Answers to this Week’s Riddles

(For the riddles, please see back page)

1. The pasuk (Bamidbar 19:3) says that the parah adumah shall be given to Elozar the Kohen, who shall take it outside the camp, where it should be shechted before him. Rashi explains that Elozar did not personally slaughter the parah adumah, but supervised while somebody else did so. As Tosfos (Gittin 2b) points out that there is no halachic requirement for shechita to be observed by another person, why was Elozar’s presence required, and what was he watching for?
   
   The Targum Yonason ben Uziel writes that Elozar was checking the cow to ensure that it did not possess any of the 18 fatal physical injuries that would render it treif (non-kosher; see Chullin 3:1).
   
   Tosfos (Shabbos 22b) writes that Aharon used X-ray vision to determine the contents of barrels in the wilderness without needing to open them up. Similarly, the Divrei Chaim suggests that because the parah adumah was burned whole, there was no way to inspect its organs after it was shechted. Rather than rely on the fact that most healthy animals are not treif, Elozar used X-ray vision to see through the cow’s hide to examine its innards and confirm its kosher status with absolute certainty. (Parsha Potpourri, R’ Ozer Alport)
2. This is a trick question, as contrary to popular wisdom, every qualified Jew who sprinkles the ashes of the parah adumah onto a tamei person remains pure. There is a widespread misconception that the parah adumah purifies those who became impure through contact with the dead while simultaneously rendering impure those who sprinkle its ashes onto them. However, the Gemara (Niddah 9a) and Tosfos (Yoma 14a) say clearly, as does Rashi in his commentary on this pasuk, that this is incorrect, and the person who sprinkles the ashes remains just as pure as he was at the beginning of the procedure. The misunderstanding is based on the Torah’s stipulation (19:21) that “the person who sprinkles the ashes shall immerse his clothing,” which seems to imply that he becomes tamei. The Gemara explains that the person who becomes impure is not the one who puts the ashes, but one who carries them unnecessarily. What is the minimum quantity of ashes that contaminates a person who carries them? The amount needed to sprinkle on a person, which is why the Torah refers to the person who sprinkles the ashes washing his garments, not because he becomes tamei, but because any person who carries enough ashes to be sprayed onto a tamei person becomes impure. This is the true paradox of the parah adumah: It purifies those who are tamei, while the people who are involved in preparing its ashes can become impure in the process. This is also the ruling of the Rambam (Hilchos Parah Adumah 15:1).
3. The Shu”t Panim Meiros in his introduction says that we learn the chiddush of the Gemara in Yevamos from this week’s parsha. The pasuk says: זאת התורה אדם כי ימות באהל כל הבא אל האהל וכל אשר באהל יטמא שבעת ימים – “These are the laws of a man who dies in a tent, anyone who enters into the tent, and anyone that is in the tent is impure for seven days.” The Panim Meiros explains: זאת התורה - The Torah has a special advantage, אדם כי ימות - even if one dies, באהל - it can still be considered that he is in the Beis HaMedrash, as when people say over his Torah teachings, his lips move in the grave.
   
   The Chida (Pnei Dovid on this week’s parsha) adds, that we can explain the continuation of the pasuk in a similar manner. He says it’s clear from Shas: דאף האומר שמועה מפי חכם שאמר משם אחר והאחר מאחר כלם שפתותיהם דובבות – “That even if one says a teaching from a Chocham, which was told to him by someone else, who in turn heard it from someone else, all of their lips move in the grave.” Therefore, the continuation of the pasuk means as follows: כל הבא אל האהל - Don’t think the din of שפתותיו דובבות, only applies to the Talmud Chocham himself, rather, anyone who said over the teaching, even if he wasn’t mechadesh it, rather he was just busy with the ohel haTorah, he also merits the advantage of שפתותיו דובבות.
   
   The Maharsha (Yevamos 97a) asks: How is it possible to say that after one dies שפתותיו דובבות – his lips move, surely, we see that his body rots, and his lips no longer remain? See inside what he answers.
   
   The Aruch LaNer offers an answer, based on the Zohar in Parshas Vayechi which says: כדמות שנפשו של אדם נשארת בקבר נשמתו בג"ע העליון ולכן הולכים על הקברים להתפלל לכל צרה שלא תבא ועם התחתון האדם בחייו ונקשרת עם רוחו בג"ע – “The soul of a person remains in the grave in the image of the person when he was alive, and connects with his spirit in Gan Eden below, and with his neshomah in Gan Eden above, therefore, people go to graves to daven to be saved from tragedies.” Based on this, even if the physical body rots, we can still say שפתותיו דובבות as the spiritual body remains. (Madanay Asher)