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Text Excerpt
בריה בפני עצמה נינהו. עבד נמי — דלמא אתי לאסוקי מתרומה ליוחסין. ערל וטמא — משום דמאיסי. נושא אשה שאינה הוגנת לו — משום קנסא. אלא אשה, מאי טעמא לא?
as they are each an unusual creature of their own kind. With regard to a slave it is also clear, since if he is given teruma, perhaps the court will come to elevate him to the presumptive status of priestly lineage. Teruma may not be distributed to an uncircumcised man and a ritually impure man, because these situations are repulsive and it is unseemly to give them teruma in public. One may not distribute teruma to one who marries a woman unfit for him, due to a penalty that expropriates his priestly rights as long as he persists in his transgression. But for what reason is teruma not distributed to a woman?
פליגי בה רב פפא ורב הונא בריה דרב יהושע. חד אמר: משום גרושה. וחד אמר: משום יחוד.
Rav Pappa and Rav Huna, son of Rav Yehoshua, disagree on this issue. One said that it is due to the case of an Israelite woman who was married to a priest and got divorced, thereby losing her permission to partake of teruma. Teruma is not distributed to women in public at all, lest this divorcée continue to receive teruma. And the other one said that it is due to the concern that the owner and the woman might be alone together in the granary.
מאי בינייהו? איכא בינייהו בי דרי דמקרב למתא, ולא שכיחי בהו אינשי. אי נמי: דמרחק, ושכיחי בה אינשי.
The Talmud asks: What is the practical difference between them? The Talmud answers: The practical difference between them is in the case of a granary that is close to town but is not frequented by people. Because it is close to town, the owner of the granary would know if she was divorced. However, since there are not many people there, the concern about their being alone together remains. Alternatively, there is a practical difference in the case of a granary that is distant but is frequented by people. There, there is concern that the owner of the granary might not know if she was divorced, but the concern that they might be alone together does not exist.