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Week 55 - Monday - 11 December 2000

YEVAMOT: CHAPTER 9: MISHNAH 4

If the daughter of an Israelite is betrothed to a priest, became pregnant by a priest, is a shomeret yavam to a priest, and similarly the daughter of a priest to an Israelite -- she does not eat terumah. If the daughter of an Israelite is betrothed to a Levite, became pregnant by a Levite, is a shomeret yavam to a Levite, and similarly a daughter of a Levite to an Israelite -- she does not eat ma'aser. If the daughter of a Levite is betrothed to a priest, became pregnant by a priest, is a shomeret yavam to a priest, and similarly the daughter of a priest to a Levite -- eats neither terumah nor ma'aser.

Kehati

If the daughter of an Israelite is betrothed to a priest, or became pregnant by a priest, or is a shomeret yavam to a priest -- her husband, a priest, died childless, and she is awaiting her yavam, a priest, to marry her by yibum, and similarly if the daughter of a priest is betrothed to an Israelite or became pregnant by an Israelite, or is a shomeret yavam to an Israelite, she does not eat terumah -- as it has been taught: "The embryo and the yavam and the erusin disqualify but do not bestow the right to eat" (7:4, above).

If the daughter of an Israelite is betrothed to a Levite, or became pregnant by a Levite, or is a shomeret yavam to a Levite, and similarly a daughter of a Levite to an Israelite -- a daughter of a Levite is betrothed to an Israelite, or became pregnant by an Israelite, or is a shomeret yavam to an Israelite, she does not eat ma'aser -- rishon. The Gemara explains that this mishnah follows Rabbi Meir, who holds that ma'aser rishon is prohibited to non-Levites; he bases this on the verse, "For the ma'aser of the children of Israel, which they set apart as a gift [terumah] to the Lord" (Num. 18:24) -- ma'aser is compared to terumah: just as terumah is prohibited to non-kohanim, so too is ma'aser rishon prohibited to non-Levites. The halakhah, however, does not follow Rabbi Meir, but follows the Sages, who hold that ma'aser rishon is permitted to non-Levites. They understand the comparison in the above verse as applying to tevel: just as the law of tevel applies to terumah (i.e., as long as terumah has not been separated from the produce it is prohibited as tevel, and transgression of this law is punishable by the death penalty at the hands of Heaven), so too does the law of tevel apply to ma'aser rishon (even after terumah has already been separated from the produce, so long as ma'aser has not been separated from it, the law of tevel applies to it).

If the daughter of a Levite is betrothed to a priest, or became pregnant by a priest, or is a shomeret yavam to a priest, and similarly the daughter of a priest to a Levite -- if the daughter of a priest is betrothed to a Levite, or became pregnant by a Levite, or is a shomeret yavam to a Levite, she eats neither terumah nor ma'aser -- the Gemara explains that the intent of the last section of this mishnah is that neither terumah nor ma'aser should be distributed in the granary to the daughter of a priest or to the daughter of a Levite. This prohibition was enacted lest terumah be distributed also to the daughter of an Israelite who was divorced from a priest or ma'aser to the daughter of an Israelite who was divorced from a priest or ma'aser to the daughter of an Israelite who was divorced from a Levite, for it would not be known that they had previously distributed to her because of her husband. For the same reason they are not distributed in the granary even to married women. The mishnah refers to a betrothed woman in the last section because the first section refers only to a betrothed woman.

YEVAMOT: CHAPTER 9: MISHNAH 5

If the daughter of an Israelite was married to a priest, she eats terumah. If he died, and she has a son by him -- she eats terumah. If she was married to a Levite, she eats ma'aser. If he died, and she has a son by him -- she eats ma'aser. If she was married to an Israelite -- she eats neither terumah nor ma'aser. If he died, and she has a son by him -- she eats neither terumah nor ma'aser. If her son by the Israelite died, she eats ma'aser. If her son by the Levite died, she eats terumah. If her son by the priest died, she eats neither terumah nor ma'aser.

Kehati

If the daughter of an Israelite was married to a priest, she eats terumah -- for she is the acquisition of her husband the priest, and it is written, "But if a priest buy any soul, the purchase of his money, he may eat of it" (Lev. 22:11).

If he -- her husband the priest, died, and she has a son -- i.e., offspring, and even if she has a daughter by him -- she eats terumah -- as it is written, "and such as are born in his house, they may eat of his bread" (ibid.) -- yokhlu -- "they may eat" was interpreted also ya'akhilu -- "they give to eat." Hence the offspring of a priest bestows on his mother the right to eat of the terumah.

If she -- the widow of a priest, was married to a Levite, she eats ma'aser -- rishon, as the wife of a Levite, but she does not eat terumah, even though her son by the priest is alive, because she now has the status of a non-priest, since she married a Levite.

If he -- her husband the Levite, died, and she has a son also by him -- her husband the Levite, she eats ma'aser -- because of her son by the Levite, but she does not eat terumah, even though her son by the priest is alive, because the offspring she has by the Levite disqualifies her from terumah.

If afterwards she was married to an Israelite -- she eats neither terumah nor ma'aser -- this mishnah follows the opinion of Rabbi Meir, that an Israelite is prohibited from eating ma'aser rishon, for the reason explained in the preceding mishnah.

If he -- her husband the Israelite, also died, and she has a son -- i.e., offspring, by him -- she eats neither terumah nor ma'aser -- for her offspring by the Israelite disqualifies her from terumah and from ma'aser rishon, even though her offspring by the priest and her offspring by the Levite are alive.

If her son by the Israelites died, she eats ma'aser -- because of her offspring by the Levite.

If her son by the Levite died -- and only her son by the priest is left, she once again eats terumah.

If her son by the priest died, she eats neither terumah nor ma'aser -- for she now is a stranger to the priestly or Levite family, and as mentioned above, this mishnah follows Rabbi Meir, who holds that an Israelite is prohibited also from eating ma'aser rishon.

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