Avodah Zarah, Daf Lammed Zayin, Part 4

 

Introduction

This section discusses the end of the Mishnah from Eduyot which was cited above.

 

ועל דיקרב למיתא מסאב וקרו ליה יוסף שריא: יוסף אסרא מיבעי ליה ועוד דאורייתא היא דכתיב (במדבר יט, טז) וכל אשר יגע על פני השדה בחלל חרב או במת וגו’

 

And that one who comes in contact with a corpse is defiled; and they called him, Yosef the permitter.

They should have called him Yosef the prohibiter !

Furthermore [that a corpse defiles] is from the Torah, as it is written, And whosoever in the open field touches one that is slain with a sword, or a dead body [or a bone of a man, or a grave, shall be unclean seven days] (Numbers 19:16).

 

There are two problems with the last section of the Mishnah. First of all, in this case R. Yose b. Yoezer is stringent. Why then is this put in with the reasons that they call him Yosef the permitter.

Second, what he seems to be stringent about is actually in the Torah itself. This is not a rabbinic decree or law of any sorts. It is from the Torah.

 

דאורייתא דיקרב טמא דיקרב בדיקרב טהור ואתו אינהו וגזור אפילו דיקרב בדיקרב ואתא איהו ואוקמה אדאורייתא

 

According to the Torah he who comes in contact with a corpse is defiled, but anybody who comes in contact with this person is pure; and [the rabbis] proceeded to decree that even one who has contact with one who had contact [with a dead body] is defiled. And then [Yose b. Yo’ezer] came an established the law according to the Torah.

 

This is the first attempt to resolve the difficulty. According to the Torah only one who comes into contact with a dead body is defiled. One who comes into contact with such a person is not defiled. The rabbis added that he too is defiled, but then Yose b. Yoezer came and restored the law to the more lenient, biblical law. That is why they called him a permitter.

 

דיקרב בדיקרב נמי דאורייתא הוא דכתיב (במדבר יט, כב) וכל אשר יגע בו הטמא יטמא

 

But [the impurity of] a person who comes in contact with one who had touched a corpse is also from the Torah, for it is written, And whatsoever the unclean person touches shall be impure (Numbers 19:22).

 

The problem with the above resolution is that the law that a person who is defiled by contact with the dead defiles another person is also from the Torah. So how can we say the rabbis decreed this? And how could Yose b. Yoezer cancel a biblical law?

 

אמרוה רבנן קמיה דרבא משמיה דמר זוטרא בריה דרב נחמן דאמר משמיה דרב נחמן דאורייתא דיקרב בדיקרב בחיבורין טומאת שבעה שלא בחיבורין טומאת ערב ואתו אינהו וגזור אפילו שלא בחיבורין טומאת שבעה ואתא איהו ואוקמה אדאורייתא

 

The rabbis said this in front of Rava in the name of Mar Zutra son of Nahman who said it in the name of R. Nahman: According to the Torah if a person touches another while the latter is in contact [with a corpse] he too is defiled for seven days; but if he is not in contact [with the corpse], then he is only defiled until the evening. The rabbis came and decreed that even without contact he is defiled for seven days, and [R. Yose b. Yoezer] came and reestablished the law according to the Torah.

 

According to this suggested reconstruction, the person who touches a corpse transmits seven-day impurity only while he is still in contact with the corpse. The rabbis added that even when he is not in contact with the corpse he still defiles the other person for seven days. Rabbi Yose b. Yoezer restored the law to its biblical form.

 

דאורייתא מאי היא דכתיב (במדבר יט, יא) "הנוגע במת לכל נפש אדם וטמא שבעת ימים" וכתיב "וכל אשר יגע בו הטמא יטמא" וכתיב "והנפש הנוגעת תטמא עד הערב" הא כיצד כאן בחיבורין כאן שלא בחיבורין

 

From where do we know this from the Torah? As it is written, He that touches the dead body of any man shall be impure for seven days (Numbers 19:11) and it is also written, And whatsoever the impure person touches shall be impure (19:22) and it is written, the soul that touches it shall be impure until evening (ibid). How [are these texts] to be understood? The former refers to where there is actual contact and the latter to where there is not actual contact.

 

The rabbis use a discrepancy in the verses to prove that there is a difference between a case where the person is still in contact with the dead body (he transmits seven-day impurity) and a case where he is no longer in contact with the dead body (he transmit one-day impurity). The verse that says he shall be impure, which means seven days, refers to a person who touches another person who is still in contact with the dead body. And the verse that says that he is only impure until evening refers to one who is no longer in contact with a dead body.