Even the holy Temple in Jerusalem needed household repairs from time to time. Today’s daf Eruvin 105 discusses who was allowed enter the Temple to make these repairs. Of course there is a disagreement on who is allowed make these repairs.
“The
Sages taught in a baraita: It is permitted for everyone to enter
the Sanctuary to build, to repair, or to remove impurity from inside.
However, wherever possible, the mitzva is for these tasks to be
performed by priests. If no priests are available, Levites enter; if no
Levites are available, Israelites enter. In both cases, if they are
ritually pure, yes, they may enter, but if they are impure, no,
they may not enter the holy place.
“Rav Huna
said: Rav Kahana, who was a priest, supports priests by emphasizing
their special sanctity. As Rav Kahana taught in a baraita: Since
it is stated with regard to a priest who has a physical blemish, “Only
he shall not go in unto the veil, nor come near to the altar, because he
has a blemish, that he profane not My holy places; for I am the Lord who
sanctifies them” (Leviticus
21:23), I might have thought that priests with blemishes may not
enter the area between the Entrance Hall and the altar to manufacture
beaten plates of gold for the Holy of Holies.
“Therefore, the
verse teaches “only” as an expression of exclusion, which means that there
is a distinction here: Although the mitzva should be performed
with unblemished priests ab initio, if no unblemished
priests are available, blemished ones may enter. Likewise, it is
the duty of ritually pure priests; if no pure priests are
available, impure ones may enter. In both cases, if they are priests,
yes, they may enter, but if they are Israelites, no, they may not
enter the holy place. According to Rav Kahana, ritually impure priests take
precedence over ritually pure Israelites.” (Sefaria.org translation)
The first baraita prioritizes
first the priests, second the Levites, third and last the Israelites.
Nevertheless, everybody is allowed to enter the Temple to make repairs. The
second baraita limits only priests as repair men. Rav Kahana prioritizes first the unblemished
priests, second the blemished, but pure or the term I prefer for the Hebrew
tahor (טהור) ritually ready priests, and finally
impure or the term I prefer for tamei (טמא)
ritually unready. And nobody else.
Rambam poskins that when the Temple needs repair ritually ready and unblemished priests are given the first opportunity to do the work. If there are no ritually ready unblemished priests then comes ritually ready blemished priests. If no priests are available then Levites made to the work. If there are no Levites available then Israelites should enter into the work. If there are no ritually ready people than the ritually unready may enter to fix the Temple. (Mishneh Torah, Sefer Avodah, chapter 7, Hagahot Maimoniyot)
With today’s daf we have finished massekhet Eruvin which concludes the official discussion of the laws of Shabbat! If you add the 156 pages of massekhet Shabbat with the 104 pages of massekhet Eruvin, the total is 261 pages. We have spent over eight months delving into the ins and outs of Shabbat. No other topic in the Talmud receives that much attention. If you would ask the person on the street what is the holiest day in the Jewish calendar, he or she would answer Yom Kippur. But based on the attention and the importance given to Shabbat in the Talmud, I believe you would have to agree that Shabbat is the holiest day of the year.
Ahad Ha’am once said, “More than the Jews have kept the Shabbat, the Shabbat has kept the Jews.” I encourage you therefore, to celebrate Shabbat both at home and in the synagogue. Because of the Covid 19 pandemic synagogues from all the different streams have moved their services online. There is such a plethora of zoom Shabbat services, I am sure you can a service that touches your soul. You can find my Kabbalat Shabbat services at 5 PM (EST) Friday nights and my Shabbat morning services at 10 AM (EST) streaming on my Facebook homepage.
For those who are looking to incorporate Shabbat into their homes, I highly recommend Dr. Ron Wolfson’s Shabbat, 2nd Edition: The Family Guide to Preparing for and Welcoming the Sabbath (The Art of Jewish Living Series) 2nd Edition, New
Tomorrow on
to Pesach!
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