Arakhin

That includes slaves.1 But according to the one who teaches ‘slaves’ explicitly, what does it include? — That includes the case [when the husband moves] from a beautiful habitation [in the Diaspora] into a bad one [in the land of Israel]. What does ‘All may compel to go up to Jerusalem’ include?2 It includes the case [of moving] from a beautiful habitation into a bad one. ‘All are obliged to observe the laws concerning the booth even priests, Levites and Israelites’. But that3 is self-evident, for if they are not obliged, who is obliged? — The statement is necessary for the priests, for I would have thought, since Scripture says: Ye shall dwell in booths,4 and a Master said: ‘Ye shall dwell’ [means] ‘in the same manner as you occupy your habitation’, just as in the dwelling husband and wife are living together, so shall husband and wife live together in the booth, and since the priests are prevented by the [Temple] service,5 one would have assumed they are free from the obligation to dwell in the booth; we are therefore taught that though they are free at the time of the service, outside the time of the service they are definitely obliged [to observe the laws of the booth]; just as is the case with travellers; for a Master has said: those who travel by day are free from the obligation of the booth by day and are bound to it at night. ‘All are obliged to observe the law concerning the fringes, even priests, Levites and Israelites’. But that is self-evident? — It is necessary because of the priests, for I would have thought, since it is written: Thou shalt not wear a mingled stuff . . . thou shalt make thee twisted cords,6 that only such persons as are bound by the prohibition of mingled stuff in their garments are obliged to make the twisted cords, as since to them [the wearing of mingled] stuff has been permitted,7 one might have thought that they would not be obliged to make themselves fringes, therefore we are informed that although that prohibition does not apply at the time of their service, it does apply outside that time of service. 8 ‘All are obliged to observe the commandment of the tefillin, even priests, Levites and Israelites’. But that is self-evident? — It is necessary because of the priests. For I might have assumed that since it says: And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thy hands, and they shall be for frontlets between thine eyes,9 that only those to whom [the obligation to bind] upon the hand applies are bound to [bind upon] the head; but as to the priests [the obligation of the sign] upon the hand does not apply to them, as it is written: [And his linen garment, his linen breeches] shall he put upon his flesh,10 [which means] that nothing may intervene between them and his flesh,11 one might say [the obligation of the sign upon] the head similarly does not apply to them, therefore we are informed that they are not indispensable one to another, as we learnt: The tefillin of the arm is not indispensable to the tefillin of the head, neither is the tefillin of the head indispensable to the tefillin of the arm.12 But why shall it be different with the tefillin of the hand?13 [Evidently] because Scripture says: [And his linen garments] ... shall he put upon his flesh? But in connection with [the sign upon] the head it is similarly written: And thou shalt set the mitre upon his head?14 — It was taught: ‘Between the plate and the mitre his hair was visible’, at the place where he put his tefillin. 15 ‘All are obliged to perform the commandment touching the horn, even priests, Levites and Israelites’. But that is self-evident? — For the sake of the priests is it necessary, for I might have assumed since it is written: It is a day of blowing the horn unto you,16 that only those who are obliged to sound the horn one day [a year] are obliged to do so on that day; the priests, however, since they are obliged to sound the horn throughout the year, as it is written: Ye shall blow with the trumpets over your burnt-offerings,17 one might have assumed to be free from that obligation. But these things are not similar. Here it is a case of the horn, there one of trumpets? — Still, the information is necessary, for I might have assumed, since we learnt18 that the Jubilee year is like the New Year with regard to the sounding of the horn and the benedictions, that therefore only he to whom the laws of the Jubilee year apply is obliged to perform the laws touching the New Year, but he to whom the laws of the Jubilee year do not apply, need not perform the laws touching the New Year, and since priests are not affected by the laws governing the Jubilee year, as we learnt:19 priests and Levites may sell at any time imported to Palestine. The master must either take him to the Holy Land or emancipate him outside thereof. Tosaf. s.v. hhu,tk . to be included because of the inclusive ‘all’; in the following cases the redundant ‘priests, Levites and Israelites’ is to be accounted for. The law was given to Israel. Israel is divided into the three groups, Priests, Levites and (common, not levitical) Israelites. Why then the repetition? The answer in each case will have to show that for some particular reason one of the three classes might have been excluded, but for the repeated clause, which expressly includes them. levitically impure. justified legalistic inference (Ber. 10a), they are assumed here to be interdependent. not interdependent, i.e., failure to bind the sign upon the head does not render the binding upon the hand invalid, or superfluous. Although part of the same sign-symbolism, they represent two independent, individual acts. regulation that nothing shall intervene between the linen garment and the priest's flesh, the tefillin being placed upon the biceps of the left arm, tradition provides for a free space between plate (Ex. XXVIII, 36) and mitre, where the tefillin of the head had its legitimate place. also mandatory, viz., Malkhiyoth, Zikhronoth and Shofroth.