Yoma

if one should bring forth an ass with her.1 And he shall slay it [implies] that one must not slaughter any other [heifer] with it. Before him1 [implies] according to Rab that he must not divert his attention from her; according to Samuel, that a lay Israelite may slaughter, and Eleazar look on.2 And Eleazar the priest shall take of its blood with his finger3 [is written] according to Samuel in order to refer it [the rite] back to Eleazar;4 according to Rab:5 this is a limitation following a limitation and a double limitation serves to widen the scope, viz., that even a common priest may do it. And the priest shall take cedar-wood, and hyssop, and scarlet,6 [is written] according to Samuel, that even a common priest [may take and cast it] according to Rab:7 it is necessary [to mention it], for you might have thought and said: Since these things do not belong to the heifer itself, they do not require any priest's service, therefore Scripture informs us [that they do]. Then the priest shall wash his clothes,8 [implies] in his priestly9 garments. And the priest shall be unclean until the even,8 [implies] that he shall be in his priestly garments10 even in future generations. That will be quite right according to him who holds that [the heifer ceremony] will in future generations be performed by a common priest,11 but according to him who holds that in future generations [the heifer ceremony will be performed by] the high priest, now, since a high priest is required, is it necessary to state that he must be in his priestly garments? — Yes, Scripture does [occasionally] take the trouble to mention things which might have been inferred a minori. And a man that is clean shall gather up the ashes of the heifer and lay them up12 — ‘a man,’ [is written] to declare fit a lay Israelite;13 ‘that is clean’ — to declare fit a woman; and ‘lay them up’ [implies] one who has understanding how to lay them up, that excludes one deaf and dumb, an idiot, and a minor, who have not the understanding of how to lay them up. We learned elsewhere:14 All are fit to prepare [the waters of lustration]15 with the exception of the deaf and dumb, the idiot, and the minor. R. Judah declares fit a minor and disqualifies a woman and an hermaphrodite. What is the reason for the Rabbis’ view? — Because it is written: And for the unclean they shall take of the ashes of the burning of the purification from sin [and put upon them running water in a vessel],16 i.e., they17 whom I declared unto thee unfit for the gathering [of the ashes] I also declared unto thee unfit for the preparation [of the waters of lustration], but they whom I declared fit to thee for the gathering, I have also declared unto thee fit for the preparation. And [what does] R. Judah [say]? — If that were so,18 Scripture should have said: ‘He shall take [we-lakah ]’;19 what is the meaning of they shall take’? To intimate that even a minor whom I declared unto thee unfit there, is fit to act here.20 — Whence does he know that a woman is unfit? — Because Scripture says: [‘he shall put’] i.e., he, but not she, shall put. — And the Rabbis? — If the Divine Law had written ‘He shall take’,’he shall put’, one might have assumed the same man must both give and put, therefore Scripture wrote ‘and they shall take’. And if the Divine Law had stated ‘they shall take’ and [also] ‘they shall put’, one might have assumed that there must be two to take and put, therefore Scripture wrote: ‘they shall take’ and ‘he shall put’, to indicate that even if [it is right] two take [the ashes] and one puts [the running water in a vessel]. — And a clean man shall take hyssop, and cup it in the water [and sprinkle],21 according to the Rabbis:22 ‘A man’ [implies] but not a woman; ‘clean’ is [written] to declare fit23 even a minor; according to R. Judah:24 ‘a man’ [implies] but not a minor; ‘clean’ to declare fit a woman. An objection25 was raised: ‘All are qualified to sprinkle except one whose sex is unknown, an hermaphrodite and a woman; but a child that is without26 understanding, a woman may aid in sprinkling’ the assumption that it was he who is sacrificed; according to Rabbi, it would be forbidden, for ‘it’ excludes permission for any other animal to be brought forth together with her. had to be done by ‘Eleazar’, otherwise it might have been assured that it could be performed by the lay Israelite who did the slaughtering. must do it in his priestly garments. Atonement and with the heifer; hence it is necessary to state that in the future, nonetheless, he must then wear his official garb. verse 9. excluding a minor. superfluous here.