תלמוד על חגי 2:12

There⁸³In Babylonia. However, in the Babli, Pesaḥim 17a, only one verse is discussed and Rav thinks that the question was about fourth degree impurity and the Cohen’s answer was wrong but Samuel thinks that the question was about fifth degree and the answer was correct. Modern commentaries on Ḥaggai 2:12–13 do not contribute to the understanding of the verses., they say: The prophet Haggai asked two questions; one they answered correctly and one incorrectly. ⁸⁴Ḥag. 2:12. In the verse, the question is הֲיִקְדָּשׁ “is it going to be forbidden as sanctified food?”; cf. Introduction to Tractate Kilaim. Sanctified food can be forbidden only if it is either impure or out of its proper place or time. Since the second type of prohibition is not applicable here, the question must be one of impurity.“Assume a man carries holy meat in the corner of his garment.” The corner is of primary impurity, the holy meat of second degree, bread and soup of third degree, wine, oil, and food of the fourth. Does there exist a fourth degree of impurity for sanctified food? “The Cohanim answered, and said: No.” They did not answer correctly, since there is a fourth degree of impurity for sanctified food⁸⁵This argument gives biblical status to impurity of the fourth degree but rabbinical to the primary impurity of all impure fluids. Therefore, it belongs to the tradition of R. Aqiba.. “Ḥaggai said, if a person impure by the impurity of the dead would touch all of these, would they be impure?” If the corner would be impure by the impurity of the dead⁸⁶In that case, the garment of the mourner would have original impurity and the sacrificial meat would be impure in the first degree. and touched these. Would it be impure? “The Cohanim answered and said, it would be impure.” They answered correctly. But Rebbi Jeremiah, Rebbi Ḥiyya said in the name of Rebbi Joḥanan: He asked them before they decided about fourth degree [impurity] for sanctified food⁸⁷In that case, both answers were correct.. Then why did he curse them⁸⁸He really did not curse them but needed the answer “impure” as a starting point of his sermon.? As a person who looks for a pretext against his neighbor. What difference does it make for the House? Is that not what he said: “What they are sacrificing there is impure⁸⁹Ḥag. 2:14.”? That is what Rebbi Simon bar Zavdi said, they found the skull of Oman the Jebusite⁹⁰A person with gonorrhea imparts impurity to anything he moves, even if he never touched it and it was lying on a platform that could never become impure (such as a flat wooden plank.) Cf. Demay Chapter 2, Note 163. under the altar.

Rebbi Aḥa in the name of Rebbi Abba bar Cahana: They were expert in pushings⁹⁰A person with gonorrhea imparts impurity to anything he moves, even if he never touched it and it was lying on a platform that could never become impure (such as a flat wooden plank.) Cf. Demay Chapter 2, Note 163. but not expert in slight impurities. ⁸⁴Ḥag. 2:12. In the verse, the question is הֲיִקְדָּשׁ “is it going to be forbidden as sanctified food?”; cf. Introduction to Tractate Kilaim. Sanctified food can be forbidden only if it is either impure or out of its proper place or time. Since the second type of prohibition is not applicable here, the question must be one of impurity.“Assume a man carries holy meat,” he asked them whether someone impure by the impurity of the dead imparts impurity by pushing. “The Cohanim answered, and said: No;” they answered him correctly. He asked them whether someone impure by the impurity of the dead imparts slight impurity⁹¹A person with gonorrhea imparts original impurity to anything he sits on (Lev. 15:10) directly or indirectly. Anything which is above the person becomes impure rabbinically in a “slight impurity”; cf. Mishnah Zavim 4:6, Demay Chapter 2, Note 162 and J. Levy’s long explanation in his Dictionary, vol. 3, s. v. מדף, with H. L. Fleischer’s long etymological note, p. 305.. “The Cohanim answered and said: It will be impure.” They did not answer correctly, for the impurity of the dead does not impart slight impurity⁹²Both kinds of impurity are restricted to persons whose own body is the source of the impurity..

Rebbi Tanḥuma, Rebbi Phineas, in the name of Rebbi Levi: He asked them about the fifth degree of sanctified food. ⁸⁴Ḥag. 2:12. In the verse, the question is הֲיִקְדָּשׁ “is it going to be forbidden as sanctified food?”; cf. Introduction to Tractate Kilaim. Sanctified food can be forbidden only if it is either impure or out of its proper place or time. Since the second type of prohibition is not applicable here, the question must be one of impurity.“Assume a man carries holy meat in the corner of his garment.” The corner is of primary impurity, the holy meat of second degree, bread and soup third, wine and oil fourth, and the food of the fifth degree. Does there exist fifth degree impurity for sanctified food? “The Cohanim answered, and said: No.” They did answer correctly, since there is no fifth degree impurity for sanctified food⁸⁵This argument gives biblical status to impurity of the fourth degree but rabbinical to the primary impurity of all impure fluids. Therefore, it belongs to the tradition of R. Aqiba.. Then why did he curse them⁸⁸He really did not curse them but needed the answer “impure” as a starting point of his sermon.? As a person who looks for a pretext against his neighbor. What difference does it make for the House? Is that not what Rebbi Simon bar Zavdi said, they found the skull of Ornan the Jebusite⁹⁰A person with gonorrhea imparts impurity to anything he moves, even if he never touched it and it was lying on a platform that could never become impure (such as a flat wooden plank.) Cf. Demay Chapter 2, Note 163. under the altar.