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Megillah, Daf Kaf Gimmel, Part 6
Introduction
Today’s section contains a few last comments on the previous mishnah.
והקרקעות תשעה וכהן ואדם כיוצא בהן (וכו’), מנא הני מילי? אמר שמואל: עשרה כהנים כתובים בפרשה, חד לגופיה, (וחד למעוטי), ואידך הוי מיעוט אחר מיעוט. ואין מיעוט אחר מיעוט אלא לרבות: תשעה ישראלים וחד כהן.
ואימא חמשה כהנים וחמשה ישראלים! קשיא.
[For redeeming sanctified] land nine and a priest [are sufficient]
From where are these words? Shmuel said: Ten priests are mentioned in the section [dealing with sanctifications], one for the actual priest required, and the rest constitute a limitation after a limitation, and a limitation after a limitation has the results in an addition, to include, namely, nine Israelites and one priest.
But say rather five priests and five Israelites? This is a difficulty.
Leviticus 27 deals with sanctifying land and people and with the evaluation of that which was sanctified so that its value could be dedicated to the Temple. The word "priest/Kohen" is mentioned ten times in the passage. One mention is needed to teach that a priest must be present at the evaluation. The other nine are considered limitations that follow a prior limitation all of them limit the evaluator to a priest. We have a rule that a limitation after a limitation has the force of an inclusion (sort of like two negatives make a positive). Therefore, the other nine people need not be kohanim.
The problem is that the second "Kohen" is a limitation after a limitation, but the third is not, because the prior mention was not a limitation. In reality only the 2nd, 4th, 6th, 8th and 10th are limitations and therefore, five of the people should be priests and only five can be Israelites. The Talmud admits that this is a difficulty, and in the end, we have no source for this halakhah.
ואדם כיוצא בהן, אדם מי קדוש? אמר רבי אבהו: באומר דמי עלי. דתניא: האומר דמי עלי – שמין אותו כעבד. ועבד איתקש לקרקעות, דכתיב +ויקרא כה+ והתנחלתם אתם לבניכם אחריכם לרשת אחזה.
And similarly with human beings.
But can a human being become sanctified?
R. Abbahu said: It refers to one who says, "My monetary [value] be upon me" as it has been taught: "One who says, My monetary [value] be upon me, we estimate his value as we would that of a slave." And a slave is compared to property, as it is written, "And you shall pass them down as an inheritance for your children after you, to hold for a possession" (Leviticus 25:46).
The mishnah says that nine Israelites and a priest are required to evaluate a person sanctified to the Temple so that his worth can be redeemed. The Talmud asks how a person’s value is dedicated to the Temple. The answer is that the person says, "My monetary value is upon me." His value is estimated by assessing how much he would be worth as a slave. Since slaves are compared with property (both are passed down as an inheritance), just as land requires nine and a priest when being evaluated, so too does a person.