[12a - 35 lines; 12b - 35 lines]
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We recommend using the textual changes suggested by the Bach, the Tzon Kodashim, the Vilna Ga'on and the marginal notes of the Vilna Shas. This section is devoted to any other important corrections that Acharonim have pointed out in the Gemara, Rashi and Tosfos.
[1] Rashi 12a DH Ela Lefi Cheshbon she'Bah ã"ä àìà ìôé çùáåï ùáä:
The words "l'Soch Esrim v'Arba Se'in Shel Chulin ìúåê òùøéí åàøáò ñàéï ùì çåìéï
should be "l'Soch Esrim v'Shalosh Se'in Shel Chulin" ìúåê òùøéí åùìù ñàéï ùì çåìéï (Chok Nasan)
[2] ibid.:
Should be corrected as suggested by Shitah Mekubetzes #21
[3] Rashi 12b DH Rebbi Eliezer Omer ã"ä øáé àìéòæø àåîø [the last line of the page]:
"Im Nechreshu" àí ðçøùå. Tosfos (13a, DH Shalosh) does not have these words in Rashi. In addition, Tosfos questions Rashi's explanation of the case according to Rebbi Eliezer; see Insights.
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1)[line 4]ùçåèé çåõSHECHUTEI CHUTZ
The Torah obligates a person to bring to the Beis ha'Mikdash all Kodshim that are fit to be offered as sacrifices, as it states in Vayikra 17:1-7. Besides the Mitzvas Aseh, there is a Lav prohibiting slaughtering them outside of the Azarah ("Shechutei Chutz") and burning them or parts of them outside of the Azarah ("Ha'ala'as Chutz"). In addition, the Tana'im learn (Sanhedrin 34b) that Zerikas ha'Dam (casting the blood) of a sacrifice outside of the Azarah is also prohibited. The punishment for transgressing these prohibitions is Kares (ibid. 17:9; SEFER HA'CHINUCH #186), and the animal remains Asur b'Hana'ah (i.e. it is prohibited to derive any benefit from it).
2)[line 7]îãåîòMEDUMA
(a)Terumah becomes Batel (canceled) only when one part of Terumah falls into at least 100 parts of Chulin. Even if the Terumah is Batel, it is forbidden for non-Kohanim to eat the entire mixture; the equivalent of the amount of Terumah that fell in must first be removed.
(b)If the percentage of Terumah that fell into the Chulin was greater than one in one hundred, the mixture is known as Meduma (lit. mixed) and is forbidden to be eaten by non-Kohanim.
(c)According to TOSFOS to Chulin 99a DH Ein, this law applies only if the Terumah was the same type of food as the Chulin; otherwise Terumah is Batel just like any other Isur.
3)[line 8]îéí ùàåáéïMAYIM SHE'UVIN (MIKVAH: MAYIM SHE'UVIM POSELIM ES HA'MIKVAH)
Drawn water is called Mayim She'uvin. Only water that never entered a utensil (non-drawn water) may be used to fill a Mikvah. (Once there are already 40 Se'in of non-drawn water in the Mikvah, drawn water may be added. However, if, before there are 40 Se'ah in the Mikvah, three Lugin of drawn water fall into it, they render the Mikvah invalid.)
4)[line 10]îé çèàúMEI CHATAS
If a person (or utensil) became Tamei through touching a Mes, he must wait seven days to become Tahor. On the third and seventh days he must have spring water mixed with the ashes of the Parah Adumah (see Background to Temurah 6:19; the mixture is known as "Mei Chatas") sprinkled on him. A person who is Tahor dips three Ezov (hyssop) branches that have been bound together into the mixture and sprinkles them on the person who is Tamei. On the seventh day, he immerses in a Mikvah after the mixture is sprinkled on him in order to complete his Taharah. (Bamidbar 19:17-19)
5)[line 11]áéú äôøñBEIS HA'PRAS
(a)Beis ha'Peras is a general term referring to a field or an area that the Rabanan decreed to be treated as though it were Tamei, in certain respects. The Mishnayos in Ohalos (18:1-4) explain that there are three specific types of Beis ha'Peras:
1.A field in which a grave was plowed over, scattering the bones in all directions. Such a field may be planted with trees, but not with vegetables or grains. Its earth can make a person Tamei through Maga or Masa.
2.A field (that is a Reshus ha'Rabim; TOSFOS to Kesuvos 24b; RASH to Ohalos 18:3) in which a grave is known to exist but it became lost and cannot be located. In such a field, trees may not be planted but vegetables or grains may be planted. It can make a person Tamei through Ohel (and according to some Girsa'os, through Maga and Masa as well).
3.A field on the edge of a town where a corpse was brought [and mourned] before burial. Such a field may neither be planted nor sown with vegetables or grains (but its earth is not Tamei if removed from its place). There are a number of reasons why the Rabanan might have made such a field Tamei:
i.Part of a corpse may have become dislodged and fallen there (RASHI to Moed Katan 5b DH Mishum Ye'ush) [or that an entire corpse may have inadvertently been left behind there - ME'IRI ibid.].
ii.Alternatively, since a corpse is commonly found there, the Rabanan instituted that the area not be sown or planted, so as not to attract people to the area who will become Teme'im and spread Tum'ah. (PERUSH HA'MISHNAH of the Rambam to Ohalos 18:4)
iii.The prohibition against planting or sowing such a field has nothing to do with Tum'ah whatsoever. Rather, it involves a question of ownership. Since the community has made it their practice to mourn for and eulogize the dead in this field and the original owner did not protest this practice, he loses all rights to the land. The former owner cannot later decide to plant the field and deny the community the right to use it as a place for public mourning. (RITVA, RASH to Ohalos 18:4 and many Rishonim — see Vilna Ga'on to Choshen Mishpat 377:2)
(b)The Bartenura offers three explanations as to why the word "Peras" was used to describe these fields:
1.Tum'ah spreads (Pores) out in all directions from the field;
2.Bones that are broken (Perusim) are strewn in the field. (These first two explanations only apply to the first of the three types of Beis ha'Peras mentioned above, (a));
3.People's feet (Parsos) stay away from the area because of its Tum'ah.
(c)In the first type of Beis ha'Peras (a field with a burial plot that has been plowed), the Rabanan decreed that the field is Metamei in every direction from the grave for the length of the furrow of a plow, which is 50 Amos. This results in an area 100 Amos by 100 Amos around the grave (RASH to Ohalos 17:1). The Rabanan instituted a way to remove the Tum'ah from the area that was plowed (in certain cases) by blowing the dirt of each section of the field to check for small pieces of bone.
6)[last line]ôåú÷ï ìî÷åäPOSKAN L'MIKVAH- he lets it run through a gutter into a Mikvah
12b----------------------------------------12b
7a)[line 1]øáééäREVIYAH- adding to the Mikvah more non-drawn water than the amount of drawn water (Mayim She'uvin; see above, entry #3) that is present there
b)[line 2]äîùëäHAMSHACHAH- drawing water over a surface. When there are 21 Lug of valid water in the Mikvah, the rest of the Mikvah may be filled with Mayim She'uvin that was poured on the ground near the Mikvah and flowed from there into the Mikvah. This is referred as Hamshachah. Some Tana'im allow the entire 40 Se'ah of the Mikvah to be filled with Mayim She'uvin through Hamshachah.
8)[line 14]ä÷ãéí òôø ìîéíHIKDIM AFAR L'MAYIM - he put the dirt in before the water (MEI SOTAH)
(a)A Sotah is a woman who is suspected of committing adultery because she was warned by her husband not to seclude herself with a certain man and she violated the warning. The process of warning her in front of witnesses is called Kinuy. The witnesses who see her seclude herself with the suspected adulterer are called Eidei Stirah. The time of seclusion must be at least for the time that it takes to roast an egg and swallow it. The woman is forbidden to her husband and the alleged adulterer until she drinks Mei Sotah (see (d), below). If she committed adultery after not heeding the warning of two witnesses, she is put to death by Chenek (choking), as it states in the Torah (Devarim 22:22). One witness to adultery ("Ed Tum'ah) prevents her from drinking the Mei Sotah.
(b)After Kinuy and Stirah, the husband must bring his wife to the Beis ha'Mikdash to perform the process of the Mei Sotah. On the way there, Beis Din appoints two Torah scholars to accompany them to make sure that they do not engage in marital relations, which are forbidden to them. Moreover, if the couple does have marital relations at this point, the Mei Sotah will not work, since the husband must be "Menukeh me'Avon," clear (lit. cleaned) of sin for the ceremony to work. The Gemara (Sotah 47b) explains that this means that he did not have relations with his wife from the time that she became prohibited to him, or with any other woman (ever) who was prohibited to him (RASHI to Sotah ibid.)
(c)The husband brings a sacrifice consisting of 1/10 of an Eifah (approximately 2.16, 2.49 or 4.32 liters, depending upon the differing Halachic opinions) of barley flour as a Minchah offering. Oil and Levonah are not added (Bamidbar 5:15), and Hagashah, Kemitzah and Haktarah are performed (see Background to Menachos 72:25a:c). The Sheyarei ha'Minchah are eaten by the Kohanim. In the Azarah of the Beis ha'Mikdash, a Kohen reads Parshas Sotah, the portion of the Torah describing the curses with which a Sotah is cursed, out loud (in any language that the Sotah understands) and makes the Sotah swear that she has been faithful to her husband.
(d)An earthenware jug is then filled with half a Log of water from the Kiyor, and dirt from the floor of the Azarah is placed on top of the water. Parshas Sotah (that contains numerous appearances of HaSh-m's name) is written on parchment and then immersed in the water, which causes the ink to dissolve, erasing the Holy Names. The Sotah afterwards drinks from the water. If she was unfaithful to her husband and allowed herself to become defiled, the water would enter her body and poison her, causing her belly to swell out and her thigh to rupture. If she was faithful to her husband, she remained unharmed and would be blessed that she would become pregnant (Bamidbar 5:11-31). In times when there is no Mei Sotah such as in the present day, a Sotah must be divorced and does not receive her Kesuvah.
(e)The correct order of preparing the Mei Sotah requires that the half Log of water be placed into the jug first, and then the dirt from the floor of the Mishkan is placed on top of the water. When the dirt was put in the jug before the water, the Tana'im argue whether the Mei Sotah is valid.