that according to Rabbi Yishmael, the Metzora's
bird must be slaughtered into a Reviyis
of water, so that it will be recognizable.
Rabbi Yirmiya asked how could he be so certain that a Reviyis
of water is the right amount? What if there is too much blood or too much water?
א"ל
Rabbi Zeira
answered
Rabbi Yirmiya
:
לאו אמינא לך לא
תפיק נפשך לבר מהילכתא
Did I not tell you not to take yourself outside the
measurements determined by the Sages
?
בצפור דרור שיערו רבנן אין לך גדולה
שמדחת את המים
The sages estimated that there is no A large bird Dror
bird which is so big that its
blood
will
drown out
the water,
ואין לך קטנה
שנדחית מפני המים
And there is no
bird
so small that will be
drowned out
by the water.
ת"ר
A Braisa
was taught:
הקדים עפר
למים פסול
If one placed the dust before the water,
the water is
unfit
for use by a Sotah
,
Because the verse says "He will place the water", implying that the water goes first.
ור' שמעון
מכשיר
But Rabbi Shimon permits
the resultant water
.
מ"ט דרבי שמעון
What's the Rabbi Shimon's
reason?
דכתיב
ולקחו לטמא מעפר שרפת החטאת
The verse says
"And for the impure they shall take from the dust of the burning of the The Red Heifer Chatas
",
ותניא אמר
ר"ש
And a Braisa
taught
in the name of
Rabbi Shimon:
וכי עפר הוא והלא אפר הוא
Are the results of the burning
dust?
Aren't they
ash?
שינה הכתוב
במשמעו לדון הימנו גזירה שוה
The verse changed the word
of the verse
to teach a Gezeira Shava
:
נאמר כאן עפר ונאמר להלן עפר
It says
the word
"dust"
in the verse discussing the Red Heifer
, and it says
the word
dust
in the verse discussing the Sotah
,
מה להלן עפר על גבי מים אף כאן עפר על גבי מים
Just
as the Red Heifer's ashes
go on top of the water, so too
the Sotah's
dust goes on top of the water.
So Rabbi Shimon agrees that the water should go first, but...
ומה כאן
הקדים עפר
למים כשר אף להלן
הקדים עפר
למים כשר
And just
as if the Red Heifer's ashes
were placed before the water
the resultant mixture may be used
, so too if one placed the dust
of the Sotah
before the water
the resultant mixture may be used for the Sotah
.
But this itself requires proof:
והתם מנלן
And how do we know
that if the Red Heifer's ashes were placed before the water that the mixture may be used?
תרי קראי כתיבי
There are two verses written
regarding the Red Heifer
:
כתיב עליו אלמא אפר ברישא
One verse says
"On it", which implies that the
Red Heifer's
ashes first,
וכתיב מים חיים אל כלי אלמא מים ברישא
And
another verse writes
"and running water shall be put in a vessel", which implies that the water goes first.
הא כיצד
How
can this contradiction be resolved?
רצה זה
נותן רצה זה
נותן
If one wants, he
can
put
the water first, and if
one wants, he
can
put
the ashes first
.
ורבנן אל כלי
דוקא
And the Sages
argue, and say that
"to the vessel"
teaches that the water must go first
,
The Sages hold that just as placing the dust into the Sotah
mixture before the water invalidates the mixture, so too placing the ash before the water invalidates the Red Heifer mixture.
עליו
לערבן
And the word
"On it"
teaches that the Sotah's
mixture must be
mixed.
ואימא עליו
דוקא
Why
did the Sages not interpret the word
"On it"
as being specific, and that the ashes must go first
,
אל כלי שתהא
חיותן בכלי
While the words
"Into the vessel"
teach
that spring
must flow directly
into the vessel
(and not be drawn with another vessel)?
מה מצינו בכל מקום
מכשיר למעלה
The general rule is that
the permitting substance must be
placed
on top
of the water
,
Both the Sotah's
dust and the bird's blood administrated during the Metzora's
purification must be placed before the water,
אף כאן
מכשיר למעלה:
So too
the ashes of the Sotah
must be on the top.
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