Kiddushin, Daf Ayin Zayin, Part 6
Introduction
Our sugya continues to deal with the somewhat confounding subject of what prohibitions create a halalah.
אמר ליה רב פפא לאביי ישראל הבא על אחותו זונה משוי לה חללה משוי לה או לא משוי לה
מי אמרינן קל וחומר מחייבי לאוין הויא חללה מחייבי כריתות לא כל שכן או דילמא אין חללה אלא מאיסור כהונה
R. Papa said to Abaye: If an Israelite has intercourse with his sister, he renders her a zonah, [but] does he also render her a halalah?
Do we make a kal vehomer argument: if she becomes a halalah by having intercourse with those who are forbidden to her by [only] negative commandments, how much more so by those who are forbidden by karet. Or perhaps, a halalah results from a priestly prohibition?
We know that when a priest has relations with someone prohibited to him, such as a divorcee, he renders her a halalah. The question is if this is also true of cases where an Israelite has relations with someone prohibited to him through incest, such as his sister. Does he render her a halalah, or just a zonah (woman prohibited to the priesthood)? We should note that there is not really much of a halakhic difference between them. In either case, she is not allowed to marry a priest. This is more of a theoretical question than a practical one.
אמר ליה אין (איסור) חללה אלא מאיסור כהונה בלבד
He answered: A halalah results only from a priestly prohibition.
The answer is that she is not rendered a zonah.
אמר רבא מנא הא מילתא דאמור רבנן אין חללה אלא מאיסור כהונה
דתניא לא יאמר גרושה בכהן גדול ותיתי בקל וחומר מכהן הדיוט ואנא אמינא השתא לכהן הדיוט אסורה לכהן גדול מיבעיא למה נאמרה כשם שחלוקה גרושה מזונה וחללה בכהן הדיוט כך חלוקה בכהן גדול
Rava said: How do we know this ruling which the Rabbis said [that] a halalah is only from a priestly prohibition?
Because it was taught: Let it not say a divorced woman is prohibited to a High Priest, and I could infer it from an ordinary priest; for I would say, If she is forbidden to an ordinary priest, do we even need to say that she is prohibited to a High Priest? Why then was it stated?
[To teach,] Just as a divorced woman is distinct from zonah and halalah in respect to an ordinary priest, so is she distinct in respect to a High Priest.
Rav brings support for the rule that a halalah is formed only when a priest has sex with someone prohibited to the priesthood. The proof will be from a baraita. The baraita begins by noting that the Torah did not need to teach that a divorcee is prohibited to the high priest. We could have learned this from a kal vehomer from an ordinary priest. So why does the Torah teach that she is prohibited? To teach that these are separate prohibitions and that the High Priest would be punished for each individual transgression.
פשיטא מיגרע גרעה אלא כשם שחלוקה גרושה מזונה וחללה בכהן הדיוט כך אלמנה חלוקה מגרושה וחללה זונה בכהן גדול
[But] that is obvious: is [the sanctity of a High Priest] in any way diminished [when he becomes High Priest]? But [it is rather to teach] just as a divorced woman is distinct from zonah and a halalah in respect of an ordinary priest, so is a widow distinct from a divorced woman, a halalah and a zonah in respect of a High Priest.
The Talmud just makes a small adjustment in the baraita. It is obvious that a High Priest would be punished for relations with a divorcee because every High Priest used to be an ordinary priest. Therefore, the baraita teaches that a widow is distinct from the other prohibited categories for the High Priest. The widow was not prohibited to him as an ordinary priest. He can be punished for each prohibition.
חללה למה נאמרה אין חללה אלא מאיסור כהונה
זונה למה נאמרה נאמר כאן זונה ונאמר להלן זונה מה כאן זרעו חולין אף להלן זרעו חולין
Why is halalah stated? [To teach that] a halalah is formed only as the result only of a priestly prohibition.
Why is zonah stated? Zonah is stated here; and it is also stated there: just as here, his offspring is profaned, so there too, his offspring is profaned.
Why does the Torah need to teach that a halalah and a zonah are prohibited to a High Priest we already said that with regard to ordinary priests?
The Torah teaches that a halalah is prohibited to a High Priest to teach that a halalah is formed only from a transgression of a priestly prohibition. Note that this is derived from the repetition of prohibition we could have learned elsewise.
The prohibition of the zonah is repeated because Leviticus 21:15 teaches that the offspring of a High Priest and a halalah is profaned meaning is also a halal/ah. So too the offspring of a halalah and an ordinary priest is a halal/halalah, profaned.
אמר רב אשי הילכך כהן הבא על אחותו זונה משוי לה חללה לא משוי לה חזר ובא עליה עשאה חללה
R. Ashi said: Therefore if a priest has intercourse with his sister, he renders her a zonah, not a halalah. But if he again has intercourse with her, he renders her halalah.
The first time a priest has sex with his sister, he renders her a zonah. This is not a priestly prohibition, it is a general prohibition, and sex that is generally prohibited renders a woman a zonah. If he has sex with her again, she becomes a halalah because this is a priestly prohibition.
If this was not obvious enough, I want to emphasize that these are theoretical discussions. Rabbis, as I have said many times, love categorizing things and especially people. Furthermore, the Torah is not all that clear what is a zonah, what is a halalah? The combination of categorization and biblical interpretation is what makes these passages so ripe for rabbinic discussion. Not because rabbis thought priests were having sex with their sisters so often.