פירוש על עדיות 8:3

אלמנת עיסה – one family that was mixed up with someone who was doubtful for the priesthood on account of his father’s illegitimate connection. All the children of that family are doubtful if he was that doubtfulness that was mixed up with them or not. And a woman who married one of the children of that family, and her husband died, is called the widow of one belonging to a family suspected of containing an alien admixture, that is like the examined and mixed family [suspected of containing an alien admixture], so too this particular woman is mixed from doubts – doubt if her husband was that doubtful one for the priesthood on account of his father’s illegitimate connection, according to the truth. Rabbi Yehoshua validates her for the priesthood, because there is here a compound uncertainty and is judged leniently. But Rabban Gamaliel holds that even though generally, a compound uncertainly which is judged leniently, here is different, for they made a preference for pedigrees.

Introduction This mishnah deals with a person who is called “issa” or “dough”, meaning that his lineage is “mixed up” like dough. This is a man from a potentially priestly family that may have been “contaminated” by intermarrying with unfit priests, or “halalim”. A “halal” is the child of a mother who should not have been married to a priest, such as a divorcee. A woman who should not have been married to a priest but nevertheless does so becomes a “halalah”. The fact that “halalim” may have married into this family casts in doubt the status of all subsequent generations. We should note again that lineage was an extremely important issue in Talmudic society, as it was in most of the ancient world. Lineage was especially important to the priestly elite, who could lose their status by not preserving the “purity” of their line.

העיסה כשרה לטמא ולטהר – that is to say, that a family that became mixed through someone doubtful for the priesthood on account of his father’s illegitimate connection, behold, she is presumption of being fit like the rest of the families of legitimate descent, and like that the rest of the families say: “this one is ritually impure” and distance themselves from her, and “this one is pure” and they draw her close, so is this family that had become mixed up beyond recognition as a result of someone doubtful for the priesthood on account of his father’s illegitimate connection, and we cannot say for since that it become so mixed up beyond recognition, we don’t any longer to check when women marry -which one was defiled and which one is pure, in order to distance the impure one and to draw close the pure one.

Rabbi Joshua and Rabbi Judah ben Bathyra testified concerning the widow of [a man belonging to] a family of doubtful lineage (an, that she was fit to marry into the priesthood, Rabbi Joshua and Rabbi Judah ben Bathyra testify that a widow of an “issa” is fit to marry into the priesthood. Since an “issa” is only a case of doubtful lineage, and we are not sure that there really were “halalim” in the family, the ruling is not stringent. Note that if we were sure that this widow had been married to a “halal” she would subsequently be forbidden to marry a priest. Furthermore, if this was a divorcee, there would be no issue since no divorcee can marry a priest. The only issue arises with the widow of an issa.

קבלנו עדותכם – you are believed in our eyes and we believe that such is what you heard.

[And that those of] a family of doubtful lineage are fit to declare who was unclean and who clean, who was to be put away and who was to be brought near. Rabban Gamaliel said: we accept your testimony, but what can we do since Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai ordained that courts should not be commissioned for this purpose? The priests would listen to you concerning those who might be put away, but not concerning those who might be brought near! In their second testimony Rabbi Joshua and Rabbi Judah ben Bathyra testify that the people of such a family are able to declare the status of the women among them: which women are “unclean” and therefore unable to marry priests, and which are “clean” and therefore able to marry priests. In other words, although this family itself has had a shadow cast upon its lineage, the members of the family are relied on to testify with regards to the status of the women within their family. Rabban Gamaliel responds that although this testimony is legally and logically acceptable, and he agrees that the family itself is fit to sort out its own lineage, Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai, the famous Sage who survived the destruction of the Second Temple, already decreed that the courts should not allow the widow of an “issa” to marry a priest. Although Rabban Yochanan ben Zakai agreed that this was permitted by law, the priests are stringent in this matter, and would not allow the court to permit them to marry such a woman. As we saw in the previous mishnah, many Jews were much more stringent in manners of lineage than the law required. Here Rabban Yochanan ben Zakai teaches an important principle: if the people are going to be so strict, the court should not make rulings that they in any case will ignore. This would cheapen the authority of the court by putting it into blatant conflict with the people.

שלא להושיב ב"ד על כך – to permit the widow of one belonging to a family suspected of containing an alien admixture ab initio.

הכהנים שומעים לכם לרחק – if you would say that she is forbidden.

אבל לא לקרב – if you would say that she is permitted. And the Legal decision is that a woman who married one of that family, and her husband died, is called the widow of one belong to a family suspected of containing an alien mixture, and she is forbidden to marry into the priesthood ab initio, and if she married, she cannot be divorced.