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Text Excerpt
והא אמר רבי שמעון: ראויה לכהן גדול — מטמא לה, שאין ראויה לכהן גדול — אין מטמא לה. שאני התם, דרבי רחמנא ״קרובה״.
Didn’t R' Shimon say: If she was fit for a High Priest, her brother must become impure for her, and if she was not fit for a High Priest, her brother may not become impure for her? A divorced woman is not fit for a High Priest even if she had been only betrothed before her divorce. The Talmud answers: It is different there, as God includes her by the term: Who is near, which includes any sister who is close to him, even if she is unfit for a High Priest.
אי הכי, מוכת עץ נמי! [רבי] ״קרובה״ — אחת ולא שתים. ומה ראית? הא — אתעביד בה מעשה, הא — לא אתעביד בה מעשה.
The Talmud asks: If so, a woman whose hymen was torn accidentally should also be included. The Talmud responds that the term: Who is near, which is written in the singular, includes only one additional case and not two. The Talmud asks: And what did you see to render forbidden a woman whose hymen was accidentally torn and permit a divorcée who had previously been only betrothed, and not the opposite? The Talmud answers: In this case of the woman whose hymen was torn, an action has been performed on her body, whereas in that case of the divorcée, no action has been performed on her body.
ורבי יוסי, מדשבקיה לבר זוגיה, מכלל דבמוכת עץ כרבי מאיר סבירא ליה, מנא ליה — מ״לא היתה לאיש״.
The baraita cites R' Yosei and R' Shimon as holding that a priest may not become impure for his sister who was betrothed and then divorced, and it cites only R' Shimon as holding that he may not become impure for his sister who was a grown woman. Based on this, the Talmud asks: From the fact that R' Yosei left his partner, R' Shimon, it may be inferred that with regard to a woman whose hymen was torn accidentally he holds in accordance with the opinion of R' Meir, that a priest does become impure. From where does he derive this halakha? The Talmud explains that he derives it from the phrase: “Who has had no man,” as a woman whose hymen was torn accidentally has not been with a man.