Study Pesachim folio 35A with parallel Hebrew-English text, traditional commentary, and modern study tools. Free access to Babylonian Talmud online.
Text Excerpt
אלא מעלה. הכי נמי — מעלה.
Rather, this is merely a higher standard, as by Torah law the water may be drawn with one vessel and sanctified in another vessel. The rabbis added that this water must be sanctified in the same vessel in which it was drawn from the spring, and they found support for their opinion in the Torah. Here too, the rabbis established a higher standard for a consecrated object that became ritually impure, as they decreed that it cannot be ritually purified through insertion in the ground.
אמר רב שימי בר אשי, אף אנן נמי תנינא: טבל ועלה — אוכל במעשר. העריב שמשו — אוכל בתרומה. בתרומה אין, בקדשים לא. אמאי, טהור הוא? אלא מעלה. הכי נמי — מעלה.
Rav Shimi bar Ashi said: We, too, learned a similar statement in a baraita: When the period of ritual impurity of a zav or metzora has been completed, and he immersed during the day and emerged, he may eat tithes immediately. Once the sun set for him, he may eat teruma. Rav Shimi bar Ashi infers from this statement: With regard to teruma, yes, he may eat it; however, with regard to consecrated food, no, he may not. Given that conclusion, Rav Shimi bar Ashi asks: Why is there a difference between teruma and consecrated foods? After all, he is ritually pure. Rather, the rabbis established a higher standard for consecrated food, and permitted one to eat them only after sacrificing the requisite purification offering. Here too, the rabbis established a higher standard for the ritual purity of consecrated liquids.
אמר רב אשי, אף אנן נמי תנינא: ״והבשר״, לרבות את העצים ולבונה. עצים ולבונה בני איטמויי נינהו?! אלא מעלה. הכא נמי — מעלה.
Rav Ashi said: We, too, learned another case where the rabbis established a higher standard. The verse says: “And the flesh that touches any ritually impure thing should not be eaten; it should be burnt with fire. And as for the flesh, anyone who is ritually pure may eat from it” (Leviticus 7:19). And the flesh comes to include the wood in the Temple and the frankincense. The Talmud asks: Do wood and frankincense have the capacity to become ritually impure, given that they are neither food nor drink? Rather, the rabbis established a higher standard for these objects due to their sanctity; here too, the rabbis established a higher standard for the ritual purity of consecrated liquids.