was sanctified, it can go back to being unsanctified
(and doesn't have to be burned)!
There are two stages in sanctifying items:
1. Verbally sanctifying it ("I will offer this as a sacrifice")
2. Putting it into a service vessel.
The first only sanctifies the financial worth of the item (you have to bring the worth of that item to the Beis Hamikdash
), and can be redeemed, while the second sanctifies the item directly.
אלא
לבתר דקדוש
Rather,
the witnesses must have came
after the Mincha
was sanctified.
Which is why it can't be unsanctified .
אי אמרת בשלמא מים בודקין אותה אלמא בת מקדש
ומקרב היא
If the water checks her
despite there being witnesses
, then
the Mincha
was fit for sanctification and offering,
וכי קדוש מעיקרא שפיר קדוש
ומשום הכי מנחתה
נשרפת
(
As when it was sanctified, it was sanctified properly
(the waters would have tested her had the witnesses never arrived in court)
and
for that reason
the Mincha
must
be burned
).
אלא אי אמרת אין המים בודקין אותה
תיגלי מילתא למפרע
דכי קדוש מעיקרא
בטעות קדוש
ותיפוק לחולין
But if
witnesses prevent the
waters
from
checking her, it should be shown retroactively that the sanctification of the Mincha
was in error. Therefore,
upon discovery of witnesses, the Mincha
should become unsanctified
and shouldn't require burning.
The Gemara will now cite two answers why the Mincha must be burned (even if witnesses retroactively disqualify the Sotah test):
אמר רב יהודה
מדיסקרתא כגון
שזינתה בעזרה
דכי קדוש מעיקרא שפיר קדוש
1.
Rav Yehuda from Diskarta answered,
the case is that
she was immoral in the
Temple
courtyard
itself,
so the originally sanctification was
valid.
She was suspected of immorality, taken to the Beis Hamikdash
, sanctified her Mincha,
then was immoral.
The Gemara asks:
מתקיף לה רב
משרשיא והלא
פירחי כהונה
מלוין אותה
Rav Mesharshia asked that
how could she be immoral in the Beis Hamikdash
courtyard? Didn't
young Kohanim
would escort her?
The Gemara has two answers:
שזינתה מפירחי כהונה עצמן
1.
She was immoral with the
one of those
young Kohanim.
רב אשי אמר כגון
שנצרכה לנקביה
2.
Rav Ashi answered that she
was immoral
when she
needed privacy to
used the restroom.
She was suspected of immorality, was taken to the Beis Hamikdash
, sanctified the Mincha,
requested to use the restroom, and had illicit relations there.
דאטו פירחי כהונה
בכיפה תלי לה
For do the young Kohanim
hang onto her hat
at all times?
According to either answer, she was immoral a second time, and cannot be vindicated by drinking the bitter waters (but the original sanctification was proper, since at that time, she was still able to be tested.)
The Gemara will now give the second answer why the Mincha must be burned:
The Mishna
lists six cases of what can happen to the Mincha:
נטמאת מנחתה
If
a Sotah's
Mincha
became impure:
עד שלא
קדשה בכלי הרי היא ככל המנחות
ותפדה
1.
Before it was placed into a service vessel, it can be redeemed.
משקדשה בכלי הרי היא ככל המנחות
ותשרף
2.
After it was sanctified in a service vessel, it
must be
burned.
קדש הקומץ ולא
הספיק להקריבו עד
שמת הוא או עד
שמתה היא הרי היא ככל המנחות
ותשרף
3.
If the Kometz
was sanctified, but the sacrifice was not
offered
before either
the husband
passed away or
the wife
passed away, the Mincha
must be burned.
קרב הקומץ ולא
הספיק לאכול
שירים עד
שמת הוא או עד
שמתה היא הרי היא ככל המנחות
ותאכל שעל
הספק באת מתחילה
4.
If the Kometz
was offered but the sacrifice wasn't eaten before either
the husband
died or
the wife
died, it may be eaten ( as
the sacrifice
was originally brought only out of doubt.)
כיפרה ספיקה והלכה לה
And the sacrifice was done properly, just for a side reason, the wife was unable to drink the bitter water,
באו לה עדים שהיא טמאה מנחתה
נשרפת
5.
If witnesses said that
the wife
was impure, the Mincha
is burned.
נמצאו עדיה זוממין מנחתה
חולין
6.
If the witnesses were As in other witnesses testified that the first ones were with them in a different place at the time. false
, the Mincha
looses its sanctity
automatically.
Which implies that a Mincha
may
loose its sanctity, and there is no decree against it.
The Gemara Answers:
עדים
זוממין קאמרת
You're asking about
false witnesses?
עדים
זוממין קלא אית להו
False witnesses
are publicly known, so everyone understands why the Mincha
lost its sanctity. However, as the public won't hear how witnesses testified that a Sotah
was immoral, her Mincha
may not be de-sanctified and must be burned.