044a - מומין אלו פרק שביעי בכורות דף מד, ע"א

...even though he does not paint both his eyes at once.^[1]

[Both his eyes above,] both his eyes below:^[2]

What is "both his eyes above, both his eyes below"?

If you say: both his eyes above – that they look upward; both his eyes below – that they look downward; one eye above and one eye below – that one eye looks downward and one eye upward,

דחזיין למעלה - that [the eyes] stand in their place, in order, but at all times they look upward. [As for] room and attic: the room is below, the attic above.

that is the same as "he sees the room and the attic at once"!

Rather: both his eyes above – that they are set high; both his eyes below – that they are set low; one eye above and one eye below – that one eye is set above and one eye below; and [where] they are set in order, too, yet he sees the room and the attic at once.

דקיימן למעלה - at the height of the forehead, unlike other people.

וקיימן כסדרן - that is, they stand in their place in order, yet he sees the room and the attic, for one eye looks upward and one eye looks downward.

From where are these matters [derived]?

For the Rabbis taught: (Vayikra 21) "In his eye" – whatever is in his eye. From here they said: both his eyes below, both his eyes above, one eye above and one eye below, and one who sees the room and the attic at once, or one who speaks with his fellow and another says, "He is looking at me."

בעינו - the Torah wrote "teval'lul in his eye," though it could have written [only] "dak, teval'lul," and I would know that these apply only to the eye.

The Rabbis taught: (Vayikra 21) "Blind" – whether blind in both his eyes or blind in one of his eyes. Chorvar and permanent water^[3] – from where? The Torah says: "a blind man."

איש עור - from the inclusion^[4] of [the word] "man."

Rava said: Why do I need that the Merciful One wrote "man," "blind," "dak," "teval'lul," "in his eye"?^[5]

They are necessary.

For if the Merciful One had written [only] "blind" – [I would say it is] because [the eyes] are not there at all, but chorvar and permanent water, where [the eyes] are present – no; [so] the Merciful One wrote "man."

עור - implies that his eyes were removed and are not there at all.

And if the Merciful One had written "man" – because he does not see at all, but a diminishing [of sight] – no; [so] the Merciful One wrote "dak."

מחסורייתא - that his sight is diminished, but he sees somewhat.

דק - toile^[6] [a film], which diminishes the sight but does not take it away.

And if the Merciful One had written "dak" – because they diminish [the sight], but a mixing – no; [so] the Merciful One wrote "teval'lul."

מבלבליתא - white that cuts across the sirah^[7] and enters the black, and does not shorten the sight at all.

And if the Merciful One had written "teval'lul" – because they mix, but on account of [eyes] that are unusual – no; [so] the Merciful One wrote "in his eye."

משונייתא - that are unusual in their position, such as above or below, or [where] he sees room and attic at once.

Rava said: Therefore, whatever is due to dimness comes from "man"; a diminishing – from "dak"; a mixing – from "teval'lul"; unusual [eyes] – from "in his eye."

כהיותא - that he does not see.

אתיא מאיש - for these, chorvar and permanent water, are dimness, and the Tanna of the beraisa derives them from "man."

Sachi shemesh:^[8] Rav Yosef taught: sani shemesh.

סכי שמש תני רב יוסף סני שמש - one who hates the sun and cannot look at a place where the sun is shining.

Zagdayin:^[9] Rav Huna showed: one of ours and one of theirs.

חד מדידהו וחד מדידן - that he has one eye like the eyes of these who sit opposite me, and one eye [like] mine. Rav Yehudah was sitting opposite him, and his eyes were unusual.

And Rav Yehudah took offense.

They objected: Shachvana – whose eyebrows lie down; zagdom – one black and one white!

שכבנא - whose eyebrows are long and lie over his eyes.

The Tanna calls any pair that is not equal to each other "zagdom."

The tziran:^[10] his eyes are round and rounder, tearing, dripping, streaming.

תרוטות - round.

וצירניות - rounder than terutos.

דומעות - a little.

דולפות - more than tearing.

טורדות - more than dripping, as in (Mishlei 27) "a continual dripping."

It was taught: the zadir, the lufin and the tamir.

תנא אף הזריין ולופיין והתומיין - these are a blemish: one whose eyes are bleary.

Zavir – whose eye is bleary; lufin – whose lashes are many; tamir – whose lashes are completely gone.

But are these taught among the blemishes?

והא גבי מומין תני להו - is this tamir a blemish? But our Mishnah disqualifies him only because of appearance!

But we learned: one whose eyelashes fell out is unfit because of appearance!^[11]

It is not difficult: this – where stumps remained; that – where no stumps remained.

אישתייר גרדומי - roots [remained]: it is not a blemish, only [unfit] because of appearance.

MISHNAH

His eyes are large like those of a calf or small like those of a goose,

his body is large for his limbs or small for his limbs,

מתני' מאבריו - such as his arms, his legs and his shins.

his nose is large for his limbs or small for his limbs,

the tzomem and the tzome'a.

צימם צימע - the Mishnah explains it.

Who is a tzome'a? Anyone whose ears are small. And the tzomem? Anyone whose ears resemble a sponge.

לספוג - that are shriveled and closed.

His upper lip protrudes over the lower, [or] the lower protrudes over the upper – this is a blemish.

And one whose teeth fell out – unfit because of appearance.

GEMARA

Rav said: Moshe Rabbeinu was ten amos [tall], as it says (Shemos 40): "And he spread the tent over the Mishkan" – who spread it? Moshe Rabbeinu spread it – and it is written (Shemos 26): "Ten amos shall be the length of a beam."^[12]

גמ' עשר אמות - [Rav Shimi] presumed: by his own amah.

Rav Shimi bar Chiya said to Rav: If so, you have made Moshe Rabbeinu a man with a blemish, for we learned: his body is large for his limbs or small for his limbs!

בעל מום - that his body is large for his arms, for every person's body is only three amos by his own amah.

He said to him: Shimi, it speaks of the amah of the beam.

באמה של קרש קאמינא - that is, ten amos by the amah of the beams, for the length of the beams was not measured by Moshe's own amah. And what we said in the chapter above (40a), one was larger than Moshe's by half a finger,^[13] does not speak of Moshe's actual [arm], for certainly Moshe's was much larger than that holy [amah] which Moshe set.

His nose is large, etc.:^[14]

It was taught: by [the width of] the small finger.

כאצבע קטנה - if his nose is too large for his other limbs by the width of the small finger, it is a blemish. How do we measure it? We measure his nose against the nose of people as tall in body as he is.

The tzimem and the tzime'a:^[15]

It was taught: also the tzimach.

The Rabbis did not know what tzimach is.

They heard a certain Arab merchant^[16] who was saying: Who wants a tzimach? And it turned out [to be] a kid [whose ears were] chaziza.

חזיזא - its ears are very long, so that they hang down.

Rav Chisda said: A goat that has no horns and a ewe that has horns are fit for the altar.

It was also taught so: There are things that are like blemishes yet are not like blemishes, and we slaughter on account of them in the Mikdash but not in the country;^[17] these are they: a goat that has no horns, a ewe that has horns, the tzimach, the tzimem and the tzome'a.

במקדש - for it is not a blemish.

והצמח והצימם והצמע - and our Mishnah, which counts them as blemishes in a person, means [that they disqualify him] because he is not equal to the seed of Aharon.^[18]

Rav Chisda said in the name of Ameimar: If their horns were removed together with their core – it is unfit, and we do not redeem on account of them.^[19]

זכרותן - that is the bone inserted inside the horns. The core of the hooves is the bone inside the hooves, for that is the sole of the foot.

ואין נפדין עליהם - if it is an animal of other kodashim that is not a bechor, it is not redeemed through this, for it is not a full blemish, only [enough] to disqualify it.

If their hooves were removed together with their core – they are unfit, and we redeem on account of them.

They objected: If their horns and their hooves were removed together with their core – they are unfit, and we redeem on account of them!

ונפדית עליהן - and this is difficult for Rav Chisda, who said they are not redeemed.

It is not difficult: this – where they were uprooted completely; that – where they were cut off.

ברייתא דקתני בדעקור איעקורי - [the beraisa, which says they are redeemed, speaks where] the horns and the roots of the core [were uprooted], and a hollow is visible in the head.

רב חסדא דאיגום איגומי - [Rav Chisda speaks where] they were cut off from above, and their roots remained.

And where they were cut off, is it unfit?

ודאיגום איגומי - does even [mere] disqualification apply to it?

But they contrasted: A Parah whose horns and hooves are black – let him cut [them] off!^[20]

פרה - [the] red [heifer].

יגוד - let him cut, as in (Daniel 4) "cut down the tree."

Ze'iri explained it: above the core.

תרגמה זעירי - this which [the Mishnah] teaches, "let him cut," [means] above their core, for at the tip of the horn there are about two or three fingers [of horn] that the core does not reach; and if the blackness does not reach the place of the core, he cuts it, but [if it reaches] beyond that, it is unfit.

Tosfos

מחוי רב הונא חד מדידהו - that is, [like the eyes of] Rav Yehudah, who was in front of him. The Kuntres explained that his eyes were unusual, but did not explain in what way they were unusual. And R"t^[21] explains that Rav Yehudah was tall in his generation, as it says in the chapter Ha-Mapeles (Niddah 24b), and Rav Huna was a short man, as is found in Maseches Taanis, in the chapter of the pious; and therefore [Rav Huna's] eyes were not noticeably smaller than those of ordinary people, but beside Rav Yehudah's they were noticeable, for his were much larger. That is why Rav Yehudah took offense. And this is the difference: one eye large and one small. And even though it is not a blemish with regard to profaning the service unless it is as large as a calf's or as small as a goose's, nevertheless such a one is not equal to the seed of Aharon.

עיניו תרוטות - the Kuntres explained: round, as in "for it is round" in Sanhedrin (107), regarding the moon; and tziraniyos, the Kuntres explained: rounder than terutos. And this is difficult: since [the Tanna] taught the lighter, all the more so the more severe! And it is similarly difficult regarding what the Tanna taught, tearing, dripping and streaming: dripping is more than tearing, and streaming more than dripping. Perhaps it was necessary to teach all of them, to tell us that they are disqualified not as a blemish but because [such a one] is not equal to the seed of Aharon.

Notes

1. 1. These words complete the Sages' reply to Rabbi Yosi at the end of the previous amud (Bechoros 43b), אמרו לו: הפלגת – "They said to him: You have gone too far": even if his nose is not so sunken that he paints both eyes at once, he is still a charum.
2. 2. The Mishnah (Bechoros 43b) lists among the blemishes of a kohen: both eyes above, both eyes below, one eye above and one below, and one who sees the room and the attic at once. The Gemara now asks what each of these means.
3. 3. Chorvar is a white streak that enters the black of the eye; "permanent water" is a watery condition of the eye that does not heal. Both were counted among the eye blemishes in the previous chapter, though the eye itself is present.
4. 4. A ribbuy ("inclusion") is a seemingly extra word in a pasuk that is expounded to add a law. Here "man" includes one whose eyes are present but do not see properly.
5. 5. The pesukim of the kohen's blemishes say: "a blind man or a lame" (Vayikra 21:18), and "or a dak, or a teval'lul in his eye" (Vayikra 21:20). Rava asks why each of these words is needed.
6. 6. Toile is Old French for "cloth": a thin film, like a woven web, spread over the eye.
7. 7. The sirah is the ring around the black of the eye; the "mixing" is white that extends from it into the black.
8. 8. The Mishnah (Bechoros 43b) lists "sachi shemesh" among the blemishes of a kohen. Rav Yosef's version reads "sani shemesh", from the word for hatred.
9. 9. The Mishnah (Bechoros 43b) lists the zagdan among the blemishes of a kohen; the Gemara now explains what it is.
10. 10. The Mishnah (Bechoros 43b) lists the tziran among the blemishes of a kohen; the Gemara now explains what it is.
11. 11. The Mishnah on Bechoros 43b. "Unfit because of appearance" means it is not a true blemish; he is unfit because onlookers find his appearance repulsive.
12. 12. "And he spread the tent over the Mishkan" (Shemos 40:19); "Ten amos shall be the length of a beam" (Shemos 26:16). Moshe spread the coverings over beams ten amos high, so he must have been ten amos tall.
13. 13. The Mishnah (Kelim 17:9), cited on Bechoros 40a, says that two measuring amos were kept at the Shushan Gate, and the one at the north-eastern corner was larger than Moshe's by half a finger. Rashi explains that "Moshe's amah" there, used for the Mikdash vessels, is not the length of Moshe's own arm.
14. 14. Our Mishnah: his nose is large for his limbs or small for his limbs – this is a blemish. The Gemara now gives its measure.
15. 15. Our Mishnah: the tzomem and the tzome'a; the tzome'a is one whose ears are small, the tzomem one whose ears resemble a sponge.
16. 16. A Taiyya is an Arab, a traveling merchant. The Sages learned the meaning of the rare word from his everyday speech.
17. 17. A bechor with a blemish is slaughtered and eaten "in the country", anywhere, while an unblemished bechor is offered in the Mikdash. These features do not count as blemishes for this, so such animals are offered in the Mikdash and may not be slaughtered in the country.
18. 18. "Not equal to the seed of Aharon" is a kohen whose appearance differs from that of other kohanim. It is not a full blemish, but it keeps him from serving.
19. 19. Kodashim that develop a permanent blemish may be redeemed: the animal becomes chullin, and its value buys another offering. A defect that is not a full blemish disqualifies the animal from the altar, but does not allow it to be redeemed.
20. 20. The Parah Adumah must be entirely red; two black hairs disqualify it. The Mishnah (Parah 2:2) teaches that if its horns and hooves are black, "let him cut them off."
21. 21. Kuntres is the Tosafists' name for Rashi's commentary; R"t is Rabbeinu Tam, Rashi's grandson and one of the leading Tosafists.