Daf 113 — Zevachim 113 Summary

Zevachim 113 – Good Morning Raboisai Parah Adumah — Where Is It Done? The daf focuses on the Parah Adumah and its unique avodah. Key rule: • The Parah Adumah is not done in Yerushalayim • It is done outside the walls , specifically on Har HaZeisim , facing the entrance of the Heichal Even though today Har HaZeisim is part of Yerushalayim, halachically: Yerushalayim ends at the wall — beyond that is “outside”. Why No Kares for Parah Adumah Outside? Unlike: • An Olah slaughtered outside → chayav kares The Parah Adumah: • Has its avodah outside by definition • Therefore: Doing it “outside its place” does not create kares The Mishnah’s case is not “outside Yerushalayim,” but outside its designated location . What Makes the Parah Pasul? Facing the Heichal The Torah says: • The blood must be sprinkled toward the opening of the Ohel Moed Through a hekesh : • Just as hazayah must face the Heichal • So too shechitah must face the Heichal If: • The Parah is slaughtered not facing the entrance → it is pasul Why Mention “Burn It With Its Waste”? The Torah unusually says: “ ָּׂה וְשָׂרַף… אֶת עֹר ָּׂה וְאֶת בְשָׂרָּׂה… וְאֶת פִּרְש ” Why mention waste? Answer: • It teaches that the Parah is burned where it lies • We do not move it to a different location • Even though an animal can convulse after death Tumah Concerns — Were There Bones in Eretz Yisrael? A major machlokes: • Reish Lakish : There was a Mabul in Eretz Yisrael • Rabbi Yochanan : There was no Mabul in Eretz Yisrael Nafka mina: • Are we concerned about unknown graves ( קבר התהום ) everywhere? Rabbi Yochanan: Eretz Yisrael was checked — no concern of buried remains But If So — Why All the Extreme Precautions? The Gemara describes extraordinary measures: • Special courtyards built hollow • Pregnant women brought there to give birth • Children raised without any tumah • Children transported on doors placed on bulls • Drawing water only with stone vessels Question: If Eretz Yisrael is tahor, why all this? Answer — To Oppose the Tzedukim Background: • Tzedukim claimed: o Only a fully tahor Kohen may perform the Parah • Chachamim held: o Even a Tevul Yom may perform the avodah To prove the Tzedukim wrong: • Chachamim intentionally used a Tevul Yom But to prevent people from: • Treating the Parah lightly, They went to the opposite extreme : Demonstrating maximum chumrah everywhere else Children Born “Tahor” — How Is That Possible? Question: • A woman giving birth becomes tamei — so how can children be “born tahor”? Answer (Tosafos): • These precautions were not strictly required • They were done for public perception • The real concern was: o Tum’as Meis o Tum’as Keri (which does not apply to young children) The Mabul Debate Returns Reish Lakish challenges Rabbi Yochanan: • The Torah says: “All that was on dry land died” Rabbi Yochanan answers: • They died not from flooding, • But from heat / steam ( הֶבֶל ) Proof: • The water of the Mabul was boiling • Fish survived only because: o The oceans remained cool The Re’eim (Giant Animal) and the Teivah A famous Aggadic passage: • The Re’eim was too large for the Teivah Solutions offered: • Only its head entered • Or only its nostrils • Or it was tied to the Teivah This leads back to the debate: • If there was no Mabul in Eretz Yisrael, the Re’eim could survive on land there Final Resolution — Two Deaths, Two Reasons The Gemara distinguishes: • Those who died in the Mabul • Those who died in later destructions (e.g. Nevuchadnezzar) Dead bodies were: • Cleared and buried in inhabited areas • Not necessarily removed everywhere Thus: • Even according to Reish Lakish, certain areas required checking for tumah • Especially outside Yerushalayim Takeaway – Zevachim 113 • Parah Adumah is done outside Yerushalayim , on Har HaZeisim • It must be slaughtered facing the Heichal • Its avodah does not generate kares • Extreme taharah measures were partly symbolic • The Tzeduki – Chachamim dispute shaped public practice • Machlokes whether the Mabul affected Eretz Yisrael • Heat, not water, explains universal death • Aggadah and halacha intertwine deeply in this daf לעילוי נשמת אמי מורתי רות בת הרב מנחם מנדל