71a. מטהר שבטים שבטו של לוי מטהר תחילה שנא' (מלאכי ג, ג) וישב מצרף ומטהר כסף וטיהר את בני לוי וזיקק אותם כזהב וככסף והיו לי"י מגישי מנחה בצדקה,אמר רבי יהושע בן לוי כסף מטהר ממזרים שנאמר וישב מצרף ומטהר כסף מאי מגישי מנחה בצדקה א"ר יצחק צדקה עשה הקב"ה עם ישראל שמשפחה שנטמעה נטמעה,גופא אמר רב יהודה אמר שמואל כל ארצות עיסה לארץ ישראל וארץ ישראל עיסה לבבל בימי רבי בקשו לעשות בבל עיסה לארץ ישראל אמר להן קוצים אתם משימים לי בין עיני רצונכם יטפל עמכם ר' חנינא בר חמא,נטפל עמהם ר' חנינא בר חמא אמר להם כך מקובלני מר' ישמעאל בר' יוסי שאמר משום אביו כל ארצות עיסה לארץ ישראל וארץ ישראל עיסה לבבל,בימי רבי פנחס בקשו לעשות בבל עיסה לארץ ישראל אמר להם לעבדיו כשאני אומר שני דברים בבית המדרש טלוני בעריסה ורוצו כי עייל אמר להם אין שחיטה לעוף מן התורה,אדיתבי וקמעייני בה אמר להו כל ארצות עיסה לארץ ישראל וארץ ישראל עיסה לבבל נטלוהו בעריסה ורצו רצו אחריו ולא הגיעוהו ישבו ובדקו עד שהגיעו לסכנה ופירשו,א"ר יוחנן היכלא בידינו היא אבל מה אעשה שהרי גדולי הדור נטמעו בה סבר לה כר' יצחק דאמר ר' יצחק משפחה שנטמעה נטמעה,אמר אביי אף אנן נמי תנינא משפחת בית הצריפה היתה בעבר הירדן וריחקה בן ציון בזרוע עוד אחרת היתה וקירבה בן ציון בזרוע כגון אלו אליהו בא לטמא ולטהר לרחק ולקרב כגון אלו דידעין אבל משפחה שנטמעה נטמעה,תאנא עוד אחרת היתה ולא רצו חכמים לגלותה אבל חכמים מוסרים אותו לבניהם ולתלמידיהן פעם אחת בשבוע ואמרי לה פעמים בשבוע אמר רב נחמן בר יצחק מסתברא כמאן דאמר פעם אחת בשבוע כדתניא הריני נזיר אם לא אגלה משפחות יהיה נזיר ולא יגלה משפחות,אמר רבה בר בר חנה אמר ר' יוחנן שם בן ארבע אותיות חכמים מוסרין אותו לתלמידיהן פעם אחת בשבוע ואמרי לה פעמים בשבוע אמר רב נחמן בר יצחק מסתברא כמאן דאמר פעם אחת בשבוע דכתיב (שמות ג, טו) זה שמי לעולם לעלם כתיב רבא סבר למידרשיה בפירקא א"ל ההוא סבא לעלם כתיב,רבי אבינא רמי כתיב (שמות ג, טו) זה שמי וכתיב (שמות ג, טו) זה זכרי אמר הקב"ה לא כשאני נכתב אני נקרא נכתב אני ביו"ד ה"י ונקרא באל"ף דל"ת,ת"ר בראשונה שם בן שתים עשרה אותיות היו מוסרין אותו לכל אדם משרבו הפריצים היו מוסרים אותו לצנועים שבכהונה והצנועים שבכהונה מבליעים אותו בנעימת אחיהם הכהנים תניא אמר רבי טרפון פעם אחת עליתי אחר אחי אמי לדוכן והטיתי אזני אצל כהן גדול ושמעתי שהבליע שם בנעימת אחיו הכהנים,אמר רב יהודה אמר רב שם בן ארבעים ושתים אותיות אין מוסרין אותו אלא למי שצנוע ועניו ועומד בחצי ימיו ואינו כועס ואינו משתכר ואינו מעמיד על מדותיו וכל היודעו והזהיר בו והמשמרו בטהרה אהוב למעלה ונחמד למטה ואימתו מוטלת על הבריות ונוחל שני עולמים העולם הזה והעולם הבא,אמר שמואל משמיה דסבא בבל בחזקת כשרה עומדת עד שיודע לך במה נפסלה שאר ארצות בחזקת פסול הן עומדות עד שיודע לך במה נכשרה ארץ ישראל מוחזק לפסול פסול מוחזק לכשר כשר,הא גופא קשיא אמרת מוחזק לפסול פסול הא סתמא כשר והדר תני מוחזק לכשר כשר הא סתמא פסול אמר רב הונא בר תחליפא משמיה דרב לא קשיא | 71a. bpurifiesthe btribes,i.e., clarifies their lineage, He will bpurifythat of bthe tribe of Levi first, as it is statedwith regard to the angel sent forth by God: b“And he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver; and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver; and there shall be they that shall offer to the Lord offerings in righteousness”(Malachi 3:3)., bRabbi Yehoshua ben Levi says: Money purifies imamzerim /i.Money causes rich imamzerimto become assimilated with Jews of unflawed lineage, since other families marry them despite their flawed lineage. In the future, God will not single them out as imamzerim /i, bas it is stated: “And he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver,”which teaches that money, i.e., silver, purifies them. bWhat,then, is the connection to the next part of the verse: b“They that shall offer to the Lord offerings in righteousness”? Rabbi Yitzḥak says: The Holy One, Blessed be He, performedan act of brighteousness with the Jewish peopleby establishing bthat a family that has become assimilatedwith Jews of unflawed lineage remains bassimilated.They are not removed from their tribe despite their flawed lineage.,§ With regard to bthematter bitselfthat was discussed earlier, the lineage of the Jews in various lands, bRav Yehuda saysthat bShmuel says:The lineage of residents of ball lands is muddledcompared btothat of the residents of bEretz Yisrael, andthe lineage of residents of bEretz Yisrael is muddledcompared btothat of bBabylonia.The Gemara relates: bIn the days of RabbiYehuda HaNasi, bthey sought to establishthe lineage of the Jews in bBabyloniaas bmuddledrelative btothat of bEretz Yisrael.In other words, the people of Eretz Yisrael wanted their lineage to be considered superior to that of the residents of Babylonia, so that if people from Eretz Yisrael would wish to marry Babylonians, they would have to investigate the lineage of the Babylonians. Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi was descended from Hillel, a Babylonian, so bhe said tothose who put forth this suggestion: bAre you placing thorns between my eyes?Do you wish to insult me? bIf you wish, Rabbi Ḥanina bar Ḥama will join youand explain it to you., bRabbi Ḥanina bar Ḥama joined themand bsaid to them: Thisis the tradition that bI received from Rabbi Yishmael, son of Rabbi Yosei, who says in the name of his father,who was from Eretz Yisrael: The lineage of residents of ball lands is muddledcompared btothat of bEretz Yisrael, andthe lineage of residents of bEretz Yisrael is muddledcompared btothat of bBabylonia. /b,The Gemara further relates with regard to the same issue: bIn the days of Rabbi Pineḥas, they sought to establishthe lineage of bBabyloniaas bmuddledrelative btothat of bEretz Yisrael. He said to his servants: When I have said two statements in the house of study, pick me up on a stretcher and run,so that I will not be attacked for my statements. bWhen he enteredthe house of study bhe said tothose studying there: bSlaughter of a bird is notobligatory bby Torah law. /b, bWhile they were sitting and scrutinizing thisnovel ihalakha /i, bhe said to them:The lineage of residents of ball lands is muddledcompared btothat of bEretz Yisrael, andthe lineage of residents of bEretz Yisrael is muddledcompared btothat of bBabylonia.His servants bpicked him up on a stretcher and ran.Those that were in the house of study bpursued him but could not catch him.Nevertheless, bthey sat and examinedthe lineage of various families in order to determine whether in fact the lineage of the residents of Eretz Yisrael was problematic, buntil they reachedpowerful families. It was bdangerousto accuse them of flaws due to their power, band they withdrewfrom their inspections., bRabbi Yoḥa saysas an oath: By the bSanctuary! It is in our powerto reveal the identity of a family that has a flawed lineage, bbut what can I do, as the greatest of the generation are assimilated into it?Consequently, I will not reveal its name. The Gemara comments: Rabbi Yoḥa bholds in accordance withthe opinion of bRabbi Yitzḥak, as Rabbi Yitzḥak says: A family that has become assimilatedremains bassimilated,and one should not reveal their flawed status., bAbaye said: We too learnin the mishna ( iEduyyot8:7): bThere was a familyknown as bBeit HaTzerifa in Transjordan, anda person called bben Tziyyon forcefully distanced itand proclaimed that its lineage was flawed, although its lineage was unflawed. bThere was anotherone bthat ben Tzion forcefully drew near,although its lineage was flawed. The mishna adds: Known families bsuch as these, Elijah comes todeclare bimpure and todeclare bpure, to distance and to draw near.Abaye continues: When the mishna states: bSuch as these,it means those bwhosestatus bwe know. But a family that has become assimilated,whose flawed lineage is unknown to the public, bhasalready bbecome assimilated,and not even Elijah will publicize its flaw.,The Sage btaught( iTosefta /i, iEduyyot3:4): bThere was anotherfamily with flawed lineage, bbut the Sages did not want to reveal itsidentity to all. bBut the Sages transmit itsname bto their children and to their students once every seven years, and some say twice every seven years,to prevent them from marrying into their family. bRav Naḥman bar Yitzḥak says: It stands to reason in accordance with the one who saysthat they transmit it bonce every seven years, as it is taughtin a ibaraita( iTosefta /i, iNazir1:2): One who says: bI am hereby a nazirite if I do not revealthe names of bfamiliesof flawed lineage among the Jewish people, bhe should be a nazirite and not revealthe identity of such bfamilies.This shows that such information should be kept secret as much as possible.,§ The above statement, concerning a matter that the Sages transmitted privately and infrequently, leads the Gemara to teach a similar ihalakha /i: bRabba bar bar Ḥana saysthat bRabbi Yoḥa says: The Sages transmitthe correct pronunciation of bthe four-letter nameof God bto their students once every seven years, and some say twice every seven years. Rav Naḥman bar Yitzḥak says: It stands to reason in accordance with the one who saysthat they transmit it bonce every seven years, as it is written: “This is My name forever [ ile’olam /i]”(Exodus 3:15), which is bwrittenso that it can be read ile’alem /i,to hide. This indicates that the Divine Name must remain hidden. The Gemara relates: bRava planned to expoundand explain the proper way to say the name bina public bdiscourse. A certain elder said to him: It is writtenso that it can be read ile’alem /i,indicating that it must stay hidden., bRabbi Avina raised a contradiction: It is written: “This is My name,”indicating that the name as written is that of God; band it is written: “This is My remembrance”(Exodus 3:15), which indicates that it is not God’s actual name but merely a way of remembering His name. The explanation is as follows: bThe Holy One, Blessed be He, said: Not as I am written am I pronounced. I am written withthe letters iyod /i, iheh /i, ivav /i, iheh /i, bwhileMy name is bpronounced withthe letters ialef /i, idalet /i, inun /i, iyod /i., bThe Sages taught: Initially,the Sages bwould transmit the twelve-letter nameof God bto any person. When the uninhibited oneswho used the name disrespectfully bincreased, they would transmit itonly bto discreetmembers bof the priesthood, and the discreetmembers bof the priesthoodwould pronounce the name during the Priestly Benediction. They would bconceal itby saying it bduring the sweetmelody bof their priestly brothers,so that it would not become publicly known. bIt is taughtin a ibaraita /i: bRabbi Tarfon,who was himself a priest, bsaid:On bone occasion I ascended after my mother’s brother to the platformto give the Priestly Benediction, band I inclined my ear near the High Priest, and I heard him conceal the name during the sweetmelody bof his priestly brothers. /b, bRav Yehuda saysthat bRav says: The forty-two-letter nameof God bmay be transmitted only to one who is discreet, and humble, and stands atat least bhalf his life, and does not get angry, and does not get drunk, and does not insist upon his rightsbut is willing to yield. There is no concern that such a person might reveal the name in a fit of anger or drunkenness. bAnd anyone who knowsthis name band is careful with it and guards it in purity is beloved above and treasured below; and fear of him is cast upon the creatures; and he inherits two worlds, this world and the World-to-Come. /b,§ The Gemara returns to the issue of lineage: bShmuel says in the name ofa certain belder:A family in bBabylonia has a presumptive status of unflawedlineage buntil it becomes known to you in what way it wasrendered of bflawedlineage. Conversely, a family from bother lands has a presumptive status of flawedlineage buntil it becomes known to you in what way it wasrendered bunflawed.As for families in bEretz Yisrael,one who bhas a presumptive status of flawedlineage is of bflawedlineage, whereas one who bhas presumptive status of unflawedlineage is of bunflawedlineage.,The Gemara is puzzled by this last statement: bThis matter itself is difficult:First, byou saidthat a family that bhas a presumptive status of flawedlineage is of bflawedlineage, indicating that a family with bunspecifiedstatus is of bunflawedlineage. bAnd thenyou bteach:A family that bhas a presumptive status of unflawedlineage is of bunflawedlineage, indicating that a family with bunspecifiedstatus is of bflawedlineage. bRav Huna bar Taḥalifa said in the name of Rav:This is bnot difficult. /b |