Kommentar zu Bekhorot 7:1
מוּמִין אֵלּוּ, בֵּין קְבוּעִין בֵּין עוֹבְרִין, פּוֹסְלִין בָּאָדָם. יוֹתֵר עֲלֵיהֶן בָּאָדָם, הַכִּילוֹן, וְהַלַּפְתָּן, הַמַּקָּבָן, וְשֶׁרֹאשׁוֹ שָׁקוּעַ, וּשְׁקִיפָס. וּבַעֲלֵי הַחֲטוֹטֶרֶת, רַבִּי יְהוּדָה מַכְשִׁיר, וַחֲכָמִים פּוֹסְלִין:
Diese Fehler, ob dauerhaft oder vorübergehend, machen eine Person [dh einen Priester vom Dienst im Tempel ausgeschlossen] ungültig. [Folgendes] wird zu diesen hinzugefügt, wenn es sich um eine Person handelt: eine Person, deren Kopf wie eine Pyramide oder ein Rettich oder ein Hammer geformt ist, oder eine Person, deren Kopf vorne hervorsteht oder wenn er nicht hinten hervorsteht. Ein Buckliger, bestätigt Rabbi Yehuda, und die Weisen machen ungültig.
Bartenura on Mishnah Bekhorot
מומין אלו – that invalidate the firstling, invalidate the Kohen in his Divine service, whether they are permanent or transient all the while that they are upon him.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Bekhorot
Introduction
Since chapter six dealt with blemishes that render an animal unfit to be a sacrifice, this chapter lists blemishes that disqualify a priest from serving in the Temple.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Bekhorot
הכילון (one whose head has the shape of a basket/wedge shaped – see Talmud Bekhorot 43b) – that his head is pointed from above and wide below. And it is similar to the covering of a wine jug which is called an אכלה (or אוכלא/basket or אובלא/perforated trough – vessel made of willow trigs) – therefore it is called a כילון.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Bekhorot
These blemishes [named above], whether permanent or transitory, make human beings unfit [to serve in the Temple]. The same blemishes that disqualify animals also disqualify priests from serving in the Temple. That a priest with a blemish cannot serve in the Temple is stated in Leviticus 21:21, “No man among the offspring of Aaron the priest who has a defect shall be qualified to offer the Lord’s gift; having a defect, he shall not be qualified to offer the food of his God.” Our chapter will explain and expand the list found in this chapter of Leviticus.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Bekhorot
והלפתן (turnip-shaped) – that his head is similar to a turnip, that it is wide from above and becomes narrower from below.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Bekhorot
There are more than this concerning human beings: kilon, liftan, makkaban, one whose head is angular or shekifas . There are other defects that also can prevent a man from serving as a priest. The defects in this section refer to various types of misshapen heads. A kilon is one with a wedge-shaped head, a laftan is one with a turnip shaped head, a makkavan is one with a hammer-shaped head and a shekifas is one with a bent head. In other words, for a priest to serve in the Temple, his head must be shaped in a normal fashion.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Bekhorot
מקבן (one whose head is mallet-shaped – see Tractate Bekhorot 43b) – that his head is similar to a mallet, in that the forehead protrudes outward and similarly, his neck from behind him, but his temples are even with his head, and he is similar to a hammer – that is a mallet that goes forth from before him and from behind him.
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English Explanation of Mishnah Bekhorot
A hunchback: Rabbi Judah considers him fit, Whereas the sages consider him unfit. The sages debate whether a hunchback can serve as a priest in the Temple. Rabbi Judah says that it does not disqualify him from serving, whereas the sages consider him unfit.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Bekhorot
ושראשו שקוט (whose head is abruptly bent, angular; forehead receding abruptly – see Talmud Bekhorot 43b) – This is our reading. There are those who explain that his head protrudes greatly, and extends outward towards his face. But there are those who explain that it does not protrude at all in front of him, like the matter that it leaps from behind him, that his head does not protrude from behind him at all, and that he is lacking, that it is similar to one that a piece of him is severed from behind him. But the language of שקיפס, is that of a lump of brittle stone that was thrown at it (an idolatrous statue) [see Sanhedrin 64a), that a piece from him was taken. And in the Tosefta it counts also a sunken neck/צואר שקוע, that his head is placed between his shoulders and it is similar to one who has no neck.
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Bartenura on Mishnah Bekhorot
ובעלי החטוטרת ר' יהודה מכשיר – that when he has a bone in the hump/hunch, everyone does not dispute that it is a blemish. But they dispute, when it doesn’t have a bone. Rabbi Yehuda holds that it is a mere piece of flesh, but the Rabbis hold, as Scripture States (Leviticus 21:21): “No man among the offspring of Aaron the priest who has a defect [shall be qualified to offer the LORD’s gift],” those who are fit within the seed of Aaron shall serve, but he who is not fit among the seed of Aaron shall not serve. And the Halakha is according to the Sages.
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