Dear R' Kornfeld, A few questions
1. Re R' Yehoshua ben Gamla, and his ascension to the Kehuna Gedola when he was an arus to a beula, I don't understand how the gemora can bring this incident as a proof. The kings in those days received payoffs to appoint the Kohen Gadol and appointed Amei Ha'aretz, MisYavnim, and Tzidukim to be a K.G. The Sanhedrin was
powerless to complain and if they complained, they were usually sent to the gallows.......
2. If the Torah clearly says Vehu "eesha" bivisulaho yikoch, clearly the torah wants the K. G. davka to marry a Bogeres- in contrast to a Ketana or Na'aroh -so why are Chazal forcing themselves to read the Posuk in a such a manner that contradicts the plain p'shat and puts such narrow restrictions on the K.G. so that he can't marry a bogeres. If anything, they should be trying to establish that a K.G. can marry a Ktana or Na'aroh.
3. Re "Atam keruiyim Adam" If you take a look in a Concordance on T'nakh you will see numerous instances when the word "adam" clearly refers or includes the goyim(e.g. Yeshaya perek 31)..... R' Shimon obviously was an expert in Tanakh so why does he grab onto a Perek where numerous pesukim refer to the jews as "tsoin". Does this mean we are all sheep? or flocks? I don't understand how can R' Shimon can establish a serious halacha (according to R. Shimon, kohanim
should have no problem going into Kever Rochel or the Meoras Hamachpela) from one reference and ignore all the others!
1) See Tosfos Bava Basra 21a that R' Yehoshua Ben Gamla was a Tzadik Gamur and therefore the proof.
2) The fact that a Bogeres is not considered a Besulah does not apply to a Kohen Gadol alone, but to many different Halachos (see Kesubos 36a among numerous other places). As for how Chazal know that "Isha" does not mean Bogeres, why should we assume that "biV'sulehah" means anything other than a Besulah? A bogeres does not have Besulim. (And I wouldn't worry about the Kohen Gadol finding a Shiduch.) By the way, although we find that the word "Ish" means a male Gadol, we never find anywhere that the word "Isha" means a female Gedolah. It might simply mean female as opposed to male (since without that word, it would be assumed that the Torah is speaking to and about males.)
3) Did you see the Rishonim that deal with all of the places in Tanach that Adam seems to mean people who are not J ewish? (Tosefos here and in Sanhedrin 59a, Avodah Zarah 3a, Bava Basra 58a Nazir 54a, Nidah 70b, Bava Kama 38b) Did you find references which were not dealt with directly or indirectly by Tosfos in one of the above places?
Baa baa from Jerusalem,
Dov Zupnik