Zevachim 33a — the Talmud in English

And the Gemara infers:

By implication

you learn from the words of Abaye and Rava

that both of them hold that impurity is “deferred” in the community,

and not “permitted” in the community.

And now the Gemara discusses the words of Ulla:

Let us say that this supports him,

that it may be said that there is support for the words of Ulla, who holds that partial entry is called entry, from what we learned in a beraita in the Tosefta:

All the placing of hands that were there,

in the Temple services,

I call concerning them

“immediately after placing of hands, slaughtering,”

as they did not interrupt between the placing of hands and the slaughtering,

except for this one

of the guilt-offering of a leper,

which was

the placing of hands upon his guilt-offering was performed

at the Gate of Nicanor,

which was the eastern gate of the Temple courtyard, and the space of this gate was not sanctified with the sanctity of the courtyard, so that the leper could stand there and bring his hands into the courtyard for the placing of blood upon the thumbs and toes. And the leper did not enter inside the courtyard to place his hands upon his guilt-offering beside the place of slaughter, because

a leper is unable to enter there,

the courtyard itself,

until they sprinkle upon him,

that is, first they throw on his behalf upon the altar

from the blood of his sin-offering and from the blood of his guilt-offering [and likewise it is necessary to place there from the blood of the guilt-offering and the oil upon the thumbs and toes of the leper]. And therefore the placing of hands was not performed immediately after the slaughtering, since at the time of the placing of hands the guilt-offering stood at the Gate of Nicanor, and only afterward did they bring it into the courtyard to slaughter it.

And the Gemara infers from the beraita:

And if you say that partial entry is not called entry,

why do we need to take the guilt-offering out to the Gate of Nicanor?

Let him bring in

the leper

his hands

into the courtyard,

and place his hands

upon the animal standing inside, and the law of “immediately after placing of hands, slaughtering” would also be fulfilled in the case of the leper!

Rav Yosef said:

This law cannot prove the words of Ulla, because one can say that

this,

this beraita,

who is its author, according to whose method is it stated? It is according to the method of

the view of

Rabbi Yosei son of Rabbi Yehuda, who says, “the distant north.”

That is, according to his words, the north of the courtyard suitable for the slaughtering of offerings requiring “slaughtering in the north” is only the area of the courtyard directly opposite the actual northern side of the altar wall, and it is at a “distance” from the entrance of the courtyard of more than twenty-two cubits. And according to him, even if we say that partial entry is not called entry, the leper cannot place his hands upon the guilt-offering near the place of slaughter, since it is very far from it, and it would not help that he bring his hands inside the courtyard.

And we raise an objection: Even according to the words of Rabbi Yosei son of Rabbi Yehuda, it should be possible to prove that partial entry is called entry. For if it is not called entry, then

let them make a small door,

a small opening in the northern wall of the courtyard opposite the altar, and the leper would stand in its space, bring in his hands, and place them upon the animal standing in the place fit for slaughter.

And we answer:

Abaye and Rava both said,

It is impossible to make an additional small door for the courtyard, because David said to Solomon his son, when he gave him the plan for building the Temple [I Chronicles 28],

“Everything

all the measurements of the plan were given to me

in writing from the hand of the Lord, who gave me understanding. All the work of the pattern.”

And since all the measurements, the entrances, and the construction of the entire House were delivered to David by the Lord in writing, it is not possible to add, detract, or alter the pattern of the Temple. And Abaye and Rava hold that indeed partial entry is not called entry, but it is impossible to open an entrance in the north of the courtyard; therefore the leper cannot place his hands near the place of slaughter.

There are those who say: Rav Yosef said,

The beraita can also be explained according to Rabbi, who holds that one may slaughter throughout the north of the courtyard, and nevertheless it cannot prove from it that partial entry is called entry. And the reason that the law of “immediately after placing of hands, slaughtering” is not fulfilled in the guilt-offering of a leper is that

everyone who places his hands, his head

and most of his body brings in

into the courtyard.

What is the reason? We require all his strength

in the service of placing of hands.

Therefore it is impossible

to place his hands by partial entry, and therefore he places his hands outside.

And we raise a difficulty:

What does

the tanna of the beraita hold, who said that in the guilt-offering of a leper the law of “immediately after placing of hands, slaughtering” is not fulfilled?

If he holds that the placing of hands upon the guilt-offering of a leper

is an obligation

from the Torah, and

he likewise holds that the law of

“immediately after placing of hands, slaughtering”

is also an obligation

from the Torah,

then

let the leper enter

the courtyard

and place his hands

upon his guilt-offering

explicitly,

since

the Merciful One said

to him to enter and place his hands! For it is impossible for him to fulfill both the law of placing of hands and the law of “immediately after placing of hands, slaughtering” unless he enters inside and places his hands at the place of slaughter; necessarily, the Torah permitted him to enter for this purpose.

And we answer:

Rav Adda bar Mattana said:

Indeed, from the Torah it is permitted for the leper to enter and place his hands. However, the tanna of the beraita holds that by rabbinic decree he should not enter for the purpose of placing of hands, because of

a decree lest he increase his steps

beyond what was permitted to him for the purpose of placing of hands, and if after the placing of hands he takes one step further inside than necessary, he will be liable to karet.

There are those who say:

This is how

Rav Adda bar Mattana said

to explain the words of the beraita: From the Torah the leper was not permitted to enter and place his hands. For although

the placing of hands upon the guilt-offering of a leper

is its obligation

from the Torah, and

nevertheless the law of

“immediately after placing of hands, slaughtering”

in all offerings

is not from the Torah

itself. Therefore the leper was not permitted to enter and place his hands, since he can fulfill the placing of hands outside.

Meitivі

against what Rav Adda bar Mattana said, that the law of “immediately after placing of hands, slaughtering” is not from the Torah: For we learned in a beraita,

“And he shall place his hand and slaughter,”

and we learned through this juxtaposition:

Just as placing of hands

is performed only

by pure persons,

for “immediately after placing of hands, slaughtering,” and the slaughtering is performed inside,

so too slaughtering

is performed

by pure persons.

And if you say

that the law of “immediately after placing of hands, slaughtering”

is not from the Torah,

then

with impure persons as well we find it

possible to perform placing of hands, by having the impure person place his hands outside; and from where do we know that placing of hands is performed only by pure persons?

Rather, reverse

the explanation of Rav Adda bar Mattana, and explain that the tanna of the beraita holds that

the placing of hands upon the guilt-offering of a leper is not from the Torah,

and it is not like other guilt-offerings, because the guilt-offering comes to render the leper fit, and not to atone for him. Only by rabbinic law is the leper obligated to place his hands upon his guilt-offering.

But “immediately after placing of hands, slaughtering” is from the Torah,

and since the leper is not obligated to place his hands, he should not enter inside for this purpose.