Zevachim 23b

זבחים כ״ג ע״ב

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Topic

Whether the ציץ helps owners who are טמא מת, and why a כהן who sits makes the עבודה invalid

Overview

This amud finishes a ברייתא about the ציץ (the כהן גדול's frontplate), which 'bears the sin of the holy things.' The ברייתא rules out פיגול and נותר and concludes that the ציץ fixes the sin of טומאה, which is permitted for the public. The גמרא first tries to prove from this that owners who are טמא מת may send their קרבן פסח. It then rejects the proof: the ברייתא could mean טומאת שרץ, since the category of טומאה in general is permitted for the public. A second version reads the same פסוק to prove the opposite, and it is rejected the same way. The גמרא then turns to the משנה's rule that a כהן who sits makes the עבודה invalid. It learns this from 'לעמד לשרת,' and a ברייתא shows that the repeated פסוק makes standing essential. רבא asks why a sitting כהן, who is like a זר, does not get מיתה. The גמרא begins to answer with the rule of שני כתובין הבאין כאחד, and the answer continues on the next amud.

Opening lines

The steps (15)

1. StatementRuling out פיגול and נותר
2. ConclusionThe ציץ fixes the sin of טומאה
3. QuestionWhich kind of impurity is meant?
4. ProofOwners who are טמא מת may send their offerings
5. QuestionIt cannot be a נזיר's offering
6. ConclusionThe case is the קרבן פסח
7. RejectionThe ברייתא may really mean impurity from a creeping animal
8. StatementA second version: the ציץ covers the sacred items, not the people
9. ChallengeIt must mean impurity from a dead body, so impure owners are not covered
10. RejectionThe second version is rejected the same way
11. QuestionWhere do we learn that sitting invalidates the service?
12. ResponseThe verse says the כהן was chosen to stand
13. StatementStanding is required, and the repeated verse makes it essential
14. ChallengeIf a sitting כהן is like a זר, why is he not punished with death?
15. ResolutionDeath for missing בגדים and unwashed hands and feet counts as two verses that come as one