Parshas Shemini - the chatas that was burnt

The passuk says in this week’s sedrah:
וְאֵת שְׂעִיר הַחַטָּאת דָּרֹשׁ דָּרַשׁ מֹשֶׁה וְהִנֵּה שֹׂרָף וַיִּקְצֹף עַל אֶלְעָזָר וְעַל אִיתָמָר בְּנֵי אַהֲרֹן הַנּוֹתָרִם לֵאמֹר. מַדּוּעַ לֹא אֲכַלְתֶּם אֶת הַחַטָּאת בִּמְקוֹם הַקֹּדֶשׁ כִּי קֹדֶשׁ קָדָשִׁים הִוא וְאֹתָהּ נָתַן לָכֶם לָשֵׂאת אֶת עֲו‍ֹן הָעֵדָה לְכַפֵּר עֲלֵיהֶם לִפְנֵי ה'. הֵן לֹא הוּבָא אֶת דָּמָהּ אֶל הַקֹּדֶשׁ פְּנִימָה אָכוֹל תֹּאכְלוּ אֹתָהּ בַּקֹּדֶשׁ כַּאֲשֶׁר צִוֵּיתִי.

“Moshe investigated what had become of the goat that was brought as a chatas and found that it had been burnt. He became angry at Elozor and Ithamar, the remaining sons of Aharon, and he said; “Why did you not eat the chatas in the holy place, as it is kodesh kedashim. It was given to you to bear the sin of the congregation and to attone for them before Hashem. Behold its blood was not brought inside the mishkan, you should surely eat it in the holy place as I have been commanded.”

The mishna says in Pesachim (ketzad tzolin 82a):
הפסח שיצא או שנטמא ישרף מיד
“If a korban pesach goes outside the walls of Yerusholayim or becomes tameh then it should be burnt immediately.”

The gemara explains how we know this;
…דכתיב (ויקרא י, יח) הן לא הובא את דמה אל הקדש פנימה. אמר לו משה לאהרן, מדוע לא אכלתם את החטאת? שמא נכנס דמה לפני ולפנים? אמר לו, לאו. אמר לו, שמא חוץ למחיצתה יצתה? אמר לו, לאו בקודש היתה. אמר לו, אי בקודש היתה והן לא הובא את דמה אל הקדש פנימה מדוע לא אכלתם אותה? מכלל דאי נפקא אי נמי עייל דמה לפנים בת שריפה היא
“The passuk says, ‘Behold it’s blood was not brought into the heichal inside.’
Moshe said to Aharon, ‘Why did you not eat the chatas? Maybe its blood was brought into the kodesh?’
He replied, ‘No.’
He said to him, ‘Maybe the korban was taken outside of the courtyard?’
He replied, ‘No, it remained inside the courtyard of the mishkan.’
He said to him, ‘If it remained inside the courtyard of the mishkan and its blood was not brought into the kodesh, why did you not eat it?’
From which you can infer that had the korban gone out of the courtyard or had its blood been brought into the heichal then it should rightfully have been burnt.”

We learn a general rule from this passuk that if a korban goes out of the place where it may be eaten it becomes passul and has to be burnt.

The gemara in Chullin 68b appears to derive the same halacha from a different passuk:
בשר בשדה טרפה לא תאכלו מה תלמוד לומר…אמר רבה כטרפה מה טרפה כיון שנטרפה שוב אין לה היתר אף בשר כיון שיצא חוץ למחיצתו שוב אין לו היתר
“The passuk says ‘וּבָשָׂר בַּשָּׂדֶה טְרֵפָה לֹא תֹאכֵלוּ לַכֶּלֶב תַּשְׁלִכוּן אֹתוֹ’ – ‘You should not eat meat that has been torn in the field, you should throw it to the dogs.’
Why does the Torah use the word ‘field’, why does it not just use the term ‘terefah’?
The gemara explains that the Torah is referring to any food that becomes ossur because it has gone into the ‘field’, that means, outside of its allowed area. Examples of this are a foetus of a cow which puts its foot out of the cow before the cow was shechted or a korban that went out of the beis hamikdash or out of Yerusholayim. This is compared to a tereifah. Just as a tereifah cannot become kosher, so too once any food goes out of the area where it can be eaten it becomes ossur, even if it goes back into the correct area this does not help.

For example, if the foetus retracted its foot and the cow was shechted or if the korban was brought back into Yerusholayim, it still remains ossur.”

Korban Pesach
The korban pesach may only be eaten in the place of the group that is eating it (Shemos 12:46);
בְּבַיִת אֶחָד יֵאָכֵל לֹא תוֹצִיא מִן הַבַּיִת מִן הַבָּשָׂר חוּצָה…
“It should be eaten in one house, you should not take any part of the meat outside of the house…”

You are not allowed to take the meat out of the house it is being eaten in. You are also not allowed to take it out of the area of the group that is eating it. If two groups eat their pesachim in the same house, a mechitzah has to be made between them and the meat can not be taken between the groups.

In Hilchos Sanhedrin (19,34), the Rambam enumerates all the lavin in the torah whose transgression incurs malkos. Amongst them he counts;
(עד) המוציא מבשרו חוץ לחבורתו; (עה) האוכל מבשרו חוץ לחבורתו;
“(74) Someone who takes meat of the korban pesach outside of its group. (75) Someone who eats from the pesach outside of its group.”

The Brisker Rov (hilchos pesulei hamukdashin) asks that there is no lav in the Torah that says that the pesach may not be eaten once it is taken away from the group. We must therefore explain that the Rambam is referring here to the general issur of “בשר בשדה טרפה לא תאכלו” which prohibits eating any food that has gone outside of its allowed area.

As the Rambam, says in Hilchos Korban Pesach (9:2);
בשר הפסח שיצא חוץ לחבורתו בין בזדון בין בשגגה נאסר באכילה והרי הוא כבשר קדשי קדשים שיצא חוץ לעזרה או בשר קדשים קלים שיצא חוץ לחומות ירושלים שהכל כטריפה ולוקין על אכילתו כמו שביארנו במעשה הקרבנות...
“Meat from a korban pesach went outside of its group … becomes prohibited to eat and is like kodshei kedoshim that went outside of the azarah or meat from an ordinary korban that went outside of the walls of Yerusholayim. All of these cases have the status of a tereifah and you receive malkos for eating them..”

If so, asks the Brisker Rov, why does the Rambam in Hilchos Sanhedrin only mention malkos for eating meat of a korban pesach that went out of its group? He should count all cases where meat of a korban went out of its allowed area, as we see that the Rambam himself includes all such cases in this lav?

The Rambam says in Hilchos Maaseh ha’Karbonos (11,6);
בשר קדשי קדשים שיצא חוץ לחומת העזרה ובשר קדשים קלים שיצא חוץ לחומת ירושלים נפסל ונאסר לעולם ואף על פי שחזר למקומו אסור לאוכלו והאוכל ממנו כזית לוקה שנאמר ובשר בשדה טריפה לא תאכלו כיון שיצא בשר חוץ למחיצתו נעשה כטריפה כמו שביארנו בהלכות מאכלות אסורות

“Meat from kodshei kedashim that went outside of the wall of the azarah and meat from ordinary korbanos that went outside of the wall of Yerusholayim becomes passul and is permanently prohibited, even if it returns to its place. Someone who eats a kezayis of this meat is chayav malkos as the passuk says ‘ובשר בשדה טריפה לא תאכלו’.”

The only possibility to explain the Rambam in Hilchos Sanhedrin is that he is referring to the lav for eating pesach that has gone out of its chaburah, which is derived from from the passuk of basar basadeh. If so, why does the Rambam not enumerate all cases that are included in this passuk?

The Brisker Rov explains as follows;
The issur of ‘ובשר בשדה טריפה לא תאכלו’ is not specfic to korbanos. It is an issur on any type of food, such as a foetus, which has gone out of its permissible zone. On the other hand, the issur of ‘הֵן לֹא הוּבָא אֶת דָּמָהּ אֶל הַקֹּדֶשׁ פְּנִימָה’ is an issur that is specific to korbanos.

Normally, both halachos apply to a korban that has gone out of its allowed area. The azarah is a place of extra kedushah where the meat of kodshei kedashim can be eaten. Yerusholayim is a place of kedusha where the meat of ordinary korbanos can be eaten. If meat from a korban goes out of these areas, it at once receives the pessul of a korban that has gone out of the area appropriate for that korban, ‘הֵן לֹא הוּבָא אֶת דָּמָהּ אֶל הַקֹּדֶשׁ פְּנִימָה’, and also receives the issur of any food (not specific to hilchos korbanos) that has gone out of its allowed area of ‘ובשר בשדה טריפה לא תאכלו’.

The only exception to this in the case of korbanos is taking meat of the korban pesach away from its chaburah. There is no special kedushah associated with a the place of the chaburah and this place has no significance with regard to the halachos of the korban pesach that apply to it because of its kedushas korban. The halachah that meat from a korban pesach which goes away from the chaburah and becomes passul is only because of the general pessul of ‘ובשר בשדה טריפה לא תאכלו’ which applies to all types of food that has a limited area. The pesach does not have the pessul of ‘הֵן לֹא הוּבָא אֶת דָּמָהּ אֶל הַקֹּדֶשׁ פְּנִימָה’ , however. This only applies when a korban crosses the perimeter suitable to the kedushas hakorban.

Therefore, explains the Brisker Rav, although the Rambam is referencing the passuk of ‘ובשר בשדה טריפה לא תאכלו’ when he counts a lav for eating korban pesach that has gone out of its place, he does not enumerate any other cases that occur in kodshim because there are all covered by the malkos given for the kodshim specific lav of ‘הֵן לֹא הוּבָא אֶת דָּמָהּ אֶל הַקֹּדֶשׁ פְּנִימָה’.

If a korban pesach goes outside of Yerusholayim, it has gone out of the place which is suitable for it as a korban and therefore the passuk of ‘הֵן לֹא הוּבָא אֶת דָּמָהּ אֶל הַקֹּדֶשׁ פְּנִימָה’ would apply as well as the passuk of ‘ובשר בשדה טריפה לא תאכלו’. However, if it goes outside of its chaburah and remains in Yerusholayim, then from the kodshim perspective of the korban there is nothing wrong. It is still in Yerusholayim. However for a korban pesach there is an additional special halacha that it must be eaten in one chaburah. This halachah does not relate to the kedushas hepesach, it is simply a halachah like having to roast the pesach and not cook it. Therefore only the passuk of ‘ובשר בשדה טריפה לא תאכלו’ is applicable in this case.

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