite!

The Gemara answers:

What

did Rabbi Yohanan mean when he said, “Once the basin was lowered into the pit before sunset, one

may not raise it”?

He did not mean that if one raises it at night, the water is immediately rendered unfit even for the burning of the fats and limbs. Rather, in this matter

as well

Rabbi Yohanan agrees with Rabbi Hiyya bar Yosef that the water is not rendered unfit for the nighttime rite of burning the limbs. And what

he meant by saying

“one may not raise it” is that if one raises it at night, the water will be rendered unfit

for the daytime rite

involving those offerings, on the following day.

But for the nighttime rite

of burning the limbs, which are also burned at night,

it is fit

—that water is fit for sanctifying the hands and feet with it, since water is not rendered unfit for rites that are also performed at night unless it was outside the pit at daybreak.

The Gemara challenges this:

If so, this is the same as Rabbi Hiyya bar Yosef!

If so, this is difficult: what did Rabbi Yohanan add by saying, “Once the basin was lowered, one may no longer raise it”? The Gemara answers: Rabbi Yohanan did not say that the basin may not be raised after it was lowered because the water would be rendered unfit for the daytime rites involving those offerings by Torah law, as Rabbi Hiyya bar Yosef maintains. Rather, according to Rabbi Yohanan, this is a rabbinic decree: the Sages prohibited raising the basin from the pit because they were concerned that one might not lower it again into the pit that same night, and the water would then be rendered unfit by remaining overnight at daybreak.

Accordingly, Rabbi Yohanan appropriately used language of prohibition—“one may no longer raise it”—rather than language of disqualification. For according to him, raising it does not render the water unfit; rather, it is prohibited to raise it, lest one leave the basin until daybreak, at which point the water would be rendered unfit by remaining overnight.

By contrast, Rabbi Hiyya bar Yosef used language of disqualification in his statement—“the water of the basin is rendered unfit for those offerings whose blood permits the meat and portions to be eaten, just as those offerings are”—rather than language of prohibition, because he holds that the prohibition against raising it is not merely a decree lest one forget to return it, but that raising it itself immediately renders the water unfit.