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Daf prep · Bekhorot 45 · בכורות מ״ה
Before you learn Bekhorot 45
Where we left off
The previous daf began a Mishnah enumerating physical defects of the legs, feet, and digits that disqualify priests. That Mishnah continues directly onto our daf.
The question going in
What bodily irregularities of the limbs disqualify a priest, and when is an extra digit considered a true limb?
Know before you start
- טומאת אהל (tent impurity): A corpse imparts severe impurity inside a shared enclosure. Bare bones transmit it only if they constitute a majority of the skeleton.
- רמ״ח אברים (248 limbs): The Sages count 248 limbs in the standard human body. Therefore, a tally of 125 bones establishes the legal majority.
- אותו ואת בנו (it and its offspring): The Torah prohibits slaughtering an animal and its offspring on the very same day. Doing so disqualifies the sacrificial animal.
Who's who
- Rabbi Yehuda (רבי יהודה, Tanna): He deems a priest with twenty-four digits fit, interpreting extra appendages as praiseworthy strength.
- Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi (רבי, Tanna): He disqualifies an ambidextrous priest, arguing that using both hands signals initial weakness in the right hand.
- Rabbi Yoḥanan (רבי יוחנן, Amora): He limits the status of an extra digit, requiring it to stand aligned in the finger row.
- Rav (רב, Amora): He teaches that bodily parts found uniquely in a woman never convey tent impurity.