{"id":10726,"date":"2007-04-27T00:17:00","date_gmt":"2007-04-27T00:17:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/production.ou.org\/life\/other\/masechet_hagigah_2026\/"},"modified":"2015-10-26T07:07:07","modified_gmt":"2015-10-26T12:07:07","slug":"masechet_hagigah_2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ou.org\/life\/torah\/masechet_hagigah_2026\/","title":{"rendered":"Masechet Chagigah 20a-26b"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Coming Week’s Daf Yomi by Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz<\/em><\/p>\n

This essay is based upon the insights and chidushim (original ideas) of Talmudic scholar Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz, as published in the Hebrew version of the Steinsaltz Edition of the Talmud.<\/em><\/p>\n

This month\u2019s Steinsaltz Daf Yomi is sponsored by Dr. and Mrs. Alan Harris, the Lewy Family Foundation, and Marilyn and Edward Kaplan<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Chagigah 20a-b<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

The third perek<\/em> (chapter) of Masechet<\/a> Chagigah<\/a><\/em>, Homer ba-Kodesh<\/em>, begins on today’s daf <\/em>(page). Its basic theme deals with a concept that, while unfamiliar to Jews in the contemporary world, is repeated several times in the Torah<\/a>: the need to take great care when dealing with terumah<\/a><\/em> (tithes) and kodashim<\/em> (sacrifices), to ensure that they remain ritually pure. Furthermore, the Torah commands that protective enactments be created to assist in this endeavor (see, for example, Vayikra<\/a> 22:9<\/a>). Also connected with this concept are the severe punishments meted out by the Torah to someone who eats terumah<\/em> or kodashim<\/em> while in a state of ritual defilement.<\/p>\n

The first Mishna<\/a> in the perek<\/em> compares and contrasts the care that must be taken to ensure ritual purity in the cases of terumah<\/em> and kodashim<\/em>, pointing out that the demands made regarding kodashim<\/em> are greater than those having to do with terumah<\/em>. For example, if two vessels are both tameh<\/em> – ritually impure and must be immersed in a mikvah<\/a><\/em> – for the purposes of terumah<\/em> they can be immersed even when one is inside the other. For use with kodashim<\/em>, however, they would have to be immersed separately.<\/p>\n

At first glance it would appear that the higher level of care that is required in working with kodashim<\/em> stems from an intrinsic holiness that is represented in kodashim<\/em>, which requires greater care, even on a Biblical level. The Talmud Yerushalmi<\/a><\/em>, however, suggests another reason for the differences taught in the Mishnah. \u00a0While terumah<\/em> belongs exclusively to kohanim<\/a><\/em>, who are the only ones allowed to eat it, kodashim<\/em> are eaten by anyone who brings a sacrifice to the Temple<\/a>. Kohanim<\/em> are familiar with the rules and regulations of terumah<\/em> and can be trusted to take the appropriate amount of care that is necessary to guarantee that the terumah<\/em> will remain pure. Other people, who encounter kodashim<\/em> only on an occasional basis, need stricter rules to ensure that the items do not become defiled.<\/p>\n

\n

Chagigah 21a-b<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n

As we learned in the first Mishnah<\/a> in this perek<\/em> (chapter) (see 20b<\/a>), great care must be taken to ensure ritual purity in the cases of terumah<\/a><\/em> (tithes) and kodashim<\/em> (Temple<\/a> sacrifices), but the demands made regarding kodashim<\/em> are greater than those having to do with terumah<\/em>. For example, if two vessels are both tameh<\/em> – ritually impure and must be immersed in a mikveh<\/a><\/em> – for the purposes of terumah<\/em> they can be immersed even when one is inside the other. For use with kodashim<\/em>, however, they would have to be immersed separately.<\/p>\n

Why must the vessels be immersed separately for kodashim<\/em>? Two suggestions are offered in the Gemara<\/a>:<\/p>\n