QUESTION: The Gemara relates that ribbons of crimson wool of different weights were used for different purposes. The Gemara suggests that for the Sa'ir ha'Mishtale'ach, a piece of wool that weighed two Sela'im was used, so that after it was torn in half each half weighed one Sela (Rashi).

Why must each half of the ribbon weigh a Sela after it is torn, and not a Shekel (a half-Sela)?

(a) The TOSFOS YESHANIM answers that since the ribbon would miraculously turn white when Hash-m granted atonement to the Jewish people, a large amount of wool was required so that the miracle would be more apparent.

(b) HA'GA'ON RAV YEHOSHUA LEIB DISKIN offers another insight into the reason for why the ribbon had to weigh two Sela'im. The Gemara in Shabbos (10b) says that Yakov gave to Yosef "two Sela'im" of silk more than he gave to Yosef's brothers. This apparent display of favoritism caused the brothers to become jealous of Yosef and to sell him as a slave. The Midrash says (about the Sa'ir Chatas that the Jewish people offered during the Milu'im) that when the nation offers a goat as a Chatas, it atones for the brothers' sale of Yosef and for dipping his cloak in the blood of a goat (Yalkut Shimoni Shemini #521; see also Moreh Nevuchim 3:46). Accordingly, perhaps the ribbon of the Sa'ir ha'Mishtale'ach weighed two Sela'im in order to allude to the fact that when it turned white, it showed that the people had achieved atonement for the sin of the sale of Yosef which was brought about by a piece of material that weighed two Sela'im.

OPINIONS: The Gemara teaches that the Avodah of Yom Kippur is valid only when performed by the Kohen Gadol. Rav and Shmuel argue whether this rule applies to the Shechitah of the bull of Aharon (the Kohen Gadol) on Yom Kippur. Rav rules that the Shechitah of the bull of Aharon may be performed even by a non-Kohen. Since Shechitah is not an Avodah that must be done by a Kohen, the Torah's requirement that Aharon (i.e. the Kohen Gadol) perform the Avodah of Yom Kippur does not apply to it.

Shmuel argues and asserts that the bull of Aharon must be slaughtered by the Kohen Gadol, just as the other Avodos of the day must be done by the Kohen Gadol. Not only is the bull invalid if a non-Kohen slaughters it, but it is invalid even if a Kohen other than the Kohen Gadol slaughters it because the Torah says that "Aharon" must slaughter it (TOSFOS YESHANIM, based on Yevamos 33b).

How does Shmuel respond to Rav's reasoning? If Shechitah is not an actual Avodah, why is its performance limited to the Kohen Gadol?

(a) TOSFOS (DH Shechitah) cites RABEINU YOSEF of Clisson who suggests that the requirement that the Kohen Gadol slaughter his bull differs from the requirement that the Kohen Gadol perform the other Avodos of the day. The Torah requires that the Kohen Gadol perform the other Avodos because they are Avodos, and any part of the Avodah of Yom Kippur must be performed by the Kohen Gadol. In contrast, the Shechitah of the Kohen Gadol's bull must be performed by the Kohen Gadol simply because he is the owner of the bull, and the Torah requires that the owner of the bull perform the Shechitah. Although the Gemara in Menachos (19b) teaches that, b'Di'eved, the Shechitah of other Korbanos does not need to be performed by the owner of the Korban (the owner must perform Shechitah only l'Chatchilah; see Rashi to Pesachim 7b, DH Pesach), on Yom Kippur if the owner of the bull does not perform its Shechitah, it is an invalid Korban.

Tosfos implies that the Shechitah of the bull of Aharon, like every other Shechitah, does not require Kidush Yadayim or Bigdei Kehunah, because it is not an Avodah (GEVUROS ARI). Similarly, if a non-Kohen -- or a Kohen Hedyot -- performs the Shechitah of the bull, he is not punished with Misah b'Yedei Shamayim and Malkus, the punishment given to a non-Kohen who performs an Avodah in the Beis ha'Mikdash. At worst, he transgresses only an Isur Aseh by not letting the Kohen Gadol perform the Shechitah (SHA'AR HA'MELECH, Hilchos Avodas Yom ha'Kipurim 1:2).

Tosfos proves this assertion from the Gemara in Menachos (6b) which implies that no Shechitah of a Korban is considered an Avodah such that it requires a Kohen.

(b) According to one opinion in the Yerushalmi (Yoma 3:7), even the Sa'ir of Yom Kippur must be slaughtered by the Kohen Gadol. It is evident from this view that the reason it must be done by the Kohen Gadol is not because he is the owner of the Korban -- the Sa'ir is brought from public funds and not from the Kohen Gadol's private funds (BRISKER RAV, Chidushim to Yoma).

Does this mean that the Shechitah of the bull of Aharon and the Sa'ir is considered an Avodah and requires Kidush Yadayim and Bigdei Kehunah? Would a non-Kohen be Chayav Misah if he performs their Shechitah?

The Brisker Rav suggests that perhaps the Shechitah of even these Korbanos is not an Avodah (as the Gemara in Menachos implies), but nevertheless the Torah requires that the Kohen Gadol perform the Shechitah. The requirement for a Kohen in this case is similar to the Torah's requirement that a Kohen must rule on Mar'os Nega'im, even though such rulings involve no Avodah (as Rav says with regard to the Shechitah of the Parah Adumah; this may be the intention of Tosfos in Menachos 5a, DH Shechitah).

(c) The SHA'AR HA'MELECH proposes that the Shechitah of the bull of Aharon must be performed by the Kohen Gadol because it is considered a full-fledged Avodah. Consequently, if a non-Kohen performs the Shechitah, he is punished with Misah b'Yedei Shamayim and Malkus, just as he is punished when he performs any other Avodah in the Beis ha'Mikdash. Similarly, its Shechitah requires Kidush Yadayim and Bigdei Kehunah.

The Sha'ar ha'Melech proves this from the Gemara in Yevamos (33b). The Gemara there first proposes that there is no case in which a non-Kohen is liable for both performing Avodah in the Beis ha'Mikdash and Chilul Shabbos together. The only Avodah that involves Chilul Shabbos is Shechitah, and a non-Kohen may perform Shechitah. The Gemara retracts this assertion and says that a non-Kohen -- and even a Kohen Hedyot -- is liable for both Chilul Shabbos and for performing an Avodah in the Beis ha'Mikdash when he slaughters the bull of Aharon, according to Shmuel in the Gemara here who insists that the Shechitah must be done by the Kohen Gadol. It is clear from the Gemara in Yevamos that anyone other than the Kohen Gadol is liable (for serving in the Beis ha'Mikdash as a Zar) if he slaughters the bull of Aharon.

However, the Gemara in Menachos (6b) seems to contradict this view. The Gemara there implies that no Shechitah is considered an Avodah.

Apparently, the Gemara in Yevamos does not mean that the non-Kohen, or Kohen Hedyot, is liable for Malkus for slaughtering the bull of Aharon. Rather, it means that he is liable for transgressing an Aseh. (Indeed, the Gemara in Yevamos eventually concludes that the word "Chayav" in this case does not refer to a Chiyuv Malkus at all. Apparently, even before the Gemara reaches its conclusion, the Gemara considered this possibility. That is why it suggested that the statement refers to the bull of Aharon: when a non-Kohen slaughters it, he is punished with Malkus for Chilul Shabbos, but he is not punished for performing an Avodah in the Beis ha'Mikdash, because his transgression involves only an Aseh.)