More Discussions for this daf
1. Yibum and Chalitzah 2. Melech being Me'aber Shanah 3. Aseh Docheh Lo Ta'asai
4. The Number of Dayanim in the Midbar 5. Killing of Rebbi Shimon and Rebbi Yishmael Kohen Gadol
DAF DISCUSSIONS - SANHEDRIN 18

Elisha Yagudayev asks:

HI,

In Avos DRabbi Nosson 38:3, it recounts the death of Rabbi Shimon ben Gamliel and R Yishmael ben Elisha.

It says that they beheaded R Shimon and R Yishmael proceeded to pick up his head and cried out.

How was he allowed to do this as he was the Kohen Gadol and kohanim can't become tamei?

Thank you in advance

Elisha Yagudayev, flushing, united states

The Kollel replies:

This is a well-known question. I will cite two answers which I have heard on this, although I am not quite sure at the moment where these answers have been published.

1) I remember that Rav Yisrael Yaakov Fisher zt'l, the head of the Eidah ha'Charedis of Yerushalayim, asked this question in his sefer Even Yisrael on the Chumash, but I cannot remember in which Parshah it appears. If I remember correctly, Rav Fisher answered on the basis of the Gemara in Kesuvos 103b which states that on the day that Rebbi Yehudah ha'Nasi died, Kedushah was abolished. Tosfos (DH Oso) writes in the name of Rabeinu Chaim Kohen that this means that the holiness of Kohanim was abolished for that one day and no more. Rabeinu Chaim ha'Kohen said that if he would have been present on the day that Rabeinu Tam died, he would have become Tamei for Rabeinu Tam, because on the day that a Tzadik dies, prohibitions concerning the holiness of Kohanim do not apply. I believe that the Mefarshim explain that the thinking of Tosfos is based on the Gemara in Berachos 18a, that when Tzadikim die they are considered as still being alive.

2) I think that Rav Yitchak Zilberstein shlit'a also asks this question and it most likely appears in one or more of his many Sefarim. I believe that I heard once from my Rosh Kollel, Rav Yaakov Weiner shlit'a, the Rav of Yad Sarah, that an answer was given based on an idea said by Rav Leib Chasman zt'l, in Or Yahel, beginning of part 1 (near the end of a few pages of biographical accounts of Rav Chasman). On the very last Yom Kippur of Rav Chasman's life, when he was weak from the fast, a few students visited him in his house. Before Ma'ariv, Rav Chasman remarked that we read earlier in the day in Maftir Yonah 1:12 that when it was decided that Yonah had to be thrown into the sea, he said, "Lift me up and throw me into the sea!" The question is, why did Yonah say that they should lift him up; why did he not tell them simply to throw him into the sea? Rav Chasman explained that Yonah was trying to gain just one more moment of life -- the one second when they would lift him up was worth asking for, since each moment in this world is priceless.

In fact, we find in the Gemara in Yoma 85a that one is to desecrate Shabbos in order to lengthen a person's life, even if he will live only "Chayei Sha'ah," a very short time. So if one can desecrate Shabbos to gain one moment of life, a Kohen can certainly transgress the prohibition of Tum'ah to gain another precious moment in this world. This was the Heter of Rebbi Yishmael to pick up Rebbi Shimon's head; even though it involved transgressing the prohibition against becoming Tamei, he did so because it delayed his own death at the hands of the Romans.

Of course, all this is very relevant nowadays, when we hear all the time about cases in which some argue that it is not worth making an effort to lengthen the life of a patient who will die soon anyway. Here, we learn how Rebbi Yishmael transgressed the Mitzvah which prohibits Kohanim from becoming Tamei simply to gain one more valuable moment in this world.

Kol Tuv,

Dovid Bloom

The Kollel adds:

I have now looked up the sources of the ideas that I wrote above, and found the sources that I mentioned in (1) and (2). They were cited by different authors than I mentioned, but, Baruch Hashem, the primary sources that I cited are accurate!

1) The answer that I gave based on Kesubos 103b and Tosfos in the name of Rabeinu Chaim Kohen, is in fact given by Rav Moshe Feinstein zt'l in Igros Moshe (Orach Chaim 4:69:8). However, Rav Moshe explains the Tosfos differently than the explanation that I cited. He writes that the reason why everyone became Tamei on the day of the passing of Rebbi Yehudah ha'Nasi, and the reason why Rabeinu Chaim Kohen said that he would have become Tamei for Rabeinu Tam, is because of the Din that a Kohen can become Tamei for a "Mes Mitzvah" -- a corpse for whom nobody is available to bury. Rav Moshe writes that it is not only for the burial that the Kohen may become Tamei, but for all the honor which it is necessary to give to this deceased. Since Rebbi Yehudah was the leader of the Jewish people, however much honor they could give him would never be enough. Therefore, all the Kohanim in the world were allowed to become Tamei for him, to give him the honor that he deserved. This is also the reason why Rabeinu Chaim Kohen would have become Tamei for Rabeinu Tam -- because there was no limit to the honor due to him.

Rav Moshe writes that since Raban Shimon ben Gamliel was the Nasi and the greatest person in the world, it was crucial to provide him with some honor even in such tragic circumtances. Under the circumstances, the only honor that it was possible to give him was to lift up his head from the ground, and cry out how great Raban Shimon was. Even though Rebbi Yishmael was not able to hold the head of Raban Shimon for very long until he himself was killed, this however was the Kavod that it was possible to do for Raban Shimon. Kohanim are also obligated to give Kavod to the Nasi, and this is this why Rebbi Yishmael became Tamei for him.

2) The second answer that I gave above is given by Rav Shlomo Zalman Auerbach zt'l, in Shulchan Shlomo ("Medical Topics," volume II, page 13, edited by Rav Simcha Bunim Lazerson shlit'a, the nephew of Rav Shlomo Zalman). Rav Shlomo Zalman does not mention the source I gave from Yonah ha'Navi, but he does mention the Halachah cited in Yoma 85a (which is also recorded as the Halachah in Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chaim 329:4) that one desecrates Shabbos to lengthen the life of a patient who anyway will live only for a very short time. Rebbi Yishmael knew that by taking the head of Raban Shimon, this would prevent himself from being killed by the Romans for a few more moments.

3) A different answer to this question is given by Rav Tzvi Pesach Frank zt'l, in Teshuvos Har Tzvi, Yoreh Deah #284. Raban Shimon and Rebbi Yishmael were indoors at the time of the execution. Since Rebbi Yishmael was already Tamei by being in an "Ohel ha'Mes" -- in the same tent or house as the corpse -- it did not add on any Tum'ah when he touched the corpse, since he was already Tamei because of being in the same room.

Ketivah va'Chatimah Tovah,

Dovid Bloom

The Kollel adds:

I looked up the Sefer Even Yisrael on Chumash (by Rav Fisher) that I cited in my first reply. It is in Parshas Emor, where the Torah gives the Mitzvos of Tum'ah for Kohanim. Rav Fisher bases his answer on Kesubos 103b, which we have seen a few times before, but he adds a source from the Tur (Yoreh Deah 374) and Beis Yosef (ibid., #3, DH v'Eizehu and DH v'Da) in the name of the Ramban. First, the Beis Yosef writes that even a Kohen Gadol becomes Tamei for a Mes Mitzvah, and then he writes that the Nasi has a Din of a Mes Mitzvah. In fact, we find that the Rambam states something similar in Hilchos Avel 3:8, where he writes that even a Kohen Gadol becomes Tamei for a Mes Mitzvah, and then in 3:10 he writes that a Nasi is a Mes Mitzvah because everyone is obligated to honor him.