1) It is a tremendous feeling of awe and joy to be able to ask questions of kollel yunge leit from the comfort of my home. A groisen yasherkoach for this e-mail possibility.

I am a Dentist by Profession and it is of great interest to me that the Gemora tells us (Brochos, 5b) of R'Yochanan who carrried a bone of his tenth child to be able to console other mourners.

The controversy arises that this is tumah and therefore how could he carry it.? The M'Suras Hashas says (5b) that this etzem (bone) was actually a shein (tooth), d'eino m'tameh.

My first question is why does a tooth not have the same din of tumah as an etzem ?

In answer to this we are referred by M'Suras HaShas to B.Basra 116, where the Rashbam says (and here my ignorance stops me from understanding completely)..".Din Garmo D'Assiroo bir" ......this is a tooth, which is not m'tameh as it says in Oholos Perek 3 (43),"all parts of a mes are m'tameh save for the teeth the hair and the fingernails."

Why is this so. ??

And this brings me to a second question...How did R'Yochanan come to extract this tooth ? Is there not a din that all parts of a body must be buried in toto with the body. We see the incredible lengths that the Chevra Kadisha go to in Israel, may G-d reward them for their efforts, in scraping up bits and pieces, Rachmono Latzlan, from those murdered by terrorist bombings, Hash-m Inkom Domom.

Therefore how could R' Yochanan take either an etzem, less than an olive's worth which is apparently not metameh. or a tooth which is not metameh ? How could he cause tzar to the guf and neshomo of his son by leaving a body part unburied ??

With deep humility I offer the following simple solution. It was a baby tooth.

In other words this tooth was not a permanent adult tooth which needed to be extracted. Even if it had been evulsed prior to the death of the "young son" if it were an adult tooth would it not require burial as a body part to complete the act of burial ?

In Dentistry, a "baby " tooth is called a "desciduous" tooth. This means that it was meant to fall out just as leaves which first bud then unfurl and act as life supporting organs to a tree in the spring and summer are destined to fall off in the autumn.

We notice that R'Yochanan did not cut off hair or trim the fingernails off the mes. This, I believe would be disrespect to the guf if not properly buried.

My notion is that this baby tooth had fallen out of its own accord prior to the p'tirah of this child. It did not require burial because it is not a permanent appendage or body part, just as hair constantly grows and is cut, as are fingernails. But the diyuk is that we are talking about a part that had detached itself as a part of natural progression and growth. That is why it could be carried around with no danger of either tumeh or disfigurement to the mes.

I wonder if you could find the time to comment on this ? I would greatly appreciate hearing from you.

Hatzlocho Rabba in you great and Holy work.

Dr. Yakov Kopel Goldberg, Thornhill (Toronto) Ontario

Shalom