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Week 140 - Wednesday - 31 July 2002

HORAYOT: CHAPTER 3: MISHNAH 4

And who is the anointed? The one anointed with the anointing oil, not the one by the increase of garments. The anointed priest differs from the one (appointed) by the increase of garments only in the bullock offered for all the commandments, and the officiating priest differs from the one who has passed from office only in the bullock of the Day of Atonement and the Tenth of the ephah. Both are equal in the service of the Day of Atonement and enjoined with respect to a virgin, are forbidden a widow and may not expose themselves to ritual impurity for their relatives, nor loosen their hair or rend their garment, and they bring back the manslayer.

Kehati

During the First Temple period the high priest was consecrated with the anointing oil, and, hence, he was called the 'anointed priest,' or simply the 'anointed,' as is often mentioned in our tractate. From the time of king Josiah and throughout the Second Temple period there was no anointing oil available, it having been hidden by Josiah. The high priest was hence-forth consecrated by donning his eight garments; for an ordinary priest officiated wearing only four garments, but the high priest wore eight. To mark the difference, the high priest was designated as “he of the increased number of garments" (Yoma 7:5; Mak. 2:6).

And who is the anointed? of whom it is written (Lev. 4:3): "If the anointed priest sin to the guilt of the people, he shall offer for his sin.., a young bullock”? The one anointed with anointing oil - the high priest anointed with the oil, that is to say, all the high priests who served in the First Temple, until the death of King Josiah, as mentioned above; not the one by the increase of garments - the high priests from King Josiah onwards and throughout the period of the Second Temple, as we explained above. If this high priest ruled permissively for himself in a matter involving karet, if committed deliberately, and a sin-offering, if inadvertently, and he acted inadvertently, relying on his own ruling he does not offer up a bullock, but a female sheep or goat, as an ordinary person who sinned inadvertently. Hence The anointed priest differs from the one (appointed) by the increase of garments only in the bullock offered for all the commandments, for the anointed priest has to bring a bullock as his sin-offering, if he transgressed one of "all the commandments of the Lord which must not be done" by both errant decision and dead, whereas the one appointed by the increase of garments does not offer a bullock, as explained above, because, with respect to the bullock the Torah says "the anointed priest." However, with respect to the other commandments relating to the high priesthood, both are equal.

And the officiating priest differs from the one who has passed from office - If some disqualification occurred to the officiating high priest, another was appointed in his stead. When the disqualification of the former disappeared, he returned to his sacrificial duties. From then onward he was referred to as the "officiating high priest," and the other as "the priest who has passed from his anointed status." Our mishnah teaches that, since the second one had been appointed, all the mitzvot of a high priest apply to him and we have already learned above (mishnah 2) "the anointed priest who sinned (by erroneous decision and deed) after passing from office brings a bullock" and the officiating priest differs from him only in the bullock of the Day of Atonement, which can be offered only by the officiating high priest and not by the one who has passed from office; and the Tenth of the ephah, for it is written in the Torah (Lev. 6:13-15): "This is the offering of Aaron and his sons, which they shall offer up to the Lord on the day of his anointment, a tenth of an ephah of fine flour for a meal offering, perpetually, half of it in the morning and half in the evening... and the anointed priest who shall be in his stead from among his sons shall offer it." This offering is called "the baking-pan meal offering," which is offered up in its entirety, daily, and which only the officiating high priest but not the high priest who has passed from office may bring. - Both are equal - both the officiating priest and the one who has passed from office in the Service of the Day of Atonement, which is only valid when performed by the high priest. For this both are qualified, either of them being able to offer the sacrifices of the day, the one out of office donning the eight garments when doing so; and are enjoined with respect to a virgin - for even the priest who has passed from office may only marry a virgin as the verse says of the high priest (Lev. 21:13) "And he shall take a wife in her virginity," are forbidden a widow, as it says (ibid. 21) "A widow and one divorced he shall not take"; and may not expose themselves to ritual impurity for their relatives as it says regarding the high priest (ibid. 11) "Neither shall he go in to any dead body, nor defile himself for his father or his mother"; but an ordinary priest may defile himself for his seven nearest of kin: namely, his wife, mother, father, son, daughter, brother and sister (ibid., 2-3); nor loosen their hair or rend their garments, - as is written concerning the high priest (ibid., 10): "He shall not loosen his hair nor rend his garment"; and they bring back the manslayer. It is written of one who killed a person accidentally and fled to a city of refuge, that "he shall remain there until the death of the high priest" (Num. 35:25), and if one of them dies, either the officiating priest or the one who has passed from office, the manslayer may return from the city of refuge to his own city (see Mak. 2:6)

HORAYOT: CHAPTER 3: MISHNAH 5

The high priest rends his garment below, and the ordinary one above. The high priest, while an onen, may offer sacrifices, but not partake of them, but an ordinary priest may neither offer sacrifices, nor partake of them.

Kehati

After learning in the previous mishnah that neither the officiating high priest, nor the high priest who has passed from office, may loosen his hair or rend his garment for the dead, this mishnah teaches that a form of rending the garment is in fact customary for the high priest, as will be explained. At the same time the mishnah teaches the difference between the high priest and the ordinary priest regarding their duties when they are onenim.

The high priest rends his garment - If a relative for whom the rending of one's garment is obligatory dies he rends it at the bottom edge of his garment, near his feet. The meaning of the passage (Lev. 21:10) "and his garment he shall not rend" is not that he shall not rend it at all but that he shall not rend it as others do for he rends, below; and the ordinary one the edge above - which is around his neck, near his shoulder, as all mourners must. The high priest, while an onen, may offer sacrifices, - On the day of the death of one of the relatives for whom mourning is obligatory, a person is an onen. The Torah law is that he remains an onen throughout the entire day, even after burial. But during the night following the day, or for any further period, during which the dead is unburied, his status is that of a rabbinic, not biblical, onen. The mishnah teaches that the high priest may offer sacrifices even while Biblically an onen, for it says concerning him (Lev. 21:12) "And he shall not leave the Sanctuary," and this refers to the previous statement there that "He shall not defile himself for his father or his mother," i.e. that even on the day his father or his mother dies, he is not to leave the Sanctuary, but continues to offer sacrifice - (Zev. 16a);

but not partake of them - of the sanctified meat, while an onen, as we find in the case of Aaron the high priest, who said to himself on the day his sons Nadav and Avihu died (Lev. 10: 19): "And should I have eaten of the sin-offering today, would that please the Lord?” meaning that the high priest who is an onen is forbidden to partake of the sanctified meat, even though he is permitted to offer the sacrifices. There are some who derive from this very verse that the high priest who is an onen is permitted to offer sacrifices, because Moses took issue with him regarding the eating, but not regarding the offering of the sacrifice (Rambam, Commentary on the Mishnah). But an ordinary priest, while an onen, may neither offer sacrifices, nor partake of them, and if he did offer a sacrifice while Biblically an onen it is invalid, for it says regarding the high priest (Lev. 21:12) "And he shall not leave the Sanctuary and he will not defile it," meaning, the high priest, who is an onen, may offer the sacrifice and it is not profaned thereby, as we learned above; whence we learn that the ordinary priest who does not leave the Sanctuary and offers a sacrifice, profanes the sacrificial service (Zev. 16a).

Others derive this from Aaron's response to Moses on the day Nadav and Avihu died (Lev. 10:19): "Behold today they offered their sin-offering and burnt offering," for Moses had said: "Why did you not partake of the sin-offering?" i.e. that he said, "Perchance your sons offered it while onenim and it was therefore invalidated?" To which Aaron replied: "Did they offer the sacrifice, are they not ordinary priests, and disqualified from officiating?" I, who am high priest and permitted to offer the sacrifice in this state offered it. Hence we learn that an ordinary priest who did the service while an onen invalidates the sacrifice, (Zev. ibid., Rashi).

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